EXPERIENCE OF EXPLORATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES BY DRILLING METHOD (Based on Paleolithic Materials)

Abstract

Over the past ten years, being in the Ukrainian Lower Palaeolithic Expedition of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and in personal field research, various drilling methods exclusively for the optimization of the exploration process have been tested. All these field works were carried out in order to find Palaeolithic sites. However, our exploratory drilling techniques can be used to locate a wide range of archaeological sites. The first stage of exploratory drilling was carried out in 2012—2014 in the Luhansk region, in the middle reaches of the Siverskyi Donets river system. The second stage of such works began in 2015. It concerns the study of Lower Palaeolithic sites near Medzhybizh settlement, Khmelnytskyi district, Khmelnytskyi region. Based on the results of many years of experimental work we offer our method of exploratory drilling on light loamy-sandy soils. We consider that the optimal depths of exploratory drilling are from 1 to 2 m. According to the characteristics of the soil and used equipment we recommend using the exploratory drilling method to search first of all the Paleolithic-Bronze Age sites. The most appropriate for such works are the sod areas of river terraces, river floodplains and peat bogs, dunes or sod sand plates, forest areas. It is also possible to recommend exploratory drilling on agricultural land where the point drilling will not damage the cultivated areas and raise the issue of reimbursement for the fallout of archaeological exploration.
 The simple technology of reconnaissance works needs no high-skilled staff. The exploratory drilling is also to be recommended during the archaeological practice of first-year students of higher educational institutions. The progressive use of natural science methods in archaeological research is a reality today. The drilling method, as a technological component, can be applied as a non-invasive operation for the cultural layer, directly on the archaeological site. Drilling works can also be used in other types of research, as a method of selecting soil samples for the needs of geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and palaeobotany. Drilling can provide for the selection of single soil samples or complete soil columns for the description of an archaeological object using the methods of natural sciences.