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1. INTRODUCTION

Mammoth bone settlements of upper andmiddle Dniepr basin in eastern Europe havebeen the main source of information to elabo-rate several interpretative models, well knownsince a lot of years, of the hunter lifeway dur-ing late upper Palaeolithic. Nevertheless, revis-iting data from old excavations and exploitingdata from recent new excavations, mainly inGinsy (Ukraine), may contribute to enlightenthe knowledge of dwelling structures and theirenvironment, giving a new consideration aboutexisting theoretical models.

2. THE MAMMOTH BONE SETTLEMENTS IN

EASTERN EUROPE

Actually, in the upper and middle Dnieprbasin, many settlements, built with a largenumber of mammoth bones, have been discov-ered : Ioudinovo, Timonovka 1 2, Elisseevitchi1, 2, Suponevo, Mizine, Kiev-Kirilivska,Dobranichivka, Ginsy (Gontsy), Mejiriche. Allthese sites are dated by 14C around 15,000 BP.

The choice to localise the sites and the char-acteristics of the dwelling structures are reveal-ing several conditions of adaptation of huntersto the cold and dry climate of the late Würm.The open-air camps are installed upon thepromontory of a terrace of the slope of a rivervalley, most often very near a paleoravine.Such a localisation presents the advantage toprotect the settlement on a promontory, near-side by paleoravines, above joining easily theplain and under giving a wide view on the river

valley where animals are passing through. Thechoice for the localisation of the settlement isalso associated with mammoth bone concentra-tions nearby, delivering building elements fromwhich dwelling originality may be illustrated.

Unfortunately the knowledge of the dwellingstructures of the different settlements have beenonly partially recorded for at least two reasons: old excavations for some sites and cryoturba-tion process disturbing sites located in theupper part of the Dniepr basin. The more evi-dent dwelling structures, but always partiallyknown, have been studied in the settlements ofGinsy, Mizine, Dobranichivka, MejiricheIoudinovo (Levitskii 1947; Chovkoplasse1965; Pidoplichko 1976; Abramova etGrigorieva 1997; Iakovleva 2000; Iakovleva etDjindjian 2000). Nevertheless, the research andconsequently the design of interpretative mod-els have focused on the definition of thedwelling structure, constituted by a large mam-moth bone hut and several surrounding pits(Bibikov 1967; Chovkoplasse 1965; Pido-plichko 1969,1976).

3. THE NEW EXCAVATIONS IN GINSY (UKRAINE)

The new excavations since 1992 in Ginsy,have revealed for the first time a more complexand more diversified settlement. Using progres-sive surface excavations of different areas ofthe Ginsy site, the mammoth bone dwellingstructures have then been situated in relation-ship with the whole site, its environment andwith the geomorphology of the valley slope.The Ginsy settlement is located on the promon-

New data on mammoth bone dwellings of Eastern Europe in the light of the new excavations of the Ginsy site (Ukraine)

L.A. Iakovleva1, F. Djindjian2

1Institute of Archaeology NAS Ukraine - iakovlev.@ires.net.ua2University of Paris I & CNRS UMR 7041, Paris, France - francois.djindjian@wanadoo.fr

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New data on Mammoth bone dwellings of Eastern Europe...

Fig.1 - The large mammoth bone hut n°1 (Mizine, Ukraine). Photo Institute of Archaeology NAS Ukraine.

Fig.2 - The small mammoth bone hut in the westernpart of the Ginsy site. Photo L. Iakovleva & F.Djindjian.

tory of the terrace of the valley slope of theUdaï River.

One large – 5 meter of diameter– mammothbone dwelling is actually known, surrounded bya dozen of circular pits –1 to 2 meter of diameterand depth– mainly full of mammoth bones, rein-deer bones, various artefacts and other animalbones. The dwelling structure is also surroundedwith ashy areas where have been found bone

charcoals, bone fragments, chipped stone arte-facts, bone tools. A large mammoth bone hut sur-rounded by numerous pits and various activityareas around and nearby the hut is characterisinga typical dwelling, as known with few variationsin Mizine, Dobranichivka, Mejiriche andIoudinovo (Fig. 1).

