Archaeological work at the early Upper Paleolithic site of Sabanikha 3 (Middle Yenisei)

The article provides the results of field research at the Sabanikha 3 Upper Paleolithic site. The 2022 field work is a continuation of the 2020 survey. The main objectives of the 2022 field work were to obtain an in situ assemblage of archaeological materials, to clarify the stratigraphic situation, and to take samples for absolute dating (OSL, AMS). The main pit (13 sq. m) was made in a coastal escarpment, and timed to coincide with the 2020 stripping. The cultural layer was observed at a depth of 5.6 m, above the buried Karginsky paleosol. The cultural layer is subdivided into two habitation horizons. The first habitation horizon confined to the upper and middle parts of the cultural layer is an area associated with the manufacture and use of pebble tools and other tooling activities. The main object of the second habitat horizon are the remains of a fire place, around which lithic artifacts and faunal remains of large ungulates and a predator of the canine genus are located. Archaeological materials from both habitation horizons belong to the same complex. The primary reduction of this complex is aimed at obtaining blades from uni- and bidirectional cores. The toolkit is dominated by the tools on blades, such as end scrapers on retouched and unretouched blades, points and intensely retouched blades. In addition to tools, two non-utilitarian objects, stone pendants, were found. Comparison of the lithic industry of Sabanikha 3 with other complexes of the Early Upper Paleolithic of the Yenisei River (Malaya Syya Derbina IV, V, Ust-Maltat II, Pokrovka II) suggests that they belong to the same cultural tradition, which existed in the Yenisei River basin 35-21 thousand years ago.