Search results

In 2019, the Russian-Kazakhstani archaeological expedition discovered the first stratified Mesolithic site in Eastern Kazakhstan — the Karasai site. The site is located in the mid-mountain part of the Shilikta Valley, about 1500 m asl. In the course of excavations a rich cultural layer (layer 2) with numerous artifacts of the Early Holocene age was recorded. The industry includes elements of all stages of lithic production, and the typological features of the primary knapping and the tool kit correspond to the Mesolithic time. This chronological characteristic is confirmed by a series of AMS- and OSL- dates in the range of 12000—9000 cal BP. The Karasai industry has a similarity with the complexes of the initial Holocene without geometric microliths in the Northern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia.

Data on the Pleistocene megafauna and the earliest evidence of the presence of Palaeolithic humans on the territory of the Northern Ob river region are analyzed. The data about the geological and geomorphological situation in the lower reaches of the Ob river is presented, the deposits of the Late Neopleistocene are characterized, and the main regularities in the taphonomy of megafaunal remains are described. Changes in the species composition of the Neopleistocene fauna from the right bank of the Big Ob and their chronology are established on the basis of numerous absolute dates obtained on bones. The results of the traceological analysis and dating of two mammoth tusk fragments with traces of human processing are presented. The authors provide information on 2020 field works on the Kushevatskaya channel and the Synya river, which gave new data on the early human settlement of the territory of the Lower Ob. It is concluded that the initial colonization of the region took place at the beginning of the Early Upper Palaeolithic, with first people coming presumably from the territory of the Urals.