Exploration work in the left bank of the lower course of the Kondoma river near the Taylep village

In the territory of the southern part of the Kuznetsk Basin, a significant number of different types of archaeological objects are known, concentrated in river valleys. The lower course of the Kondoma River can be considered one of such areas, where episodic studies have been carried out since the second half of the 20th century, aimed atfinding and studying the sites of the Late Paleolithic period. In 2020, an expedition from the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS carried out exploration work to clarify information at two such objects - at “Settlement Taylep 1” and “Settlement Taylep 2.” The main task was to determine the boundaries of the distribution of the cultural layer of a single Late Paleolithic location, but formally divided into two objects of archaeological heritage. The second task was to identify the Shor soil burial ground related to the Taylep settlement. To solve the tasks, three defining research methods were chosen: aeromagnetic survey from UAVs, laying of stratigraphic sections in promising areas of the landscape and natural outcrops, and a geodetic survey network unified for the entire survey area. The boundaries of the distribution of the cultural layer of the Late Paleolithic location were determined as a result of the application of an interdisciplinary approach on an area of about 5.5 thousand square meters. The stratigraphic context of the occurrence of material remains of this time was determined. A topographic survey was carried out at this site. The location of a burial ground unexpressed in the modern landscape, left by the Shor population of the Taylep settlement, was localized due to the use of classical methods offield archaeological work and innovative minimally invasive technologies. In the survey site having an area of 4.7 hectares, a survey geodetic network was created by means of a closed theodolite path to ensure the necessary overall accuracy of field measurements when carrying out this work and archaeological excavations planned in the future.