Сентябрь 2026 г.

Российская наука и мир (по материалам зарубежной электронной прессы)

CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ


• Tests reveal how thermoplastic composites lose strength at elevated temperatures
• Archaeologists uncover evidence of unknown Scythian rituals at Russia’s Valley of the Kings
• Five metal alloy: Scientists create ultra stable catalyst for fuel cells
• Temperate Eurasia was a cradle of woolly rhinoceros genetic diversity
• Transposable elements drive the birth of vast satellite DNA repertoires in true frogs
• Medieval Russian talisman depicts Christian warrior saint and Medusa
• Necropolis of stone-lined graves found on Svalbard archipelago
• From North America to Eurasia: the evolutionary history of marmots
• Archaeologists discover 31 previously unknown petroglyphs in Russia’s remote Arctic

Российско-китайская команда исследователей установила, как пултрузионные стекловолоконные композиты на основе разных термопластичных матриц (полифениленсульфид, полиамид-6 и полипропилен) меняют прочность при нагревании. Результаты показали, что поведение композита в первую очередь определяется свойствами основы, а не армирующего волокна. Самым устойчивым оказался образец на основе полифениленсульфида, который начал разрушаться при температуре 374 °C, в то время как полипропиленовый композит - при температуре 151 °C.

Researchers from Skoltech together with colleagues from Xi'an Jiaotong University and the Blagonravov Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have conducted a systematic study of the flexural properties of pultruded glass fiber composites based on three different thermoplastic matrices: polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyamide-6 (PA6) and polypropylene (PP).
The results show that a composite's behavior under heating is determined primarily by the polymer matrix rather than the reinforcement. The findings will help engineers select materials for components operating at elevated temperatures in aviation, automotive, energy and other industries.
The work is published in the journal Next Materials.
The researchers tested how the strength of the materials changed when heated from room temperature to 280 °C. The PPS-based composite withstood the highest temperatures: It retained strength even at 260 °C, and at 220 °C, it still retained more than half of its initial stiffness.
The PA6-based material was the strongest at room temperature, but its properties gradually deteriorated under heating. The PP-based composite, by contrast, began to degrade at temperatures above 120 °C and completely lost its load-bearing capacity by 16 °C.
Thermal analysis confirmed that the materials' behavior under heating is determined by the properties of the polymer matrix. The PPS composite began to decompose later than the others (at 374 °C) and had the highest glass transition temperature (109 °C), which accounted for its superior performance. The PA6-based material occupied an intermediate position, while the PP composite degraded most rapidly due to its low melting point (151 °C).
"The results will help engineers select the right materials for components operating at high temperatures - for example, in aviation, automotive and energy applications," said Alexander Safonov, the study's principal investigator and an associate professor at the Skoltech Materials Center.
"The study showed that even when a composite contains the same reinforcing fiber, its behavior under heating is determined by the polymer matrix. Among the materials studied, PPS is the best choice for hot conditions, while polypropylene should only be used where temperatures do not exceed 100-120 °C."
"We tested how existing analytical models describe the temperature degradation of these materials," noted Sukhwant Pal, the first author of the study and a Ph.D. student in the Mathematics and Mechanics program at Skoltech.
"It turned out that there is no universal model - each matrix type requires a different approach. This is important for structural calculations: Choosing the wrong model can lead to errors in estimating load-bearing capacity. We showed that the Mahieux and Bosze models work best for materials with gradual degradation (PPS and PA6), while for polypropylene, where properties drop sharply, simpler models are sufficient."

Во время очередного сезона раскопок скифского погребального комплекса конца IX века до н. э. Туннуг-1 (Республика Тыва) специалисты Института истории материальной культуры РАН обнаружили на каменном покрытии одного из курганов два мельничных жернова. Судя по всему, они были частью ритуала, а не использовались в качестве строительного материала. В скифских захоронениях жернова встречаются очень редко и обычно датируются более поздним временем. Новая находка может свидетельствовать о том, что раннескифская ритуальная деятельность не ограничивалась практиками, связанными с лошадьми.

