Eolian sediments overlying caveman sites (Baikal region)

Caveman sites retained to date are overlain almost everywhere by loose sediments. Of particular interest is the fact that a part of these archeological objects was conserved by eolian flows ascending upward the slopes rather than descending gravitation processes (deluvial washout, mudflows, landslides, avalanches, and others). These lithoflows were promoted at first by wave-cut activity of a lake (water body → beach) and then by wind (beach → coastal plain). We studied such lithoflows and caveman sites overlain by sediments in the western Baikal region and on Lake Baikal. Archeological data on these sites were used for establishing the age of eolian sands. Mineral and chemical compositions of sandy sediments and the dynamics of eolian processes have received much attention. Investigation of eolian sands is important because they can overlie and protect caveman sites and some mineral deposits from destruction.