Results of field survey in the Republic of Khakassia in 2019

In the fall of 2019, the Middle Yenisei Team conducted a field survey in the Republic of Khakassia on the territories intended for road and railway expansion. An archaeological object - the burial ground of Znamenka-4 - was discovered near the area reserved for the R-257 highway. This archaeological object included four burial mounds forming a chain along the north-south. All burial mounds were poorly preserved. Nearly all surrounding walls which used to be made of dug-in sandstone blocks, are destroyed, and stones have been displaced. Judging by the typical features of structures above the graves, the Znamenka-4 burial ground most likely belonged to the Podgornovsky period of the Tagar culture (6th-5th centuries BC). Field survey in the area reserved for railroads in Askizsky District of Khakassia resulted in new data regarding the known sites (burial grounds of Sagaiskaya Protoka-1 and -2, Askiz-1, -13, -15, and-16), and discovery of over 30 archaeological sites fully or partially located within the planned railway areas. These archaeological sites include both large burial grounds with dozens of burial mounds and isolated mounds and steles. Large burial ground of Ust’-Kamyshta-1 is located in the area between the Kamyshta and Uitak railway stations near the bridge across the Kamyshta River. During the field works, the borders of this site have been established and a map including over 80 archaeological sites of the Early Iron Age and Paleometal Age has been compiled.