| Abstract [eng] |
The current study uses the data of experimental-trasological investigations taken from the Early Holocene: Upper (Final) Paleolithic – Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic period monuments examined on the territories of Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Russia. This is a period encompassing the periods of the Holocene epoch: Preboreal, Boreal and Atlantic (9600–4400/4200 BC). Trasology (also, use-wear) is a method that allows detailed examination of the function of an archaeological tool intended for work in great detail. For this purpose, microscopes of various capacities are used; they can magnify the image of an object under examination and enable more detailed observation of the traces remaining on the surface of an artefact left by work activities. Even more detailed functional analysis of an artefact can be carried out by using the experimental-trasological method. The essence of this principle is based on production of experimental artefacts and their practical application; later, being facilitated by a microscope, comparison of utilisation (work) traces of both experimental and authentic archaeological tools is carried out. To achieve the aim, several objectives have been raised; they define the following stages of work’s experimental-trasological investigation: To identify and reconstruct the technology of production of major flint artefacts (perforators, burins, scrapers, knives, awls, axes) aiming to make experimental artefacts. By using the trasology microscope, to examine the trasological traces detected on artefacts of the Early Holocene period stocked in museum collections and to compare them with the traces found on produced replicas. |
