Complex of Stone Products from the Koksharovsky Hill Sanctuary in the Middle Trans-Urals (based on the Materials of Excavations in 2003)

Koksharovsky Hill is the most famous cult site in the territory of the Middle Trans-Urals. The aim of the article is to introduce the stone inventory from the hill, found during the excavations of 2003, to the scientifi c world. When studying stone products, statistical-typological, technological and traceological research methods were used. The mineralogical composition of the complex of stone products was also revealed. The collection includes stone products from three eras: Mesolithic (26.5%), Neolithic (72.5%) and Eneolithic (1.0%). The microlithic complex, in all its main parameters (plate width, presence of cutters and carvers), fully corresponds to the characteristics of the Mesolithic of the Middle Trans-Urals. In the Neolithic era, the technique of splitting stone was aimed at obtaining plates up to 2 cm wide (81.1%). All the main types of tools were made from the plates: knives, arrowheads, piercers, scrapers, drills.54% of the plates without retouching are cut off distal and proximal ends. The processing of the plates was carried out mainly by marginal ventral retouching (81%). To obtain the plates, they preferred to use weakly silicifi ed rocks: light-grey weakly silicifi ed rock and alevrotuff (93.2%). Double-sided retouching was used to process arrowheads and knives. Abrasive techniques were used to make chopping tools. The list of mineral raw materials consists of 19 types. The raw materials were of local origin; about 40% of the products have a primary crust on their surface. The Eneolithic complex was identifi ed on the basis of arrowheads, plate processing techniques, and mineral raw materials that are not typical for the local Neolithic.