Raptus Sabinae? Of a female calvarium from the Bandkeramik settlement of Rovantsi in Volhynia

Abstract

Rescue excavations on the Bandkeramik (LBK) settlement of Rovantsi in Volhynia brought to light several extraordinary objects such as two valves of Spondylus gaederopus and Šárka style pottery. Those discoveries reaffi rm the extent of the Early Neolithic long-distance exchange network, of which the easternmost LBK settlements once formed an integral part. A calvarium of a mature female was found in a pit at Rovantsi. Since skeletal remains of a Bandkeramik date are extremely rare in Ukraine, this discovery will be discussed in the following article.

Cataloguing and mapping the Linear Band Pottery sites in Ukraine

“…Plant impressions on pottery from the RovantsiHnidavska Hirka tract have been reidentified using scanning elec tron microscopy and an improved silicone casting method (Endo et al 2022.6). The study of the craniology and DNA of a skull from the RovantsiHnidavska Hirka tract settlement became the first of its kind in the Ukra inian part of the LBK area (Bardetskiy et al 2017;Potiekhina 2018;Mazanec et al 2020).…”

Verifying the chronology of Ukrainian Neolithic

“…The pairs of dates (1: Кі-6689 and Кі-6688 24 Bardetskiy, 2012;Zlatohorskyi / Bardetskyi, 2010. 25 Bardec'kyi et al 2016Bardec'kyi et al , 2018Bardetskiy et al 2017;Becker et al 2018;Mazanec et al 2020; Saile 2020. 26 Kotova / Tuboltsev 1996, 29-44 (primary publication), the most recent summary -Kotova 2013, 40.…”

Chipped lithic assemblage from Linear Pottery culture site Rovanci - Hnidavska Hirka, Lutsk Oblast (Volhynia, west Ukraine)

“…The oldest period of occupation of this site corresponds to the Linear Pottery culture. This is confirmed by settlement features and relatively large numbers of various artefacts (Zlatogorskiy and Bardetskiy 2010;Dębiec and Saile 2015;Bardec'kij et al 2016; Bardetskiy et al 2017;Becker et al 2018;Saile et al 2018). There were also flint, stone and obsidian artefacts discovered in the LBK context.…”