Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (4) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.4.015-024

Annotation:  Early Upper Paleolithic Tubular Beads from the Main Chamber of Denisova Cave Stoilo—A Paleolithic Site in the Southern Angara Region, Siberia Stone Age Ivory Points from the Arctic Zone of Northeast Asia An Early Neolithic Bone and Antler Industry of Rakushechny Yar on the Lower Don: Technological Strat Rock Art of the Ana Zaga Cave Shelter in the Archaeological Landscape of Gobustan, Azerbaijan The Russian Archaeological Project in South America: Principal Findings and Prospects Chronology of Rock Art of the Russian and Mongolian Altai: From the Paleolithic to the Late Middle A Lobed Ware in the Far East from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages Wooden Paddles from the Nizhny Tagil Museum-Reserve of Mining and Metallurgy in the Urals Spatial Distribution of Finds on the Eastern Outskirts of Poltse I, the Amur Region Contents of an Early Byzantine Amphora from Kruglaya Bay, the Black Sea Shift of the Yenisei and Abakan Beds as Reasons for Constructing the Second Abakan Fort in 1707 Corvids in the Buryat Traditional Worldview The Old Believers’ Churchyard: Semiotics of Cultural Space (The Case of the Ust-Tsilma Old Believers A Case of Surgical Treatment of Lower Molars in a Mesolithic Sample from a Cemetery on the Yuzhny Ol Origin of the Andronovans: A Statistical Approach   

Stoilo—A Paleolithic Site in the Southern Angara Region, Siberia

A.M. Kuznetsov¹, D.N. Molchanov¹, and S.A. Kogai²

¹Irkutsk State University, Karla Marksa 1, Irkutsk, 664003, Russia

²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

On the basis of findings of the autumn 2021 field season, we present the first information on the Paleolithic site of Stoilo (Usolsky District of the Irkutsk Region). The site, located on the left bank of the Angara River, belongs to the Belaya geoarchaeological region. The complex is enclosed in pre-Holocene sediments relating to the residual grus-pebble crust, which overlies the soliflucion layer tentatively dating to the Late Karga-Early Sartan period. The analysis of the lithics, mostly made on siliceous rocks, indicates prismatic reduction resulting in small blades. The toolkit consists of small pieces, including various types of spurred tools, burins, knives on naturally backed blades, retouched blades and flakes with use-wear, and a heavy-duty pebble tool. A specific feature of the complex is that most artifacts reveal superficial traces of minor corrasion—a weak surface gloss. This and the fact that the material relates to the grus-pebble layer might be viewed as formal indicators of the “Makarovo Horizon”. However, the totality of typological and technological features and the structure of the sediments suggest that Stoilo represents the middle stage of the Upper Paleolithic, dating to the Early Sartan stage. To confirm this assumption, further excavations are needed in order to augment the collection and obtain more environmental data.

Keywords: Baikal Siberia, Southern Angara, Paleolithic, deflation, corrasion, Sartan stage, blade reduction