Proceedings

of the Tomsk Technological Institute

of Emperor Nicholas II

Vol. 14. 1909. No. 2.

VI.

M. E. Yanishevsky.

Brief Report on the Summer Excursions of 1907 and 1908.

With a plate of drawings.

1–20.

I.

REPORT

on a trip to the Barnaul Uezd of Tomsk Governorate.

In the spring of 1907, Professor N. I. Kartashev informed me that in Tomsk there was a deacon of the village of Semeno-Krasilovskoe (the village of Gileva), Verkh-Chumysh Volost, Barnaul Uezd, V. A. Sorokin, who had brought news of the discovery of bones of large fossil animals not far from the place where he lived. I met with this deacon, who told me everything that he knew about the find of the bones. Among other things, he told me that in the coming summer he had decided to visit the place of the find. Some time later, he sent N. I. Kartashev a letter reporting that in the summer he had visited various points along the Chumysh River, a tributary of the Ob River, where he had partly personally collected, and partly obtained from peasants, bones and teeth of various fossil animals, and had also gathered information about other finds of the same kind. He had visited the village of Eltsovskoe, the village of Cheremshanka, the village of Bragina, the village of Martynovskoe, and the village of Kolonkova.

In the village of Eltsovskoe he found, in the possession of one peasant, a tooth weighing up to 16 pounds (evidently a mammoth tooth), but the greatest quantity of bones and teeth was found by him in the village of Cheremshanka. He reported that there he had found up to 30 teeth of various sizes, 2 tusks not fully preserved, and a mass of broken bones. In his supposition, there was more than one skeleton there. But, as the peasants told him, the skeleton was in the water precisely at the place where a mill stands, and in order to extract it, it would have been necessary deliberately to stop the mill, which he did not venture to do for lack of funds. In his letter, Deacon Sorokin asked to be supplied with a small sum so that he might carry out preliminary excavations before a special excursion was equipped for those places. This request was granted, and Deacon Sorokin was sent by the Economic Committee of the Institute a sum in the amount of 50 rubles. In view of the great interest presented by the information communicated by Deacon Sorokin, upon my arrival in the city of Tomsk in August 1907 I deliberately set out for the Barnaul Uezd, in order personally to inspect those places where the bones had been discovered. Along the way I also examined other points, which give an idea of the geological structure of the locality in question.

My route was as follows.

From Tomsk I set out by steamer for Barnaul; from there I headed to the village of Semeno-Krasilovskoye, where I expected to meet Deacon V. Sorokin, but I did not get to this village directly, instead first traveling through the villages of Chesnokova, Bypentsova, Golubova, and Kopylova to Sredne-Krasilovskoye (the village of Podvoloshnaya). This is explained by the fact that the name Semeno-Krasilovskoye has existed only recently, and the village indicated is known to the local inhabitants under the name of the village of Gilevaya; therefore, in response to my inquiries about the location of Semeno-Krasilovskoye, confused information was given and, among other things, an incorrect direction was indicated, Semeno-Krasilovskoye being confused with Sredne-Krasilovskoye. Only in Sredne-Krasilovskoye did I learn precisely the location of Semeno-Krasilovskoye, to which I then went, traveling through the village of Sorokino and the village of Zarechnaya (or Dmitrie-Titovskoye). Unfortunately, Deacon Sorokin was not at home at that time (he had gone to Barnaul), and I, after waiting for him for some time, decided to set out to inspect those points that had been indicated in his letter. I visited the following points: the villages of Mokrushina, Titova, Burakova, Kolonkova; from Kolonkova I went through the village of Titova to the Verkhne-Chumysh volost (the village of Kytmanova), where I finally met Deacon Sorokin. From there, together with him, we went to the village of Vilashkina, where I examined the teeth collected by Sorokin. It turned out that all these were mammoth teeth, some complete, some broken. Leaving all the material with Sorokin, with the request that he send it to Tomsk, I returned to Barnaul, and then to Tomsk.

During the journey by steamer along the Tom and Ob from Tomsk to Barnaul and back, I was able, incidentally, to observe the character of the geological structure of the banks of these rivers. They reveal two clearly expressed terraces. The formations that make up the second terrace are distinguished by remarkable constancy. Everywhere one can see thick beds of loess-like clay of a brownish-yellow color, and beneath the clay of the same brownish color, a sandy-clayey formation.

But I shall not dwell on these observations, and will turn instead to what constituted my principal task—namely, I shall take up the description of observations along the Chumysh River; visiting certain points on this river gave me the opportunity to become acquainted with the character of the structure of the river terraces of this river, to collect a fairly considerable number of bones of various post-Pliocene animals, and to survey the conditions of their occurrence.

