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The authors present the results of 2021 field archaeological research carried out in at the Komudwanу Terminal Paleolithic site located in the estuarine part of the Manya river (Oktyabrsky District of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug). The research was directed to study the geomorphological and geological features in the vicinity of the site, to specify the stratigraphic position of the cultural layers and to get new archaeological materials. The terrace and cape sections of the site as well as the adjacent areas were examined, surface finds were searched, several excavation trenches and a test pit were established (total area 10 m2). High water level in the river Manya did not allow explorations of the floodplain area of the site. The detailed stratigraphy description of the terrace and cape sections has been made, which testify to simultaneity of the uncovered archaeological materials; the geomorphological and geological features of the site area and the estuarine part of the Manya river has been clarified; the derived data testify the presence of humans 15-14 cal kyr BP. In the excavation trench on the terrace-like area, the upper bone-bearing level (layer 4) was excavated over the area of 8 sq. m, the medial bone-bearing level (layer 5) was discovered for the first time; 29 bones, of which all definable bones were those of mammoth, and 10 lithic artifacts were found in the upper bone-bearing level. Stone assemblage includes a spall with utilization retouch, flakes, shatters and a chip. Komudvany is the northernmost Terminal Paleolithic site on the West Siberian Plain.

The article describes the results of exploration works in the lower reaches of the Ob (Shuryshkarsky district of the YNAO) in 2021. The coastline of the right bank of the Ob was studied in three main areas: near the villages of Khashgort, Kushevat and the Sormas channel. In total, 13 pits and 2 excavation trenches were made with a total area of 70 sq. m. The coastline near the village of Khashgort revealed paleofaunal materials and stone artifacts of the Paleolithic type. The main excavations were carried out at the Kushevat Paleolithic site discovered in 2020. Archaeological and paleofaunal materials were recorded in the alluvial deposits of two excavation trenches with a total area of 44 sq.m at an unnamed inflow of the Ob. The excavations revealed tree bone-bearing layers; stone artifacts, charcoal pieces, and non-utilitarian items were recovered from the lowermost layer. Archaeological materials (2 specimens) are represented by a small spall and an exhausted core of the parallel reduction pattern. The paleofaunal material numbering 110 units (bones, horns, teeth, and fragments) is mainly represented by the remains of a reindeer.Thus, in the field season of 2021, a new locus of the surface occurrence of the Paleolithic materials was identified supporting previous identification of a cultural layer at Kushevat. As a result, taking into account the stratigraphic situation at the site and the preliminary results of radiocarbon dating, the Kushevat site is currently the northernmost and most ancient of the known Paleolithic sites known in the Ob valley. Apparently, the derived data indicate the earliest, pioneering stage of Homo sapiens sapiens habitation of the subarctic zone during MIS3 in the range of 45-30 ka BP.

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.