The settlement is continuing after fourmeters in the west and north-west direction,with a new hut (Fig. 2), a small one-only 3meter diameter constituted by two not twistedmammoth tusks built with several mammothshaped bones (skull, femur). This originalovalar dwelling has been realised with thesame architectural technique than the maindwelling. On the ground inside the dwelling,several rare artefacts have been discovered(reindeer antler hammer, engraved pick madewith the point of a mammoth tusk, scapula withpainted spots, ochre concentrations).

Around the small hut, several structures havebeen discovered including a hearth for ochrepreparation, numerous colour concentrationswith ochre sticks and blocks, an accumulationof flint micro-flakes, as if they had been thrownback from a skin used to chip tools, a disper-sion of chipped flint tools, bone tools, stoneartefacts, and also pits with various artefacts.Typical pits with mammoth bones and otheranimal bones but also a small atypical pit withchipped flint artefacts, ochre artefacts andsome bone tools, have been discovered.

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The excavations of the contiguous area havecontinued in 2001. The microstratigraphy ofthis part of the settlement has already demon-strated existence of several rich occupation lay-ers in the northern area of the settlement, withnumerous flint and bone tools, shells and ochreconcentrations.

The eastern part of the settlement has beenalso excavated during several years. It has beenshowed that the large mammoth bone hut wasseveral meters far from the slope of a paleo-ravine, opening out largely towards the down ofthe valley slope. The wide surface of the slopeof the paleoravine was covered by a bone bedof young mammoths, reindeers, bisons, small

carnivores and other animals, associated withchipped flint tools and bone tools (Fig. 3).Hearths are also found in the middle of thebone bed, confirming existence of butcheringareas, revealing the main components of day-to-day life inside the hunter camp. The micros-tratigraphy has also revealed existence of sev-eral floors (Fig. 4).

Then, data concerning mammoth bone settle-ments in Eastern Europe have been completedand increased with the results of the excava-tions of the Ginsy site. The detailed studies of the abundant data will take time to beprocessed by the different specialisedapproaches. Nevertheless, the field operations

Fig.3 - The butchering area on the paleoravine slope in the eastern part of the Ginsy site. Photo L. Iakovleva& F. Djindjian.

Fig.4 - The two archaeological layers in the eastern part of the Ginsy site. Lower layer: the butchering areaon the paleoravine slope; Upper layer: an occupation layer on the full up paleoravine. Photo L. Iakovleva &F. Djindjian.

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are indicating the Ginsy settlement was notonly one complex and diversified dwelling butalso several different working areas around thedwelling in a large surrounding settlement,occupied by hunters during their different period of occupations of the site.

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abramova, Z.A. & Grigorieva, G.B. 1997. Theupper Palaeolithic settlement of Ioudinovo,vol.3. Saint Petersburg (in Russian).

Bibikov, S.N. 1967. Several aspects of palaeo-climatic modelisation during Palaeolithic.Archéologie soviétique: 5-22. Moscou (inRussian).

Chovkoplasse, I.G. 1965. The settlement ofMizine. Kiev (in Russian).

Iakovleva, L.A. 2000. The mammoth bone settlements of Dniepr basin Archeologia:72-83. Kiev (in Ukrainian).

Iakovleva, L.A. & Djindjian, F. 2000. The newexcavations of Gontsy site (Ukraine) in thecontext of the Epigravettian Campsites of the Dniepr basin. In D. West (ed.),Proceedings of the International Confe-rence on Mammoth Site Studies. Universityof Kansas. Publications in Anthropology22: 85-94. Lawrence.

Leviskii, I.F. 1947. The settlement of Ginsy(1935 excavations) vol 1: 197-248. PRU.Kiev (in Ukrainian).

Pidoplichko, I.G. 1969. The mammoth bonesettlements of Ukraine. Kiev (in Russian).

Pidoplichko, I.G. 1976. The Mejiriche mam-moth bone dwellings. Kiev (in Russian).

New data on Mammoth bone dwellings of Eastern Europe...