Observations in the Valley of the Chumysh River

The locality lying east of the Ob River and intersected by the latter’s tributary—the Chumysh—represents a more or less level expanse, a plateau gradually rising toward the east; thus—

...which slope, evidently, also explains the prevailing direction of the rivers that flow in this locality into the Ob River. It is cut up by gullies; meadows, arable land, and fields are visible everywhere, and in places there are also forest plantings, chiefly of birch. The mountains proper—the spurs of the Altai—are visible only to the east of Semeno-Krasil’skoe, which lies 100–120 versts from Barnaul; for example, Mt. Sinyukha, which can already be seen from afar, and from which, according to the accounts of local inhabitants, Barnaul can be seen in good weather. In general the character of the locality differs little from that of the terrain of, say, central Russia. What is striking, among other things, is the great quantity of sown fields, the splendid grain, the prosperous appearance of the villages and hamlets, and the sedate, dignified, and independent bearing of the inhabitants. Everything here seems to breathe well-being and contentment.

The gullies that flow into the Chumysh, and the Chumysh itself, present in many places sections that make it possible to judge the geological structure of the locality.

The structure of the banks of the Chumysh and of its tributaries is the same as on the Ob River. Everywhere in the sections one sees yellowish sands of the same character as on the banks of the Ob; each time it can be observed that the upper part of the sections consists of yellowish loess-like clay with columnar jointing, and beneath it lie sands up to 4–5 sazhens thick. In addition to the loess-like clay, the presence of true loess must also be noted. These rocks represent older deposits forming part of the above-mentioned area east of the Ob; they belong to the post-Pliocene. But besides them we see newer formations, confined to the valleys of the rivers and representing ancient river deposits of the latter.

The Chumysh River and its tributaries abound in remains of bones of various post-Pliocene animals. These occur partly in primary position in post-Pliocene sediments, and partly secondarily in the shallows of the Chumysh River, among the deposits of recent time. To illustrate what has just been said, several examples may be given.

I dwelt in considerable detail on the geological structure of the banks of the Chumysh River near the village of Kolonkova; here, judging from a letter of Deacon Sorokin, a mammoth pelvis had once been found, later broken up by one of the peasants. I decided to inspect this place because I expected to find here some further remains from the same mammoth. Arriving in the village of Kolonki, I sought out the peasant M. M. Popov, who had in fact once made the find in question. Popov told me in detail how, about 17–20 years earlier, while traveling along the Chumysh in a boat, a little below Kolonkova, he had found on the left bank near the very water bones—judging by his account, a pelvis, a femur (“but’”), and a tibia (“lyt-” ...

...the tusk”). The pelvis was standing edgewise. Subsequently ribs, tusks, and teeth were also found. Of the pelvis, which was extracted by Popov and taken by him to the village, only a small part has survived at present, since, after lying for several years in Popov’s yard, it was broken into pieces. The thigh bone was carried off by peasants from another village. As could be concluded from Popov’s account, in the place where the bones were found there lay, if not a whole skeleton, then a considerable part of one. In view of this I decided to examine this place, hoping to find something more and to become acquainted with the conditions of occurrence of the bones. But it turned out that in the 17–20 years that had elapsed since the discovery, the very bank where the bones had been found had changed considerably; it had been washed away. At the time when the pelvis was found, there was a ravine here; the bones were in sand and were partly washed by the water in a gravel strip 2 arshins wide. Now, however, in this same place, instead of a ravine there is a cape, and the ravine has retreated 15 sazhens from the water. The cape is formed of clay covered with pebbles. Thus, in the place where the mammoth skeleton lay, it proved impossible to find anything in situ. It should be noted, however, that even now bones are found here from time to time; thus, for example, part of the right scapula of a mammoth has been found. But alongside the mammoth bones, bones of other animals also occur here; for example, there were found: a fragment of the horn of Cervus (Megaceras) eurycerus, various bones of Bison priscus, and others, which clearly shows that the bones here are in a secondary position. The structure of the bank of the Chumysh near the place of the find presents the following picture (Drawing 1):

I. light grayish-brown sandy, thinly stratified clay with columnar separateness. Below it alternates with brownish-gray sands; 1 sazhen in thickness. Small shells of freshwater mollusks occur.

II. light grayish sand, stratified, with the structure characteristic of river sands; 1/2 arshin in thickness;

III. clay of a grayish-brown color, stratified; 1 1/2 arshins in thickness;

IV. grayish-brown sand; 1/4 arshin in thickness;

V. dark brownish-gray clay with interlayers of sand, with vivianite and brown iron oxide.

Here the bank represents a series of ledges, depending on repeated landslides that have occurred because of its being washed away. Every year the bank is undermined and torn away, as a result of which its ledge, which was once almost at the very water’s edge, has retreated 15 sazhens from the latter.

It must be said that somewhat lower down along the Chumysh River, on the contrary, the right bank is being torn away, and the inhabitants even have to move their buildings to another place. One house, for example, was 150 sazhens from the latter. As may be supposed, the mammoth was found in the brownish-gray clay which forms the base of the section along the Chur—

...Mysh. These deposits represent the ancient deposits of the Chumysh. The other (right) bank of the Chumysh near the village of Kolonkova is higher. It is interesting that it is composed in its upper part of loess containing Pupa, Succinea, and other terrestrial mollusks, and having a thickness of up to 1½ sazhen; in its lower part there appears a brownish sandy clay. The loess has the typical columnar jointing and typical structure. On the beach along the same bank, in some places, one can see a ridge of steeply standing layers of siliceous shales, which already represent the bedrock of the locality. At the western end of the village, the right bank of the Chumysh presents the picture shown in drawing 2, where the junction of the ancient river alluvia, developed also on the right bank, with the loess terrace is visible.

