B.K. Kadikov's workshop: new stone age site in Gorny Altai

The article provides data from a preliminary analysis of the archaeological collection from a new Stone Age site in the Altai Mountains, the B.K. Kadikov ’s workshop, studies the history and circumstances of the discovery of this archaeological object. The site was discovered by the famous Altai explorer B.K. Kadikov in 1987. His collection of archaeologicalfinds was kept in the Museum of Local Lore in Biysk for a long time, although information about the site was not published. Thanks to the revision of the archaeological funds of the museum, in 2022, the collection was found. Based on the data from the accompanying note, illustrating the location of the site and the circumstances of the discovery, we identified the site in the field. As a result of the exploration work, three points of concentration of surface findings and several single artifacts were identified. The collection includes 145 artifacts. A combination of several strategies for the primary processing of stone raw materials is characteristic of the lithic industry of the B.K. Kadikov’s workshop. Primary knapping was based on the technologies for obtaining blades and bladelets, including miniature microblades, from longitudinal, less often bidirectional volumetric cores. A significant place in the lithic assemblage is occupied by the production of relatively large bifaces and small arrowheads using bifacial thinning techniques. The composition of the archaeological collection allowed us to consider the object as a workshop site near the outcrops of flint raw materials. Based on the data on geomorphology of the site and available parallels, we propose to consider the B.K. Kadikov ’s workshop as a manifestation of the Mesolithic-Early Neolithic cultures of the region.