Archaeological exploration in the vicinity of the former Kotozhekov ulus

In 2018 archaeological exploration was carried out in the vicinity of the former ulus of the Kotozhekov on the northern outskirts of the Coibal steppes. The works were carried out within the framework of the examination of land plots in the Beisk coal field. Known and new archaeological heritage sites were located; the information on the formation of local relief in the Late Pleistocene was obtained. A set of geological test pits was established and the collected data confirmed the hypothesis on existence of a temporary dammed reservoir of about 17 thousand years ago, which formed the terrain of the Sorokoozerki locality. Archaeological sites are represented by camp and burial sites. The burial constructions from the Late Bronze Age to the ethnographic present were discovered including the compact group of burial complexes dating to the range of the middle of the 1st to the end of the 2nd millennium AD (Kotozhekov Chaatas) and the kurgan group of the Tagar culture surrounded by graves of the Tashtyk culture (Kotozhekov-1).