Inter-site and Intra-site Comparison of Recycling in Paleolithic Surface Contexts of Central Kazakhstan

Archaeological surface deposits, where artifacts are exposed on the ground from the moment of initial discard, would have been ideal sources for scavenging recyclable material in the past. Long-term exposure of artifacts facilitates discovery for scavenging and recycling behaviors. Despite this, few studies explicitly investigate recycling in surface contexts. Here, we present a study of recycled artifacts from the Semizbugu site complex in Central Kazakhstan. The patterns of recycled artifacts at Semizbugu suggest recycling behaviors were frequent, yet spatially distinctive. We also find that recycling indicators occur most often on heavily weathered artifacts, lending support to the hypothesized relationship between exposure and recycling. Finally, we find evidence for highly redundant use of the Semizbugu landscape, which speaks to the use of surface deposits as raw material sources. The results from Semizbugu are further evidence that recycling was an important part of the technological skill set throughout the Paleolithic and should be considered as such.