Vylys Tom 2 – A Multilayered Archaeological Site in the Valley of the Izhma River

The first multilayered clearly stratified site Vylys Tom 2 was studied in the valley of the Izhma River, the largest left tributary of the Pechora River (north of the East European Plain). Cultural remains are located in the sediments of the terrace’s promontory, which is 10 m high. The site is discovered in 2003; excavations were done in 2010–2011, 2015, 2017. Four cultural layers are distinguished. The first cultural layer is placed in contemporary forest soil. Badly preserved fragments of ceramic vessels are found in this layer. Nevertheless, typical peculiarities of their forms and ornament allow to date this layer to the end of Ananyino culture of Early Iron Age (VI–III century BC). The second cultural layer is placed in brown loam at 0.3–0.5 m depth from contemporary day surface. Flint artifacts are not numerous. Heat treatment of flint, thin bifaces production, and large burins are typical for the Neolithic with pit-comb ceramics. The third and fourth cultural layers are placed in thin humus sandy loam of alluvial soil strata and found at >2 m depth from contemporary day surface. It is low floodplain alluvium with a high sedimentation rate. The third layer has been dated to 7720±100 BP (GIN-15331), 7800±90 BP (GIN-14593), 8510±70 BP (LU-7289), and 8685±30 BP (IGANams-5991), while the obtained dates for the fourth layer are 8540±70 BP (GIN-14594), 8690±90 BP (LU-7288), and 8700±30 BP (IGANams-5992). The high rate of accumulation of sediments shows that the dates 7720±100 and 7800±90 BP from the third cultural layer are rejuvenated. And there is about 10 years between the existence of camp sites of the third and fourth layers. In these layers, fireplaces, traces of ocher, faunal remains, and stone products are noted, including a set of peckingabrasive stone tools for processing bone, and flakes from large slate polished tools (third layer), as well as large points, cores (including core-burins), polished axes and their fragments (fourth layer). We distinguish similarity the inventories of the third and fourth cultural layers. The used raw materials show the presence of shale and epidosite in both layers. The presence of ocher, the location of the hearths one above the other also confirm the short time interval between the existence of the Mesolithic sites of the third and fourth layers. Some similarities in the stone industry of the Mesolithic layers from the site of Vylys Tom 2 and the sites of Parch Mesolithic culture speak of their interrelations.