Reconnaissance on the left bank of the Yaya river in the Tomsk region

In the field season of 2018, exploration was carried out on the left-bank of the. Yaya in order to check the status of previously known archaeological sites and search for new ones. The Upper Palaeolithic Voronino-Yaya site yielded fragments of ceramic vessels that were correlated to the medieval period on the basis of available parallels. During a full-scale survey of the surroundings of the village of Bolshezhirovo, three settlements were found, which were attributed to the early and middle medieval period on the basis of the noted characteristics. Test excavations and inspections of the outcrops at the Yaya valley banks yielded a variety of materials: ornamented fragments of ceramic vessels, faunal remains and lithic artifacts. Exploration works upstream of the Yaya will be continued.