Zooarchaeological study of an Upper Palaeolithic site with mammoth remains, Pushkari I–excavation VII (Chernigov oblast, Ukraine)

Abstract

The Pushkari archaeological complex is one of the few sites which shows human occupations related to the first part of the Upper Pleniglacial. Pushkari I furnished rich archaeological material. Study of the lithic industry identified a facies of Gravettian with epigravettian features, called Pushkarian.In order to figure out acquisition and treatment modalities of large mammals, and to test the hypothesis of the use of woolly mammoth as a source of food and building material, we conducted a zooarchaeological study of the faunal remains from excavation VII of Pushkari I.The faunal spectrum is made of Mammuthus primigenius, the predominant species, Equus sp., R. tarandus, Canis lupus and Vulpes vulpes/Alopex lagopus. Taphonomic study suggests that some bone remains of mammoth lay in open-air for a long time before they were buried while bones of carnivores and other bones of mammoth were quickly buried. All the assemblage was affected by acid sandy deposits. Phenomena of freeze-thaw action were observed, but the archaeological layer was little disturbed.Mammoths came regularly on the promontory. The skeletal preservation shows that they died there. The mortality profile with a majority of adults combined with a palethnographic interpretation suggests that they were slaughtered and butchered by human groups. Tusks were stored.The spatial distribution indicates a campsite, which corresponds to recurrent short-termed occupations on the promontory by human groups. This site is a strategic place to collect flint to make weapons, to find dry mammoth bones, and to hunt and butcher mammoths. This study provides new data to understand the particular status of the woolly mammoth for the Upper Pleniglacial human groups in the Russo-Ukrainian plain.