On the characteristic of mesolithic settlements

In the paper types of Mesolithic settlements and their characteristics are discussed: seasonal camps, «base sites», hunters' stations, workshop sites. Two phases of functioning are singled out at all settlements: site choice and in-site organization. Site choice was determined by availability of food supplies (animals and edible plants), distance from the sources of raw materials, or routes of their transportation, presence of drinking water, possible natural threats. In-site organization consists in arrangement of separate zones: habitation, production, and sacral ones. The analysis shows individual character of in-site spatial organization in each case. At present location and spatial organization of settlements is studied by methods of landscape archaeology.