Belev Culture

a Neolithic culture which developed between 4000 and 2000 B.C. along the upper Oka River, in the area of Belev and Serpukhov. The oldest site of the Belev culture was Gremiachevskaia, across from the mouth of the Zhizdra River, which dates from the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic period. Typical of the Belev culture was the making of flint tools out of large, knifelike plates. Characteristic are long, narrow flint daggers, scrapers on long plates, and microlithic arrowheads made from partly chipped-away stone plates. In ceramics, a checkered design of rhombic indentations is typical.