Ust-Yodarma 2 – a Reference Multilayered Geoarchaeological Site in the Northern Angara Region (Based on the Results of Work in 2009–2012)

The article presents the results of studying the material culture of the ancient population of the Northern Angara region from the multilayered geoarchaeological site of Ust-Yodarma 2. The site was located on the right cape of the Yodarma River at its confluence with the Angara River. Excavations were carried out in 2009–2012. As a result, 12 cultural levels were identified on the site in the chronological range from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic to the ethnographic modernity (17th–20th centuries). The work was carried out on 4 excavations (more than 5 thousand square meters). A correlation was made between cultural levels from different excavations. Holocene deposits are most fully and clearly represented in excavation 1 in area A. Level 0 contains artifacts from the time of the development of the region by Russian pioneers in the 17th and 18th centuries to the modern stage of the existence of the Village Yodarma. Cultural levels 1–4 date from the Middle Ages, the Early Bronze Age, and the Final Neolithic. Levels 5– 8 contain only Neolithic artifacts, while materials from levels 9 and 10 are associated with the Mesolithic. In excavation 1 in area B, an Upper Paleolithic horizon was recorded. Neolithic and Mesolithic levels, as well as Bronze Age burials, have been radiocarbon dated. The total collection of artifacts includes more than 70 thousand finds. A technical and morphological analysis of ceramics, stone and bone tools was carried out. The collection of stone products is represented by products of primary knapping, facial processing, and finished tools (more than 40 thousand finds). Pottery was found in the form of separate fragments and vessels with different decoration techniques. The remains of at least 350 ceramic vessels (more than 14 thousand fragments) have been found. Artifacts made of bone and horn are represented by blanks, finished tools and their fragments, and a sculpture in the form of a moose head. Fire pits of different shapes and designs were recorded. A large number of fauna bones (hunting remains and kitchen refuse) were found. The analysis of artifacts in combination with stratigraphy and radiocarbon data makes it possible to identify the UstYodarma 2 site as a reference object for studying ancient cultures of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of BaikalYenisei Siberia.