Research in the Kokchetav region

The Kokchetav detachment of the North Kazakhstan expedition explored the Stone Age monuments along the Chaglinka River near Vinogradovka village of Krasnoarmeysk. Several dozen sites (Mesolithic-Neolithic) have been discovered, confined to the low banks of the Balga-Karasu, now almost dry. At the Neolithic settlement of Vinogradovka X, 558 sq. m with a thickness of the cultural layer in the lower part of the terrace 10-15 cm, in the upper part - up to 40 cm. The outlines of pits from pillars and ground structures are fixed. The last seven had an area of ​​4-20 square meters and contained accumulations of flint objects, ceramics, bone products, shells, and animal bones. The basis of the collection (about 2,000 finds) is plates and items on them (plates with retouching, scrapers, chisels, scrapers). Symmetrical trapeziums arrowheads are single. Massive knives and side-scrapers on flakes are expressive. The ceramic is thin-walled, unevenly fired, with an admixture of gruss, sand, plant remains in the dough, decorated with impressions of a “walking” comb and oblique pit impressions.

The Vinogradovka II site is located on the lake's left bank, 2 m high (about 140 sq. m). Stratigraphically identified two cultural complexes. The early horizon occurs at a depth of 80–100 cm. It is a gray-brown loamy soil with a yellow tinge, impregnated with carbonates of a blocky-silty structure. The late layer is confined to a humified gray-brown horizon of middle loam at a depth of 30–50 cm. It is overlain by a modern black, granular, heavy loamy layer. The cultural horizons are separated by sterile powdery-silty loam. The early Mesolithic complex is represented by chisels on large flakes, scrapers, and blades with a blunt back. The late complex is typically Neolithic. The raw material was gray or light brown jasper rock. The main types of products are plates with differently shaped edges and ends points, incisors, trapeziums, staples. The pottery is similar to that found in Vinogradovka X. In an excavation area of ​​52 sq. m, the thickness of the cultural layer reaches 1 m. Judging by the stratigraphy, the monument is two-layered, possibly associated with Vinogradovka II. The main material is animal bones. Single flakes represent the flint inventory without processing.