Discovered in 2001 after thawing and erosion exposed animal bones and artifacts, the site features a well-preserved cultural layer due to the cold conditions.

It includes hundreds of animal bones, ivory pieces, and artifacts, indicating sustained settlement and a relatively advanced level of technological development.

Dating to around 32,000 calibrated years before present (cal BP), the site provides the earliest archaeological evidence for human settlement north of the Arctic Circle.

A 2019 genetic study found that the remains of two young male humans discovered at the site, dating to c. 31.6 ka BP, represent a distinct archaeogenetic lineage, named Ancient North Siberians (ANS).

[2] In 1993, Russian geologist Mikhail Dashtzeren found a foreshaft of a spear made from the horn of a woolly rhinoceros in the Yana Valley.

[4] Following this discovery, guided by Dashtzeren, an Upper Paleolithic site now known as Yana RHS was found in 2001 by archaeologist Vladimir Pitulko and colleagues.

[6] The site has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 32,000 cal BP,[11] before the Last Glacial Maximum and more than twice the age of any previously known human settlement of the Arctic.

The species include woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), Pleistocene hare (Lepus tanaiticus), steppe bison (Bison priscus), horse (Equus ferus caballus), musk ox (Ovibos moschatus), wolf (Canis lupus), polar fox (Vulpes lagopus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), Pleistocene lion (Panthera spelaea), wolverine (Gulo gulo), rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus hyperboreus), and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), the last of which was probably the primary source of game.

[12] The extent and density of the finds indicate a sustained and long-term human occupation of the site,[14] and demonstrate a high level of cultural and technological development.

[12] Archaeologists have noted similarities between the Yana RHS and the Clovis culture, especially their respective stone industries and distinctive spear foreshafts.

[9] DNA extracted from two of these teeth, which came from two unrelated males, were found to represent a distinct archaeogenetic lineage in a study by Sikora et al. (2019), which they named Ancient North Siberians (ANS).