In the village of Kolonkova the following bones were found:
1) Elephas primigenius (mammoth): incomplete right scapulae (3 specimens), a part of the skull adjacent to the teeth, part of the tusk of a young animal, part of a vertebra, part of the pelvis, the upper part of a femur. 2) Bison priscus Bojan, tibia, part of a horn with part of the skull, 2 thoracic vertebrae;
3) Cervus eurycerus (part of a horn). Near the village of Titova, lying below Kolonkova on the Chumysh, bones of various post-Pliocene animals are also found in the shallows. In a short time I was able to collect here a fair number of bones, evidently lying in a secondary position. I found: from Elephas primigenius, bones: left humerus, left half of pelvis, part of the right scapula of a young specimen, part of a rib; from Bison priscus Bojan.: first cervical vertebra (2 specimens), 4 thoracic vertebrae, 2 cervical vertebrae, left half of pelvis; from Equus caballus, ulna et radius; from Rhinoceras tichorhinus, radius and humerus of a young specimen.

The character of the right bank of the Chumysh River near the village of Titova is the same as that of the left bank near Kolonkova, i.e., the upper part of the sections is occupied by light grayish-brown clay, loess-like, with columnar jointing; beneath it lies a dark grayish clay. The first clay also has, in addition, horizontal narrow dark bands, running in waves; they are represented by dark clay; the general picture may be seen approximately in drawing 3. These are ancient river formations of the Chumysh.

On the right bank they adjoin the loess deposits, just as this is also observed near Kolonkova; farther from the bank granite emerges. The same picture is observed in other places along the Chumysh, for example near the village of Zarechnaya (or Dmitrievo-Titovskaya), where, among other things, bones of Bison priscus were found (fragments of a horn with part of the skull, a fragment of a humerus, tibia (right), tibia (left), cannon bone, 3 cervical vertebrae; Elephas primigenius

…fragments of vertebrae) and Megaceras euryceras (parts of a horn). Comparing the indicated deposits with the post-Pliocene deposits of other localities, it may be seen that in nearby localities as well, investigated by Petz, Polunov, and others, the character of the post-Pliocene deposits is the same.

For example, G. G. Petz¹), in the region of the Borovlyanka–Anisimov sheet of the Altai district, notes the existence of two facies of post-Pliocene deposits: sandy and loess-like, which are exposed in the high banks of the Chumysh River between the mouths of its tributaries, the Talmitsa and Talmenka rivers, and also along the latter. The first facies is represented by loose quartz sands of a yellowish color. It occupies a comparatively insignificant area; the other facies, represented by a loess-like loam, very fine-grained, porous, effervescing with acid, and light yellow in color, has a wide distribution. In places thin interbeds of gravel and pebbles occur in it. On the Chumysh, on the right bank, according to Petz, there are magnificent, almost vertical exposures of it. Here, too, bones and molars of mammoth and rhinoceros are not rare in it. Petz further notes that mixing of the loess-like facies with the sandy one is observed quite often. In addition to these deposits, Petz also notes alluvial formations in the indicated region in the form of river deposits, which are especially developed in the valleys of the Chumysh and Berdi rivers. These deposits are represented by clean sands or gray silty sands, composing the so-called meadow terrace.

Post-Pliocene deposits of the same character as indicated above are also noted by Petz in more southerly regions²).

Among other things, he expresses a view on the mode of formation of the loess-like loams, thinking that in the post-Pliocene period, between the mountain spurs of Western Altai, there existed basins, probably “lake-like,” on the floor of which the loess-like sediments were deposited. Petz indicates the presence in the loam of bones of Elephas primigenius and Bos priscus.

Prof. Polunov³) also speaks of post-Pliocene deposits in the Altai district, in the Kuznetsk basin, distinguishing

¹) Proceedings of the Geological Section of the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, vol. III, no. 1. Geological description of the south-western quarter of sheet 14 of series VIII of the ten-verst topographic map of Tomsk Province (Anisimovo–Borovlyanka sheet), p. 103. 1898.

²) See Petz. Geological description of sheet 13 of series X of the ten-verst map of Tomsk Province, Zmeinogorsk District, Beloglazovo, Lokot and Kabanya. Proceedings of the Geological Section of the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty (vol. VI, no. 1, p. 213).

³) Geological description of the south-western quarter of sheet 15 of series VIII of the ten-verst map of Tomsk Province (Kuznetsk sheet), p. 466; vol. VI, no. 2, Proceedings of the Geological Section of the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, 1907. See also his geological description of the north-western quarter of sheet 15 of series VII of the ten-verst map of Tomsk Province, p. 271.

among them two principal types: loess-like loams, occupying broad areas of the locality he studied, and ancient alluvium, representing ancient deposits of river valleys. The former is a rock approaching loess, but differing in its somewhat more sandy character and its lower lime content.