Archaeologists working in Russia’s Valley of the Kings have discovered a rare set of millstones that could provide evidence of previously unknown Scythian rituals. The objects were found at Tunnug-1, an Early Scythian burial mound in Tuva, southern Siberia. The region contains a concentration of large ancient burial mounds that has earned it comparisons with Egypt’s famous Valley of the Kings.
Researchers from the Center for Rescue Archaeology at the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences announced the discovery on Sept. 7.
Archaeologists found the two millstones lying side by side while dismantling part of the mound’s stone covering in August. Their position indicated that they formed a complete set rather than separate stones reused as construction material. Researchers believe the objects may instead have been involved in religious ceremonies performed on the mound.
Rare millstones point to different Scythian rituals
The discovery stands out because previous evidence of ritual activity at Tunnug-1 has largely been associated with horses, horse breeding and mobility. The archaeologists explained that until now, all traces of ritual activity at Tunnug had been primarily associated with the cult of horsemanship, horse breeding, and mobility. The discovery of a set of millstones suggested that the surface of the burial mound may also have been used for rituals of a different kind.
Millstones are rarely found in Scythian burial mounds. Researchers said previously known examples come from later sites built several centuries after Tunnug-1. The objects themselves have a much longer history in the region. Archaeologists have found millstones at Bronze Age sites in Tuva and neighboring areas. Research into the origins of the Scythians has pointed to considerable diversity among ancient populations of the Eurasian steppe.
Find may reveal who built the ancient mound
Researchers say the discovery could also provide clues about the people who built Tunnug-1. They believe different communities may have participated in its construction and brought their own traditions to the site. This once again indirectly confirmed that the Tunnug burial mound may have been built not only by inhabitants of the surrounding steppes, but by a broad confederation of tribes, each of which brought its own distant traditions to its construction, the researchers explained.
Archaeologists from St. Petersburg’s Center for Rescue Archaeology have worked at the site for nine field seasons with support from the Russian Geographical Society. Other discoveries from Iron Age burial mounds in southern Siberia have highlighted the importance of horses among ancient steppe communities.
The Greek historian Herodotus also recorded Scythian customs in the fifth century B.C. Modern research has supported parts of his accounts, including evidence that some Scythians consumed horse milk. The Tunnug-1 discovery now suggests that ritual life at the ancient mound may have extended beyond the horse-centered practices previously identified there.

Исследователи из Южного федерального университета, Сколтеха, Института катализа СО РАН и МГТУ им. Н.Э.Баумана создали сверхстабильный катализатор для топливных элементов из сплава пяти металлов - платины, палладия, меди, никеля и кобальта.

Hydrogen-powered cars, power stations and portable chargers all rely on fuel cells. At the heart of each fuel cell is a catalyst that speeds up the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water. These catalysts are typically made of platinum - which costs nearly as much as gold. Researchers from Southern Federal University, together with colleagues from Skoltech (part of the VEB.RF Group), the Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Bauman Moscow State Technical University, have found a way to make this key component both cheaper and better. They developed a catalyst from a five-metal alloy that retains its activity even after 10,000 operating cycles.
Fuel cell catalysts are made from platinum because it is the most efficient metal for the job - but also the most expensive. To bring down the cost, platinum is alloyed with other, more affordable metals. In this study, the researchers used a combination of five elements: platinum, palladium, copper, nickel and cobalt. The chemists at Southern Federal University devised a straightforward and scalable method to synthesize small five-component metallic nanoparticles evenly distributed on a carbon support.
In practice, however, such materials often come out uneven: Some metals remain in an oxidized state, and atoms are distributed nonuniformly. To fix this, the material is heat-treated. For the first time, the scientists observed in real time what happens to the alloy nanoparticles as they are heated from 300 to 600°C (572 to 1,112°F).
At different temperatures, different effects occur, altering the microstructure and electrochemical performance of the catalyst. Above 400°C (752°F), for instance, the alloy begins to restructure, and its surface becomes enriched with platinum - and since platinum is what drives the reaction, this enrichment boosts the catalyst's effectiveness.
Skoltech researchers carried out computer simulations that confirmed that platinum does indeed migrate to the nanoparticle surface: At 600°C (1,112°F), about 75% of all platinum atoms end up in the outermost layer. Palladium, by contrast, moves deeper into the particle. As a result, the heat-treated catalyst performs better, even though its active surface area shrinks slightly due to particle growth.
These findings allowed the team to produce a new material with outstanding electrochemical properties. The catalyst treated at 350°C (662°F) proved exceptionally stable: After 10,000 cycles, its activity dropped by just 22%, compared with a 40% loss for a commercial platinum catalyst. What's more, after extended testing, the new catalyst turned out to be four times more active than the commercial benchmark.
"The stability of catalysts is a crucial factor in developing high-performance low-temperature fuel cells," said Sergey Belenov, a senior research scientist at the Faculty of Chemistry of Southern Federal University. "We have shown that creating such complex systems is not only of fundamental scientific interest but also holds promise for commercial applications thanks to their high stability - for example, in cars and power generation stations."
The new catalyst could be used in fuel cells for vehicles, stationary power plants and portable devices.
"Combining experiments with computer simulations helped us understand exactly how atoms of different metals redistribute within nanoparticles when heated," commented Senior Research Scientist Ilya Chepkasov from the Materials Center, a co-author of the study. "We showed that this process can be controlled to produce materials with tailored properties. This is an important step toward more affordable and longer-lasting fuel cells."
The work is published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds.

