The article substantiates the reconstruction of the functional purpose of "irons"based on a set of data from a comprehensive analysis (landscape and topographic location of monuments, a set of raw materials and metric standards, traceological and ethnographic data, contextual specifics, etc.). According to this hypothesis, grooved products with a groove of a certain diameter, made of refractory non-abrasive materials, are specialized tools for making (straightening) reed shafts of arrows and darts with the use of heating in work.

Keywords: "irons", cross-grooved products, "chovniki", "shuttles", "praski", straighteners of reed arrow shafts, refractory rocks, technological innovation.

Introduction

Unique multicultural artefacts that are small (3 - 23 cm, more often 6 - 12 cm) objects made of stone or clay with a transverse groove of a certain (0.7 - 1.7 cm) diameter are usually called" irons " * (Fig. 1). They are recorded in materials of at least 60 cultures and cultural types from the Mesolithic/Proto-Neolithic to the Bronze Age (X-IX-the first third of the II millennium BC). The territory of distribution of "irons" is extensive and includes the Middle East, the north-eastern and southern coast of Africa, steppe, forest-steppe and semi-desert areas of North-Eastern Europe. Europe and Asia from Moldova to Mongolia (Figure 2). The highest concentrations were recorded in Ukraine, the Urals, and the Middle East. There is a pronounced attraction of finds to monuments located near shallow areas of rivers and lakes, especially near places where the reaches turn into pereymes and rapids. Most often, cross-grooved products (PJI)** found on settlement-type monuments, although they are also known in burials and ritual complexes.

A critical review of the existing hypotheses of the functional purpose of "irons" showed that none of them can fully explain the phenomenon of multiculturality of products and the origin of the universally observed traces of the same type of harmony in the groove [Usacheva, 2012]. New data were needed, and most importantly, new research approaches capable of treating PHI as a phenomenon with its inherent causality and dynamics.

* In the literature, there are also the names "straighteners", "ironers", "grinders", "straighteners of arrow shafts", " praski "(Ukrainian), "chovniki" ("shuttles") (Ukrainian). In Western literature, names of descriptive or functional-oriented design are used: "grooved stones", " pierres a rainures "("stones with a groove"), " shaft-straighteners "("shaft straighteners"), "polissoirs", " poliroval'niki "("polishers"), " polissoirs a rainures"("polishers with a groove").

** A synonym for" irons", describing them by their leading morphological feature. The proposed term is universal for all territories, which makes it possible to overcome the regional nature, and sometimes the ambiguity of most local names of this artifact.

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Fig. 1. "Irons". 1-Koksharovsky hill, Ural; 2-Kargopolye, Trans-Urals; 3-Skvortsovskaya Mountain-5, Ural; 4 - Serebryanka-1, Trans-Urals; 5-Palatki I, Ural; 6-Perevozny III, Ural; 7, 12-Andreevskaya-1, Trans-Urals; 8-Nyazepetrovskaya-2, Ural; 9-Ust-Isha, Altai; 10-Koptyaki-9, Ural; 11-Russko-Shugansky burial ground, Central Russia. 1,5,7, 10-clay; 2 - 4, 6, 8 - 9, 11,12- the stone. 1 - 5, 7, 8,10, 1 2-photo by the author; b-photo by V. T. Petrin; 9-photo by B. H. Kadikov; 11-photo by M. Sh. Galimova.

Fig. 2. Map-scheme of distribution of "irons".

a-monuments with "irons"; b - the exact location of the discovery of "irons" is not known; c - the area of monuments with" irons " mentioned in the literature without specifying the exact location.

Actual data

A comprehensive source analysis of a significant collection of "irons" (446 copies), which included, in addition to a detailed subject analysis of the PGI, a description of the natural and economic context of the finds and supplemented by mapping using chrono-sections (Usacheva, 2013), allowed us to establish a number of interesting facts.

1. "Irons" appeared in different territories of Eurasia not convergently, but spread from one or two centers located in the Middle East.

