On the Supposedly Young Age of Angara Alluvial Sediments Based on the Findings of Salvage Excavations in the Flooding Area of the Boguchany Hydroelectric Plant

On the Supposedly Young Age of Angara Alluvial Sediments Based on the Findings of Salvage Excavations in the Flooding Area of the Boguchany Hydroelectric Plant

I.D. Zolnikov, E.V. Deyev, A.A. Tsybankov, V.S. Slavinski, A.V. Postnov, and D.A. Chupina.

Based on the stratigraphy of Paleolithic sites on the northern Angara, the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene history of the region is reconstructed. Findings of recent salvage excavations in the Boguchany fl ooding zone as well as the evidence of Quaternary geology, geomorphology, neotectonics, and archaeology jointly disprove the “young Angara” model proposed by G.I. Medvedev and other “geoarchaeologists.” The principal event postulated by that model – the alleged disastrous outburst of the Angara along the Baikal channel 12–7 ka BP is supported neither by the relief nor by the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentation record nor by the stratigraphy of the Paleolithic sites on the northern Angara.

Keywords: Alluvium, Angara, terrace, Boguchany Hydroelectric Plant, neotectonics, Karga Interstadial,
paleoecology.