Archaeological research in Northern Kazakhstan
The expedition's work was organized by the North Kazakhstan Regional Museum of History and Local Lore together with the Petropavlovsk Pedagogical Institute. The reconnaissance detachments covered more than 400 km along the left bank of the Ishim river, along the Bulaevsky and Presnovsky districts. Several new sites have been discovered, including 2 Mesolithic settlements, 5 Neolithic, 15 Bronze Age, and 2 Early Iron Age settlements. So far, only three settlements have been found on the lakes, which differ in extremely insignificant cultural layers.
The choice of objects for stationary studies was associated with monuments under the threat of destruction in areas of flooding or intensive construction. On the right bank of the Ishim, the Mesolithic site Yavlenka II, located on the remnant of the second floodplain terrace, was explored. The remains of a land-dwelling were found, the central part of which was washed away by meltwaters. Found 1.5 thousand flint objects. All tools are made on small plates. Among them, there are many end scrapers, trapeziums, plates with notches.
The Bronze Age settlement Yavlenka I, dating back to the end of the 2nd millennium BC, has a similar location. Here, the remains of two dwellings were studied completely and one part. The remains of pillar structures of semi-dugouts were recorded. Many fragments of ceramics, a bronze sickle, knives, awls, stone, and bone tools were found at the settlement.
This year, the expedition began excavations of a significant burial ground of the Bronze Age on the Burluk river (right tributary of the Ishim), in the area of flooding of the Sergeevskoye reservoir. Three burial pits were unearthed under various tomb structures: an earthen mound, an earthen mound with a round stone fence along the base of the mound, and a rectangular layout. Under fence No. 1, in a grave pit with cremation, an introductory paired burial was recorded. The buried are oriented with their heads to the north. One is buried on the left side in a crouched position, the second on the right, facing the first. Vessels and stone altars predominated among the grave goods.
The burial ground of seven burial mounds was completely investigated in the village of Pokrovka. One of them, surrounded by a circular ditch with two entrances, is dated from a set of bronze arrows of the 7th-6th centuries BC. The rest of the mounds belong to the first centuries of our era. In two cases, skeletons with severely deformed skulls were recorded. Among the burials in shallow pits with wooden ceilings, a tomb with a lining was unearthed, which differs from the rest in the size of the mound and the richness of the grave goods. The clothing material of the Pokrovka burial ground is represented by a large set of bone arrowheads, a long iron sword (1 m) in a wooden scabbard, the remains of a bow, horse harness, bone, bronze ornaments, and ceramics.