Archaeological Studies at the Malye Simichi Site on the Bureya River

Abstract

The authors present the results of excavations at an archaeological site located near the mouth of the Malye Simichi River, a right tributary of the Bureya River in the Bureya District of the Amur Region. The excavation area reached 400 m2. Preliminary investigations in 1988 showed that its eastern part had been plowed, as a result of which the cultural layer located immediately under the turf was damaged and mixed. The main goal of the study is the publication of excavation materials, their ethnic-cultural analysis and dating. As a result of excavations in 1994 and 2016, two periods of development of the terrace on the right bank of the Bureya channel that existed at that time were established. The earliest population in this area were the bearers of the Uril culture of the early Iron Age (11th–2nd centuries BC); that population occupied the site periodically, probably during fishing seasons. In addition to the remains of numerous fragments of ceramic dishes, stone tools and production waste, the remains of 11 fire pits were identified. Isolated finds of fragments from approximately three vessels of the Talakan culture (2nd century BC – 3rd century AD) mark the second period of visitation of this site on the left bank of the Malye Simichi River. Nowadays, this area is submerged by the reservoir of the Nizhnebureyskaya hydroelectric power station.