Китайские, российские, шведские и австрийские палеогенетики опубликовали результаты масштабного исследования генетической истории шерстистых носорогов. Ученые получили 29 митохондриальных и 14 ядерных геномов от образцов из Восточной Азии, Алтайского региона и Европы, объединив их с ранее известными геномами из северо-восточной Сибири. Анализ показал, что основные линии возникли примерно 460 000 лет назад, с четким генетическим разделением между Восточной и Западной Евразией. Наибольшее генетическое разнообразие при этом наблюдалось в средних широтах, преимущественно в Восточной Азии.

The Ice Age woolly rhinoceros may have owed much of its evolutionary success not to the frozen Siberian landscapes with which it is most closely associated, but to the more temperate regions of Eurasia, a sweeping new analysis of ancient DNA and Pleistocene habitats suggests.
The findings highlight the importance of studying ancient DNA from southern regions, where genetic diversity may have originated and persisted but has been overlooked because DNA preservation is generally better in northern Eurasia.
The woolly rhinoceros was one of the Ice Age’s iconic species, inhabiting Eurasia for more than 100,000 years until its extinction near the beginning of the Holocene. Despite surviving the glacial and interglacial climate cycles that characterized the Pleistocene for thousands of years, it’s still relatively unknown how these drastic environmental changes shaped the animal’s evolution, population, and eventual decline.
Ancient genomic studies have revealed previously unknown genetic diversity, but greatly limited genomic records - exclusively from the Late Pleistocene Northeastern Siberia - leave major gaps in the understanding of the species’ population structure, migration, and genetic history across much of their range, particularly in mid-latitude Eurasia. Xiao-Le Lei and colleagues address these gaps by screening 183 woolly rhinoceros fossils from across Eurasia and recovering 29 mitochondrial genomes and 14 nuclear genomes from specimens spanning East Asia, the Altai region, and Europe, and combined these data with previously published genomes from woolly rhinoceroses and related species.
Using several complementary dating methods, Lei et al. placed the fossils across multiple stages of the Ice Age, extending back more than 200,000 years. The authors also modeled woolly rhinoceros habitat across the past 500,000 years using fossil records and climate data on Pleistocene temperature, rainfall, and food availability to evaluate how long-term environmental shifts affected changes in the rhinoceros’s population history and genetic structure.
The findings show that woolly rhinoceros populations had a complex genetic history shaped by climate and shifting habitats. Mitochondrial evidence shows that major maternal lineages emerged roughly 460,000 years ago, with a clear genetic divide between East and West Eurasia and the greatest diversity concentrated in mid-latitude regions rather than Siberia.
Moreover, the genetic data suggest that the rhinoceros’s greatest genetic diversity arose in mid-latitude East Asia, rather than high-latitude Siberia, while the Altai region served as a long-term refugium and dispersal hub during interglacial periods. The findings also revealed evidence of gene flow between woolly and Merck’s rhinoceros, indicating that the two species interbred during the Late Pleistocene.

Биологи Института цитологии РАН и Центра био- и медицинских технологий (Сколтех) провели полногеномный сравнительный анализ тандемных повторов у девяти видов семейства настоящих лягушек (Ranidae). Тандемные повторы, или сателлитная ДНК - последовательности повторяющихся фрагментов ДНК, составляющих значительную часть генома бесхвостых земноводных. У семейства Ranidae доля таких повторов очень высока, при этом немалая их часть - от 43 до 91% в зависимости от вида - имеет общее происхождение с так называемыми «прыгающими генами», мобильными генетическими элементами. Перемещающиеся по геному элементы служат постоянным источником новых групп повторов, которые затем многократно копируются и накапливаются.

