Palaeolithic Human Societies During the Upper Pleniglacial Throught Their Relations With Other Animals in Ukrainian Archaeological Sites

Abstract

The first part of the Upper Pleniglacial (around 26000—20000 BP) is characterized by a deterioration in weather conditions, which reached its peak during the Last Glacial Maximum. In the East European Plain, most of its lands were dominated by a periglacial steppe-tundra with the maximum extension of ice sheet in the North and permafrost. The different animal species had to adapt to these environments, also as human groups.The recent works realized in Ukraine permit to better understand the lifestyles of the Palaeolithic human groups, particularly their subsistence activities, the modalities of settlements and the technocultural practices. We based our study on the main sites, Dorochivtsy III, Galich 1, Klussy, Korman, Molodova V, Obollonia, Oselivka, Pushkari 1 and Pogon (Pushkari 8). These sites are very important to better understand the human occupations for all the East European Plain. Here we particularly focus on the zooarchaeological remains, which permitted to better determine the taphonomic conditions, the human activities, the seasonality of occupations and the human and other animal relationships. The main species present in archaeological sites are Mammoth, Reindeer, Horse, Fox and Wolf, who have important implication on the territory modification and the food resource for humans. Moreover the animal eco-ethology involvement of their acquisition-exploitation by nomadic hunter-gatherers, permits to highlight the potential human behavioral strategies. They show the continuous occupation of the territories by humans, in any seasons, with the persistence of organized activities, innovations and varied behaviors. This period corresponds to the changes between middle Gravettian and late Gravettian, then first Epigravettian features. The end of the Last Glacial Maximum peak marks the disappearance of Late Gravettian and of human populations between 19—16000 BP, followed by a hiatus until 16000 BP.