Purpose. Determination of the stone raw materials resource base used by the populations of various historical epochs, who left their monuments in the territory of the stationary megalithic cult site in the village of Tokivske, Apostolove Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. Methodology. The research was performed using the method of comparative petrographic analysis of stone artefacts and rocks from natural exposures in thin sections. findings. Twelve artefacts were analyzed: eight of the Bronze Age, one of the Early Iron Age (Scythian Culture) and one of the 17 th-18 th centuries, as well as two undated artefacts. As a result of petrographic analysis, they were divided into groups according to the stone materials from which they were produced: granites, metabasites, quartzites and quartz, schists, metasandstones and sandstones. Among the Bronze Age artefacts seven have local provenance from the village of Tokivske and the neighboring village of Sholokhove where a stone-processing workshop might have existed. The one imported tool is an amphibolite grinder, most likely brought from the middle section of the river Bazavluk. Concerning stone items of other epochs, a metasandstone plummet, dated to the 17 th-18 th centuries, apparently originated from Kryvyi Rih. The provenances of the remaining artefacts are somewhat ambiguous. Originality. For the first time the archaeological finds from the megalithic stationary cult site Tokivske-1 were studied using mineralogical and petrographic analysis, and the probable sites of the stone mining for their production were determined. Practical value. The obtained data indicates sites where ancient stone-processing workshops existed, being useful information for archaeological exploration. Also, the gathered information can be used for writing general works on archaeology and the history of mining.

Отримання нових даних з історії використання різних видів гірських порід скіфами для виготовлення творів кам'яної скульптури. Методика дослідження полягає у проведенні мінералого-петрографічного аналізу сировини стародавньої скіфської стели та порівнянні отриманих даних з петрографічними характеристиками подібних гірських порід з метою визначення походження матеріалу досліджуваного артефакту. Результати дослідження. У результаті проведеного аналізу було визначено, що скіфську стелу, знайдену поблизу с. Великомихайлівка Покровського району Дніпропетровської області, було виготовлено з ендербіту. За мінеральним складом порода відповідає тоналіту, темноколірні мінерали якого представлені біотитом, клінопіроксеном, роговою обманкою та ортопіроксеном. Було проведено порівняльний аналіз петрографічних особливостей дослідженого зразка та порід ендербітових комплексів й інших піроксенвмісних гранітоїдів Українського щита. В результаті аналізу геологічних матеріалів було зроблено висновок, що найбільш імовірним джерелом походження сировини кам'яної стели були ендербіти токмацького комплексу Приазовського мегаблоку Українського щита. У Західному Приазов'ї дані породи відслонюються по річках Токмак і Каїнкулак, а у деяких авторів відзначається їх поширення в басейнах річок Конки та Вовчої. Вони мають ідентичний мінеральний склад із сировиною досліджуваної стели, крім того, на відміну від більшості ендербітів Українського щита, в зазначених породах токмацького комплексу, як і в досліджуваному зразку, клінопіроксен переважає ортопіроксен за об'ємним вмістом. Наукова новизна. Вперше проведено петрографічне вивчення зразка скіфської кам'яної скульптури Полтавського краєзнавчого музею ім. Василя Кричевського. Встановлено факт використання в давнині ендербітів Українського щита для виготовлення кам'яних виробів, зокрема, скіфських антропоморфних кам'яних статуй. Доповнено новими фактами історію використання кам'яної сировини України у ранньому залізному віці. Практичне значення. Результати дослідження будуть використані у екскурсійній діяльності Полтавського краєзнавчого музею ім. Василя Кричевського, а також при публікації музейних і виставкових каталогів. Також отримана інформація може бути використана при написанні підручників та наукових праць з історії, археології, історії гірничої справи тощо. Ключові слова: кам'яна сировина, скіфи, кам'яна скульптура, археологічна петрографія, стародавня гірнича справа, Полтавський краєзнавчий музей. Practical implication. The results of the research will be used in the excursion activities of the Poltava Museum of Local Lore named after Vasyl Krychevskyi, as well as when publishing museum and exhibition catalogues. Also, the information obtained can be used when writing textbooks and scientific papers on history, archaeology, history of mining, etc.

