Archaeological research on the Shilka River in Transbaikal Region: 1954-2024

This year, field studies of the dynamics of ethnic-cultural development in the Shilka Basin in ancient times and the early medieval period have been continued. The field season was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of archaeological exploration on the Shilka River by A.P. Okladnikov in 1954. The studies marked the start of the era of the Far Eastern Archaeological Expedition in the archaeological study of Eastern Transbaikal and the Amur Region. It was the first comprehensive archaeological survey of the Shilka basin, which was a "blank spot" on the archaeological map of Siberia and the Far East. In 1954, extensive reconnaissance research and excavations in the middle and lower Shilka basin resulted in deriving the first extensive data on the ethnogenetic history of the region population. New archaeological sites of various types and chronological periods were discovered by the expedition team. For the first time, a source base for studying the ancient and medieval era was compiled for this region. Then, there was long gap in the archaeological studies in this area. The publication of the 1954 expedition report stimulated the start of a new stage in the study of the archaeology of the middle and lower reaches of the Shilka River. The Shilka Detachment of the IAET SB RAS has been conducting systematic research in this Transbaikal region since 2007. The conducted research has provided new data for studying the process of cultural adaptation of Mohe groups - migrants from the Middle Amur region to a new territory. In addition, archaeological monitoring of the sites discovered in 1954 is constantly being carried out, new Stone Age and medieval sites have been discovered. During river rafting on the Shilka we followed the route of the Amur Detachment of the Far Eastern Archaeological Expedition (2014, 2015, and 2024). In 2024, we covered a 200 km route along the Shilka from the Gorbitsa to the border of the Amur Region.