Resuming archaeological research at the Sabanikha upper Paleolithic site (Middle Yenisei)

The article provides the results of afieldwork carried out by a detachment of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS (IAET SO RAN) at the Sabanikha site in 2020. The Sabanikha site is a key final Early Upper Paleolithic site in the Yenisei basin. Sabanikha was discovered by N.F. Lisitsyn in 1986 and studied in 1989-1991. The assemblages containing a representative collection of lithic and bone artifacts is dated 25-23 thousand years ago. Various groups of researchers carried out sporadic collection of surface finds in and around the site in 2014 and 2016. During the work in 2020, at the site, a representative collection of surface finds was collected (614 items). It includes large cores for blades, end scrapers on retouched blanks, scrapers on flakes and pebbles, various pebble tools, large blades and flakes. In situ materials were obtained in a cleanup in the coastal outcrop. An expressive collection of lithic and bone tools and faunal remains was obtained from the cultural layer overlying the buried soil, in the gray sandy loam. It includes cores for blades, scrapers on retouched blades, a borer, large blades, including retouched blades, fragmented bone points (awls) and a retoucher. The appearance of the surface and stratified artifacts suggests that it belongs to the same assemblage. Typologically and stratigraphically, this assemblage is close to the assemblage obtained by N.F. Lisitsyn. The work of2020 showed that, in the surveyed territory, a stratified Early Upper Paleolithic site that is accessible for study has been preserved.