The ancient alluvium, on the other hand, consists of yellowish or grayish sandy clays and sands with interbeds of gravel, composed of the same rocks as the pebbles from the present channels of the rivers. These rocks form part of the second terrace of the Tom, Kondoma, and other rivers, being separated from the first terraces now by a clearly expressed scarp, now merging gradually both with the first and with the third terrace¹. At the base of these deposits gravel is noted. Both in the loess-like loam and in the ancient alluvium, remains of large animals are occasionally encountered. Among other things, Polynov notes that in the loess-like loam in the vicinity of the village of Luchsheva, remains of mammoth bones were found under conditions allowing one to suppose that an entire skeleton was present here. Among post-Pliocene animals, besides the mammoth, Polynov also notes Bos latifrons in the area he studied. Polynov also addresses the mode of origin of these sediments, supposing that the loess-like loam was formed as a product of weathering of the underlying rocks, and the ancient alluvium—as a product of the deposition of ancient rivers.

As can be seen, the observations that I made do not contradict the observations of the authors mentioned. I likewise succeeded in noting the existence of a second terrace, represented either by loess-like loam or by ancient alluvium, and rising above the so-called meadow or first terrace at those points where I encountered them. I do not have sufficient data for composing a complete picture of the post-Pliocene formations in the region touched upon, but I consider it necessary to note that scarcely everywhere are we dealing with loess-like loam; it is possible that part of the deposits taken for the latter represents typical loess of eolian origin. This is indicated, for example, by the fact that near Kolonkova, where typical loess was found (see above), it was encountered.

This shows that the character of the origin of the deposits of the indicated terrace is not so uniform as one might think, guided by the data of Petz and Polynov. Remains of post-Pliocene animals are associated with ancient alluvium, or else occur among recent alluvium in a secondary position, having been washed out of ancient alluvial deposits.

I consider it necessary to point also to those finds that were made by Deacon V. Sorokin. The latter delivered from the village of Cheremshanka, also lying on the river Chumysh, 11 whole teeth and 17 fragments of mammoth teeth. This leads one to think that at the indicated point there is indeed a significant accumulation of remains of this animal. In addition, from the village of Yurgensova on the river Uksunai, a tributary of the river Chumysh, below Togul, he delivered a rhinoceros skull and a mammoth bone (tibia). Finally, in Sredne-Krasilovo (Podvoloshnaya) I obtained a horn of Bison priscus, and in the village of Sorokina I saw a mammoth limb bone in the post-office department, whither it had been brought from the environs of that village. Nor can one pass over in silence the fact that everywhere, in all the villages through which I had occasion to travel, people told me of large bones and teeth washed out in various places by the river Chumysh. All this testifies that the river Chumysh is indeed rich in remains of post-Pliocene animals; among these animals, as the collected material shows, the greatest role is played by remains of the mammoth (Elephas primigenius), then of the ox (Bison priscus), the rhinoceros (Rhinoceras tichorhinus), the horse (Equus caballus), and the giant deer (Megaceras eurycerus); of these animals the last two forms are indicated by me for the first time for this locality.

Unfortunately, more or less complete skeletons of these animals have not yet been found, and their existence must only be inferred on the basis of accounts by local inhabitants in various places. I, among other things, entered into relations with various persons whom I asked, in the event of the discovery of any interesting finds, to report them to the Technological Institute.

II.

REPORT

on the trip to Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsk, and Irkutsk.

The purpose of the trip undertaken in the summer of 1908 with funds from the Institute to Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsk, and Irkutsk was to inspect the museums located in these cities, to establish relations with the representatives of these museums for the exchange of duplicates from various paleontological collections, and also to visit certain interesting localities in the environs of these cities for the purpose of collecting paleontological material.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to inspect all the museums, as will be seen below. Thus, in Krasnoyarsk it was impossible to inspect the museum because major repairs were being carried out there that summer; the collections had been piled up in heaps and were inaccessible for examination. Nevertheless, it was still possible to inspect what was visible.

Upon arriving in Krasnoyarsk, I joined for one day a student excursion led by Prof. B. A. Obruchev, and together with several students examined the Cambrian limestones near the village of Torgoshino; but our searches were not crowned with success—we did not find the Cambrian trilobites and remains of Archaeocyathidae indicated in these limestones by Baron Toll¹.

Having postponed a second inspection of the Torgoshino limestones until another time, I set off by steamer along the Yenisei to Minusinsk. On the way I was able to become acquainted cursorily with the splendid sections found on the Yenisei River. These sections are so typical and provide so much for judging the stratigraphy of the locality in question that a journey along the Yenisei can be very instructive. Here the Yenisei flows through mountainous terrain, and the beds of the rocks composing it are strongly disturbed in their bedding; they often dip steeply upstream or downstream along the Yenisei, clearly forming various synclines and anticlines. A detailed survey of the section along the Yenisei could constitute a rewarding task for a geologist. In one place near the village of Novoselova it is clearly visible that the Yenisei flows through a synclinal valley. There, incidentally, four river terraces are very well visible: 1) meadow, 2) diluvial, 3) and 4) bedrock. In other places on both banks of the Yenisei—

visible or gently dipping or, on the contrary, steeply dipping strata, which is especially noticeable near igneous rocks. Such a case is observed, for example, at versts 35–40 below the village of Bityagov; here, alongside the igneous rock (porphyry?), stratified rocks crop out, almost standing on end.

