Recent data on the terminal stone age history of the Samus area in the Tomsk region

The surroundings of the village of Samus have been known to researchers of antiquities for more than half a century. Settlement and burial sites ranging from the Neolithic to the medieval period were discovered and explored in this area. The Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures, primarily the Samus Bronze culture, are most widely known. At present, the economy of these ancient communities is considered appropriating. It is based on hunting and fishing. This is indicated by the location of the settlement sites near watercourses and occurrences of fishing equipment, primarily sinkers, in the archaeological assemblages. The nearest reservoir to the settlement was the fishing area; but it is more difficult to outline the boundary of the hunting grounds of an ancient population. During the inspection of the coastal strip of Lake Krugloye in the eastern outskirts of the village of Samus, fragments of utilized stone tools and stone splitting products were found. The test pits in the coastal part and on the adjoining ridges of the aeoline origin have shown that the area of distribution of these objects is limited to the lake beach. The technical characteristics of the discovered spalls and fragments of the used tools suggest their attribution to the Late Neolithic - Early Bronze Age. This time range is indicated by the occurrence in the collection of a fragment of a polished adze-shaped tool, parallels to it can be found in artifact collections dating from the late Neolithic to the emergence of the Samus culture in the Bronze Age. The discovered facts have been interpreted from the point of view of the theory of resource zones, which describes the regularities in the use of various landscapes by ancient collectives practicing various types of economy. Prospects for further search and study of such objects are seen in the correction of existing ideas about the location of the settlement sites of this period.