Terra sebv s acta mvsei sabesiensi s

V. N. Aliyassova, K. K. Akhmetov, I. R. Aspanova 

 

 

496

excavations have revealed no such finds: skeletal remains of individual 

bones are the most common.

 

In the geological time period in which the Hipparion fauna lived, 

their Siberian habitat is known to have contained many plants and a 

variety of mammals. From this it can be inferred that the vast territory of 

Western Siberia and Kazakhstan had a fairly mild climate and a wide 

variety of terrain. 

Opinions amongst authors differ as to the age of the site, based on 

the palaeomagnetic data. Some consider it to be of the Gilbert chron (5.4-

5.5 Ma), i.e. Upper Miocene (end of the Meotian stage), a view held by P. A. 

Tleuberdina. However, according to V. S. Zazhigina, three samples of clay 

taken from the Gussinyi Perelet site correspond to the sixth palaeomagnetic 

age (5.8-6.8 Ma). 

The first major research was conducted at Gussinyi Perelet by the 

Institute of the Academy of Science of the USSR from 1929 and 

throughout the 1930s. Discovery of the Gussinyi Perelet palaeontological 

site, with its wealth of animal fauna of Neogene period (estimated to date 

from 25 to 2 million years ago) drew palaeozoologists from across the 

Soviet Union to the Irtysh Pavlodar region, but unfortunately all the 

palaeontological material they unearthed was removed from Pavlodar. At 

that time, the city had no scientific organisation which could have handled 

the research or preservation of palaeontological remains. Many 

palaeontological findings of that time were therefore incorporated into the 

collection of the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the 

USSR.  

The 1930s were the main period of active palaeontological research in 

the Pavlodar region. On the basis of materials collected during this period, a 

room was created in the Museum of Palaeontology of the USSR dedicated 

Pavlodar excavations, displaying skeletons of rhinoceroses and other 

animals taken from Gussinyi Perelet. Since 1946, Kazakh scientists have 

been studying the area of “Gussinyi Perelet” in detail. 

In the early 1950s, the media began to speak of the great scientific 

and historical value of palaeontological burial grounds and the importance 

of their preservation, an issue that remains relevant to the present day. The 

question of the need to protect the site has been raised repeatedly by the 

scientific community. In 1956, the Bulletin of the Academy of Science of the 

Kazakh SSR and the Kazakhstan Pravda newspaper published articles by V. S. 

Bazhanov about the need to protect palaeontological monuments, and in 

particular Gussinyi Perelet.

7

 The Commission for the Conservation of 

                                                 

7

 Bazhanov 1956, p. 15. 

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Preservation for the Musefication of the Natural Heritage Site “Gussinyi Perelet”

 

 

497

Nature, under the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh 

SSR, wrote to the director of the Pavlodar regional museum stating: “It is 

clear that Gussinyi Perelet must be declared a nature reserve and protected 

from despoliation.” 

Excavations at Gussinyi Perelet have been conducted on numerous 

occasions and the results highlighted in the writings of palaeontologists A. 

A. Borisyak, Y. A. Orlov, V. S. Bazhanova, L. K. Gabunia, E. M. Belyaeva, 

V. I. Gromova, B. U. Bayshashova, P. A. Tleuberdina, L. A. Gaiduchenko, 

and many others. 

In terms of the diversity of species found and the excellent condition 

of their bones, Gussinyi Perelet is considered to be among the top twenty 

palaeontological sites of the world. The unique set of fauna found in the 

Pavlodar complex is considered an international benchmark. It is difficult to 

overestimate the importance of the Gussinyi Perelet finds as a reference for 

and model of the Hipparion fauna of Siberia and Kazakhstan. The huge 

variety of vertebrate species allows for a broad comparison with Asian and 

European sites of Hipparion fauna. 

The incision at the site reveals the following basic sediments:

8

 

1. Light-green, massive plastic clay with interbed of white lumpy 

limestone and dark humus lenses, lying below the water line. 

2. Ocher-yellow, medium-size granular sands with foreland, undulate-

horizontal cleavage; lenses of loam 8-10 m. 

3. Faltering lenses of small- and medium-sized granular, clayey sands 

with pinkish-grey marlaceous concretions, sometimes reaching up to 1 m 

(cave deposits with the bones of small animals). 

4. Red-brown clay with layers of greenish-brown dense sandy clays, 

sometimes turning into dense sandy loam. The lower part of the interval, 

where the main bone-bearing horizon lies (containing bones of large 

animals) is more saturated with calcium carbonate. Up to 9 m. 

5. Anthropogenic sands of medium brown-yellow colour 1-3 m. 

(Analysis of the geological composition of the incision is based on 

data published by P. F. Savinova

9

 and L. L. Gaiduchenko

10

.) 

On 7 December 1971, Gussinyi Perelet was declared a scientific site 

of national importance and was taken under state protection.

11

 Excavations 

of the burial site could subsequently be carried out only with the permission 

of the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Science of the Kazakh SSR. 

                                                 

8

 Baishashov 1993, p. 21. 

9

 Savinov 1970, p. 91-134. 

10

 Gaduchenko 1976, p. 150. 

11

 SAPO 1971, p. 118. 

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