Ivan N. Ershov^a,#, Aleksandr L. Aleksandrovskiy^b,##, Nikolay A. Krenke^a,###, Andrey V. Panin^b,####, Sergey N. Chaukina^,#####, and Varvara A. Chaukina^a,######

^a Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia
^b Institute of Geography RAS, Moscow, Russia

^#E-mail: ershovin@yandex.ru
^##E-mail: alexandrovskiy@mail.ru
^###E-mail: nkrenke@mail.ru
^####E-mail: a.v.panin@yandex.ru
^#####E-mail: schaukin@mail.ru
^######E-mail: varyabaskova@yandex.ru

Keywords: Smolensk, Final Paleolithic, Dryas III, buried soil, Ahrensburg and Bromme-Lyngby arrowheads, lithic industry, science methods.

In 2020, a site of the final Paleolithic was found in buried soil under a two-meter medieval cultural layer during excavations at a construction area in the centre of Smolensk. The excavation area is 480 m2. The article analyzes the collection of flint tools (60 pieces) and debitage, as well as geomorphology and soil profile features. The tool complex includes scrapers, chisels and a series of tanged arrowheads, which are crucial for cultural and chronological attribution. The horizon with stone tools is located 13.5–14 m above the low water level of the river and is confined to the first terrace of the Dnieper left bank. The formation of the terrace dates back to the late Valdai period. Based on the analysis of the tool complex, the collection was attributed to the final Paleolithic in terms of chronology and culture (the cultural community of sites with tanged arrowheads). A very broad range of researchers’ views on the characteristics of taxa traits (cultures and cultural traditions) of the Final Paleolithic in the Upper Dnieper region and adjacent territories (the Bromme-Lyngby, Grensk, Krasnoselye, Upper Volga, Podol and other cultures) does not allow identifying the new site with any of them. Nevertheless, the chronological position of the site is determined quite reliably by a period of about 10–11.5 thousand years ago. It is obvious that there is a certain similarity of the flint collection from the Smolensk site to the complexes of finds from such sites as Anosovo I (upper reaches of the Dnieper) and Rostislavl (the  Oka river) in the east and northeast, Berestenovo (Belarus) in the west.

DOI: 10.31857/S0869606322030059