Raw materials as source for tracing migration: the case of Mira in Middle Dnieper area
Vadim Stepanchuk, Victor Petrougne
Proposed report presents the first results of the investigation of composition of used rocks at the new EUP open-air site of Mira in the Middle Dnieper area, Eastern Europe, Ukraine.
Petrographical study of ca. 300 samples of flint and stone artifacts coming from layers I and II/2 was conducted by means of immersion specimens under polarizing microscope.
The overwhelming majority of flints of the upper layer of the site (subunits IA1-3) is represented by table-shaped smoky, grey-smoky and grey chalcedonolites which due to specific composition of inclusions has no analogies among silicilites of Ukrainian Right-Bank area, Ukrainian Carpathians, and Transcarpathia. This flint raw materials has Eastern Carpathian origins and, as well as part of non-siliceous stone rocks discovered at the site, were obtained somewhere on the territory of modern Romania. State of physical preservation of chalcedonolithic artifacts allows to suppose utilization of either fresh primary outcrops or elluvially disintegrated flint-bearing rocks, most likely dated to Upper Cretaceous period. Lithics of subunits I a-b and I b quantitatively are less significant. Nevertheless, their peculiarities allow to define their exact origins. Assemblage of the upper layer of the Mira site includes following varieties of lithics, i.e.: apospiculae chalcedonolites of Lower Senoman age which were picked up in the area of modern Kosteshti town (River Prut valley); spiculae-inoceramic flints of Upper Senoman age originated from the area of modern Soroki town (River Dniester valley); residual-infiltrated Sarmathian flints and opoka-like rocks from the area of mouth of River Bakshala (River South Bug valley); local cherts of Krivoy Rog type (River Ingulets valley); fossilized wood from the area of modern towns of Nikopol and Marganets (Lower Dnieper valley).
There are both local and imported non-siliceous lithic artifacts in the Mira layer I assemblage, as well. Paragenetic association of ceolitized tuffs, actinolitites, and amphibolites points to Carpathian origins of exotic varieties of rocks.
High quality homogeneous, fine-grained chalcedony raw materials of the layer of the site, though also smoky, but including only rare elementary microfauna, represent good macro- and microscopic affinities to chalcedonolites of western, at least Volhynian type. Further study of thin petrographic sections with the aim to discover silicized remains of fish whitebait is desirable. If so, preliminary assumption on Turonian age and Volhynia-Podolia origin of this raw materials should be regarded as proved.
Typomorphic peculiarities of flints and flint rocks allow to trace supposed route of West-to East movement of group of prehistoric hunter-gatherers, who left the uppermost Palaeolithic layer I of the site of Mira. Their way was started somewhere in the territory of modern Romania and passed almost in longitude direction through the valleys of Rivers Prut, Dniester, South Bug, Ingulets, and, finally, stopped at the right bank of Dnieper. Absence of typical flint raw materials known in upper and middle parts of Dniester valley, and lack of characteristical lower Danubian flints are strengthen the justification of just this direction of movement, which overall extent reach up, at least, to 750-770 km. Quantitative prevalence of the most remote raw materials forces the notion about comparatively rapid movement of prehistoric group from Carpathians to Dnieper.