Origin and Cultural Differentiation of Epigravettian in Ukraine
Keywords:
Epigravettian, Ukraine, Palaeolithic, Late Ice Age, Eastern Gravettian.Abstract
The epigravettian is a cultural tradition of the Final Upper Palaeolithic in Europe, characterised by the widespread use of inserts in slotted points in the form of backed flint micropoints and microblades. The other flint items make an impression of a simplified, unified set of tools consisting of prismatic cores, small end scrapers and side retouched burins on the blades. These standardised flint implements were distributed over vast areas from the Atlantic coast of Europe to the Black Sea coast and the Don River between 18,000 and 12,000 ВР.
In the Epigravettian of Northern Ukraine, Mezhyrich, Mizyn, Late Molodove, Ovruch, Yudinove industries (or types of monuments) are distinguished based on the specific characteristics of their microlithic assemblages. In the steppes of southern Ukraine, the Black Sea variant of the early Epigravettian represented by the Amvrosiivka type (19,000‒18,000 BP) has been distinguished. Its inventory demonstrates a synthesis of Gravettian and Epiaurignacian traditions.
The maximum cooling around 20,000 BP caused the migration of Gravettian population from the north of Ukraine to the south, where the Epigravettian industries of the region subsequently developed. With the warming around 18,000 BP, populations associated with the Epigravettian industries of southern Ukraine and the Dnister River region took part in the recolonisation of the northern territories.
The populations associated with the Amvrosiivka-type Epigravettian of southern Ukraine around 18,000 BP participated in the recolonisation of the northern part of the region, where the Mizyn-type Epigravettian emerged. At the same time, the Late Molodove population from the Dnister River became the source population for the development of the Mezhyrich Epigravettian in the Middle Dnipro region. That is, the recolonisation of the North of Ukraine took place along two routes: from the Middle Dnister region and from the Azov-Black Sea steppes (fig. 2).
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