Pages: 105-124

The Upper Palaeolithic site of Radomyshl I is located in the south-eastern part of the Zhytomyr Polissia region. It was investigated by I. G. Shovkoplias in 1957 and 1959. I. Shovkoplias interpreted the site as a settlement where separate families lived in six small dwellings made of mammoth bones, and ran a household together (a single common external hearth, a place for flint knapping and a storage pit was used). The present author’s study of old field documentation and collections of stone artefacts has shown that the clusters of mammoth bones can not be identified as dwellings. The planigraphic analysis revelas the existence of two zones of bone raw material accumulation. The spatial distribution of stone artefacts is indicative of concentrations of tools used for bone processing along the perimeter of these zones and in the area between them. It seems these tools were made on site. The tool blanks come from at least four flint-knapping areas. The distribution of burnt stones does not allow to identify any hearth structures. The data presented in this paper refutes the traditional ideas about the structure of the site and makes us to approach the issue of its seasonality and economic specialization in a new way.

Keywords: Zhytomyr Polissia, Upper Palaeolithic, Radomyshl I site, planigraphy, stone artefacts, settlement structure

Information about author:

Olesia Kononenko (Kiev, Ukraine). Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Geroev Stalingrada Ave., 12, Kiev, 04210, Ukraine
E-mail: [email protected]