The First Radiocarbon Data of Bone Remains of Mammoth Faunal Forms in Northwestern Russia

Unlike in the neighboring territories, the distribution and the period of habitation of late Pleistocene mammoth complex animals in the northwestern area of Russia had not been studied until recently. This article fills in this gap using the bone material from the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the collections of one of the authors. The samples of 14 bones and teeth of big mammals uncovered in different places of the region were dated. The data obtained by conventional 14C method and AMS method agree with each other and make it possible to determine two periods of habitation of mammoth complex animals in the region: 39000–23000 years ago and 13000–9800 years ago, which confirms that ice–free landscapes existed here at these time intervals.