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ANCIENT HISTORY OF TRANSBAIKALIAN REGION IN THE LIGHT OF NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES
Authors: M.V. Konstantinova, S.G. Vasilievb, E.A. Filatovc, N.O. Vikulovad, S.V. Maslodudoa
Number of views: 545
In Transbaikalia sites belonging to the end of the Lower Paleolithic, such as Sukhotino-16, are discovered. Series of very archaic items were found at Ust-Menza-6 and Ust-Menza-15. Their age is ca. 300-200 thousand years ago. The stratified sites of the Middle Paleolithic – Kovrizhka, Priiskovoe, Sukhotino-12 – are discovered. The beginning of the Upper Paleolithic is represented by a unique settlement Tolbaga with a series of dwellings. The bone sculpture of the bear’s head was found in one of them. The tools were made from large blades. A new site – Ust-Menza-14 – is being studied. Tools from flakes are typical for it. The data on the middle and late Upper Paleolithic are replenished. Numerous single- and multi-hearth dwellings are of special interest. The Mesolithic distinctly stands out. It belongs to the late glacial period (the Norilsk stage) and the beginning of the Holocene Epoch. It is characterized by a substantial change in environmental conditions and humans’ adaptation to new habitat factors. The Neolithic is presented by a series of sites, such as Studyonoe-1, Ust-Menza-1, Dvortsy, Darasun, Chindant, Aryn-Zhalga. Features of ceramics and stone production are noted. The petroglyphs of Shaman-Gora with a scene of bow hunting for wood bison are very expressive. The burials belonging to the end of the Mesolithic – the beginning of the Neolithic are dug out. Two sculptural reconstructions are executed