The late Upper Palaeolithic site of Gontsy (Ukraine): A reference for the reconstruction of the hunter–gatherer system based on a mammoth economy

Abstract

The long-term excavations of the LUP settlement of Gontsy (Ukraine), with its mammoth bone huts and associated with a mammoth bone bed, has allowed reconstruction of all the pieces of the puzzle of this type of settlement and the major role of the economy of mammoth in the Mezinian peopling of the middle and upper Dnepr basin (Ukraine and Russia). The settlements generally share the same geomorphology, a promontory cut by ravines on the slope of a river valley. The dwelling area is organized around mammoth bone huts, with numerous pits around each hut, large working areas with hearths, dumping areas, a butchering area for small and medium mammals, and the existence of a mammoth bone bed, which has been largely exploited during the occupation of the settlement. The landscape analysis, using the information from the mapping, the functions and the seasonality of the settlements, characterizes a particular system based on the economy of mammoth, limited to a short period between 15 000 and 14 000 BP at the beginning of the climatic change ending the last ice age. The Mezinian system is compared to similar systems such as the Pavlovian in Moravia and the eastern Gravettian in central and eastern Europe, in which mammoth bone beds have also been found near the settlements and which show the same economy based on the mammoth.