DISCUSSIONS ON thE GENEsis OF Kunda CULtuRE. A. SORokin’S HYPothEsis. COMMEnts On The GenesisCulture. Of Kunda A.Hypothesis. Sorokin’s Comments TOMAS OSTRAUSKAS RAUSKAS T S TOMAS TOMAS O Introduction northwestern cultures, including Kunda culture. Ac- cording to Kozlowski, cultures of this circle formed at Though Mesolithic Kunda culture is one of the earliest the start of the Holocene Period after the convergence explored prehistoric European and global phenomena of a wave of migration from Siberia and the inherit- of this period, the question of its genesis is still a source ance of Swiderian culture, including some supposi- of passionate debates among researchers. In this arti- tional influence of the northern Black Sea coast. The cle, I will attempt to discuss it with Sorokin, the Rus- northwest circle of cultures included northern forest sian archaeologist and famous researcher of the Upper territories from the Baltic Sea to the Urals (Kozłowski Volga and the Oka river basins in the Late Palaeolithic 1971, 69-71). In subsequent studies, Kozlowski related and Mesolithic ages. In 1999, Sorokin presented, apart the appearance of the northwest circle of cultures in from other hypotheses, a detailed and reasoned hypoth- the northern part of Eastern Europe only to westward esis of the genesis of Kunda culture, which treats the expanded Siberian cultures (Kozłowski, Kozłowski question as a cultural process in the wider Mesolithic 1977, 242-243). In his latest summarising study about context of the East European forest region. I address the Polish Mesolithic Age, he draws a curtain over the this study to researchers of the Late Palaeolithic and question of Kunda culture, though he attributes it to the Mesolithic ages in Eastern Europe with the proposal northwest circle of cultures together with the Nemunas to consider it an invitation for discussions to promote and Kudlaevka cultures (Kozłowski 1989, 177-179). further research of the genesis of Kunda culture. This position taken by the researcher probably proves that the question of the Kunda’s genesis is not obvious to him. In the Eighties and Nineties of the 20th cen- The history of research into tury, most researchers would relate Kunda culture to the genesis of Kunda culture Swiderian culture, though indirectly, since they were At the end of the 19th century C. Grewingk, the first embarrassed by typological and technological differ- researcher of Kunda settlement in northern Estonia, at- ences in collections of flint artefacts. The Lithuanian tempted to link its origin to Finno-Ugric tribes, which Stone Age researcher R. Rimantienė noted a few com- came from Finland or Sweden (Янитс 1959, 7). The ponents which were characteristic of the formation of interwar Estonian archaeologist R. Indreko initially the above culture: Maglemosian and Askola cultures, derived Kunda culture from Palaeolithic centres of together with the inheritance of Swiderian culture Central and Western Europe (Indreko 1948, 398). from the southeast, probably from the Valdaj highlands Later, however, he changed his mind and related its (Rimantienė 1984, 94). A similar attitude is taken by origin to Borshevo 1 type settlements with stemmed L.V. Kolcov. Like Rimantienė, he derives separate el- spearheads from the Don-Desna region in the Late ements of Kunda culture from different cultures. He Palaeolithic Period (Indreko 1964, 58-61). In a study thinks that the flint inventory of Kunda culture formed summarising explorations of Stone Age Estonia, and its bone and horn tools under the influence of Swide- published in Estonia in 1959, the archaeologist L. Jan- rian and Ahrensburg cultures, its schist and quartz of its assumes that, though the material for findings is Duvensee-Maglemosian cultural communities, and of not sufficient, Kunda culture probably formed several Askola culture from southern Finland. According to multi-original elements: Askola culture and the im- this Russian scientist, the influence of Swiderian cul- pacts of the south and east (Янитс 1959, 327-328). At ture dominated (Кольцов 1977, 134; 1979, 24). To the the beginning of the Seventies, the Polish researcher Latvian researcher I. Zagorska, early Mesolithic Latvi- S.K. Kozlowski hypothesised about a huge circle of an and Estonian Pulli-type settlements derive from 198 the late Palaeolithic Salaspils Laukskola settlement in Sorokin’s hypothesis on the genesis of the lower reaches of the Daugava. She relates this set- Kunda culture and a critique of it tlement to Swiderian and Ahrensburg cultural monu- ments in Lithuania, Byelorussia and Poland (Загорска In 1995 the Muscovite archaeologist A. Sorokin pro- 1981, 63-64). The Estonian researcher K. Janits and posed an unusual solution to the question of the gene- TICA 6 TICA