Results of the field survey at the Cheremza-1 site (Novokuznetsky municipal district, Kemerovo region) in 2019

This article describes the results of afield survey in the Novokuznetsky Municipal District and Myskovsky Urban Okrug of Kemerovo Region. The object of archaeological heritage Cheremza-1 was examined. Its boundaries were established, and topographical plan was made. According to our research, the area covered by this site was larger than previously thought. The earliest excavation works at this site were conducted in 2011, and 196 m2 area was explored. This site included two archaeological horizons belonging to the Bronze Age and Early Middle Ages. The lower layers revealed the remains of a settlement. They contained stone tools and pebble accumulations found at the level of sterile soil. Finds of stone tools and flakes were mostly associated with pebble layers. Two technological and morphological groups can be distinguished in pottery fragments found in the area of the excavation pit made in 2011. The first group included small fragments of weakly burned jar-like vessels and could be related to the lower habitation horizon. Assuming that two fragments of clay molds for casting bronze and pieces of scorified clay discovered at this site are also associated with this horizon, this habitation level belongs to the Bronze Age. The set of tools and production waste do not contradict this assumption. Isolated pieces of burnt bones were also discovered at this site. Since this area was frequently plowed and only a small part of it has been explored, it is hard to tell whether it was originally used as a cremation site and which funeral and commemorative rituals were performed. It is possible that some tools and cremation remains were abandoned on the surface or in weakly deepened structures. Sites of this type have been previously unknown in the Kuznetsk Depression.