THE UISPP JOURNAL
Lioudmila Iakovleva, François Djindjian, Anne-Marie Moigne, Evgeny Mashenko, Stéphane Konik, Jeanne Matviichina, Sophie Gregoire, Galina Sapojnikova. – GONTSY (UKRAINE), A SETTLEMENT WITH MAMMOTH BONE DWELLINGS OF THE LATE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC IN EASTERN EUROPE
The upper Palaeolithic settlement of Gontsy (near Lubny, Poltava region, Ukraine) is owned to the Mezinian culture, which occupied the middle and upper Dnieper basin in Eastern Europe during a short period around 15 000-14 000 BP. The Mezinian is characterized by semi-sedentary settlements organized around mammoth bone dwellings (6 huts in Gontsy), according to a circular or oval plan, numerous pits around the huts, outdoor fireplaces, areas of activity (flint knapping, making tools and ornaments in ivory and bone, preparation of fur and skin cloths, burning of ochre, wood working, etc.), butchering areas and dumps. The settlement of Gontsy is located on a promontory of terrace on the slope of the valley of Udaï, cut by gullies down the large plain. It is directly related to an accumulation of carcasses of mammoths located nearby in the bottom of gullies, carcasses resulting from the natural death in the winter of a herd of mammoths. This herd was discovered when the snow melts, by hunters who have decided to install the site to this place to exploit the carcasses (materials of construction of the huts, fresh bones as fuel, ivory and bones for making tools and likely meat frozen as food supply). The settlement was occupied from the end of winter at the end of the following winter. The study of bones reveals hunting activities of reindeer, bison, horse, musk ox, mammoth, rhinoceros, fox, wolf, wolverine, hare and marmot. A second occupation, with the same radiocarbon dates but a little later, is marked only by fireplaces and areas of activities without dwelling structures and corresponds to seasonal travels of short time of occupation.
Reference as:
Iakovleva L. Djindjian F, Moigne A-M, Mashenko E, Konik S, Matviichina J, Gregoire S, Sapojnikova G. 2018. Gontsy (Ukraine), a settlement with mammoth bone dwellings of the late Upper Palaeolithic in Eastern Europe. UISPP Journal 1, pp 42–61. https://doi.org/10.62526/NBLWZ6