In some places, non-stratified rocks, evidently volcanic, are visible in the composition of the banks; in relief they are usually distinct from the stratified rocks. Such a case is observed, for instance, on the right bank between Baikalovo and Bateny.

Here we see a whole mass of mountains with a strongly dissected surface¹.

The relief of the terrain through which the Yenisei flows is determined not only by the greatly disturbed bedding of the rocks composing it, but also bears traces of prolonged denudation. The mountains that approach the banks of the Yenisei present characteristic forms of erosion, on which, in addition to the conditions of occurrence of the rocks composing them, the varying degree of hardness and resistance of the latter in the processes of weathering and erosion has also had an effect. The valley of the Yenisei sometimes widens, and then a considerable number of islands appears in its channel, as is observed, for example, closer to Minusinsk; at other times it narrows, and then a formal gorge is formed through which the Yenisei flows. Such a case we see a little above the town of Krasnoyarsk, at versts 40. Here both banks of the Yenisei present very high sheer walls, standing close opposite one another and cut here and there by narrow valleys of mountain streams flowing into the Yenisei.

The predominant rocks cropping out on the Yenisei are red-colored rocks of various shades, belonging in considerable part to the so-called Ursa-Stufe—a suite of rocks of transitional character between the Devonian and the Carboniferous. In many cases these rocks, in their coloration, strongly resemble the variegated rocks of the Permian system developed on the Volga below Nizhny.

Sandstones of various shades of red are strongly developed within this thickness. In different places one can very clearly see the order of occurrence of these rocks. For example, below Bateny it is visible that upon lighter grayish-brown strata lie more brown strata, but farther downstream it is seen that the brown strata lie upon dark-brown strata. Still farther downstream, bright red-colored rocks are visible, lying upon the preceding ones and concordant with them. Likewise, below Novoselova it is visible,

that the bright red-colored stratum lies beneath a brownish-gray layered stratum. This stratum, and in general the rocks of the Yenisei, still require detailed study and subdivision. Besides the rocks of the Ursa-Stufe, in the sections of the banks of the Yenisei I also observed other layered rocks; for example, near the Kendyrlyk stream, which flows into the Yenisei on the left, mica-quartzite shales appear in the form of almost sheer ridges, alternating with beds of coarse-grained marble-like limestone with gray pyrite and an iron luster. I have already noted above that, besides sedimentary rocks, various igneous rocks also occur here. I confine myself here to general remarks based on observations made in passing. For a more detailed acquaintance with the geological structure of the Yenisei valley one may point to a number of investigators, such as Cherskii¹, Bogdanovich², Arentov³, and others.

In Minusinsk I visited the well-known Martyanov Museum.

The Minusinsk Museum

The Minusinsk Museum has become famous owing to the fact that it contains extraordinarily valuable collections in various branches of natural science, history, anthropology, archaeology, and ethnography.

Founded through the idea and initiative of one man—Nikolai Mikhailovich Martyanov—it succeeded, during its existence, in growing so much that the construction of a special building was required in order to house all the collections, as well as the museum’s substantial library. One cannot but marvel at the extraordinary energy and perseverance of N. M. Martyanov, who was able to create such an institution as the Minusinsk Museum.

This is all the more astonishing because Martyanov created the museum with almost no funds, and moreover in a place that lies 1,000 versts from cultural centers.

At present the museum is under the administration of a special committee elected by the city duma. It is housed in a separate three-story stone building.

In addition, there is a separate room for the library, whose reading room serves for public use; a wooden annex has been assigned as the librarian’s apartment, and there is a stone basement and a wooden pavilion for the exhibition of agricultural implements.

The museum has the following departments:

I. natural-historical, with subdepartments
    a) mineralogy, petrography, and geology;
    b) paleontology,
    c) botany,
    d) zoology;
II. anthropological;
III. ethnographic;
IV. archaeological;
V. mining-industrial;
VI. industrial;
VII. agricultural;
VIII. geographical;
IX. department of the city of Minusinsk;
X. numismatic;
XI. educational;

in addition, the museum has

XII. an observatory;
XIII. a laboratory;
XIV. a museum storeroom.

As can already be seen from this list, the museum presents a very great diversity of the collections represented in it. I shall not dwell on all the departments, but shall dwell chiefly on the natural-historical one and especially on the subdepartments of geology, mineralogy, and paleontology. It is necessary, however, to note that the departments of anthropology, ethnography, and archaeology are the richest and most fully developed. The natural-historical museum is represented more weakly. In the subdepartment of paleontology, which interested me most of all, there are the following collections:

1) Devonian fossils: a) from the rivers Bey, near the village of Beyskoye, b) from the Dzhemakul ravine, c) from the ulus of Tutatchikov on the Uibat, d) from Tei; e) from the river Es; f) from the river Tashtyp, g) from the Sara spring, h) from Bolshoy Syr at Morozov’s ulus, i) from Lake Shiro, k) from the river Bely Iyus;

2) specimens of plant remains found in the Ursa-Stufe (Devonian–Carboniferous), for example in the Izykh Mountains on the river Abakan, in Maidashi 7 versts below Minusinsk along the Yenisei, near Ust-Krivaya, 12 versts above the city of Minusinsk, etc.;

3) Jurassic plants from various points in Siberia (for example, from Ust-Baley, not far from Irkutsk);

4) Miocene plants;

5) remains of large post-Pliocene animals; in this collection there are several skulls and the lower jaw of the rhinoceros Rhinoceras tichorhinus, a defective skull of a very large mammoth

(Elephas primigenius), the lower jaw likewise of a large mammoth, the tusk and molars of the same, incomplete skulls of bulls (Bison priscus), the red deer, Equus caballus, argali, antelope, roe deer, camel, bear, dog, etc.

