East Gravettian Khotylevo 2 site: Stratigraphy, archeozoology, and spatial organization of the cultural layer at the newly explored area of the site

• Published in: Quaternary international Vol. 359-360; pp. 335 - 346
• Main Authors: Gavrilov, Konstantin N., Voskresenskaya, Ekaterina V., Maschenko, Evgeny N., Douka, Katerina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 02.03.2015
• Subjects: Anosovka-Mesin type dwellings; Eastern Gravettian; Khotylevo 2; Spatial organization; Upper Paleolithic; Upper Pleistocene mammalian fauna; Upper Paleolithic; Upper Pleistocene mammalian fauna; Khotylevo 2; Anosovka-Mesin type dwellings; Eastern Gravettian; Spatial organization
• ISSN: 1040-6182; 1873-4553
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.08.020

The present paper discusses the spatial and stratigraphic analysis of an assemblage of archeological remains from the newly found point B (lettered in Cyrillic) of the Eastern Gravettian site Khotylevo 2. The new find was discovered by the Khotylevo Archaeological Expedition in 2005. The cultural layer of the site relates to a level of initial soil formation at the base of the Desna loess horizon. The stratigraphic position of the cultural layer at point B is typical of the entire Khotylevo 2 site and does not differ substantially from those at points А and Б. Currently, two closely related assemblages of archeological remains have been discovered at point B over an area of 45 m2. The first assemblage is noted for the presence of rounded shallow pits and embedded mammoth bones surrounding concentrations of bone coal; it also contains split animal bones, and flint splinters. Similar assemblages were discovered by F.M. Zavernyaev during the excavations at Khotylevo 2 in the 1970s. The second assemblage is marked by large clusters of intentionally arranged bones of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). There is a certain pattern traceable in the bone arrangement, similar to those observed in mammoth bone structures of the Anosovka-Mesin dwellings. Microstratigraphic correlation of the two assemblages considered together with the radiocarbon dates strongly suggests them to be of different ages. The most abundant bone remains within the studied area belong to woolly mammoth. The list of mammal species identified from this site shows no significant difference from species lists known from other sites of the Russian Plain dated to the same chronological interval. The scarcity of bones belonging to other herbivorous mammals may be due to the fact that no butchering was performed at this part of the site. The abundance of mammoth bones does not directly indicate simultaneous overkill of those animals; it is quite possible, however, that individual animals were killed periodically.