Until recently, the patterns of initial human presence in Western Siberia were known only on a provisional basis. After surveys and excavations over the last 30 years it is now possible to establish the main stages of the Palaeolithic colonisation. The oldest sites, presumably associated with the late Middle Palaeolithic and dated to ca. 50,000–40,000 cal BP, are concentrated on the southern periphery of the West Siberian Plain. Early Upper Palaeolithic sites, dated to ca. 45,000–40,000 cal BP, are rare, and are also located in the southern part of the region (up to ca. 58 degrees N), although recently traces of a human presence were also found in more northern latitudes (ca. 65 degrees N). The late Upper Palaeolithic complexes are the most numerous, and are generally dated to ca. 30,000–17,000 cal BP. The remarkable phenomenon of human occupation of Western Siberia is evident during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), ca. 26,500–19,000 cal BP, confirmed by discoveries of artefacts and bones of different species that were either hunted (bison, horse, reindeer, musk ox, and carnivores) or collected from accumulations of subfossil bones (woolly mammoth and rhinoceros). One of the most substantial examples of LGM human presence is the Volchia Griva site in central Western Siberia (ca. 55 degrees N), with radiocarbon dates of ca. 23,600–22,200 cal BP on animal bones and hearth charcoal from the habitation layer. It is now apparent that the concept of the “depopulation” of Siberia during the LGM is now completely out of date. More work is needed for the northern part of the region where Palaeolithic sites are very scarce. This study is funded by the Russian Science Foundation (RNF), grant 20-17-00033.