Culture énéolithique de Botaï-Tersek au Kazakhstan septentrional

The final period of the Palaeolithic in Northern Kazakhstan is highly represented by Eneolithic sites of the Botai-Tersek culture. This paper provides an overview and principal information on the material criteria of this culture. The major sites are the Botai, the Krasnyj Yar I, the Vasilkovka IV, the Kozhai 1 and the Kumkeshu 1. They are situated in two regions bordering Northern Kazakhstan. These are the Turgay depression and the north-western part of the Sary-Arka region. These large sites were occupied for a long time. They are represented by dozens and hundreds of semi-buried habitats. The faunal assemblage from the major sites is predominated by horse bones. The material is best represented by lithic and bone tools, ceramics and engraved phalanges of horses and other ungulate species. The collections are abundant and very diversified. The knapping is based both on the production of flake tools and bifacial retouching. The collections are dominated by lithic and bone tools for hunting and for treatment of raw materials of animal origin. The round-based, low-streamlined ceramic vessels are decorated with geometric compositions with straight lines. The major questions are about the development and origine of the Botai-Tersek culture.