Zhokhov site sledges as a part of the land transportation system of the East Siberian Arctic dwellers 9000 years ago

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The Zhokhov island site (76°06’ N, 152°42’ E) is one of the northernmost archaeological sites in the world indicating human development of these territories back in the early Holocene, about 9000 years ago, and provides the oldest evidence of human presence in the high latitudes. Its archaeological context secured by the permafrost, is of rare completeness and quality, and includes objects made of non-durable materials. Structu­ral elements of dog sleds take a prominent place among wooden artefacts. These are finished products, their fragments and preforms, among which sled runners and composite platform supports (uprights) are well recognizable. Their morphology and morphometry presume two types of sled construction — small light sleds (possibly towed by a hunter and/or a dog), and relatively large “cargo” sleds, moved by dogs. The latter are represented to a lesser extent. It should be emphasized that the evidence for that early use of sophisticated transport technologies is a rare case. The Zhokhov dwellers widely used the techno­logy of sled dog land transportation, which made them capable to participate in a long-distance exchange system. Logistics connectivity of the territories indicates the formation of large socio-cultural systems in the East Siberian Arctic at the beginning of the Holocene. Complexity of the sled construction discovered at the Zhokhov site presumes that it was developing for some time. It was likely developed during the Late Glacial, after 15,000 years ago. This technology is the most important innovation of the Stone Age at the turn of the Pleistocene and Holocene.