New data in the investigation of archaeological site Vylys tom 2 on the Izhma river

The archaeological multilayered site Vylys Tom 2 is situated on the right bank of the Izhma River, at the mouth area of its tributary - the Vylys Tom River. Artefacts are located in the sediments of the terrace’s promontory, which is 10 m high. Excavations were carried out in 2010-2013 and 2015.Four cultural layers are identified. The Early Iron Age finds are discovered in the contemporary forest soil. The Neolithic finds of the second cultural layer occurred in brown loam at the depth of 0.3-0.5 m. Mesolithic remains are found in the third and fourth cultural layers, which are part of thin humus sandy loam layers of alluvial soil strata at >2 m depth. The remains of fireplaces and butchering activities were found. The similarity of the inventories of the third and fourth layers is revealed. There is also similarity in the use of raw materials.Radiocarbon dating was obtained from coal of these layers related to the end of the Boreal period of the Holocene: the 4th cultural layer - 8690 ± 90 14 C or 9730 ± 140 cal. (LU-7288), 8540 ± 70 14 C or 9530 ± 40 cal. (GIN-14594); the3rd cultural layer - 8510 ± 70 14 C or 9500 ± 40 cal. (LU-7289), 7800±90 14C (GIN-14593.In the 4th cultural layer two ground axes from slate and a lot of flakes produced while remaking them were discovered. Some of the flakes and fragments were re-fitted to the axes, which allowed us to restore their initial form. But in the 3rd cultural layer only flakes produced while remaking ground tools were found. In the field season 2015 a large fragment of the ground axe was found on the surface of the terraces in the destroyed sediments. Its shape differs from that of the axes found in the 4th cultural layer. Nevertheless, using refitting we established its belonging to the 4th cultural layer. All three axes are similar to the axes of the Mesolithic sites Topyd-Nyur 2, 5, 7 on the Pechora river. This fact confirms the cultural relations of these sites and the 4th cultural layer of Vylys Tom 2 site on the Izhma river.