Sungir: the essence of the site

Sungir, according to O.N. Bader, is a single-level site that has emerged as a result of many years of seasonal use of the same place. Excavations at the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century led to the understanding of the Sungir as a two-layer or multi-layer settlement. Its formation is associated with sporadic usage of the area by the carriers of the same culture for thousands of years. The main reason for change in the researchers’ view on the site was determined by the participation in the work of specialists of an adjacent profile and the results of a series of radiocarbon dating. From a formal point of view, it seems convincing to distinguish two layers according to the occurrence of finds in dark gray and gray humus loam. Nevertheless, the analysis of the data makes it possible to return to the original idea of the monolayer of the site. Cultural remains and main structural objects at excavations II and III are concentrated in the form of two equivalent concentrations. They are separated by a significant space with a sparse occurrence of remains. This suggests that these concentrations were, apparently, the central parts of individual settlements left by the same group of people.