The genomes of true frogs have long puzzled geneticists. Amphibians are famous for carrying some of the largest and most repetitive genomes among vertebrates, and yet the detailed architecture of their repetitive DNA has remained poorly explored compared with mammals, birds, and fishes. A new study published in BMC Biology now offers one of the most comprehensive comparative portraits to date of the satellite DNA landscapes of true frogs, the family Ranidae, and points to a striking conclusion: transposable elements, the so-called jumping genes, appear to be a recurring and prolific source of new tandem repeat families in these animals.
An international team of researchers led by Dmitrii I. Ostromyshenskii and Aleksandra O. Travina of the Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with colleagues from The Center for Bio- and Medical Technologies in Moscow, carried out a genome-wide analysis of tandem repeats in nine species of ranid frogs. The species surveyed span a broad evolutionary range within the family, including the European common frog Rana temporaria, the Cascades frog Amerana muscosa, the Siberianewood frog relative Rana kukunoris, the moor frog relative Pelophylax lessonae, the northern leopard frog Lithobates pipiens, the American bullfrog Aquarana catesbeiana, Aquarana septentrionalis, the wood frog Boreorana sylvatica, and the torrent frog Staurois parvus. This choice of species allowed the team to examine repeat repertoires across multiple genera and lineages, giving the analysis genuine comparative power.
The technical foundation of the study was a systematic computational search for tandem repeats, sequences in which a repeating unit, or monomer, is arranged head to tail in long arrays. Using the Tandem Repeats Finder algorithm on genome assemblies of all nine species, the researchers catalogued thousands of repeat families, characterized their monomer lengths, GC content, array lengths, and copy numbers, and grouped them into families based on sequence similarity. The scale of the result was remarkable. Tandem repeat content in these frog genomes proved to be exceptionally high, and, crucially, it correlated positively with overall genome size. In other words, the frogs with the largest genomes also carried the largest loads of satellite DNA, a finding that supports the long-standing hypothesis that non-coding repetitive sequence accumulation, rather than gene duplication alone, is a major driver of genome size expansion in amphibians.
Perhaps the most eye-catching figure in the study concerns the origin of these repeats. When the researchers searched the repeat monomers against databases of known transposable elements, they found that a very large proportion of the tandem repeats shared sequence homology with transposable element families. Depending on the species, repeats with recognizable transposable element ancestry accounted for between 43 and 91 percent of the total tandem repeat length in the genome. These TE-based tandem repeats, the authors note, correlated not only with genome size but also with overall tandem repeat content, suggesting that the flux of transposable element sequence into satellite DNA is a continuous and quantitatively significant process in ranid evolution rather than a rare curiosity.
The transposable element classes implicated include some of the most widespread mobile genetic elements in eukaryotes: LINEs, or long interspersed nuclear elements; SINEs, or short interspersed nuclear elements; LTR retrotransposons, which move via an RNA intermediate; and MITEs, miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements, along with DNA transposons of the Tc1-Mariner superfamily. Sequence alignments revealed fragments of these elements embedded within repeat monomers and arrays, providing a molecular fingerprint of their conversion into tandemly repeated satellite DNA. The mechanistic picture that emerges is one in which insertions of transposable elements, or fragments thereof, occasionally seed new tandem repeat arrays, which can then expand through processes such as replication slippage, unequal crossing over, and rolling circle-like amplification into large satellite families.
Beyond their sheer abundance, the repeat families displayed a hierarchical pattern of conservation across the nine species. At one end of the spectrum, the team identified widely conserved repeat families whose sequences could be detected by similarity searches in many or even all of the sampled frogs, hinting at ancient repeat lineages that predate the diversification of the family. At the other end, many repeat families were lineage-restricted or entirely species-specific, detectable in only one of the nine genomes. This layered organization, from ancient shared repeats to young species-private satellites, mirrors patterns seen in other organisms and underscores the rapid turnover of satellite DNA, which can expand, degrade, and be replaced over relatively short evolutionary timescales.
Computational mapping of the repeats onto genome assemblies suggested that the tandem repeats were broadly distributed across chromosomes rather than confined to a single genomic compartment. To test this at the cytogenetic level, the researchers performed fluorescence in situ hybridization, or FISH, using probes derived from representative repeat families. The FISH experiments confirmed the in silico predictions, showing that both the transposable element-derived repeats and the repeats without detectable TE homology occupy pericentromeric regions near the centromeres, subtelomeric regions near chromosome ends, and interstitial positions along chromosome arms. This widespread chromosomal distribution distinguishes the frog repeats from the classic model of satellite DNA as material concentrated exclusively at centromeres.
The comparative presence-absence analysis across the nine species, compiled in a BLAST score-based matrix in the supplementary materials, allowed the team to quantify how repeat families diverge in sequence similarity between relatives and how quickly new families appear in individual lineages. Species such as Rana temporaria, Amerana muscosa, and Staurois parvus served as reference points for characterizing the transposable element composition of their repeat arrays, and the patterns consistently reinforced the conclusion that TE-derived satellites are a pervasive feature of ranid genomes. The coexistence of conserved and lineage-restricted repeat families, many of which carry transposable element signatures, indicates that transposable elements have been recruited repeatedly, and independently, in the emergence of new satellite repeats throughout the evolutionary history of the family.
The findings carry broader implications for understanding amphibian genome evolution and genome biology in general. Amphibian genomes can reach sizes many times larger than the human genome, and the sustained accumulation and expansion of tandem repeats documented in this study offers a compelling explanation for much of that bulk. More broadly, the study adds frogs to the growing list of organisms in which transposable elements act as raw material for the birth of satellite DNA, contributing to centromere structure, heterochromatin formation, and potentially to the reproductive isolation of lineages through rapid satellite divergence.
The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grant 25-24-01071, and all data and supplementary tables, including family-by-family repeat catalogues and comparative matrices, are openly available alongside the open-access publication, providing a valuable resource for anyone seeking to decode the repetitive architecture of these extraordinary genomes.

