The Mesolithic of the Forest-Steppe Don Area: Retrospective and Prospective Reviews1

Mesolithic cultures from the forest-steppe Don area are analyzed with respect to the East European archaeological context. The author reviews the historiography of this issue, available sources, and the potential for cultural reconstructions. The role of the forest-steppe Don area sites in the East European Mesolithic is determined, and the existing concepts of the cultural attribution, periodization and chronology of the sites, as well as dispersal areas of certain Mesolithic cultures of this region, are revised. Available sources suggest that the origin and historical development of these cultures are not related to either the local terminal Paleolithic or Neolithic.