The solution to the problem of the emergence and specific development of ancient agriculture in Western Siberia is presented by analyzing exclusively paleobotanical data. Information is provided on the main methods of searching and identifying phytoliths, grains (grain prints )and pollen of cultivated cereals, and the possibilities of these methods for solving the problem are evaluated. Currently known and new paleobotanical indicators of agriculture in Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Altai and Semirechye are summarized. Based on the analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of grains and pollen of cultivated cereals, an attempt is made to reconstruct the foci of their cultivation from the end of the Bronze Age. Keywords: ancient agriculture, paleobotanical methods, grains and pollen of cultivated cereals, ancient agricultural areas, Western Siberia. Introduction Agriculture is still one of the most poorly studied types of economic activity of the ancient population of Northern Eurasia, in Siberia there is especially little reliable evidence of its development. The study of this issue is of great interest not only for archeology. Identifying traces of ancient agriculture as the most intensive form of anthropogenic impact allows us to objectively assess the role of human society in changing natural landscapes in the Holocene. As a rule, the assumption about the cultivation of plants is based on the presence of agricultural tools or tools for processing grain. However, most researchers agree that it is very difficult to judge the appearance of agriculture in ancient times by inventory, since it is almost impossible to differentiate between collecting and early agricultural tools. It is assumed that most of the tools were made of wood in ancient times and have not been preserved (Sidorov, 1986). In addition, the rare occurrence of such stone artefacts and the general narrowness of the range of sources is explained by the lack of stone raw materials in the central ... Read more