WHETSTONES OF THE EARLY IRON AGE FROM TWO MUSEUMS
The author of the paper collected information about 60 whetstones originating from monuments of Early Iron Age cultures in the Southern Urals, Western Siberia, Altai, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Southern Siberia. For the first time, based on the collected materials, a classification scheme of whetstones was developed on the basis of such attributes as shapes of face and back sides, section (only for Group 4), top and bottom designs of whetstones. Four groups with subgroups and variants were singled out. Whetstones from the Tomsk Ob Region and the Khakas-Minusinsk Basin stored in two museums (Museum of Siberian Archaeology and Ethnography, Tomsk State University, and the Seversk Museum) were introduced in this scheme. The occurrence of specific shapes of whetstones in archaeological cultures of the Southern Urals, Western Siberia, Altai, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Southern Siberia was analyzed. It was revealed that whetstones of Group 1 were most common. Trapezoidal and oval whetstones occur frequently as well. Rod-shaped whetstones are the least frequent. The latter ones, along with whetstones of the second subgroup of Group 1, have better shapes and are carefully polished. Some whetstones were examined using an electron microscope in order to ascertain whether they had been used as household articles and touchstones. The results of the examination were negative. In terms of purpose, whetstones originating from graves were most likely to be used as objects of worship / prestige value.