Exploration works on the right bank of the Ob River in 2021

The article describes the results of exploration works in the lower reaches of the Ob (Shuryshkarsky district of the YNAO) in 2021. The coastline of the right bank of the Ob was studied in three main areas: near the villages of Khashgort, Kushevat and the Sormas channel. In total, 13 pits and 2 excavation trenches were made with a total area of 70 sq. m. The coastline near the village of Khashgort revealed paleofaunal materials and stone artifacts of the Paleolithic type. The main excavations were carried out at the Kushevat Paleolithic site discovered in 2020. Archaeological and paleofaunal materials were recorded in the alluvial deposits of two excavation trenches with a total area of 44 sq.m at an unnamed inflow of the Ob. The excavations revealed tree bone-bearing layers; stone artifacts, charcoal pieces, and non-utilitarian items were recovered from the lowermost layer. Archaeological materials (2 specimens) are represented by a small spall and an exhausted core of the parallel reduction pattern. The paleofaunal material numbering 110 units (bones, horns, teeth, and fragments) is mainly represented by the remains of a reindeer.Thus, in the field season of2021, a new locus of the surface occurrence of the Paleolithic materials was identified supporting previous identification of a cultural layer at Kushevat. As a result, taking into account the stratigraphic situation at the site and the preliminary results of radiocarbon dating, the Kushevat site is currently the northernmost and most ancient of the known Paleolithic sites known in the Ob valley. Apparently, the derived data indicate the earliest, pioneering stage of Homo sapiens sapiens habitation of the subarctic zone during MIS3 in the range of 45-30 ka BP.