Ancient Pyramids: Researchers from St. Petersburg discovered a 9,000-year-old dog sled in the Arctic.

Zhokhova Island is not easy to find on a map. It is hidden in the De Long archipelago in the East Siberian Sea. The nearest shore of Yakutia is 400 kilometers away, while the North Pole is nearly 1000 kilometers distant. What could people be doing here? Researchers are conducting excavations in this region. They are unearthing artifacts from ancient peoples who explored the northern part of the planet after the glacier melted. Even today, it is a remote corner of the world, but back then, it was a place of active life. This is evidenced by the fragments of dog sleds that have been found.

The excavations took place in permafrost. Photo: AANII.

According to the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute based in St. Petersburg, hundreds of wooden fragments were discovered during the excavations, which were used to make sleds (narrow long sleds - Ed. note). Dog sleds assisted ancient northern nomads in settling across the vast tundra and even in conquering islands.

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Scientists found 113 fragments of sleds. Photo: AANII.

- On one of the islands in the De Long archipelago, we found parts of sleds dating back about 9,000 years, - reported the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. - The use of this mode of transport was revolutionary for the cultural development of the northern peoples, providing a high degree of mobility for populations and logistical connectivity between territories.

The findings are being studied by AANII researcher Elena Pavlova and representative of the Institute of History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Pitulko. Their scientific publication notes that 111 wooden fragments and two from reindeer antler, which were part of ancient sleds, were found on Zhokhova Island. Scientists were able to reconstruct the sleds and found that hunters used both small individual sleds that a person pulled themselves or with the help of one dog, as well as larger sleds pulled by several dogs. Additionally, dog bones were discovered at the site.

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The wood for the sleds was brought by the sea. Photo: AANII.

- The details of the sleds from the Zhokova site were primarily made from larch (a dense wood with fine fibers) and birch (a type of wood with larger fibers). The source of the material was accumulations of driftwood on the seashore near the site, - the study states. The completion of the domestication of wolves, which occurred shortly after 15,000 years ago, quickly led to the establishment of ground transport technology in eastern Siberia in the form of sled dog driving.

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The excavations took place in the far north. Photo: AANII.

According to scientists, dog sleds allowed the inhabitants of the far north to travel great distances, which helped them survive in harsh conditions. If resources ran out in one place, a group could quickly move to another.

- The use of sleds ensured high mobility of the population. The logistical connectivity of territories manifested itself in the creation of large socio-cultural systems of surprisingly great age, spanning the area from Zhokhova Island to the Anadyr River in Chukotka. There is every reason to believe that ground transport technology was the most significant innovation at the turn of the Holocene era, - the scientists conclude.

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