UDC 902.03 Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences 18 Dvortsovaya Emb., Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russia E-mail: pitulkov@rambler.ru (Based on the experience of working at the Zhokhovskaya and Yanskaya sites, Northern Yakutia)* Practical aspects of excavation work in the cryolithozone are highlighted. Theoretical issues related to the features of permafrost deposits, as well as basic concepts, are considered by the author in the article "Fundamentals of methods for excavating Stone Age monuments in permafrost deposits", published in this journal in 2007. The proposed method of excavation is based on the fundamental principles of Stone Age field archaeology. The article describes two main scenarios for organizing excavation work on monuments that are overlain by low-and significant-thickness frozen sediments. It is noted that it is necessary to use devices that allow high-precision fixation in three-dimensional space, pumps for washing soil on sieves, as well as pumping water from drains and removing dumps. The article discusses the application of forced defrost methods and the main methods of field material conservation. Introduction This paper discusses the practical aspects of excavation work in permafrost conditions. Theoretical questions and basic concepts related to the features of such deposits were discussed by the author in the article "Fundamentals of methods for excavating Stone Age monuments in permafrost deposits" (Pitulko, 2007). Planning, organization,and methods of searching for archaeological sites in the cryolithozone are very specific. Within the cryolithozone, such objects are mostly identified visually, since the laying of pits is possible only in the seasonal thaw layer (STS). Archaeological sites in the cryolithozone become available for discovery and study, as a rule, due to the action of erosion and thermoerosion processes, or both at the same time. Thus, each monument is more or less damaged by the ong ... Read more