The Early Stage of Kokorevo Culture on the Territory of the Krasnoyarsk Archaeological District (Middle Yenisei)

The idea of the specificity of the early stage of Kokorevo culture of the Middle Yenisei appeared in the 1980s—90s, and was based on the materials from the sites of the Krasnoyarsk reservoir (Kokorevo I, Kokorevo IVb, Novoselovo XI, Novoselovo XIII). The age of the early stage was determined within the period of 16,500—15,000 years bp. Cultural layer 15A of Listvenka site and the southern sector of Ovrazhnaya site (“Afontova Gora IV”), both located in the Krasnoyarsk archaeological district and dated to the time interval between 17 000 and 15 500 years bp, are thaught to be the earliest assemblagess of Kokorevo culture. Characteristic of the stone and bone inventory of these sites are diminutive wedge-shaped cores, large blades of irregular outlines, small numbers of points, burins and end scrapers on blades, thin antler and bone insert tools with narrow grooves. The fact that the Novoselovo and Krasnoyarsk groups are very distant from each other and separated by the highlands of the Eastern Sayan may account for the formation of regional differences during the evolution of Kokorevo culture of the Middle Yenisei.