The sites of Myrohoshcha I, Hriadky, Zhorniv, and Chervonyi Kamin are located in the central part of the Volhynian loess Plateau in northwestern Ukraine. The assemblages, known from excavations and surface collections, exhibit a number of characteristics, which are traditionally seen to be indicative of different periods. Therefore, these assemblages were thought to represent palimpsests of Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations. In 2018, these assemblages have been reviewed. At Myrohoshcha I, the old trench could be located and new excavations were carried out. In this paper, the results of the excavations from 2018 as well as preliminary notes on the campaign of 2019 are presented and the technological and typological characteristics of the assemblages are discussed. By demonstrating the repeated and consistent combination of specific and characteristic features, it is considered that these assemblages are neither mixed nor representative of a long settlement history. Instead, they rather seem to represent a coherent set of features, probably characteristic for the period roughly between 35 and 30 kyr cal BP.

No abstract

Стаття присвячена археологічним пам’яткам кам’яної доби Лугинського району Житомирської області. У ній дається коротка історія досліджень краю та характеристика всіх відомих на даний момент археологічних пунктів, опис їхніх матеріалів, культуро-хронологічна інтерпретація. Пам’ятки розміщено у хронологічному порядку (від найдавніших). Частина із них вперше публікується у повній мірі. Озвучуються проблеми та перспективи досліджень у регіоні, який досить довгий час ігнорувався археологами.

The small terrestrial gastropod Vertigo pseudosubstriata Ložek, 1954 is one of the rarest glacial indicator species in the Pleistocene of Central and Eastern Europe. In all, this species has been found at only about 15 sites in Europe. V. pseudosubstriata was initially described as a fossil in Central Europe and was discovered only later alive in Central Asia. With regard to its modern distribution, 25 habitats with V. pseudosubstriata have been examined in Tien Shan and in the central and southern Altai. These findings seem to capture the contemporary distribution of the species and provide information on the boundaries of its ecological requirements. These data are of great significance for the interpretation of the fossil assemblages. Since the few fossil specimens in Europe date from very different glacial periods in the Elsterian, Saalian Complex and Weichselian, it can be concluded that V. pseudosubstriata apparently immigrated in at least three distinct waves. Most of the Pleistocene specimens in eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe are reported from archaeological sites of the Upper Middle Weichselian (Gravettian), roughly between 33 and 29 ka cal BP. In this paper, we review all reported modern and fossil occurrences and discuss the species' ecological range.