Variations of rock magnetic parameters in loess-palaeosol sequences, related to climatic and environmental conditions during their formation, are a powerful tool for palaeoclimate reconstruction. Combined enviromagnetic study of loess deposits in Ukraine and its assessment for the palaeoreconstruction purposes are carried out in the framework of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine project 2020.02/0406 ‘Magnetic proxies of palaeoclimatic changes in the loess-palaeosol sequences of Ukraine’. Environmental/climatic reconstructions of the past are fulfilled using a significant number of palaeoindicators: morphology and lithological properties of palaeosols and loesses, their pollen assemblages and a wide range of magnetic characteristics. In this paper, we present a multi-proxy approach to palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, and introduce preliminary results obtained from magnetic susceptibility of loess-palaeosol sequences in the northern (at Vyazivok), central (Stari Kaydaky) and southern (Roksolany) parts of the Ukrainian loess belt. The amplitudes of palaeoclimate change established using magnetic proxies are well correlated with the lithological, palaeopedological and palynological patterns of the sites, and with the global oxygen-isotope scale (MIS). Ongoing studies of the Stari Kaydaky section confirm the correlation of the Upper Zavadivka (S3) soil unit and Lower Zavadivka (S4) soil unit with MIS 9 and MIS 11, respectively (this was proved earlier at the Vyazivok and Roksolany sites). The underlying Lubny (S5) pedocomplex likely corresponds to MIS 13, and the Martonosha (S6) pedocomplex to MIS 15. Palaeomagnetic investigations at Stari Kaydaky have not so far reached the Lower Shyrokyne unit, in which the Matuyama—Brunhes boundary has been detected at Roksolany and Vyazivok. The Upper Shyrokyne (S7S1) palaeosol unit has normal polarity and is preliminarily correlated with MIS 17.

Башинський Володимир Георгійович, лауреат Державної премії України, доктор технічних наук (Державний науково-дослідний інститут випробовувань та сертифікації озброєння та військової техніки); Черняк Сергій Іванович, лауреат Державної премії України, заслужений машинобудівник України, доктор технічних наук (Казенне підприємство спеціального приладобудування «Арсенал»).

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The article presents an analysis of the study of archeological sites by methodology of natural sciences on the left bank of the Middle Dnieper, namely 23 sites from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Iron Ages (11 in Chernihiv region; 2 in Sumy region; 6 in Poltava region; 2 in Kyiv region and 1 in Dnipropetrovsk region). Three stages in the sites research have been established on the basis of the complex of methods applied: 1) 1st half of the 20th century - 1980s – the discovery of majority of the sites and settlements on the left bank of the Middle Dnieper region; mainly geological and palaeontological studies. 2) 1980s–2000 – introduction of new (or improved) natural science methods, the complex interpretation and analysis of former research materials. The first appearance of pollen data in the studied area was an important milestone; 3) the beginning of the 21st century – nowadays – further implementation of pollen and palaeopedological methods in the study of the previously known and newly discovered sites. Uneven distribution of the Palaeolithic sites in the area studied was shown (with their significant concentration in the Desna region). The geoarchaeological sites were studied with a different number of methods – 13 out of 23 sites were dated by the radiocarbon method, 9 sites also had palynological and palaeopedological data, 18 of them had paleontological findings. The most complete and representative information is obtained for the following Palaeolithic sites: Pushkari I, Buhorok, Dobranichivka, Hintsi, Buzhanka II, Obolonnia and the Neolithic site Pohorilivka-Vyrchyshche. The Bronze and Chalcolithic sites in the area were studied less intensely and with less number of methods than the Palaeolithic sites. The necessity for further palynological and palaeopedological studies of the archaeological sites is highlighted.

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