Geophysical and archeological research of Biyka-1 cave in Altai

The article provides the results of the archeological and geophysical study of the Biyka-1 cave in 2020. The cave is a part of the Biykinskiy cave complex located in the territory of the Chemal region in the Altai Republic. The first studies of the Biyka-1 cave were carried out in the early 1990s. Four cultural horizons were identified in the cave, which contained short-term fair places, representative paleofaunal and archaeological collections. According to a series of radiocarbon dates and typological analysis of lithic industries, the cave was inhabited in the Middle Paleolithic to Neolithic period. In 2020, a geophysical study was carried out in the cave to determine the deepness of sediments in the cave's galleries and traces of their disturbance. In one cave's section a rectangular anomaly was defined, which could be caused by anthropogenic or lithological factors. To check it, a pit was dug, which exposed deposits up to 1.5 m thick, including four lithological layers. The most representative archaeological and paleofaunal materials are represented in Layer 3, where 17 lithic artifacts were found, most of which are made of high-quality siliceous raw material. Paleofaunal material is represented primarily by Ovis and Capra, single teeth of horse (Equus ovodovi) are also identified, predators are represented by individual teeth ofwolf (Canis lupus) and cave hyaena (Crocuta spelaea). In general, the conducted geophysical study allowed determining with accuracy the deepness sediments in the investigated area. Archaeological excavations have shown that the recorded anomaly is associated with lithological processes, most likely, with blocks of limestone on the top of Layer 2. Based on this work, it was determined that the cave's galleries contain the Pleistocene sediments with a high concentration of archaeological and paleofaunal materials.