Archaeological surveys in the valley of the Askiz river and around mount Tersky in the Republic of Khakassia in 2019

In 2019, field studies of IAE SB RAS in the Republic of Khakassia in the areas intended for economic development focused on describing the known archaeological sites and discovering new sites. Burial grounds of the Bronze Age (Tersky Log) and Podgornovsky period of the Tagar culture (Saragash-1 burial ground of the barrow type, Sargash-3 burial mound) were examined in the northern survey area in the Northern Minusinsk (Chulym-Yenisei) Depression. Western survey area was located in the foothills of the Khakass-Minusinsk Depression, at the exit of the Askiz River from the mountain valley to the steppe. Survey works resulted in discovering encampment sites as well as burial and commemorative complexes from the Bronze Age to the ethnographic period, including burial grounds of the barrow type Kazanovka-12 (Bronze Age, Tagar culture), Kazanovka-6, Stantsiya Kazanovskaya-1, and Stantsiya Kazanovskaya-2; burial mounds of Kazanovka-8, Stantsiya Kazanovskaya-3, and Stantsiya Kazanovskaya-4 (Tagar culture); burial grounds Kazanovka-10 (Tashtyk culture, Middle Ages) and Kazanovka-9 (Karasuk culture); sites of Yugachi-1 (Tagar culture, ethnographic modernity) and Kazanovka-11 (Tashtyk culture, Middle Ages) as well as steles at Kazanovka-7 and Stantsiya Kazanovskaya-5 (Bronze Age-Early Iron Age) in the vicinity of the villages of Birikchul, Yugachi, and Kazanovka, and near the Kazanovskaya railway station. All sites which have been explored are located in the zone of active anthropogenic impact; they show traces of disturbance resulting from construction, agricultural activities, and fire suppression works, and require conservation measures in the course of economic projects. Survey results foster discussion on the boundaries of burial grounds of the barrow type, individually standing stones, local features of planigraphy in burial grounds and burial and commemoration structures, as well as cultural and chronological attribution of archaeological sites visible in the terrain.