Sites of Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic from the Chuvash Volga Region: the issue of cultural interpretation

The article features a comprehensive assessment of monuments dating back to the Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods located in the Chuvash Volga Region: topography, description of the structural aspects of studied dwellings, characteristics of the stone industry, bone articles, etc. All the described sites have deteriorated to a certain degree, and others have been lost completely. The author analyses all the available archaeological and natural scientific information, which suggests the cultural nature of the monuments. Sholma 1 site was presumably populated by wild horse hunters and related to the process of migration from the Forest-Steppe Area of the Lower Volga Region in the Final Paleolithic period. Monuments of the Mesolithic period located in the Chuvash Volga Region are linked by the author and other researchers to the cultural group of monuments with Post-Swiderian arrowheads and the Russko-Lugovskaya culture recently identified in the Mari Volga Region.