RAPID CLIMATIC EVENT 8200 CAL BP AND SOCIAL DYNAMICS IN NORTH-WESTERN PONTIC REGION

The article treats the archaeological record of North-Western Pontic region in search of traces of 8200 calBP event. The two different approaches are applied: summation of 14C dates and a site-oriented approach. In the framework of the latter we refer to materials of Melnychna Krucha site, which contains a sequence covering 7500-1200 y. BCE. Twelve AMS dates highlight the probable gap in the sequence of human habitation on the site around 6250-6000 y. BCE, around the expected timing of the paleoclimatic oscillation. It seems that the event was accompanied by drastic changes in the watering of major rivers of Northern Pontic area like Southern Buh or Dnie

On the chronology of the Sabatynivka group of the Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural complex (Central Ukraine)

The paper treats the dating of the Sabatynivka group of Cucuteni-Trypillia. The authors compared the sets of radiocarbon dates, which were obtained for the sites of the aspect, analyzed the relative chronology of the Sabatynivka group, and checked their correspondence with the dating of the contemporaneous cultural aspects. This approach helped to establish the synchronism of the Sabatynivka group with the Skelia phase of Seredny Stog culture, Gumelniţa A2 and Cucuteni A3-A4. The sites of the group existed during 44-42 centuries BCE

The Soils of Early Farmers and Their Neighbors in the Southern Buh Catchment (Ukraine): Micromorphology and Archaeological Context

The problems regarding hunter-gatherer/early farmer interactions are quite an important topic in southeast European archaeology. According to the available data, the two economic subsistence systems have coexisted for some 2000 years during the 6th-4th millennia cal BC (Telegin 1985; Lillie et al., 2001). In some areas, hunter-gatherer and early farmer sites are located just a few kilometers apart. The Southern Buh River valley has yielded evidence of Linear Pottery culture, early Trypillia and Trypillia B1 Neolithic settlements as well as hunter-gatherer sites with pottery attributable to the so-called sub-Neolithic or para-Neolithic (Haskevych et al., 2019; Kiosak et al., 2021). Trial-trenches have been opened within some of these sites, which have been radiocarbon-dated from Bern University laboratory (LARA). Soil samples for micromorphological analysis have been collected from these sites to interpret their paleogenetic formation. The soil development is attested since, at least, the beginning of the 5th mill BC, followed by the developed of chernozem soils, which was interrupted by an erosional episode in the end of 5th millennium BC. The available data show that the soils of early farmers arable as are the present day ones. The early farmers were able to exploit relatively heavy soils to cultivate wheat and barley as early as 5250-5050 cal BC. In contrast, the sites of ceramic hunter-gatherers were often located on the soils which formed under wet conditions along seasonally flooded riverbanks, which were almost unsuitable for agricultural practices

Innovations of the Beginning of the Sixth Millennium BC in the Northern Pontic Steppe

This study focuses on the pottery-bearing ("Neolithic") sites of the northern Azov Sea region. The vessels ornamented with comb imprints appeared there in the sixth millennium BC. In the light of a recent re-dating of the Rakushechny Yar site sequence, the sites of the northern Azov region appeared to be the earliest evidence for this innovation. The innovation in the ceramic assemblage is accompanied by an innovative lithic tool set. The latter included macro-blades and fan-shaped end-scrapers, which were previously unknown in the studied region. Their reanalysis (including new field work at the single-layer site of Chapaevka) helped formulate a hypothesis of maritime transmission of comb-ornamented ceramics in the Black and Azov Sea. This hypothesis will stimulate further discussions regarding the ways of Neolithization in Eastern Europe. It underlines the connections between Balkan "classic"Neolithic and pottery-bearing sites of the Ukrainian Steppe. The impressed ware from Makri and other mainland Greek sites is treated as the closest analogy to the finds of the northern Azov Sea region

The Mesolithic of the northwestern Pontic region New AMS dates for the origin and spread of the blade and trapeze industries in southeast Europe

The new AMS dates from Mirne, Laspi 7 and Igren' (Ukraine) show that all the above Mesolithic sites were inhabited during the second half of the Boreal climatic period. These results contribute to the understanding of the chronology of the Mesolithic settlement of the Ukraine, and the origin and spread of the blade and trapeze assemblages in southeastern Europ

Verifying the chronology of Ukrainian Neolithic

This paper addresses the earliest Neolithic phases in Ukraine: aspects relating to the chronology, methods and time of Neolithisation. In general, the earliest Neolithisation relates to the times of the Linear Pottery culture. Nevertheless, Ukraine has numerous eco-zones so the process could have been different in other zones. The authors emphasize that the key to getting closer to solving this problem is the chronology-re-dating and validation program. Hitherto dates of one culture or period of culture have been treated against each other. This article presents a small series of AMS from well-defined contexts of four sites, previously dated by the Kyiv radiocarbon facility. The results are compared with existing dates in order to establish the validity of existing chronologies for the Neolithic of Ukraine. Obtained results allowed the authors to conclude that the Kyiv dates should not be obligatorily treated as wrong. Furthermore, the authors reopened the discussion to establish what was the role of LBK and Azov-Dnieper culture communities in spreading farming and herding in Ukraine during the second half of the VIth millennium BC

The Radiocarbon Chronology of the Shan-Koba Rock-Shelter, a Late Paaleolithic an Mesoithic Sequence in the Crimean Mountains (Ukraine)

This paper presents a new series of AMS dates from the rock-shelter of Shan-Koba in the Crimean mountains (Ukraine). Four bone samples were selected at the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation), and AMS-dated at Groningen Isotopic Laboratory (Holland). The results show that the shelter was not “continuously” settled, as suggested by the excavators. In contrast they indicate that it was inhabited in well-defined periods between the end of the Palaeolithic (Allerød interstadial) and the end of the Mesolithic (Atlantic). Together with other radiocarbon dates recently obtained from the same sequence, as well as from Laspi 7 and Mirne, they help refine the absolute chronology of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene peopling of the north-western Black Sea region, and contribute to the study of the environmental and cultural changes that took place in the same territory at the boundary between the end of the Palaeolithic and the Atlantic climatic periods

Radiocarbon dates for archaeological sites in Ukraine and Moldova obtained for FuzzFarm Project

There are 25 radiocarbon dates aimed at the dating Neolithic in Ukraine and Moldova. Some dates yielded unexpected results: Bronze Age and Mesolithic

The Upper Paleolithic rock art of Ukraine between here and nowhere

The complex of Kamyana Mohyla is the westernmost rock art location of the Eurasian Steppe and the largest accumulation of cave art sites in the Eastern Europe. So far it has been believed that the complex contains the Upper Paleolithic cave art images as well as portable art collection that resemble the instances of Upper Paleolithic worldview. Though this belief lacked the support of archaeological context and chronological attribution it remained neither proved nor disputed. However, the application of digital photogrammetric tools allowed to perform the sub-millimeter surface modeling of the rock art objects and to re-examine and reconsider the engravings that were previously attributed to Pleistocene. The modeling results presented in this article revealed the complete absence of figurative images for the collection of portable art specimens and the dubious character of those for the cave art one. Therefore, the whole collection should be reconsidered, studied and attributed according to the state of the art and contemporary archaeological record in the region. This contribution attempts to think over the possible Upper Paleolithic origin of the motifs from Kamyana Mohyla in the light of new data and proposes three hypotheses towards the understanding of the rock art assemblage from one of the caves in the complex