Research in Northern Kazakhstan

The detachment of the North Kazakhstan expedition of the Petropavlovsk Pedagogical Institute continued excavations of the Botai settlement (Volodarov district, Kokchetav region). Seven excavations unearthed 1453 sq. m of the cultural layer and received about 40 thousand items and ten thousand animal bones.

Excavation VIII (257 sq. m.), laid out to the east of excavation V in 1981, revealed a quarterly layout of dwelling depressions. Dwellings are semi-dugout, polygonal, or close to quadrangular, ranging from 40 to 70 square meters, deepened into the mainland by 0.6-0.8 m. Often at the entrance to the dwellings, the skeletons of dogs and the skulls of horses were recorded.

Excavation X (256 sq. m.) covered a dwelling with an area of ​​74 sq. m. Elongated pits surrounded it up to 1 m wide and more than 1.2 m deep along the perimeter. Most likely, soil was taken from these pits for the construction of dwelling walls. According to our reconstruction, the latter had a width of 0.8-1.2 m and a height of 0.6-0.8 m. The roof was tented, wooden, covered with clay on top.

In excavation XII (328 sq. m.) above the cliff to the river, the cultural layer was especially rich in archaeological and osteological material, since the bulk of utility pits and industrial premises were concentrated here. The remaining excavations (VII, IX, XI, XIII) made it possible to clarify the site's boundaries and outline promising points for future excavations.

According to N.M. Ermolova, most bone remains belong to the horse (99.9%). There are bones of bison, elk, roe deer, saiga, tur, bear, wolf, fox, corsac, beaver, marmot, hare, the domestic dog. Whether the horse belongs to the wild or domestic form is still open. The pronounced sedentary nature of the settlement testifies instead in favor of the existence of cattle breeding among the Botai. Findings of the remains of the tour, close in size to medium-sized livestock, are quite frequent, and almost half of the bones found belong to young individuals.