In general, the paleontological collections are not numerous, are not varied, and their identifications, being preliminary in character, require correction, since there are erroneous identifications; for example, Aucella is indicated as coming from Tertiary deposits, Palaeoniscus and Cordaites from Jurassic deposits, etc. The fossil specimens are not distinguished by good preservation.

As for the mineralogical and petrographic collections, they are represented chiefly by various specimens having industrial significance. The rather small mineralogical collections contain useful minerals. The petrographic collection is represented by crystalline rocks of the Minusinsk district, identified by specialists, as well as by sedimentary rocks: Archean, Devonian, Jurassic, Miocene, post-Pliocene, and recent. The geological collection contains various specimens of concretions, forms of weathering, etc.

In the large library of the museum there are, among other things, various geographical maps, which may be of great importance in the detailed study of the Minusinsk region.

Krasnoyarsk Museum.

As I have already noted, a major renovation was being carried out in the Krasnoyarsk Museum this summer, and therefore it could not be examined properly. Nevertheless, I was able to inspect what interested me most—namely, the paleontological collections; the latter are not numerous; they are represented chiefly by remains of large post-Pliocene animals.

Among these last, the following should be mentioned: part of a skull with horns of Bos primigenius (as one can ascertain, a form that is comparatively rare in Siberia), 4 skulls of Bison priscus, 2 skulls of a rhinoceros (Rhinoceras tichorhinus) and various bones of the mammoth (Elephas primigenius): a very large pelvis with part of the vertebral column, part of a skull with the upper and lower jaw, ribs, 3 tusks, parts of legs, a shoulder blade, teeth; then there is the skull of a cave hyena, found by Mr. Proskuryakov in the vicinity of the village of Torgoshino, not far from Krasnoyarsk.

Irkutsk Museum.

This museum also has a natural-history department. I shall dwell chiefly on the paleontological subsection. The following paleontological collections are found here:

M. E. Yanishevsky

1. Collection of remains of large post-Pliocene animals.

a) Elephas primigenius (mammoth)—3 skulls, of which one is complete and comes from the Yakutsk Region. The tusks belonging to it are evidently from different individuals. In addition, there are many molars, 4 tusks, a scapula, lower jaws, and vertebrae. There is a specimen of skin covered with hair (from the Turukhansk Territory), and hair from the lower reaches of the Lena;

b) Rhinoceras tichorhinus—7 skulls; to the nasal bones of three of them horn sheaths are attached (the horns, probably, are from other specimens), 5 skulls with an unperforated nasal septum, the others with a perforated one. There are also many separate rhinoceros teeth and separate bones. The majority come from the Yakutsk Region.

c) Bison priscus—7 incomplete skulls. In addition, there are separate horns of the same;

d) Cervus (Megaceras) euryceras. A splendidly preserved skull of a gigantic deer, found in the Balagansk District on the left bank of the Angara River, 4 versts below the village of Konovalov.

e) Ovis Argali—6 skulls;

f) the skull of a predator, which has not yet been identified.

In addition, there are quite a number of separate bones and teeth of mammoth, rhinoceros, bull, etc.

Part of the bones is kept in a special storeroom and could successfully serve for exchange with other museums.

2. Collections of invertebrate animals.

a) remains of Devonian fauna from the environs of the village of Beyskoye, on the Bey River, from the environs of Tashtyp, from the right bank of the Abakan, near the village of Manok, from Ufbat (all these are duplicates supplied from the Minusinsk Museum);

b) remains of insects from the Jurassic clays near Ust-Baley;

c) remains of Cretaceous fauna (still undetermined): lamellibranchs, ammonites, etc., from Sakhalin Island (the northern side of Cape Due).

3. Paleophytological collections.

a) flora from the Ursa-Stufe: Knorria from the vicinity of the village of Ochur, Achinsk District, from the environs of the village of Krivaya near Minusinsk;

b) Jurassic flora from the environs of the village of Ust-Baley, from the mouth of the Kai River, from Maksimovshchina on the Irkut River, from the mouth of the Belaya River, Irkutsk District;

c) Tertiary plants from the environs of the village of Simonova on the Chulym, Achinsk District, Yenisei Province.

d) remains of trunks, impressions of tree leaves from various points in Siberia.

The museum also has a small paleontological col—

...collections from the various systems of Russia (Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary). Then there is a geological collection consisting of various specimens in physical geology, a Siberian petrographic collection, a collection relating to gold mining, and a collection of minerals and useful minerals (5 display cases). There are also fine large specimens of nephrite from the Onon River.

