The Upper Palaeolithic Bone Needle Cases of Siberia: An Overview

Purpose. Needle cases belong to “passive” bone tools, which store thin bone tools such as eyed needles or awls. Being an essential element of the technology of sewing complex clothing, needle cases and needles act as a marker of technological innovations, the spread of which in the Upper Palaeolithic contributed to the active population of the territory of Northern Eurasia. This study's objectives were to analyse and systematise published and archived data on the Upper Palaeolithic needle cases of Siberia and generalise the available information on the problems of interpreting the considered category of sewing kits, their archaeological, technological, cultural and chronological contexts. Results. The study results clearly show that the finds of bone needle cases have been identified and analysed in the materials of a minimal number of archaeological sites with different chronologies and associated with several cultural generations of the Upper Palaeolithic. Bone needle cases of Siberian sites, separated by hundreds and thousands of kilometres, show noticeable similarities in size, morphology, production technology, and ornamentation methods. Conclusion. Appearing for the first time in the Early Upper Palaeolithic, they are rare in Siberian sites and do not always accompany even mass finds of needles.