Cruciform Signs Decorating Paleolithic Bone Artifacts from Cherno-Ozerye II, the Middle Irtysh Area

Abstract

This study describes decorated bone artifacts from the Final Paleolithic or Epipaleolithic site of Cherno-Ozerye II in the Middle Irtysh area—a fragment of a bone dagger hilt found during the 1971 excavations, and fragments of bone “needle cases” found in 2019. An interpretation of the meaning of cruciform signs on the artifacts is suggested with reference to technology and form. Parallels from Ural and Eastern European sites are discussed. It is concluded that in terms of technology, morphology, and “syntax”, the signs are stable markers of certain hunter-gatherer groups. Their specificity and possible meaning suggest that the Middle Irtysh area was a contact zone between Western (Ural) and Eastern Siberian groups of Paleolithic foragers. As a result of their interaction, an original decorative style was formed.