Analysis of bone carving products from the site Yugachi-2 (Askizsky district, Republic Khakassia)

The article presents an analysis of the raw materials of carved bones from the Yugachi-2 site. In the course of field archaeological works, the recovered materials made it possible to interpret the studied object as a settlement complex. The items with bone carving are described. The total number of artifacts made of horn and bone is 79 specimens, which were recovered from 14 out of 74 excavation pits, their brief description is provided. Spatial analysis bone carving products distribution was carried out at excavation pit No. 9 of excavation trench No. 3. Most of the finished products and blanks for bone carving come from this site. Weapons, tools and ornaments are the most interesting finds among the found objects. The horny frontal middle plate of the compound bow deserves special notice in the armament category. Bows with similar frontal rigid plates have parallels in the burial complexes of the Altai Mountains dating from the first half of the 1st millennium AD. Hence, this object can be dated to the 3rd-5th centuries AD. A bony stemmed arrowhead was also found. The ornament category contains a pendant from a maral tooth. The labor tools are represented by tools for untie knots (kochedygi), a borer, and, probably, a handle fragment. The derived information provide the insight into bone carving technology at the settlement sites of the transitional Tagar-Tashtyk period and its place in the culture of the ancient population living at the foothills of the Western Sayan Mountains, in the periphery of the taiga and forest-steppe zones, in the Askiz River basin.