Upper Paleolithic of Middle Dniester: Doroshivtsi III site

As a result of excavations of the Doroshivtsi III open-air site in the Middle Dniester region, seven Upper Paleolithic cultural levels were discovered in the 12 m thick loess profile. With the exception of level 1 with very few artifacts, all other cultural levels could be determined as Gravettian. The richest collections belong to level 3 and 6. Level 6 is dated to 22,330 ± 100 BP, and represents an original UP industry with shouldered points, a small amount of burins, and numerous backed tools made mainly on microblades.Doroshivtsi III, together with Molodovo V (level 7 and 8) and Zamostya I with shouldered points in the tool-kit, which are usual, was named “atypical” previously. However, they represent a sub-type of this specific kind of tool, giving evidence of the originality of Dniester Gravettian industries, and their distinction from the Willendorf-Pavlov-Kostenki group.