Abstract

An important factor in the analysis of Mesolithic settlement organisation is the appearance of repeated and characteristic distribution patterns in the small objects. Such patterns are often easier to distinguish than to interpret in terms of cultural behaviour. Meanwhile the interpretation is essential if the analysis shall lead to more meaningful results than a categorisation of sites based on morphological elements. The paper presents the results of the Ethnoarchaeological investigations Oleg Kuznetsov and I have carried out among the Evenkian reindeer-hunters of the Northern Transbaikal, Siberia, who still live in accordance with their old religion. The Evenks are forest hunters. The focus is on site-formation with an important point being the understanding of the processes that lead to the formation of repeated patterns on the settlements. The investigations are carried out as a combination of interviews and excavations of recent settlements, so that the information obtained in the interviews can be checked by field observations and vice versa. We have obtained information on dwelling and settlement organisation, cleaning and maintenance of the sites, handling of different categories of waste, difference between sites from different seasons etc. One preliminary conclusion is that cleaning, ritual behaviour and cosmos concepts have a strong impact on the deposition of items on the sites. Another is that small objects found inside the Evenkian dwellings seem to have been exposed to minimal intentional redepositioning and therefore may be used to distinguish regular activity areas.