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After visiting the first archaeological site, we took a boat trip
up the Lena River
in the drizzling rain to
Diring,
Yuri Machonov's tour de force. Following a steep climb up a very muddy
hillside, we came upon an enormous field that had been scraped clean by
bulldozers. Beyond were two of the largest excavation pits our
archaeologists had ever seen [video]. At one point
someone remarked privately
that the whole scene seemed so Soviet: no expense had been spared to
remove half a mountain in order to prove a dubious theory. "This isn't
archaeology -- it's strip mining," Marc said.
Machonov led everyone past the various pits, explaining that the rocks might be an indication of human activity dating back two million years. His claim is hotly debated in archaeological circles.   
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