ZHUANTOBE 1 – PEBBLE LOCATION of the STONE AGE in BETPAKDALA

Abstract

The article describes a new Stone Age monument of Saryarka – Zhuantobe 1, discovered in 2002 in the northern part of the Betpakdala desert. The monument belongs to the type of open pebble locations, similar to the monuments Muzbel and Obalysan. According to the signs of aeolian corrosion of the surfaces of quartzite artifacts, four chronological series are previously distinguished among the materials, of which two ancient series belong to the Early Paleolithic, and the third one belongs to the Middle Paleolithic. The article gives a detailed description of the products of the latest, fourth series – with a “fresh” texture, which is most easily separated from the rest of the material. The most common products here are lithic cores. The estimated geological age of this material is quite wide – Late Glacial-Holocene and, most likely, it belongs to the Late Neolithic – Early Eneolithic (4 thousand BC).