Studies at the Aktas upper paleolithic site in North Kazakhstan in 2021

In May 2021, a joint expedition of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS and the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan carried out archaeological survey at the Aktas site in northern Kazakhstan. The Aktas site is located on the flat top of a hill (420 m) with a quartzite rocky outcrop. The site was studied by V.N. Matvienko in 1982-1983. At that time, a representative collection of faunal remains (several thousand items) was recovered from the excavation area of 25 sq.m. It contains remains of Crocuta crocuta spelaea, Panthera leo spelaea, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Bos primigenius, Cervus elaphus. Occurrence of objects with traces of working and lithic products interpreted as tools allowed researchers to correlate the materials from this site with Upper Paleolithic human activities. The main task of the works in 2021 was to verify involvement of ancient humans information of the materials at the site and determination of its age. A new stratigraphic profile containing 6 lithological layers was established along the wall of the excavation trench of1982-1983. Faunal remains were mostly collected from layers 3 (brownish-gray sandy loam) and 4 (detrital horizon). In total, 82 animal bones were recovered including remains of Coelodonta antiquitatis, Equus ferus and Caprinae gen. No lithic artifacts were found, however, solitary bones bearing traces of probable anthropogenic impact (splitting, polishing) were found. The Aktas location on a hill excludes the possibility of bone-bed formation due to natural geological processes. The derived information makes it possible to link the accumulated materials at the site to anthropogenic activity. Based on the composition of faunal remains, Aktas was aged to late MIS 3 - early MIS 2.