Middle Bronze Age cemeteries, ‘double barrows’ and mortuary houses in the Upper Dniester Basin, Western Ukraine: Geophysical prospection and archaeological verification

Abstract

This article discusses two cases of so-called double barrows from the Middle Bronze Age Komar ow culture cemetery in Bukivna, in the Upper Dniester Basin (Ukraine), in order to demonstrate the potential of incorporating geophysical image analysis, excavations and sedimentological studies towards identifying subterranean funerary architecture. The magnetometer prospection of the Bukivna necropolis revealed the presence of a specific dipolar anomaly within the extent of a double barrow. The excavations uncovered burnt wooden-clay constructions related to mortuary houses.The sedimentological samples collected from the features below the mound provided data for the increased ferrous content. Another double barrow located in the Pidhoroddia cemetery was prospected by means of magnetometry, which did not reveal any similar anomaly within the magnetometry plan, thus providing evidence for a possible lack of discussed mortuary structure.

SURVEY, DRILL AND EXCAVATE. Complex geoarchaeological prospection of Bronze Age mounds as a key for understanding undermound architecture. A case study from Myluvannia, Western Ukraine

“…In both of examples, the negative field was positioned to the north, while the southern one comprised high positive values (Figure 4). The magnetic appearance of those anomalies resembles the mortuary house of the Komarów culture mound prospected and excavated in the Bukivna cemetery part of the funeral complex (Romaniszyn et al, 2021). The proximity of both groups (several hundred metres apart) and their magnetometry results pointed to a possible similarity in cultural affiliation and the presence of relevant funeral architecture.…”

“…and comprised pink/yellowish red daub characterized by a high degree of compaction and numerous scattered charcoal fragments. According to the results of excavations in Bukivna (Mound 6; see Makarowicz, 2019; Romaniszyn et al, 2021), the occurrence of daub within the mounds might indicate the existence of a burnt construction in the mortuary house type. A selected sample of burnt wood fragment retrieved from the borehole core was subjected to radiocarbon dating and pointed to the Middle Bronze Age provenance of the construction (95.4%: 1751–1540 cal.…”

“…For over 10 years, there has been an intensification of research on mound (barrow) cemeteries in Western Ukraine by the joint Polish–Ukrainian team from Poznań and Kyiv (Makarowicz et al, 2013; Makarowicz et al, 2018, 2019; Makarowicz et al, 2021; Makarowicz, Kochkin, et al, 2016; Romaniszyn et al, 2021). This area was characterized by cultural complexes during different prehistoric periods.…”

“…In combination with archaeological experience and contextual knowledge, the interpretation of magnetic imagery is often a useful tool for preliminary chronological and cultural estimations because it can distinguish particular and specific features (e.g. stone rings, stone kernels; mortuary houses—see, e.g., Hildebrandt‐Radke et al, 2018; Makarowicz, 2019; Romaniszyn & Makarowicz, 2021; Romaniszyn et al, 2021). To prevent misinterpretation and, consequently, costly excavations of unexpected archaeological contexts, additional methods are now being applied, including soil sample analyses and other geophysical techniques like magnetometry or GPR.…”

The barrow culture of the Upper Dniester Basin in the 3 rd and 2 nd millennia BC: The Polish-Ukrainian research projects

“…A tangible result of the project's implementation so far are articles about the landscape archaeology (Makarowicz et al, 2019) and geoarchaeology of the region, in which the results of prospecting and geomagnetics and their interpretation were compared with the excavation research. This in particular applies to the under-mound architecture of the 'double barrows', and especially to the graves with mortuary houses (Romaniszyn et al, 2021). Parallel to the field research, material from various studies covering the period of the 3 rd and 2 nd millennia BC are being selected in Western Ukraine for specialized analyses using modern methods of archaeological sciences.…”