Organic and elemental composition of fire residue in the Holocene deposits of the Selungur cave (Southern Kyrgyzstan) with assessment of the fuel type

Selungur Cave is located in Southern Kyrgyzstan at an altitude of 1900 m above seal level. It is one of the key archaeological sites in Central Asia, where cultural layers from MIS 5 to the present time have been preserved. Although the Pleistocene layers have been studied in detail, the Holocene deposits have not been analyzed and were only been mentioned in the publications. During the surveys in 2019, 2021-2023, a small area of the Holocene deposits in the central part of the cave was unearthed and excavated. These deposits represent a series of stratifiedfire pits and are typical of caves and rock shelters where cattle breeders actively settled. These deposits were subjected to a series of analyses, some of which were aimed at determining the type offuel used in fires. XRF analysis has shown that the main type offuel for the middle unit of sediments was straw and manure. Top and bottom layers of the stratigraphic profile were strongly contaminated and it was not possible to obtain reliable results for them. According to GC-MS analysis, residues of higher plants and combustion products of plant material were found in all samples. Markers of dung were also found in most of the layers, which together suggests the use of grasses and dung as fuel forfire. The research shows good prospects for studyingfire pits at archaeological sites. The study of deposits of anthropogenic origin makes it possible to reconstruct adaptation strategies of ancient humans even if archaeological collections are not available.