All these collections are housed in one room of the museum. The other rooms are occupied by the zoological museum; in one room there is also a botanical collection. Among the zoological specimens there are many representatives of the fauna of Lake Baikal; then there is a skeleton of Rhytina Stelleri—2 skulls, a spinal column, and parts of limbs.

Below is housed the archaeological department, with numerous and rich collections of implements of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages from various places in Eastern Siberia, as well as with numerous human remains (skeletons, skulls, etc.).

On the upper floor is housed the ethnographic department, acquainting us with the various peoples of Siberia.

Here also are located a hall (auditorium), where public lectures are delivered on various branches of knowledge, and a library.

Acquaintance with the museums gave me the opportunity to form an idea of what may be counted on in establishing an exchange of duplicate collections held in the paleontological cabinet of the Institute and in the museums mentioned.

It must be said that, in general, the paleontological collections in the latter are not rich and not varied. This may be explained partly by the fact that the districts of Siberia nearest to these museums are, in general, not distinguished by any great diversity of paleontological material; partly by the fact that less attention has perhaps been paid to this branch of natural science than, for example, to archaeology, ethnography, and other branches of knowledge; and partly, finally, by the fact that Siberia, despite all its enormous area, is too sparsely populated, and among the population there are too few people who would have had the proper training for collecting paleontological material. I established relations with various persons closely connected with the museums and who promised me assistance in the matter of exchanging duplicate paleontological specimens. Among other things, in Irkutsk I made the acquaintance of the trustee of the Gromova trading house, who promised to ask his principal to allow the paleontological cabinet to be given 2 complete tusks from those which are obtained in abundance by this house in the Yakutsk region.

In conclusion, I must mention those small excursions which I undertook in the environs of the city of Krasnoyarsk and of Irkutsk. Not far from Krasnoyarsk, on the right bank of the Yenisei, near the village of Torgoshino, limestones crop out which have long attracted attention owing to the occurrence of fossils in them. At first a Devonian age was ascribed to them, but later Baron Toll¹ referred them to the Cambrian system, since he found in them representatives of Archaeocyathidae, which occur in the Cambrian, and at the same time showed that the trilobites formerly assigned by Academician Schmidt to Devonian genera and species in fact represent genera occurring in the Cambrian, namely Dorypyge slatkowskii Fr. Schm. and Solenopleura sibirica Fr. Schm.

In view of this circumstance, it was very interesting to collect as much material as possible from the indicated limestones. Unfortunately, the searches proved unsuccessful, despite the fact that on both occasions when I was there I was assisted in the search by participants in the student excursion organized near Krasnoyarsk by Prof. Obruchev. In all, 4 incomplete trilobites were found in the Torgoshino limestones (of these, 2 by student Medvedev); among them were Solenopleura sibirica Schm. and Ptychoparia (?) sp. Thus one more new form was added to the Torgoshino fauna; the Cambrian age of the Torgoshino limestone seems to me beyond doubt, although comparatively recently Petz again cast doubt upon it and, on the basis of his investigations, again recognized a Devonian age for the indicated limestones. But it must be said that his argumentation is not very convincing.

Petz considers it possible to ascribe a Devonian age to the Torgoshino limestone on the grounds that, in his opinion, the Archaeocyathidae representatives occurring here are “completely identical”² with the Archaeocyathidae found in the white crystalline limestones of the Salair Ridge at the Gavrilovsky works.

But it is hardly possible to speak so definitely of identity in the present case. Petz himself, a few lines later, says that in view of the insufficient study of the Archaeocyathidae group one must be extremely cautious with identifications; elsewhere he says that the generic and specific characters of the representatives of the group under consideration are very unstable³ and therefore he does not venture to give them a specific determination, and at the same time says that the representatives of the genus Archaeocyathus fully coincide with those forms which Baron Toll described under the name Archaeacyathus sibiricus Toll.

But even if there were indeed complete identity in this case, that would still not be sufficient to speak of the Devonian age of the Torgoshin limestone, since the age of the crystalline limestone at the Gavrilovka plant is far from clear. In addition to the remains of Archaeocyathids, Petz points from the latter locality also to stromatoporoids, but he himself says that their preservation is such as to preclude the possibility of identifying them.

Thus there are too few paleontological data to speak of a Devonian age for the Gavrilovka limestone. Likewise, the stratigraphic data cited by him say nothing definite in this respect, and it would not be at all surprising if the limestone of the Gavrilovka plant proved to be Cambrian. Finally, the very criticism to which Petz subjects the accuracy of the determination given for the Torgoshin trilobites by Baron Toll is not very convincing. Thus it must be admitted that the Cambrian age of the Torgoshin limestone is hardly shaken; on the contrary, the Lower Devonian age of the Gavrilovka limestone remains in considerable doubt.

Near the city of Irkutsk I collected paleontological material along the right bank of the Irkut River, not far from its confluence with the Angara River. Here there are outcrops of horizontally bedded strata of grayish-gray sandstone, alternating with gray clays and containing small interbeds of coal; in these deposits abundant plant remains occur: ferns, Tschekanofskia, Cycadites, and others. These plants are of Jurassic age.

