The excavations of afontova gora IV (Ovrazhnaia, point II) in Krasnoyarsk, 2021

Discovered in 2019 Late Paleolithic site Ovrazhnaia is the utmost western point of archaeological heritage site OAH “Afontova Gora IV” on the territory of Krasnoyarsk city. Rescue archaeological research of the site Ovrazhnaia has been carried out for two years (2020-2021) on the territory allocated for the construction of the highway. In 2021, relatively detached archaeological complexes with dwelling and production areas with hearths, game animals butchering areas and stone production workshops were unearthed within the excavated section of about 11 000 sq. m. Five thousand stone artefacts and more than 15 thousand faunal remains were discovered in total. The most significant discovery is a pit (hearth?) with stone walling and humous filling in it. Multiple fossilized hare bones (at least 25 animals) and a significant inventory of stone tools were found on the bordering area of about 300 sq. m. The stone inventory of Ovrazhnaia site includes almost all known types of the Late Paleolithic tools in Siberia: cores for large and middle-size blades, wedge-shaped microcores, side-scrapers, endscrapers, burins, chisel-like tools, knives, hammer stones, choppers. Slotted tools, points, hammer stones (strikers) are made of reindeer antlers; long bones were used to manufacture needles and a needle case. Faunal remains are mainly represented by the reindeer and hare bones, rarely - red deer, horse, bison, mammoth (fragments of mammoth tusk).Nowadays, the Late Paleolithic site Ovrazhnaia (OAH “Afontova Gora IV”) is the most informative site on the territory of Krasnoyarsk city.