При раскопках городской усадьбы XI века в Старой Руссе археологи Новгородского государственного университета обнаружили медную подвеску-змеевик. Змеевики - двусторонние амулеты, сочетающие христианские и языческие мотивы. На одной стороне обычно изображалась какая-нибудь каноническая христианская фигура (в данном случае предположительно Феодор Стратилат), на другой - существо, напоминающее Медузу Горгону. Это пятый такой медальон, обнаруженный в Старой Руссе, но предыдущие четыре датированы XII-XIV веками.

Archaeologists recently discovered a rare Russian medallion that depicts a dramatic cultural clash between medieval Christianity and ancient Greek mythology. Excavated about 400 miles southeast of St. Petersburg near the town of Staraya Russa, the 11th century pendant appears to showcase a warrior saint on its face with the snake-topped head of Medusa on the back. According to archaeologists, the copper-alloy medallion stems from an era in Russia that often straddled the line between regional medieval theology and pre-Christian superstition.
The small pendant was recovered from inside the remnants of an ancient urban estate, and is an example of Zmeeviki or coil image. These double-sided pieces traditionally paired a canonical Christian figure on the front with a "pagan" serpent form on the back. While the religious subjects commonly included Jesus, the Archangel Michael, and the Virgin Mary, some variants highlight other saints.
In the case of the recent discovery, archaeologists at Novgorod State University theorize the medallion’s saint may be Theodore Stratelates. Born into the Roman empire around 281 CE, Stratelates is a martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Church renowned for slaying a giant serpent, and is frequently depicted wielding a spear and shield. Although the reverse image appears to feature Medusa herself, researchers believe the gorgon served as a stand-in for broader evil forces.
"Most likely, this is not a specific mythological creature, but a collective image of dark forces," Novogorod State University archaeologist Sergei Toropov said in a profile translated from Russian. "Together with other finds, this pendant indicates that already in the 11th century there was a Christian community in [early Russia], and cultural ties with Byzantium were also developed."
Archaeologists previously only recovered four similar serpent artifacts from Staraya Russa, but each one dates between the 12th and 14th centuries. This makes the Stratelates-Medusa example potentially the oldest ever discovered in the area, and a poignant representation of the region’s crosscultural influences. While Christianity was already establishing itself in this portion of Russia during the 1000s CE, it had yet to entirely supplant local beliefs, customs, and superstitions. Because of this, it’s possible the Zmeeviki artifact simultaneously served as a ward against evil forces and a pre-Christian supernatural protective invocation from disease.
Regardless of its wearer’s intentions, the pendant’s owner was likely a comparatively wealthy estate resident who belonged to the town’s middle class. Richer residents would have worn jewelry made from pricier materials like gold and silver, while poorer locals couldn’t have afforded either. Prior evidence of a nearby artisanal workshop also indicates the fascinating talisman may have been made on the estate grounds itself. In any case, the latest example of Zmeeviki illustrates that local beliefs rarely present as a monoculture - more often, people want to blend both tradition and newer ideas.
"The main feature of the coil [is a] combination of images that are incompatible, from the point of view of strict dogma," added Toropov.

