Research of the Neolithic sites in Kamchatka in 2022-2023

This article describes archaeological research at four Stone Age sites (Avacha multilayered site, Vilyucha I settlement, Uksychan and Esso-Megafon sites) in Kamchatka in 2022-2023. The fieldwork provided new information on lithic industries, chronology and habitation stages at these sites during the Holocene. Another objective was assessing preservation of cultural deposits and prospects for further research. Aerial photography provided data on the scale of modern anthropogenic impact and made it possible to visualize the area of the site and distribution of surface finds. Archaeological works gave new information on stratigraphy and chronology, and expanded our knowledge about the earliest stages of habitation at the Avacha site. The age of cultural layer III, previously dated to 5200 ± 100 BP, was revised to a later period based on the second AMS radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples taken in 19751977. New date of3322 ± 43 BP reconciles the age of the complex with chronology of other sites of the Tarya culture in Kamchatka. Examination of archaeological assemblages from excavations and surface finds at the Vilyucha and Uksychan sites has revealed that they belonged to the Late Neolithic-Paleometal Age. Chronology and cultural attribution of the Esso Megafon site have been clarified, and its cultural layer was dated to 7574 ± 91 BP. The lithic assemblage was attributed to the circle of complexes of the Ushki Mesolithic culture of Central Kamchatka based on dating and technical and typological analysis.