the Byelorussian archaeologist V.P. Ksenzov derive sis of Kunda culture (Sorokin 1999). In his 2002 study L Kunda culture from Swiderian culture (Янитс 1990, “Mesolithic of Zhizdra Polesie” the researcher pro- 30; Kсензов 1994, 24). The famous Ukrainian archae- posed a slightly widened hypothesis on the genesis of BA ologist L. Zalizniak believes Kunda culture and other Kunda culture (Сорокин 2002, 120-122). According post-Swiderian cultures derive from Swiderian culture to this hypothesis, Reseta, Kunda and Butovo cultures OGIA (Зализняк 1989, 80-89). The Polish archaeologist (the first and the third are spread between the basins of EL Z. Sulgostowska analysed research on the transition the Volga and Oka rivers) make up different stages of CHA period from Palaeolithic to Mesolithic in the Eastern one single chain of cultural development. According to R Baltic region and points to gaps which do not allow us him, Pulli-type settlements of Kunda culture in Latvia A to prove undoubtedly genetic ties between Swiderian and Estonia reflect the seasonal migration of people of and Kunda cultures (Sulgostowska, 1999). The most Reseta culture from the Upper Volga, along the Dau- significant among them are presented below. gava valley and to the Eastern Baltic region in the pre- Boreal Period. Sorokin distinguishes an early period Researchers have only isolated radio-carbonic dates in Kunda culture, that is, Pulli-type settlements. He regarding both Late Swiderian and Kunda cultures, so thinks the links between settlements of the early stage it makes it impossible to identify precisely the time of with settlements of the Boreal Period (Kunda-Jalavere) the extinction of the first culture and the time of the ori- are not proven (Сорокин 2002, 120). He believes only gin of the second, and to elaborate their interrelations. the understratum of Pulli and Lepakoze settlements However, the strongest argument of sceptics on the can be attributed to the early stage of Kunda culture. Swiderian origin of Kunda culture is the different flint According to Sorokin, hunting tools and relics of flint processing technique and the typological composition tools discovered have no analogues in other Mesolithic of flint tools. The primary treatment of flint, based on settlements of the Eastern Baltic region. He believes direct split by soft hammerstone, separating irregular the genesis of Pulli-type settlements cannot be related blades from two-end cores, is typical of Swiderian cul- to Swiderian culture, as no one-edged spearheads and ture. The basic types of artefacts are stemmed arrow- micro-blades, no retouched blades or micro-burin tech- heads, scrapers and burins. The latter are either central, nique, and so on, have been discovered in Swiderian shaped with different side percussion, or sidelong and culture. Nevertheless, he finds these and other (eg Re- transversal, shaped by retouch and percussion (Sulgo- seta-type microlithic spearheads) peculiarities only in stowska 1989, 38-57). Pressure technique, which im- Reseta cultures which existed in the basins of the Volga plies the percussion of regular blades from one-end, and Oka rivers in the early Kunda period. It appears mostly conical cores, is dominant in Kunda culture. from this that Sorokin’s hypothesis is the only one to Arrowheads, including stemmed ones, as well as bur- “discover” complexes of settlements which directly ins, are mostly shaped by percussion at the broken ends stimulated the formation of features typical of Kunda of the blades and by waste flakes, though burins shaped culture. These are the Reseta 3 settlement, and the un- by retouch and percussion are not unusual either. The derstratum of the Ust’-Tudovka 4 settlement (Сорокин widespread blade-shaped technique, when numerous 2002, 121-122). In addition, he thinks both the micro- microlithic flint blades with retouched sides and ends, burin technique and Reseta-type microlithic spear- elements of former stone hunting tools, are discovered, heads from Pulli-type settlements are vanishing relics is noteworthy (Ostrauskas 2000: 2002a, 98; 2000b, (Сорокин 2002, 122); therefore, Pulli-type settlements 78). are related to the later period, while the Reseta 3 settle- Summarising briefly the attitudes of the origin of ment is datable to an earlier period than that of the Pulli Kunda culture, the researchers can be divided into two settlement. Spearheads in Butovo culture settlements groups. Some of them link it to large-scale migration (eg Butovo, Prislon settlement), typical of Pulli-type from the east (from Siberia). Others link the genesis of complexes, indicate that some types of Butovo spear- Kunda culture to Swiderian culture of the late Palaeo- head originate from those belonging to Pulli-type com- lithic Period, and