Во время полевого сезона 2026 года Шпицбергенская археологическая экспедиция Института археологии РАН обнаружила на северной оконечности Земли Принца Карла ранее неизвестный некрополь, состоящий из 45 выложенных камнем могил. Культурная принадлежность похороненных там людей пока неясна: каменные покрытия нехарактерны для поморов, однако найденные остатки деревянного креста обычно указывают именно на поморские захоронения. Экспедиция также отметила, что зафиксированные в прошлом году эрозия побережья и таяние вечной мерзлоты идут быстрыми темпами. Если они усилятся, археологические памятники Шпицбергена могут быть полностью утрачены за несколько десятилетий.

Archaeologists conducting surveys across the Svalbard archipelago have discovered a previously undocumented necropolis containing 45 stone-lined graves, alongside ship timbers and new evidence of historic Pomor activity in the Arctic.
The discoveries were made during the 2026 field season of the Spitsbergen Archaeological Expedition, led by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This year’s investigations covered large areas of western Spitsbergen and extended to the northern tip of Prins Karls Forland, with the team using non-invasive methods to locate and document archaeological remains. Norwegian legislation prohibits archaeological excavation and the removal of artefacts at the sites being studied, meaning the expedition focuses on surveys, monitoring and digital documentation.
One of the most significant discoveries was made near Cape Fuglehuken on Prins Karls Forland, where archaeologists identified 45 graves situated on elevated terrain. The graves feature stone coverings, which researchers say represent an unusual burial tradition when compared with known Pomor funerary practices. However, the remains of a wooden cross were also discovered in the southern part of the cemetery. Such crosses are associated with Pomor burial sites, raising questions about the cultural identity of those interred there.
The researchers stress that the historical and cultural attribution of the cemetery has yet to be established, although the discovery could provide important new evidence for understanding burial traditions across Svalbard.
Elsewhere, the expedition documented new fragments of historic wooden vessels on Prins Karls Forland and along the western coast of Spitsbergen. The finds include fragments from four keels and frames containing wooden dowels. On the northern shore of the Sarsa Peninsula, archaeologists also discovered an unusual section of ship planking consisting of two boards joined together with wicker. Significantly, the fragment was located inland beyond the coastal ridge, in an area containing some of the earliest driftwood deposits on the peninsula.
Researchers also returned to the Pomor settlement and necropolis at Ebeltofthamna on the northern shore of Krossfjorden. The site consists of three residential complexes and associated burial grounds. Finds exposed along the coastal cliff include a leaf-shaped pectoral cross, Dutch white-clay smoking pipes, fragments of 17th- and 18th-century ceramics, leather footwear and iron objects.
As the artefacts cannot legally be removed, archaeologists created detailed 3D models of the finds directly at the site. Analysis indicates that Ebeltofthamna was established during the late 17th century and was occupied intermittently throughout the 18th century and into the first half of the 19th century.
The settlement is now under increasing threat from coastal erosion and thawing permafrost. Surveys conducted in 2025 first documented significant deterioration, while the team’s return in 2026 found that the destruction was continuing rapidly. Researchers estimate that if environmental processes associated with global warming continue to intensify, the archaeological site could be completely lost within the next few decades.
Erosion is already affecting the nearby Pomor necropolis, where the remains of crosses and two rows of graves survive on a marine terrace. One burial contained a partially exposed skull, allowing researchers to digitally record the remains and create a 3D model of the facial region. The model was subsequently used to reconstruct the appearance of the individual buried at the site.
The expedition also monitored several established Pomor archaeological sites along Spitsbergen’s western coast. Because of limited access to maritime transport, researchers completed a 60-kilometre journey on foot in a single day to document the condition of the Stabbelva and Gravsjøn settlements.
At Cape Kokerineset, the team also examined an area where Norwegian researchers discovered ship timbers in 2025. The vessel has been provisionally identified as Russian, with archaeologists now seeking access to the recovered material for further study.
The discoveries add to the archaeological record of Svalbard’s historic maritime communities while highlighting the growing threat that coastal erosion and thawing permafrost pose to archaeological sites across the Arctic.

