New Data on the Archaeology of the Nizhneudinsk District of the Irkutsk Region

This article presents the results of archaeological investigation in the Nizhneudinsk district of the Irkutsk region in 2024. Local residents reported the discovery of metal objects by treasure hunters northwest of Nizhneudinsk town. Test pits were dug in the indicated places and two sites were found. The first is Gurbei site. It is located on the northwestern outskirts of Nizhneudinsk. Small fragments of ceramic vessels and a fragment of a bronze knife handle were found in the pits in the arable layer. Local residents also handed over nine bronze items found on the territory of the site. The second is Lokhanovskii Lug site. It is located 5 km northwest of Nizhneudinsk. Two levels of finds were recorded in pit 2. The first contained fragments of Early Iron Age and medieval ceramics. The second layer contained stone products and fragments of Ust-Belaya and Net-impressed ceramics, an iron coulter and a red deer bone were found in pit 3. Local residents handed over metal objects found here. The iron items are armor plates, two ploughshares, an adze, a knife, a hairpin, two arrowheads and two “kholbogo” pendants. The bronze items are a knife and fragments of three more, as well as a belt plaque with an ornament. In addition, local residents also reported on the places where the artifacts were found. The first stone adze was found 1.5–2 km west of the village of Kuryaty, northwest of Nizhneudinsk. The second adze was discovered behind the village of Muksut, approximately 5 km southwest of the town. In the southern outskirts of Nizhneudinsk, between the Melnitsa and Abalakovo villages, three iron arrowheads were found. As a result of comparative analysis, it was possible to determine the age of most of the items. One of the adzes dates back to the Mesolithic. The second adze, as well as stone items and Net-impressed and Ust-Belaya ceramics belong to the Neolithic. All bronze items from Gurbei and bronze knives from Lokhanovskii Lug are dated to the Scythian period. Ploughshares, arrowheads, armor plates and a bronze plaque from Lokhanovsky Lug are dated to the Middle Ages. Arrowheads found between Melnitsa and Abalakovo date back to the same time. The “kholbogo” pendants are ethnographic modern. The age of the iron knife from Lokhanovskii Lug is determined very broadly from the Early Middle Ages to the 19th century. The results obtained indicate that the Nizhneudinsk region is promising for archaeological research. Assamblages of the Scythian period and the Middle Ages are especially interesting

Bronze · Bronze Age · Iron Age · Pottery · Treasure · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts · X-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis