Geoarchaeological Studies at the Sukhaya Mechetka Middle Paleolithic Site in 2021

In 2021, the Lower Volga Paleolithic research team of the IAET SB RAS, participating in the Interdisciplinary Lower Volga Expedition organized by the IIMK RAS, the study of the Sukhaya Mechetka Middle Paleolithic site located in the northern outskirts ofVolgograd City was continued. The research was aimed at studying the chronostratigraphic position of the cultural layer and reconstructing the paleoclimate during the Neanderthal habitation period. In 2021, an additional geological section was established to the west of the buffer zone of the excavation area to study the stratigraphy of the right-side slope of the Sukhaya Mechetka gully. In 2021 the upper part of SM 14-18 (SМ East) stratigraphic sequence has been completely excavated (26 m thick). The new SM West stratigraphic sequence was established in 155 m westwards. Preliminary correlation of the layers and paleosol horizons in these two profiles was carried out. Samples for palynological, micromorphological, physicochemical and phytholithic analyses with the purpose to correlate the two sequences have been collected. Sediments were sampled for OSL dating. Studies of the buried paleosol are extremely important for understanding the dynamics of the climatic changes during the cultural layer accumulation at Sukhaya Mechetka. Pedogenetic levels that have been revealed in 2021 are comparable to the buried paleosol identified at the site earlier in depths, continuity and features of pedogenesis. Texturally graded buried paleosol described here for the first time for the SM West sequence expand our understanding of the soil spatial inhomogeneity, and, consequently, conditions of human habitation. Results of the ongoing field investigation will allow determining the cultural-chronological position of Sukhaya Mechetka in the context of the Eastern and Central European Middle Paleolithic complexes for the first time.