V. E. Larichev: A Researcher of Siberian Antiquities in Malaya Syya (Based on the Materials from the Research Archive of Institute of Archaeology and Etnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

First professional archaeological works near the village of Malaya Syya were conducted in 1974. Between 1975 and 1981, V. E. Larichev studied this unique and complex object while leading the Verkhnechulymskaya expedition of Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy of the Siberian branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (see Appendix 1). Specialists expressed mixed opinions on both the collection and the site. There were many doubts about the age of the cultural remains which had been supposed to be over 34,000 years. At the current state of research, one should accept earlier dating of the cultural layer that contains materials which are unique for the Palaeolithic of Southern Siberia (Lbova et al., 2015). For Larichev the story of studying those materials was full of drama and emotions. (Gryaznov et al., 1981; Lyubin et al., 1981; Kholyushkin, 2009: 141–144).