The present article is devoted to the mineralogical and petrographic research of raw materials of the collection of casting molds of the Bronze Age, found by the expedition of Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum named after D.I. Yavornytskyi during the excavations of the archaeological monument of Tokivske-1, located near the village Tokivske of Apostolove Rayon, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The finding of casting molds is of great importance, since it can be the evidence of bronze foundry production existence in the territory of the monument, which until now was regarded only as a megalithic place of worship. Provenance determination of the raw materials of casting molds can help to identify the role of Tokivske-1 in the system of metalworking cells of the Sabatynivska culture time (XVI–XIII centuries BC) and to establish its links with the ancient centers of mining of stone raw materials. According to previous petrographic studies, it is known that stone molds were made mainly of talc-chlorite-tremolite schists, since this material was easily processed and could withstand more castings than clay molds. Because of this, stone casting molds were highly valued, as well as bronze wares and ingots, and were transported over long distances. The purpose of the study was to establish links between the archaeological monument of Tokivske-1 and known mining and metallurgical centers of the Bronze Age, on the basis of mineralogical and petrographic research of raw materials of casting molds. As a result of the study of samples in thin sections and by X-ray diffraction analysis, it was established that the stone molds were mainly made of tremolite-chlorite-anthophyllite meta-ultrabazites. The determination of the origin of the rocks from which the casting molds were made was carried out by comparing their mineralogical and petrographic features with the features of similar rocks that form natural outcrops, as described in geological survey reports and literary data, and as observed by us in rock samples from natural outcrops in the Middle Dnipro and the Azov Sea areas. It was ascertained that the rocks from which all the casting molds of the collection were made do not form natural outcrops in the Middle Dnipro area and are not characteristic of the Kryvyi Rih area, which is considered to be the main center of raw materials extraction for the stone foundry forms of the Late Bronze Age on the territory of Ukraine. It was established that such rocks are more characteristic of the Western Azov Sea area, but one can not exclude another source of raw materials of the mold collection, in particular the Southern Urals, where bronze metallurgy was significantly developed and similar stone matrices were used. The obtained results suggest revision of established ideas on sources of supply of stone raw materials during the late Bronze Age.

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The article presents the results of petrographic research of building stone that was used for the construction of a cromlech, sanctuary, and the ceiling of the Eneolithic burials No. 20 – 22 from the kurgan No. 29 near Shakhtar village, Nikopol rayon, Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The purpose of this work was to establish a probable place for mining the stone blocks and rubble used in the construction. As a result of petrographic and X-ray fluorescence analysis, it was determined that the studied rocks can be divided into two groups, namely granitoids and limestones. The group of granitoids included tonalites, plagiogran- ites (trondhjemites), altered granite gneiss, and feldspar crystal from pegmatite. All the limestones were represented by spherical lay- ered aggregates, which most likely belong to oncoids – carbonate structures that form as a result of cyanobacteria growth. The studied samples from the materials of the cromlech and the sanctuary of burial No. 22 were represented by plagiogranitoids, pegmatoid granite, and limestones. The first of them served as the main material for the construction of the cromlech. Carbonate aggregates together with the granites were also used as a backfilling when installing wooden pillars of the cult complex associated with the burial. The plates covering the burials No. 20 and 21 were made of tonalites. All the studied granitoids are typical rocks for the area where the excavations took place. In the Middle Dnipro Area, plagiogranitoids are represented by the rocks of the Dnipropetrovskyi, Surskyi, Saksahanskyi, and Inhuletskyi complexes of the Archaean. Plagiogranitoids of the Dnipropetrovskyi complex are the most common in the studied area. They occur here in the middle and upper reaches of the Solona River and along the rivers of Bazavluk and Bazavluchok upstream the Sholokhove Reservoir. The closest to the excavation site are the occurrences of plagiogranitoids, which are exposed on the right bank of the Solona River, opposite the village of Shakhtar. In this area, pegmatoid granites are found in the form of veins that intersect plagiogranitoids. In the area of excavations, carbonate oncoids are found in the Sarmatian limestones of the Neogene. Most often they are found as the uncemented specimens that spilled out of the limestones. Today, such structures occur on both banks of the Kakhovske Reservoir, located south of the village Shakhtar. However, in ancient times there may have been closer outcrops of these rocks, as the Sarmatian limestone occurrences are common in the immediate vicinity of the excavation site, namely between the rivers Bazavluk and Solona, near their confluence, and the middle and upper reaches of the Chortomlyk River. As a result of the research, it is proved that in the valley of the river Solona during the Eneolithic, there began the active extraction of stone raw materials for mound construction, which was continued in later epochs, particularly, in the Scythian time.