Abstract
The paper deals with the unique finding of the Paleolithic art object discovered during the realization of a salvage archaeology project connected with the construction of the railway from Kyzyl to Kuragino (the Krasnoyarsk Region, South Siberia) in 2012. During the exploration of the multicomponent habitation site of Irba 2 below the Holocene cultural strata the Pleistocene remains were found. These include bones of bison, reindeer, red and giant deer, wild horse, brown bear and hare, lithics, and pieces of worked antler. Radiocarbon dates indicate the Final Pleistocene age (ca. 13 to 11 kyr BP). The assemblage belongs to the Afontova culture dominated in the upper reaches of Yenisei during the Final Upper Paleolithic. The rare fi nding, a unique engraved oval-shaped fl at pebble of white marble is worth mentioning. It has 37 lateral grooves, cross-shaped engravings in the central parts of both lateral surfaces and traces of unfi nished hollows. The use-wear analysis has been revealed the use of lithic implements of different shape for making the incisions and hollows. Thus hollows and crosses could be made with the different working parts of the same tool (shouldered point) and at least one straight cutting edge. The nearest analogs for the object from Irba are agalmatolithic discs from the sites of Afontova Gora II and III located at Krasnoyarsk. These fi ndings are rare in the Paleolithic and could be considered as amulets.
Keywords
Archaeology, Late Upper Paleolithic, the Afontova culture, Krasnoyarsk region, Sayan Mountains, use-wear analysis, pebble amulet, cross-shaped signs
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