Fofanovski akropol, Archaeological burial site near Selenga River, Kabansky District, Russia

Fofanovski akropol is a burial ground on Fofanovskaya Hill, on the right bank of the Selenga River 0.5 km from Fofonovo in Kabansky District. The site occupies a plateau bounded on three sides by steep slopes, 26–38 m above the river. Excavations distinguished three stratigraphic groups: Kitoy, Glazkovo and Karasuk-Shivera burials.

In April 1926, 18-year-old student A. P. Okladnikov, sent by ethnographer B. E. Petri, found four Neolithic burials on the southwest slope of Fofanovskaya Gora during his first survey near Kabansk. M. M. Gerasimov excavated over 40 graves between 1931 and 1936, and 41 more in 1959; Okladnikov returned in 1948 and 1950 to uncover 43 burials. V. P. Konev studied 17 early Neolithic graves in 1987–1991 and 1996, and E. D. Zhambaltarova worked in 2007, 2008 and 2013. In 2021, Alyssa White of Oxford University led radiocarbon and isotopic analysis of 22 skeletons, confirming the cemetery is older than Baikal-area Kitoy culture sites.

The burial ground lies on Fofanovskaya Hill above the Selenga, a siting Neolithic people chose because mountains were seen as the link between the living and the dead, the closest point to the sky. Water carried the same meaning: among Siberian peoples it stood for the lower world and promised rebirth after death. A red-ochre painting of a man and a snake, called by locals the "Shakhansky god", once stood nearby; it was never recorded and is now lost.

Access to this protected archaeological site requires advance permission from local heritage authorities before visiting. Interested visitors or researchers should contact the responsible local offices to arrange proper authorization.

The site sits on an elevated terrace above the Selenga River and holds artifacts showing ancient trade connections between different regions. This location suggests the river was crucial for early communities living here.