Results of archaeological exploration in the development zone of the Karachiyaksky coal deposit in novokuznetsk district of Kemerovo region - Kuzbass in 2021

In June 2021, the Kuzbass team of the Department of Rescue Archaeological Work of the IAE SB RAS, together with employees of the Laboratory of Archeology of the Federal Research Center of Coal and Coal Chemistry of the SB RAS, carried out archaeological exploration as a part of the state historical and cultural expertise of the land plot intended for inclusion into development area of the Karachiyak coal deposit (The Korchakolsky and Korchakolsky Glubokyi sections) of the Kuznetskinveststroi Company in Novokuznetsk District of Kemerovo Region - Kuzbass. Presently, over thirty sites of archaeological heritage belonging to the Final Upper Paleolithic - Early Holocene are known in the Kondoma River basin. The land plot which was assigned for coal mining is located on the left bank of the KondomaRiver Valley around the village of Taylep; on the northern side it is bounded by the Taylep River and is closely adjacent to the Korchakol coal mine on the west. As a result of the works, 285pits were made over a total area of546 sq. m, andfive objects of archaeological heritage, preliminarily dated to the Final Upper Paleolithic - Early Holocene, were discovered. Thirty artifacts were found in archaeological pits, including cores, burins, scrapers, blade, spalls, flakes, and fragments. The raw materials of lithic industries at the Taylep 4-8 sites were pebbles, which widely appear in channel alluvium of the Kondoma River. According to its technical and typological features, the complex of lithic industry from the Taylep 4-8 sites forms a single cluster with the evidence from the Taylep 1 and 2 sites (lower cultural horizon) which were studied during the rescue archaeological excavations in 2020.