The Dniesterian Mousterian from the Velykyi Glybochok site related to palaeoenvironmental changes

The Velykyi Glybochok multicomponent open-air Palaeolithic site is situated in Podolia, Western Ukraine. In addition to the Final Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic cultural layers, three Middle Palaeolithic ones were discovered in a sequence of loess with fossil soils covering Neogene limestones exposed in a local quarry. The present paper discusses the characteristics of archaeological materials found in the site as well as the main results of the geological, palaeopedological and palaeontological (mammals and molluscs) investigation. They are used for reconstruction of the past environment changes and stratigraphical interpretation. The oldest cultural layer III is connected with the Korshiv fossil soil (in Ukrainian nomenclature) of the penultimate interglacial (MIS 7); layer III B with the Ternopil Horizon corresponding with climatic amelioration during the penultimate glacial (MIS 6); and layer III A with the Gorohiv fossil soil originated during MIS 5. In the western part of Eastern Europe, outside the Carpathians, several Mousterian sites dated to the last interglacial are known, but Velykyi Glybochok is the only site where Palaeolithic settlement dated to MIS 7 and 6 is documented. The participation of Levalloisian elements is characteristic for artifacts of all the Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) cultural assemblages of Velykyi Glybochok. This suggests a local origin of the Dniesterian Mousterian culture with the Levalloisian technique of stone flaking.