Development of the arctic and subarctic zone of the near Pechora area in the ancient time and the middle ages according to archeology

The earliest evidence of the presence of ancient people in the Arctic zone of the Pechora river basin was discovered on Mamontova Kurya and Byzovaya sites. These sites are related to the early period of the Upper Palaeolithic or final Mousterian, 38-28000 BP. At this time people penetrated to the Pechora river basin from the central part of the East European Plain. The next stage of colonization of the region took place in the 2nd half of the Late Valdai, in 13-10000BP. The most important event in this period was the formation of Uralic culture in the Urals to which Late Palaeolithic sites of the Pechora basin refer and which is represented by Medvezhya Cave and Pymva Shor I sites.Significant number of Mesolithic sites shows the colonization of the Arctic zone in 9000 BP. Small groups of hunters-fishermen were penetrating here from the southern part of the Northeastern Europe, i.e. from the area of Parchevskaya and Middle Vychegda cultures. Some of surface collections of Bolshezemelskaya tundra (Sandibeyu 1, 8) contain tanged points, associated with Parchevskaya culture. All Mesolithic sites in the Polar part of the Pechora river basin were left by the population with highly mobile lifeway.The Neolithic of the Polar zone of the Pechora river basin is poorly represented by archaeological materials. Only five sites were discovered by excavations: Chernoborskaya III campsite on the Izhma river (Chernoborskaya group of the Early Neolithic, (1st half of VI m. BC.) and the Middle Neolithic settlements of Lyalovskaya culture (Pizhma I, -II on Yamozero, Ruzhnikova, Aleksakhina on Kosminskie lakes (1st half of V m. BC.). Small amount of potsherds of Lyalovo type are presented in the surface collections of Bolshezemelskaya tundra. Current data indicates that the colonization of this region in the Neolithic was limited to short-term exploitation of natural resources by small mobile groups ofhunters-fishermen.