On the Technological and Typological Integrity of Assemblages From North-Western Ukraine Between 35 and 30 kyr cal BP

Abstract

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.

On the present habitats and ecology of Vertigo pseudosubstriata Ložek, 1954 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Vertiginidea) in Central Asia and its distribution history in Central and Eastern Europe

“…The only find horizon with V. pseudosubstriata (Fig. 3: 8–10) is cultural layer 5, a subgley, which was dated to at least 33 ka cal bp (Table 5; Vasyliev et al ., 2020; Maier et al ., 2020a), which gives a rough estimate for layer 5 of between 34 and 33 ka cal bp. The layer of loess at the top of the stratigraphy is almost free of fossils and was probably deposited under drier, high glacial conditions.…”

“…So these gastropods are likely able to comparatively quickly profit from favourable climatic developments and may shift their habitats accordingly. V. pseudosubstriata is generally extremely rare in the Vasyliev et al, 2020;Maier et al, 2020a). Lithostratigraphy: 1 soil, A horizon, 2 soil, Bt horizon, 3 loess A, 4 loess B, 5 loess C, 6 loess mixed with subgley and sand, 7 subgley brown, 8 sand white, 9 subgley grey-brown, 10 subgley light brown, 11 subgley brown, 12 subgley red mixed with yellow sand, 13 subgley light brown, 14 subgley light grey.…”

“…In this paper, we present a comprehensive compilation of all currently known occurrences, fossil and modern, of V. pseudosubstriata to assess its past and current extent and use data from weather stations in the vicinity of the modern findspots to infer its ecological range. Based on these inferences, we discuss possible reasons for the conspicuous (Ložek, 1954(Ložek, , 2001, 2 Milovice near Dolni Věstonice, Moravia, Czechia (Kovanda, 2009), 3 Pavlov near Dolni Věstonice, Moravia, Czechia (Ložek, 1967), 4 Horky nad Jizerou, on the Isar river, Bohemia, Czechia (Ložek, 1956), 5 Buda hills (Budai-hegység), near Budapest, Hungary (Krolopp, 1958), 6 Nyírábrány, eastern Hungary (Krolopp and Sümegi, 1992b), 7 Erfurt-Riethnordhausen, Thuringia, Germany (Meng, 1995), 8 Bíňa, Danube lowland, south-western Slovakia (Hošek et al, 2017), 9 Brehov, south of Trebišov, eastern Slovakia (Schmidt et al, 1978), 10 Mainz-Weisenau, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany (Bibus et al, 1996), 11 Molodova V, Dnjestr valley, Chernõvtsy province, western Ukraine (Ložek, 1976), 12 Halych I, Dnjestr valley, south-east Lviv, western Ukraine (Alexandrowicz et al, 2014), 13 Myrohoshcha I, south-west Rivne, Ukraine (Maier et al, 2020a).…”

“…Figure 4. Myrohoshcha I (Ukraine): lithostratigraphy, radiocarbon dates, archaeology (cultural layer) and mollusc samples from 2019 (modified afterVasyliev et al, 2020;Maier et al, 2020a). Lithostratigraphy: 1 soil, A horizon, 2 soil, Bt horizon, 3 loess A, 4 loess B, 5 loess C, 6 loess mixed with subgley and sand, 7 subgley brown, 8 sand white, 9 subgley grey-brown, 10 subgley light brown, 11 subgley brown, 12 subgley red mixed with yellow sand, 13 subgley light brown, 14 subgley light grey.…”