the channels approached the right bank of the Kuda. A fortified position was found near the fields apparently created to block access to them. Hunting Game animals likely were an important food source for the Kurumchi. The most commonly found animal remains in supposed Kurumchi settlements were elk and roe deer while sites on Olkhon Island have sheep bones present. On the Upper Lena outside Kachug are depictions of goats and elk being hunted. Birds appear highly stylized and were likely inspired by waterfowl like geese and swans. Artwork made about hunting includes figures utilizing lassos and nets. While both were commonly employed by steppe cultures Okladnikov claimed neither was used in Baikalia before the Kurumchi. Protigenitors of the Sakha Formulation Petri proposed that the Kurumchi were the ancestors of the Sakha people. This was based on three points: Unlike the modern Tungustic and Buryat inhabitants of Western Baikalia, the Kurumchi "made excellent pots with a flat bottom and decorated them with patterns." The Sakha were praised as "great masters" of firing pots. Kurumchi dwellings are similar to (), traditional Sakha log yurts. Two spindle whorls were found with Old Turkic inscriptions in Western Baikalia. He found additional commonalities between the Kurumchi and Sakha in their equestrian equipment like stirrups and bridles, along with their arrows, knives, and humpback scythes (). Petri concluded the following: In addition, all the data suggests that the culture of the "Kurumchi blacksmiths" is very similar to the culture of the Yakuts. This gives us the right to make a cautious assumption that the unknown people "Kurumchi blacksmiths" are none other than the ancestors of the Yakuts. In making such an assumption, we must not forget that it is far from being proven, and that all our data, unfortunately, are only shaky indications of the possibility of our assumption. Early criticism In 1926 archivist and historian Efim D. Strelov wrote a critique of Petri's conclusions. He noted the Sakha lacked spindle whorls and weaving skills entirely. More definitive proof such as specific burial traditions was seen as necessary to establish the existence of the Kurumchi. Petri had compared the Kurumchi and Sakha using eleven analogies to which Strelov made his own counter-arguments. Strelov concluded that the Kurumchi culture was not related to the Sakha. Another rebuttal came from Vasily I. Podgorbunsky who was a once a student of Petri. In 1928 he claimed the Sakha