International audienceDuring the archaeobotanical investigation of Scythian-Sarmatian period (Early Iron Age), pits with crop processing waste, discovered in the floodplain of Donets River, eastern Ukraine, and charred remains of cereal grains, dominated by broomcorn millet, were recorded. The grains from the pits were radiocarbon dated to the fifth to first century BC. Those pits are distant from any known contemporaneous settlement. The apparent disconnection of these pits from any local settlement suggests that (1) millet was brought from other locations by mobile groups, or (2) millet was cultivated locally by populations whose settlements have left no discernible archaeological trace. The analysis of molecular biomarkers preserved in palaeosols that are stratigraphically connected to the pits revealed high levels of miliacin, a molecule that can be preserved in ancient soils and sediments, and that is consistent with broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum). High levels in miliacin in soils stratigraphically connected to the pits are interpreted as the result of a large biomass of P. miliaceum produced at time of soil formation. Our biogeochemical results applied to a palaeosol thus attest to the in situ cultivation of crops dominated by the broomcorn millet during the early Iron Age in the floodplain of Donets River. Biochemical examination of soils and palaeosols can thus provide useful information on past dynamics of land-use by ancient population, especially when settlements or macrobotanical remains are absent

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The Seversky Donets River (Northern Donets) basin in eastern Ukraine and the Lower Don River valley in Russia were inhabited by populations that have been considered to be one of the earliest pottery-using cultures in Europe. The early pottery sites are all located on riverbanks and contain middens with many mollusk shells and fish bones. This suggests the intense exploitation of freshwater resources. The accuracy of radiocarbon dates obtained from these locations is of crucial importance for understanding the development of new technologies, diversification of the food consumed and its preparation strategies, as well as the degree of sedentism in this region, associated with the beginnings of pottery-making technology. The chronology of Neolithic sites in this region, however, was developed on the basis of 14C dates commonly obtained through the dating of freshwater mollusk shells, pottery with mollusk shell temper, or organic residue on pottery shards. Such samples are potentially affected by the freshwater reservoir effect, raising concerns about the accuracy of those dates. This paper presents accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates from a small pilot study from sites in eastern Ukraine in order to test for the presence of the reservoir effect in this region. The AMS 14C dates presented in this paper challenge the 14C chronology based on mollusk shell or organic residue, which appears to generate much older dates than those on wood charcoal or terrestrial animal bone.

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This paper presents the results of archaeobotanical investigations performed during excavations of a Linear Pottery Culture (LBK) site in western Ukraine. The collection of cultivated plants and weeds found in the hearth of the LBK dwelling fits well with what was grown by LBK inhabitants elsewhere in Europe. The direct dating of cereal grains reveals the existence of early-stage LBK in Ukraine during a much earlier timeframe than previously thought. The new archaeobotanical results and their dates exclude other previously postulated theories on the timing and geographical origins of agriculture in Ukraine, pointing towards the western LBK phenomenon as the earliest carrier of crop cultivation to Ukraine.Keywords: Linear Pottery Culture (LBK), early cereal cultivation, spread of agriculture, the first farmers of Ukraine, Neolithic.Šiame straipsnyje pateikiami archeobotaninių tyrimų rezultatai iš Ratniv-2 archeologinio objekto, esančio Vakarų Ukrainoje, priklausančio linijinės juostinės keramikos kultūrai. augintų kultūrinių augalų ir piktžolių įvairovė atspindi įprastą linijinės juostinės keramikos kultūros gyventojų augintų augalų racioną, kuris labai panašus visuose šios kultūros paplitimo regionuose. Datavimas gautas tiesiogiai tiriant kultūrinius augalus, aptiktus Ratniv-2 objekte, parodė, kad ši kultūra išplito iki pat Ukrainos jau pirmoje savo stadijoje, tai yra gerokai anksčiau nei prieš tai manyta. Nauji archeobotaniniai duomenys ir datavimo rezultatai, pristatyti šiame straipsnyje, padėjo eliminuoti anksčiau pateiktas teorijas apie žemdirbystės laikotarpį ir geografinę kilmę Ukrainoje. Tikėtiniausia, kad linijinės juostinės keramikos kultūros gyventojai yra pirmieji, vertęsi žemdirbyste Ukrainos teritorijoje.Reikšminiai žodžiai: linijinės juostinės keramikos kultūra, ankstyviausių kultūrinių augalų auginimas, žemdirbystės plitimas, pirmieji Ukrainos ūkininkai, neolitas. INTRODUCTIONThe spread of agriculture across the eastern part of the European continent has been less intensively studied than that of the western one (Milisauskas, 1986;Whittle, 1996;Gronenborn, 2003; Dolukhanov et al., 2005), even though during prehistory, the eastern region constituted an important "crossroads" for interaction between Europe, the Caucasus and central Asia (Anthony, 2007; Rassamakin, 1999; Motuzaite Matuzeviciute et al. 2009).Different theories on the origins of agriculture in Ukraine have been previously proposed. Researchers cannot agree on the timing of the adoption of agriculture by the prehistoric populations of Ukraine, or even what the geographical origins of the cultivated crops actually are, because the understanding of the earliest appearance of agriculture in Ukraine has been constructed not on the direct radiocarbon dates of cereal crops, but on the secondary evidence such as the microscopic analysis of flint tools, the investigation of cereal impressions in pottery, along with palynological, zooarchaeological data or stable isotope analysis (e.g., Kotova, 2002Kotova, , 2003 Kremenetski, 1999; Kuzminova e...