Kuyacha – a New Late Upper Palaeolithic Site in the Peschanaya River Valley (Altai Mountains)

Purpose . The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of an informative find from the new Kuyacha site in the Peschanaya River valley in the northwestern part of the Altai Mountains, discovered during the survey of the channel alluvium of the left bank of the Kuyacha River in 2022. Results . The artefact under discussion is examined from the point of view of technological and geologicalmineralogical analysis, and its cultural and chronological affiliation within the framework of the Upper Palaeolithic of the Altai is assessed. The analysis of published data allows us to say that the wedge-shaped core from the Kuyacha site is the first expressive evidence of Upper Palaeolithic microblade pressing technology in the valley of the Peschanaya River. For the microblades manufacture, effusive material of local origin with high consumer properties was used, a potential source of which could be the nearest rock outcrops of the Kuyagan Formation along the left tributary of the Kuyachonok River. The utilization of the wedge-shaped core involved several stages from the selection of a massive detachment and the creation of a preform by modifying the base with bilateral flattening removals, to the removal of the target blanks by the pressing method and the subsequent reforming of the core. Conclusion . Based on a wide range of analogies, it was established that similar types of cores were widespread in Altai sites during the Late Upper Palaeolithic.