Опорні пам’ятки доби середнього та верхнього палеоліту на території Волино-Поділля: археологічний та геохронологічний аспекти

Today, the oldest stages of settlement of the territory of Ukraine by ancient people remain insufficiently studied. Along with the world-famous site of Korolevo in the Transcarpathian region, where artifacts dating back to about 1.4 million years ago were discovered, there is a large gap in information about further migrations of the ancient population on the territory of Ukraine. Results of comprehensive studies of the key Middle and Upper Palaeolithic archaeological sites of the Volhynia-Podillia territory are very important for filling this gap. The article provides their detailed characteristics, including data on the history of their discovery and research.

Based on the results of a long-term study of the key Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites in the territory of Volhynia and Podillia region, several stages of settlement of this region by ancient people have been identified and characterized. For the Middle Palaeolithic, three settlement stages have been identified, for the period of the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic transition – one stage, for the Upper Palaeolithic – two stages. Each of the identified stages of settlement of the region is characterized in chronological order, in particular, the results of research of the corresponding cultural layers on the key archaeological sites are presented. When characterizing each cultural horizon within the stages of settlement, a comprehensive analysis of the complex of archaeological and osteological materials from archaeological sites has been conducted, and the stratigraphic position, lithological characteristics, and absolute dates for deposits containing cultural layers are given. For each cultural horizon, the closest known analogies are also shown.