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<article article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xml:lang="en"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">nsc</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title xml:lang="en">Archaeology, Ethnology &amp; Anthropology of Eurasia</journal-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title>Археология, этнография и антропология Евразии</trans-title></trans-title-group></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="ppub">1563-0110</issn><publisher><publisher-name>IAET SB RAS</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.3.023-035</article-id><article-id custom-type="elpub" pub-id-type="custom">nsc-2262</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Research Article</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="section-heading" xml:lang="en"><subject>PALEOENVIRONMENT. THE STONE AGE</subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="section-heading" xml:lang="ru"><subject>ПАЛЕОЭКОЛОГИЯ. КАМЕННЫЙ ВЕК</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>«Caches» in Mammoth Skulls at Sites of the Kostenki-Avdeyevo Culture (Zaraysk and Kostenki 1 layer I)</article-title><trans-title-group xml:lang="ru"><trans-title></trans-title></trans-title-group></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9306-2806</contrib-id><name-alternatives><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Lev</surname><given-names>S. Y.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="en"><p>Lev S.Y., Researcher</p><p>Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117292</p></bio><email xlink:type="simple">zaraysk@yandex.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes"><contrib-id contrib-id-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4144-6490</contrib-id><name-alternatives><name name-style="western" xml:lang="en"><surname>Zheltova</surname><given-names>M. N.</given-names></name></name-alternatives><bio xml:lang="en"><p>Zheltova M.N., Researcher</p><p>Dvortsovaya nab. 18, St. Petersburg, 191181</p></bio><email xlink:type="simple">mpraslova@mail.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-2"/></contrib></contrib-group><aff-alternatives id="aff-1"><aff xml:lang="en">Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences<country>Russian Federation</country></aff></aff-alternatives><aff-alternatives id="aff-2"><aff xml:lang="en">Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences<country>Russian Federation</country></aff></aff-alternatives><pub-date pub-type="collection"><year>2025</year></pub-date><pub-date pub-type="epub"><day>09</day><month>10</month><year>2025</year></pub-date><volume>53</volume><issue>3</issue><fpage>23</fpage><lpage>35</lpage><permissions><copyright-statement>Copyright &amp;#x00A9; Lev S.Y., Zheltova M.N., 2025</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2025</copyright-year><copyright-holder xml:lang="ru">Lev S.Y., Zheltova M.N.</copyright-holder><copyright-holder xml:lang="en">Lev S.Y., Zheltova M.N.</copyright-holder><license license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple"><license-p>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.</license-p></license></permissions><self-uri xlink:href="https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/2262">https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/2262</self-uri><abstract><p>We analyze the archaeological evidence of the deliberate placement of valuables («caches») in mammoth skulls at sites of the Eastern Gravettian Kostenki-Avdeyevo culture (Zaraysk A, E, F, and Kostenki 1 layer I). Six such finds are examined, specifically their spatial arrangement, stratigraphic context, and composition. Special attention is paid to the connection of «caches» with living structures (semi-subterranean dwellings) and ritual complexes, as evidenced by the presence of ocher, specific placement of artifacts, etc. A classification of «caches» is suggested: lost (accidentally left), returnable (intended for subsequent retrieval), and irretrievable (ritual sacrifices). The composition of such complexes is diverse. A «special» cache at Zaraysk E contained 24 artifacts including Kostenki knives, placed in the alveolus of a mammoth skull; at Kostenki 1, a spatula made of a rib with a figured top had been hidden in the skull. Notably, the tradition of using mammoth skulls for storing valuables has been traced over a long period of time at sites of the Upper Paleolithic Kostenki-Avdeyevo archaeological culture belonging to the Eastern Gravettian. It was practiced on the Russian Plain even after the LGM at sites of the Anosovo-Mezin type, representing another cultural tradition. Our findings indicate a complex interaction of utilitarian and symbolic practices among ancient hunters, expanding our knowledge of their worldview.</p></abstract><kwd-group xml:lang="en"><kwd>Upper Paleolithic</kwd><kwd>Gravettian</kwd><kwd>Zaraysk</kwd><kwd>Kostenki 1 (I)</kwd><kwd>Kostenki-Avdeyevo culture</kwd><kwd>cache</kwd></kwd-group><funding-group xml:lang="en"><funding-statement>S.Y. Lev’s study was part of Research and Experimental Project 122011200271-7 «Evolution of Material Culture in the Stone Age of the Russian Plain and Caucasus: General Trends and Local Manifestations»; that of M.N. Zheltova, of the Basic Research Project «Northern Eurasia in the Stone Age: Problems of Human Dispersal, Cultural Adaptation, and Technological Evolution» (FMZF-2025-0007). Our sincere gratitude is due to N.A. Lazarevskaya of the Photographic Department of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS Archives for her invaluable help and support.</funding-statement></funding-group></article-meta></front><back><ref-list><title>References</title><ref id="cit1"><label>1</label><citation-alternatives><mixed-citation xml:lang="ru">Amirkhanov H.A. 2000 Zaraiskaya stoyanka. Moscow: Nauch. mir.</mixed-citation><mixed-citation xml:lang="en">Amirkhanov H.A. 2000 Zaraiskaya stoyanka. Moscow: Nauch. mir.</mixed-citation></citation-alternatives></ref><ref id="cit2"><label>2</label><citation-alternatives><mixed-citation xml:lang="ru">Amirkhanov H.A. 2009 Zaraysk A: Kharakteristika obyektov tretiego kulturnogo sloya. In Issledovaniya paleolita v Zarayske. 1999–2005. Moscow: Paleograf, pp. 15–36.</mixed-citation><mixed-citation xml:lang="en">Amirkhanov H.A. 2009 Zaraysk A: Kharakteristika obyektov tretiego kulturnogo sloya. In Issledovaniya paleolita v Zarayske. 1999–2005. 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