Pages: 187-203

The paper considers the problems associated with the interpretation of the Anosovo-Mezin type dwellings and the question of their origins. The data from Milovice 1, Khotylevo 2, and Pushkari I are used to trace the development of a particular tradition of Eastern Epigravettian, the final stage of which is characterized by big constructions made of mammoth bones. The taphonomy of mammoth bones and features of their spatial distribution in the considered objects are analyzed. The results of the comparative analysis made us doubt that these constructions were dwellings. In the author’s view, there are grounds to suggest a connection between the Anosovo-Mezin constructions and religious ideas that existed in the Upper Palaeolithic communities of Central and Eastern Europe.

Keywords: Eastern Europe, dwellings of mammoth bones, Eastern Gravettian, Eastern Epigravettian.

Information about author:

Konstantin Gavrilov (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]