The book is intended for archaeologists, historians, as well as a wide range of readers interested in Stone Age archeology and modern research methods. The collection includes articles by leading experts in Stone Age archeology and experimental-trasological analysis from Russia, France, Spain, Ukraine and Bulgaria. The chronological and geographical coverage of published materials and research is quite wide - from the French Jura and the Spanish coast of the Atlantic to Western Siberia, from the Oldovan era to the Eneolithic. A special place is occupied by the problems of the first inhabitants of the Caucasus. For the first time, the question of traces, the study of which gives the key to understanding history, has also been raised to the theoretical level. The collection is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Head of the Experimental and Trasological Laboratory of the IIMK RAS, Doctor of History V.E. Shchelinsky, an outstanding researcher of ancient human history, a recognized meter and developer of the trasological method of studying stone artifacts