Китайские и российские зоологи проследили происхождение, пути расселения и эволюцию сурков, объединив палеонтологические и генетические данные. Результаты показали, что сурки, вероятно, появились в Северной Америке не позже 16,3 млн лет назад и расселились по континентам в ходе четырех крупных миграций: две из Северной Америки в Азию, одна из Северной Америки в Европу и одна из Азии в Европу.

Marmots represent one of the most prominent fossorial mammal taxa inhabiting the grasslands and alpine meadows of the Northern Hemisphere. Nevertheless, their geographic origin, continental dispersal routes, and the environmental drivers underlying their evolutionary history have remained longstanding unresolved questions.
A new study integrating fossil, distributional and molecular evidence traces the evolutionary history of marmots back to North America and reveals how geological and climatic changes drove their dispersal and diversification. Published in Journal of Systematics and Evolution, the study was led by researchers from the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Xinjiang University, Shenyang Agricultural University and institutions in Russian Academy of Sciences.
"Marmots are now widely distributed across North America and Eurasia, but their modern distribution alone cannot reveal where they originated or how they reached different continents," said Qiujin Wei, lead author of the study. "By combining fossil records with molecular phylogeny and ancestral range reconstruction, we were able to build a more complete picture of their evolutionary history."
The researchers compiled 965 reliably identified marmot fossil records and 155,603 occurrence records for living species. They also sequenced 19 tissue samples and combined them with publicly available data to analyze all 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes from 58 individuals.
The earliest known marmot fossil was discovered in North America and dates to approximately 16.3 million years ago. Bayesian ancestral-range reconstruction, considered together with the fossil evidence, identifies North America as the most likely cradle of the genus. Molecular-clock analysis further indicates that the diversification of extant marmots commenced around 6.09 million years ago, which was followed by their divergence into the subgenera Marmota and Petromarmota.
Crossing continents through Beringia
The reconstructed history revealed four major intercontinental dispersal events: two from North America to Asia, one from North America to Europe and one from Asia to Europe. These findings identify the Bering Land Bridge as a crucial evolutionary corridor connecting North America and Eurasia.
"The Bering region was not simply a geographic bridge, it repeatedly provided marmots with opportunities to enter new environments and expand their ranges," said Deyan Ge, corresponding author of the study. "These dispersal events played a central role in establishing the modern distribution of the genus."
After reaching Eurasia, marmots expanded westward into Europe and diversified across the mountain systems, steppes and alpine meadows of Central and northern Asia.
Climate and mountains shaped diversification
Fossil and molecular evidence indicates that marmot evolution was closely associated with changes in climate, vegetation and topography. Relatively high speciation during the Late Miocene and Pliocene coincided with global cooling, the expansion of C4 grasslands and the emergence of the Bering Land Bridge. Subsequent mountain uplift created geographic barriers that promoted regional adaptation and allopatric speciation.
Around one million years ago, speciation and extinction rates increased simultaneously, resulting in only a modest rise in net diversification. The researchers associate this shift with strong Pleistocene glacial-interglacial oscillations, which repeatedly fragmented marmot habitats while also creating opportunities for isolated populations to diverge.
"Our results show that marmot diversity was shaped by the interaction of dispersal, climate change and mountain building," said Qiujin Wei. "Environmental change both opened new routes for expansion and isolated populations, producing the evolutionary patterns observed today."

Исследователи из Института археологии РАН обнаружили 31 ранее неизвестный петроглиф на скалах вдоль реки Пегтымель на Чукотке. Пегтымельские петроглифы изучаются с 1967 года, а с 2021 года Институт археологии ведет работу по цифровому картированию памятника и оцифровке изображений. На данный момент задокументировано 690 петроглифов.

