Bone wares from ukek

Abstract

© 2020 Shigabutdin Marjani Institute of History of Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Research objectives: To study the collection of bone wares from the Uvek site situated on the southern outskirts of Saratov. Research materials: Artefacts from the collections of the State Hermitage (14), State Historical Museum (4), National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan (13), Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore (12), Engels Museum of Local Lore (1), and Archaeological club-museum at the Saratov regional station of young tourists (5). Results and novelty of the research: Almost all bone objects from the Uvek site have not previously been published. The novelty of the study lies in obtaining new information based on the analysis of the collection. Wares were divided on the basis of functional purpose into a number of categories: tools and household articles (needle cases, cylinders with three holes for weaving loom, spoons, seals, components of knives and other tools - handles, backplates, couplings, holders), arms and hunting equipment (arrowheads, quiver loops, ornamented facings of quivers, handles of whips), objects of toilette and ornaments (buttons, beads, brackets, belt holders, stripes), objects for games (checkers, dice), wares characterizing technological processes of production from horn and bone (plates with openings). Morphological features of wares are considered on the basis of typology, taking into consideration a wide comparative background of materials of medieval monuments of Eurasia. Distribution of finds on the basis of groupings is remarkable: tools and household articles - 65.3%, objects of arms and hunting equipment - 16.3%, objects of toilette and ornaments - 10.2%, objects for games - 6.1%, wares characterizing technological processes of production from horn and bone - 2.1%. On the Uvek site, the prevalence of tools and household articles (nearly two thirds of all finds in the complex), which are mainly presented by components of knives and other tools, is evident. A find of plate with the openings made by extraction of round work pieces convincingly demonstrates the existence of a bone carving craft in Ukek.