2. Their appearance coincides with the period of global natural and climatic changes.-

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the Pleistocene and Holocene rune and presumably stimulated by this circumstance through the crisis of traditional nature management. A comparative analysis of the dynamics of the range of PZH and significant environmental crises in the area of their existence showed that in other epochs, the spread of "irons" was largely due to this factor.

3. The paleogeographic characteristics of monuments with "irons" show a pronounced attraction to open-type landscapes (steppes, forest-steppes, semi-deserts, etc.), which are obviously the most optimal for the functioning of PZH. Finds in a different natural context are rare. Some exception, at first glance, is the Middle Urals, where "irons" are marked on the lake massifs of the mountain-forest zone of the eastern slope. However, the latest palynological and stratigraphic data suggest that the paleolandscapes of the PGI distribution area are insufficiently studied rather than contradict the rule [Panova and Antipina, 2007; Zaretskaya and Uspenskaya, 2007; Zaretskaya, 2010].

4. The tradition of making "irons" originated in the depths of the economy of the appropriating type. And in the future, at all stages of their existence, they remained belonging to collectives that had priority fishing, hunting and gathering, initially within the appropriating economy, and later as part of the early complex forms of economy. Of the 60 crops and cultural types where "irons" are recorded, only four are characterized by a relatively developed productive economy. Moreover, the PZHS of these latter are either isolated (the Jeytun and Shulaveri-Shomutepa cultures), or found in a sacred context (Maikop, Mound 31 archaisms, in the Treasure tract; the ritual complex of the Konstantinovskoye settlement) [Usacheva, 2005, pp. 19-20]. Moreover, it was found that the spread of the productive economy in the landscape niche of "irons" was the reason for their disappearance.

5. The existence of a certain set of standards was revealed, which was followed by all manufacturers of PJI for eight millennia (X - II millennium BC). The raw material, the diameter of the groove and partly the size of the "iron" were regulated. The morphology of objects, as well as the decor, judging by the large variability of forms, was not standardized. Soft, non-abrasive rocks, such as talc, talc-carbonate, talc-chlorite shales, chlorite, steatite, etc., were given priority in raw materials (over 76 %, although most likely this percentage is greatly underestimated). In addition to their softness, they also have a number of common properties, in particular, fire resistance in conjunction with heat resistance and heat capacity [Shekov, Myasnikova, Ivanov, 2010, pp. 171-172; Talc]. There are many facts that indicate that this feature of these breeds was well known to the ancient peoples and was purposefully used by them (see, for example, [Semenov, 1968, p. 30]). The same quality is inherent in the baked clay, from which part of the "irons"is made.

6. It was found that the traces of harmony in the grooves on products from all territories are of the same type, while on other surfaces they are sporadic and specific for different regions. The most widespread are thin longitudinal linear traces and individual transverse risks in the grooves, which indicate the processing of thin rounded objects (such as arrow shafts and javelins) [Krizhevskaya, 1968, p. 69; Korobkova, 1963, p. 217; etc.]) from soft elastic materials (Aleksashenko, 2004, p. 248), but not bone or wood (as the experiment showed, wood leaves other traces). Quite often there is a polish with a dark "carbonaceous" shade, sometimes fracturing. The kinematics of movements is reconstructed as reciprocating (longitudinal linear traces) and rotational (transverse risks). [Korobkova, 1963, p. 217; Aleksashenko, 2004, p. 248-249].

7. Mass fragmentation of products (approx. 55 %) was noted without traces of mechanical impact (impact)*. The ragged nature of the fracture with a pronounced softness of the initial mineral raw material, which responds well to sawing and abrasive processing [Aleksashenko, 2004, pp. 245-247], but is not very suitable for impact, can be regarded as direct evidence in favor of the thermal nature of splitting "irons". The fact that the stones could have been exposed to fire is indicated by the conditions of finding individual objects (Zuukh-7, Mongolia - the "iron" lay in situ in a fire pit [Fairservice, 1993, p. 41]; Roza Vetrov-2, Trans - Urals-the same context (oral report by A. A. Tkachev), etc.). Previously, the idea of a possible connection with the high - temperature effect of such indicators as the "carbonaceous" tint of polishing grooves, the presence of the smallest carbonaceous inclusions in the surface microrelief, fracturing and traces of a roasting crust was expressed [Aleksashenko, 2004, pp. 248-251]. Finally, this is directly evidenced by the results of X-ray diffractometric and petrographic analyses performed in the Sackler laboratory at Columbia University, where two Middle Eastern samples were examined. Both analyses showed the presence of traces of strong heating (Drew, 1970).

