M. Shvetsov

A. Gorelik

The authors publish a unique object of Stone Age art engraved on the surface of a slate pebble found in the dump of a construction trench on a bank of Orlovka, a small steppe river in the central part of the Donetsk ridge. No cultural layers were discovered, since the site was destroyed in the process of construction works. Despite the lack of datable layers, the artifact may be tentatively dated to the Neolithic on the basis of the style of engraving, of secondary use as a retoucher and of flint tools found in the same area. The engraved composition consists of vertical parallel lines incised from both lateral sides of the artifact and of transversal parallel lines from one side (“stairs” motif) which join the two main ornamental fields on the lateral sides. It should be noted that different kinds of colours were used to create the images and that slight traces of them could still be found on the surface of the artifact. Like other similar objects of Stone Age art all over Eurasia, the pebble may have served as a kind of media. Later use of engraved pebbles as retouchers (changing from the sacred to the profane) was proved. We assume that the engraved pebble from Shakhtersk was used in the same way.