Archaeologists working in Chukotka, Russia’s far northeastern region across the Bering Strait from Alaska, have documented 31 previously unknown petroglyph surfaces along the remote Pegtymel River. The discoveries came during a 2026 expedition that set out to complete the digital mapping of one of Eurasia’s most isolated rock-art landscapes.
The team from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences spent August examining cliffs and rock outcrops in northwestern Chukotka. Their work brought the total number of known and documented surfaces with petroglyphs in the Pegtymel area to 690 and revealed that the rock-art zone extends farther than researchers had previously established.
The Pegtymel petroglyphs lie on the right bank of the river in a landscape that remains exceptionally difficult to reach. Archaeologist Nikolai Dikov began studying the site in 1967, while researchers from the Institute of Archaeology have carried out systematic work there since 2005.
Mapping one of Asia’s most remote rock-art sites
Since 2021, a team led by Elena Levanova of the Institute of Archaeology and Yuri Svoysky of Moscow’s Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Spatial Data Analysis has focused on creating a detailed digital record of the site. Researchers have mapped individual panels, produced three-dimensional models, and made virtual versions of some of the petroglyphs available online.
The 2026 season targeted the most difficult sections, including panels that could only be reached with climbing equipment and other specialized gear. By the end of the fieldwork, the team had digitally recorded every Pegtymel petroglyph currently known to researchers and fixed each location with geodetic precision.
That process also changed the archaeological map itself. As researchers cleared partially buried rock blocks and examined areas previously considered unproductive, they identified additional carved surfaces within the main Keeneikuul locality.
The eastern part of this zone had long appeared almost empty. The new survey showed otherwise, and the number of decorated surfaces within the main Keeneikuul area has now reached 680.
A 10-kilometer search reveals a new rock-art locality
The expedition also moved beyond the main concentration of petroglyphs. Researchers surveyed the right bank of the Pegtymel between Keeneikuul Creek and the Kychakvaam River, covering a cliff system that stretches for more than 10 kilometers.
Earlier expeditions had struggled to find additional sites in this area. Dikov recorded two isolated petroglyph locations between the 1960s and 1980s, but later searches in 2000 and 2005 failed to identify new concentrations.
With most of the documentation work at Keeneikuul finally complete, the 2026 team could carry out a systematic search across the entire cliff line. Researchers mapped the surrounding landscape at the same time and recorded the exact position of every newly identified petroglyph surface.
The survey revealed a previously unknown rock-art locality containing nine decorated surfaces. The new evidence shows that petroglyphs occur across all four rocky sections of the Keeneikuul-Kychakvaam escarpment, areas separated by creeks and temporary watercourses.
Across the wider Pegtymel area, the expedition brought the total number of known and documented rock-art surfaces to 690, including 31 that had not previously been recorded.
Evidence may point to another prehistoric camp
The team also searched for archaeological material scattered across the landscape, with particular attention to the eastern part of Keeneikuul. These finds helped researchers trace zones where soil movement had carried artifacts downslope over time.
Their distribution may indicate another archaeological site east of a hunting camp excavated by Dikov in 1968. According to the researchers, people may have worked stone and bone at this second location, adding another dimension to the way prehistoric groups used the Pegtymel landscape.
The possibility remains preliminary, but it suggests that the rock art should not be viewed in isolation. The cliffs, camps and artifact scatters may form parts of a broader cultural landscape that developed along the river.
A digital record for a landscape under pressure
The main achievement of the 2026 expedition was not simply the addition of 31 new petroglyph surfaces. For the first time, researchers now have a complete digital record of every Pegtymel petroglyph currently known, together with precise maps showing how the carvings relate to one another and to the surrounding terrain.
That dataset will allow archaeologists to refine the boundaries of the individual rock-art localities at Keeneikuul, Keininei I, Keininei II and Ankapagrat. It could also support a reassessment of the protected federal monument known as the "Rock Drawings" site.
The work carries an added urgency because the Pegtymel petroglyphs occupy an exposed Arctic environment and continue to deteriorate. Researchers hope the new spatial data and three-dimensional documentation will support future conservation planning while also making the site accessible to people who may never be able to reach Chukotka in person.
The long-term goal includes the creation of a public virtual museum, giving researchers and visitors remote access to one of the most isolated rock-art landscapes in Russia and Eurasia.

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