Medieval Quarry Near the Koksa Bay (Krasnoyarsk Reservoir) as the Evidence of Possible Migration of the Yenisei Kyrgyz from the Sayan Mountains to the Middle Yenisei

Purpose. The results of archaeological survey in 2021 along the western shore of the Krasnoyarsk reservoir in the Koksa Bay area are presented in the process of field research. Previously unknown cultural and historical objects were revealed – a quarry on Mount Bol’shoi Togurtag, presumably of medieval times, and mounds in the form of rounded stone objects at the foot of the mountain 1 250 m from the Koksa bay.
Results. The material extracted from the quarry was used in the construction of these mounds, located at the foot of the mountain. This assumption is evidenced by a similar type of rock in the quarry and on the mounds (they are of magmatic origin). Previously, similar objects for this territory were not mentioned in the scientific literature. Is the technological originality in stone processing techniques evidence of the migration to this territory of any mobile group of the population from the outside, where such technology was traditional? For example, medieval Kyrgyz kurgans in the Usinsk valley of the Western Sayan, where there are many rocks of igneous origin, are similar to them in their appearance and composition of the building material. Therefore, it is logical to assume that here, on the Middle Yenisei, some group of “Usintsy” migrated, which was quite likely as part of the process of returning to their homeland of the Yenisei Kyrgyz after the Great Power era. An exhaustive answer to this question can be given in the future only after an archaeological study of the rounded stone structures located here, similar to medieval “сhaatas” and “suukter” mounds, but composed, as indicated, of material of magmatic origin, unusual for this territory, in the form of large and medium-sized blocks of “torn” forms.
Conclusion. The quarry on Bol’shoi Togurtag Mount demonstrates more labor-intensive process of obtaining stone material in comparison even with the extraction of “slabs” from layers of Devonian sandstone for the construction of mounds of the Tagar culture. All of the above and determines the originality of this object among those known in Khakassia. In this regard, their further study seems to be very relevant and expedient for the formation of a complete picture of the origin of medieval archaeological sites on the left bank of the Yenisei.

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