* A purposeful search for such traces gave a negative result. The only exceptions are deliberately damaged "irons" from burials of the last period of their existence (burials Borovyanka-17, Ust-Isha).

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Discussion of the facts and justification of the reconstruction of the functional purpose of "irons"

The conclusion following from the above observations seems to be quite unambiguous: "irons" initially had a utilitarian function. This is directly indicated by the rigidly defined set of raw materials, metric and paleogeographic standards, as well as the ecological and economic background of the time of the appearance of SGI. Together with the phenomenon of multiculturalism, these facts automatically exclude the purely sacred and/or social spheres from the scope of application, except, perhaps, for the last period of existence. The conditions of occurrence and wide distribution in similar landscapes allow us to consider "irons" as a certain innovation, which, being stimulated by the ecological crisis of the turn of the Pleistocene and Holocene, retained its significance at least until the third millennium BC. Its significance in the life support system of societies with an appropriating economy is evidenced by the territorial and chronological framework of the findings. With the transition of native cultures of this natural niche to progressive forms of management, the need for this function gradually disappeared and disappeared.

The most consistent way to combine the above observations is to combine the features of paleogeography of finds (selectivity of landscape and topographical environment), petrographic characteristics (predominance of refractory raw materials), trace data (uniformity of traces of harmony in the groove and their specific features), the nature of destruction (thermal), as well as the economic orientation of carrier crops (dependence on the appropriating type of economy). - there is a hypothesis about the use of "irons" as a tool for making (straightening) light (reed) shafts of arrows and javelins. It is easy, according to landscape and geographical priorities, because, to paraphrase S. A. Semenov, in nature there are not so often completely straight cane stalks suitable for making shafts [1968, p.108]. The essence of the innovative technology is reduced to straightening knotty blanks on a preheated "iron" through a delicate impact on them in the technique of pressure with elements of rotation and reciprocating movements. It is significantly different from the one used for making shafts from wood rods. Rod straightening is carried out using the bending technique, and here simple "pinchers" - wooden, bone and stone perforated tools that made it possible to fix and hold the bending point-have always been more convenient and effective (Fig. 3) [Ibid., p. 109]. In the Neolithic period of Europe and Asia, abrasive techniques were also widely used for the manufacture of wooden shafts using specialized sandstone tools in the form of one or two half-cylinders or bars with a longitudinal groove on the flat side (Fig. 4) [Muller-Karpe, 1968, taf. 134 - 27 - 29; 201-B-10, S-1; 400-1-4; Neolithic..., 1996; Gorodtsov, 1915; et al.]. In addition to straightening, they made it possible to perform abrasive surface treatment (leveling and grinding) and calibration of products [Semenov, 1968, pp. 109-110]. Effective for wood, both of these techniques are completely unsuitable for reeds due to the initial fragility of the latter. The reliability of this hypothesis is convincingly confirmed by the peculiarities of the territorial distribution of different types of straighteners: in the steppe zone of Eurasia, there are "irons" and in fact there are no sandstone abrasive calibrators; in the forest zone, from Western Europe to Eastern Siberia, the latter are recorded

Figure 3. Wooden shaft straighteners from the North American Ethnographic Collection of the American Museum of Natural History (see the catalog number in parentheses below).

1-USA, California (50/3243); 2-Canada (60.1 / 3367); 3-USA, Arizona (50.2 / 1606); 4-USA, Oklahoma (50.2 / 184); 5-USA, Oregon (50/7163); b-USA, New Mexico (50.1 / 2848). 1, 5 -wood; 2, b-bone; 3, 4-horn.

