The Material Provenance of Medieval Stone Babas from the Collection of the Dnipropetrovsk Historical Museum

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Petrographic research into the medieval stone stelae (babas) of the Dnipropetrovsk Historical Museum collection was carried out. Most of the items belonged to the medieval nomadic Polovtsians (Cumans, Kipchaks). The probable areas of stone mining were established. It was reaffirmed that the raw materials of the vast majority of the collection of statues are sandstones from the Donets Ridge territory and limestones from the Lower Dnipro area of Ukraine. Granitoids and sandstones from the Middle Dnipro area were also used. Thus, the Polovtsians could both deliver statues or blocks from Donets Ridge to the Dnipro area and use local stone materials.