Problematic issues of cultural genesis in the stone age in the Mari Volga region (the results of studying)

The article is devoted to the history of studying of the archaeological sites of the Stone Age (Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic) in the Mari Volga region. The author emphasizes the role of Mari Research Institute, Leningrad branch of the Institute of the Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, and Kazan branch of Academy of Sciences of the USSR (A.Kh. Khalikov, G.A. Arkhipov, A.N. Rogachev, K.S. Andrianov, V.V. Nikitin etc.) in the discoveries of the sites of the ancient peoples. 400 Mesolithic sites were discovered in the Mari Volga region as a result of the work of the Mari Archeological Expedition, including 140 sites with the remnants of ancient buildings.