SOCIOCULTURAL SPACE IN THE LATE STONE AGE

The present-day archaeology of the Stone Age is aimed at searching the new methodological approaches based on the analysis of artifacts in order to help modeling the history of ancient societies. The adaptation of main historical and sociological concepts, definitions and terms to archaeological research will broaden the scope of possible interpretations of archaeological sources. The main aim of the paper is to examine the possibility of using a concept of "sociocultural space" in archaeology. The author considersthe sociological meaning of the concept and tries to identify the main features of the traditions in the Mesolithic-EneolithicTrans-Urals. Mapping sites with the main traditions revealed sociocultural space of the Trans-Ural population of the late Stone Age. In this context, "sociocultural space" means both natural and cultural spaces; its boundaries are delineated by cultural traditions and traces of synchronic and diachronic interactions. The author states that sociocultural space is a space in which social processes are culturally mediated and available to us in artifacts as objectified social needs. It combines the concepts of space (physical and social), material (material culture and social needs reflected in it) and time.