Early Upper Paleolithic Objects of Bone from the South Chamber of Denisova Cave (Collection of 2017)
In 2017, during the study of the Pleistocene deposits from layer 11 in the South Chamber of Denisova Cave, excavations revealed a fragment of mammoth ivory point and 15 adornments made of different materials. The adornments included pendants made of animal teeth, soft stone, mollusk shell, and mammoth ivory, as well as tubular beads of bone and decorated object made from the rib of a mammal. Manufacturing technology for producing the adornments involved several stages, such as selection of raw material, production of the blank, shaving, scraping, grinding, sawing, drilling, and polishing. The analysis of the industry associated with layer 11 indicates that some techniques specific for the Early Upper Paleolithic (grinding, drilling, and polishing) were used both for manufacturing bone and ivory artifacts and processing of soft stone. In addition, the evidence of repairing the adornments and their remodeling has also been found.