The Middle and Upper Pleistocene of Ukraine: A Synopsis of Palaeolithic Finds with Special Reference to Patterns of Peopling and Cultural Development

Abstract

The proposed brief review is mainly focused – from the standpoint of currently available geostratigraphical, chronological and strictly archaeological data – on the most important cultural and colonization shifts that took place on the territory of today’s Ukraine in course of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene. As a geochronological frame, the official stratigraphical scheme of Quaternary deposits of Ukraine (URMSK 1993) based upon the works of M. F. Veklich and his team is used in this paper. Nevertheless, it should be specially pointed out that the regional stratigraphical scheme is under active reconsideration at present, and this situation sometimes results in certain misunderstanding, as the same geostratigraphical terms are often used under different geochronological meanings (fig. 1). That is why the OIS sequence now appears to be the most suitable guide for the aim of consequent description of Palaeolithic development in the country. OIS 19 is regarded as the base of the Middle Pleistocene. The proposed synopsis is based on a bulk of special publications dealing with various aspects of archaeological and natural science data, but constraints of the volume provide no room to refer directly to all used titles; therefore references cited have to be essentially limited. It should also be noticed that only stratified localities were taken into consideration for the present survey.

Keywords: Ukraine, Middle and Upper Pleistocene, Palaeolithic, patterns of peopling, cultural development.