Volosovo retouchers

The Volosovo culture was spread in the center of the European part of Russia in the Late Neolithic–Eneolithic. The artifacts of this culture retrieved from a number of sites include antler rods and curved items of unknown functions. The tracewear analysis conducted by the authors established that these items are parts of composite retouchers used to treat flint tools. The curved items were handles with a slot into which rods used as working parts of the tools were inserted. This design of a retoucher was optimal from the functional point of view. It has survived into ethnographic modernity with almost no changes.