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4. Longitudinally grooved sandstone abrasive calibrators. 1,4,5,10-Greece (according to [Muller-Karpe, 1968]); 2-Central Russia (according to [Gorodtsov, 1915]); 5-Far East (according to [Neolithic..., 1996]); b-Yakutia(according to [Tamzhe]); 7-Eastern Siberia (by: [Ibid.]); 8, 9-Czechoslovakia (by: [Muller-Karpe, 1968]).

Image scale: 1.4-10-approx. 1/4 of full size; 2, 3 - not specified in publications. everywhere, but there are no" irons"; both are noted in the contact forest-steppe zone.

American archaeologists R. L. and R. S. Soleki came to a close conclusion regarding the Middle Eastern "grooved stones", which "suddenly appear in monuments with an Epipaleolithic or Proto-Neolithic cultural context" and in all respects (context, morphology, petrography, etc.) are the earliest "irons", who paid special attention to them attention [Solecki R. L., Solecki R. S., 1970]. Based on their own set of proofs, they proved the multifunctional nature of grooved products, but mainly as straighteners of reed shafts with the use of heating in work [Ibid., p. 838]. The main focus of the study was made on ethnographic parallels, which were found quite a lot among the American Indians and the bushmen of South Africa, as well as on the results of X-ray diffractometric analysis given above.

Javelins and arrows with a reed shaft are a widespread phenomenon and have been described many times. They are recorded in Australia, North and South America, Africa, and South Asia in both ethnographic (North American Pomo Indians, Apaches, Havasupai, Paviotso, Yuma, etc., Mexican Cocopah, Guiana Juka, New Zealand Maori, etc.) and historical (weapons of the Egyptian army, Middle Eastern archers, Scythians) contexts. In primitive societies, they were usually used to hunt birds, small animals, and fish. For hunting large animals, combined darts (reed +wood) were more often used [Semenov, 1968, p. 4]. 96 - 97,123 - 124,336]. A reed dart with a massive tip, skillfully launched from a spear thrower, was capable of piercing through a person protected by a shell [Webb, 1981, p.9-10].

Common or southern cane (Phragmites australis or Phragmites communis) and giant arundo (Arundo donaxL., Arundogiant) (Chernikov, 1970, p. 90-91; Hunter,1992, p. 60; etc.). There is evidence of the use of sugar for these purposes. reeds and specially grown cereals (Hyparrhenia rufa (Nees) Stapf (?)) [Semenov, 1968, pp. 123-124]. All these plants have a multi-node, but unbranched stem up to 3 - 5 m high. The common reed is almost cosmopolitan. It is widely distributed on all continents, both in the tropics and in temperate zones (Africa, America, Australia, North and South Eurasia). The range of the arundo is narrower -it grows mainly in the Mediterranean, Western, Central and Southern Asia, and the Caucasus [Tsvetkovye rasteniya, 1982, p. 355, 370].

There are several methods of making cane shafts, both with and without special straighteners. R. L. and R. S. Soleki provide a selection of ethnographic evidence on the manufacture of cane shafts using a straightener [Solecki R. L., Solecki R. S., 1970, p. 836-837]. For example, among the bushmen of South Africa, " the shafts were made of such reeds as grow along the Orange River. This reed was rarely perfectly straight, and since the slightest flaw affected the arrow's flight, which was significant, they had to correct it. To correct such defects, the bushmen used grooved stones. These stones were made of a material that did not crumble in the fire; sometimes pebbles were used, sometimes a specially designed piece of rock was used for this purpose. On one side of them, a groove was made so wide that the reed could fit into it. The stone was heated in a fire, and the reed was pushed back and forth along the hot stone groove until steam was released from the softened fibers, which allowed any curvature to be straightened out.

