Bone items from the Neolithic burial site Autodrom-IA

The article discusses the results of study of the bone items found during the excavations of the Neolithic burial site Avtodrom-IA in 2015. The site is located in the north-west of the Baraba forest-steppe and is one of the oldest kurgans in Northern Asia; the burials found there are associated with the items of the Late Neolithic Artyn culture. Bone items from the kurgan 1 mound and the tombs under it were jewelry (pendants made of animal bones and teeth), piercers, arrow points, and a chisel. To determine the purpose and technological features of these artifacts, we have used an integrated approach combining traceological, technological, and typological as well as zooarchaeological methods. Among those finds, a Shigirtype arrow point and a fragment of a knife case with the inserted cutting edge, which was reworked and reused as a piercer, have a particular importance. These items are also chronological markers. The conclusion is made that all items used in the burial rite at the Avtodrom-IA site were utilitarian and have traces of use in household and everyday life. It indicates the absence of a special production of burial tools in the Artyn culture peoples. The information obtained in the course of the research allows us to supplement the picture of the economic life and funeral rite of the population of the Baraba forest-steppe in the late Neolithic, and also reflects some aspects of technological solutions and worldview.