III.

On the Discovery of a Mammoth in the Iya Quarry

In concluding my report, I consider it necessary also to communicate the discovery of mammoth remains in the Iya quarry.

I received information from the head of works for the reconstruction of the Siberian Railway, engineer Budagov, that near Tulun station, in the so-called Iya quarry, mammoth remains had been found and, judging from the telegram of engineer Treubov, one might expect to find at the indicated place, if not an entire, then a considerable part of a mammoth skeleton. In view of this, in October of the current year I set out for the indicated point in order personally to inspect the site of the find and, if necessary, to undertake excavations. For this purpose I made use of part of the funds allocated to me by the Council of the Tomsk Technological Institute for additional investigations in the field of the post-Pliocene deposits of Siberia. Unfortunately, the trip to such a comparatively remote point did not yield great results; my expectations were not fulfilled: I succeeded in finding and collecting on the spot only 4 teeth, fragments of a tusk, and badly destroyed bones of the lower jaw and forelimbs of the mammoth.

It turned out that the conditions under which these remains had been preserved were so unfavorable that, even if an entire skeleton had been buried at the indicated place, it would have been impossible to collect it, so poor was the preservation of the bones. Nevertheless, I still find it not without interest to report the conditions under which the mammoth remains were found; these were clarified partly by inspection of the locality, and partly by questioning eyewitnesses. The mammoth remains were found on the right bank of the Iya River, above the railway bridge, not far from Tulun station, namely at the 2693rd verst of the Siberian Railway along the Iya River. Here there is the so-called Iya quarry, in which ballast is extracted for the railway. A special railway branch leads to the quarry. At the end of this branch, 30½ sazhen from the present bank of the Iya River, the mammoth remains were found. The site occupies part of an ancient terrace of the Iya, on its right side. At this place the Iya River forms a bend to the right and, especially in spring, evidently washes away part of its ancient alluvia.

Inspection of the bank of the Iya at this place makes it possible to see the following order of stratification, beginning from above:

a) a soil layer 1 arshin thick;

b) yellowish-brown sandy clay, 1¼ arshins thick.

c) brownish-gray clay with interlayers of sand . . . . . } 2½ arsh., „
d) brownish-gray sand ½ arsh. „
e) gravel, alternating with brownish-gray sand, possessing diagonal bedding 1½ arsh. „
f) brownish-gray sand with diagonal bedding 1 arsh. „
g) brownish-gray clay 1 arsh. thickness
h) gravel 1 arsh. „

Layers b–f are used as ballast; to extract them, the upper layers have to be removed. At present a considerable part of the layers has already been stripped off and a large quantity of ballast has been carted away; this is explained by the fact that the quarry is old and has long served the road. The remains of the mammoth were found in layers g) and h). At the time when I examined the indicated place, these layers were at the water level in the Ii, so that when they were dug, water appeared; the water level at that time, however, was low, and at ordinary times these layers are evidently below the water level and therefore saturated with water. This, evidently, explains the poor preservation of the mammoth remains. The water constantly leached the latter, as a result of which they became friable and, after being removed from the ground and dried, easily fall apart. The remains of the mammoth were found during the extraction of ballast, and at the moment of discovery they were in water. At the place where they were found, rails have now been laid, and the ballast is being taken somewhat to the side, farther from the river Ii—into the depth of the bank.

Judging from the accounts of the engineer who accompanied me, Alexander Karlovich Gepold, the tusks, with their serviceable ends, were directed toward the river.

As may be thought on the basis of eyewitness accounts and of what I myself had occasion to see, at the indicated place there was the skull of a mammoth and, perhaps, the anterior part of the skeleton. All 4 teeth were well preserved, although they are cracking. As for the tusks, they were badly cracked and had partly turned into a comparatively soft white mass, somewhat greasy to the touch, which even gave the workmen who dug up the mammoth reason to take them for “mammoth fat”! The lower jaw and parts of the forelimbs had decomposed to such an extent that they represented a rotten mass and were easily washed apart, and therefore it did not appear possible to recover them in a complete state, even if all precautions had been observed during extraction. But when I arrived in Tulun, the indicated parts of the mammoth had already been extracted; inspection of the place of discovery revealed no new bones, and there was no reason to remain long at this point.

...was of no significance, in view of the poor preservation of the bones. The extracted parts were in different places; for example, the teeth turned out to be with different persons, but in the end I managed to obtain everything at my disposal. Judging by the teeth found, the remains of the Iya mammoth belong to an adult specimen.

Tomsk. November 15, 1908.

Fig. 1.

Dnieper R. near Sushchany.

I

II

III

IV

V

Fig. 2.

Ancient river formations.

Forest.

Clay.

Fig. 3.

Reddish-brown ravine clays.

Sand interlayer.

Dark-gray clay.

Dnieper R. near Sushchany.

1. See above. ↩↩↩↩↩

2. See Materials for the Knowledge of the Fauna of the Devonian Deposits of the Margins of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin, pp. 246, 257, etc. Proceedings of the Geological Cabinet of the Imperial Tomsk University, vol. IV, 1901. ↩↩

3. Ibidem, p. 245. ↩↩