The Lebedi Archaeological Micro-Region (Middle Inya River, Kuznetsk Basin)

This study is focused on enhancing the objectivity of the available cultural and chronological models for the areas with the pronounced landscape heterogeneity, using the Kuznetsk Basin as a case study. In this region, general trends in the ancient history of the Southwestern Siberia are combined with specific local features. The aim of this work is to identify a new archaeological micro-region (AMR) in the vicinity of the village of Lebedi and provide its preliminary description, assessing its capacity to serve as a key reference for constructing the archaeological framework of the Kuznetsk forest-steppe zone. This study is grounded in the methodology of archaeological micro-regions. The comprehensive research involved analysis of archival data and evidence from field studies which were done between 1980 and 2025, as well as geomorphological description of the territory. As a result, the Lebedi AMR has been identified, with its core comprising 15 archaeological sites (burial grounds, settlements, fortified settlement, and ritual cache) dating from the Late Neolithic to the Modern Period. The settlement pattern during the ancient and Medieval times was closely associated with the island-like remnants of the Inya River’s first terrace over the floodplain. This feature makes it look similar to the analogous “insular” AMRs across Western Siberia. A preliminary cultural and chronological framework which was constructed, comprises habitation episodes from the Late Neolithic (Upper Ob/Kuznetsk-Altai culture) through the Bronze Age (Mundybash, Krokhalyovka, Samus, Irmen cultures), Early Iron Age (Bolsherechenskaya culture), Middle Ages (Upper Ob culture), up to the beginning of the Russian settlement. Significant gaps in archaeological records have been identified (the Early Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Andronovo, and Kulay periods, as well as Late Middle Ages). It has been established that the Lebedi AMR has high capacity for producing new archaeological sources and can be considered a key object for reconstructing historical and cultural dynamics in the central districts of the Kuznetsk forest-steppe. Future research priorities include locating new sites, acquiring series of absolute dates, refining the stratigraphy of compact multi-layered sites, and undertaking comparative studies

Archaeological evidence · Archaeological record · Bronze Age · Chronology · Middle Stone Age · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Marine and environmental studies · Soil and Environmental Studies