Field research at the Olskaya site (northern Sea of Okhotsk region) in 2019

In 2019, new field research at the Olskaya site on Cape Vostochny of the Staritsky Peninsula (Magadan Region) was conducted. For clarifying the stratigraphic situation at the site and taking samples for the radiocarbon AMS- and OSL- dating, excavation pit 1 m wide and 10 m long was added to the excavation of the previous years. The unearthed area was 10 m2. The Olskaya settlement is one of the referential sites of the Tokarev archaeological culture in the Northern Sea of Okhotsk region. Material evidence consisted of various lithic and bone tools. For producing lithic tools, silicified rocks and chalcedony were used. Ornamented bone artifacts including combs, harpoon heads, personal adornments, and a fragment of needle case were particularly interesting finds. Bone tools from the Olskaya site reveal their close similarity to the tools discovered at the sites on Zavyalova and Spafaryeva islands. The collected evidence contains a number of new types of artifacts and tools, which enrich the material complex of the Olskaya site. Presently, an important problem is to establish the time when the Tokarev population first appeared in the Gertner Bay and at Olskaya site, and identify the cultural traditions which influenced tool complexes of the Tokarev culture as well as connections of the Tokarev culture with the adjacent coastal and continental ancient communities. In the upper part of the cultural layer, individual finds of the Old Koryak culture were discovered. Thus, an important task is to find out when the Old Koryak culture started to emerge and establish the cultural components of that process.