Pages: 39-56

Data on the Pleistocene megafauna and the earliest evidence of the presence of Palaeolithic humans on the territory of the Northern Ob river region are analyzed. The data about the geological and geomorphological situation in the lower reaches of the Ob river is presented, the deposits of the Late Neopleistocene are characterized, and the main regularities in the taphonomy of megafaunal remains are described. Changes in the species composition of the Neopleistocene fauna from the right bank of the Big Ob and their chronology are established on the basis of numerous absolute dates obtained on bones. The results of the traceological analysis and dating of two mammoth tusk fragments with traces of human processing are presented. The authors provide information on 2020 field works on the Kushevatskaya channel and the Synya river, which gave new data on the early human settlement of the territory of the Lower Ob. It is concluded that the initial colonization of the region took place at the beginning of the Early Upper Palaeolithic, with first people coming presumably from the territory of the Urals.

Keywords: Siberia, Subarctic, Lower Ob, Pleistocene, Palaeolithic, initial peopling, geomorphological analysis, geomorphological analysis, Quaternary geology

Information about authors:

Ivan Zolnikov (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Doctor of Geology and Mineralogy. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Anton Anoikin (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation; Altai State University. Lenin Ave., 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
William Rendu (Bordeaux, France). Laboratory РАСЕА UMR 5199 CNRS, University of Bordeaux. Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire CS 50023 33615 PESSAC CEDEX, France
E-mail: [email protected]
Egor Phylatov (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Novosibirsk State University. Pirogov St., 1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Sergei Makarov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Museum of Nature and Man. Mira St., 11, Khanty-Mansiysk, 628011, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug —Yugra, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Anton Rezvyi (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian Federation). Museum of Nature and Man. Mira St., 11, Khanty-Mansiysk, 628011, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug —Yugra, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Alexander Postnov (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Anna Brusnitsyna (Muzhi, Russian Federation). Center for Cognitive Tourism “Luguy’s Land”. Komsomolskaya St., 7, Muzhi village, 629640, Shuryshkary District, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Anton Vasilev (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
Anton Vybornov (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Mikhail Arzhannikov (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Lidia Zotkina (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation; Novosibirsk State University. Pirogov St., 1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]