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Figure 5. Reed shaft straighteners from the North American Ethnographic Collection of the American Museum of Natural History (see the catalog number in parentheses below). 1-3, 8.11 - USA, Arizona (1 - 50.1/4521, 2 - 50.1/4522, 3 - 50.1/4523, 8 - 50/8669, 11 - 29.0/1170); 4, 5, 7- Mexico, Sonora (4 - 29.0/1503, 5 - 29.0/1566, 7 - 50.1/4851); 6 - USA, Arizona (?) (50/9631); 9, 10 - USA, New Mexico (9 - 29.1/8819, 10 -29.0/1326).

a research project. When the cane cooled down, it retained its straightness" (Dunn, 1931, pp. 69-70). Among the American Indians in southern California, to straighten reed arrows, "a cross-grooved steatite rectangle was placed in a fire. Among the tribes that know how to make ceramics, clay could be used instead of steatite" (Kroeber, 1925, p. 818). In Northwestern Arizona, where reed arrows predominate, "arrow cane... going green. To straighten them, the curved part is pressed into the ash placed on a flat stone, or into the groove of the shaft straightener... Stones for this purpose are preheated in the fire. Connections are aligned" [Spier, 1928, p. 150]. In Northern Nevada and surrounding areas of California, " reeds were straightened in grooves on stone straighteners. Several straighteners made of dense steatite with one or more transverse grooves were found... Stone straighteners were heated on fire, the boom was pressed and rubbed in the groove" [Steward, 1933, p. 260].

It is interesting to note that grooved tools, according to ethnographic data, were never used for making wooden shafts. This applies even to cases where both wood and reed billets were used within the same ethnic group (Solecki R. L., Solecki R. S., 1970, p. 836-837). Judging by the above description, the tool for straightening cane shafts is absolutely identical to the Eurasian "irons". This is also convincingly confirmed by photographs of straighteners kindly provided by the American Museum of Natural History (Figure 5). The ethnography of North American Indians also provides direct evidence for the assumption made earlier that the relative small number of "irons" is due to the specialization of skill and its concentration in the hands of elderly people or cripples (Usacheva, 2009). "For accurate archery, it was important how well the arrows were made, and therefore the Indians greatly appreciated the people who could make them... Making arrows required patience, accuracy, and high skill... The Crow highly valued well-made arrows, and ten arrows could be valued at one horse. They usually had old people or cripples as their arrow makers... Old men made arrows for the men who lived under the same roof with them, who used them in war or hunting. Ten completed arrows were valued at one buffalo hide... Sioux White Hawk said that arrows were usually ordered from the arrow maker for a hundred pieces at a time. Kamachi also greatly valued old people who were able to make excellent arrows... "[Stukalin, 2008, pp. 290-291].

Conclusion

Thus, based on a combination of morphological, traceological, petrographic, contextual, comparative-historical and ethnographic data, it can be argued that the proposed version of the use of "irons" as a tool for straightening reed shafts of arrows today is the most well-reasoned among utilitarian hypotheses. At the same time, one cannot but agree with R. L. and R. S. Soleki that this function was the main one, but not the only one for a number of samples, as indicated by various traces of harmony, which are sometimes recorded outside the groove. The size of the range of" irons " allows us to look from a new perspective at the history of the development of throwing weapons in Northern Eurasia, indicating, in particular, a much earlier appearance here (at least from the Mesolithic era) and a much wider distribution of projectile weapons in Northern Eurasia.-

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the use of reed arrows and javelins, as evidenced by historical sources. The importance of the technology marked with "irons" for the life support of the population focused on the appropriating type of economy, in the zone of treeless and sparsely wooded spaces, should have been very high, which is confirmed by the territorial and chronological framework of its existence. And as such, like any other technology of antiquity, it inevitably had to be accompanied by a rich symbolic content directly related to the worldview of hunters and fishermen.

Acknowledgements

The author expresses his deep gratitude to the colleagues who entrusted him with the processing and publication of their materials, and also sincerely thanks the staff of the Anthropology Department of the American Museum of Natural History for the opportunity to study and publish museum exhibits.

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