The Mohylianska group complex of the Early Iron Age from the multilayered site of Dubno–Ostriv Dubovets

The paper presents materials of Mohylianska group of the Early Iron Age obtained during archaeological excavations at a multilayered site in Dubno in the Ostriv Dubovets tract, which were conducted by the authors in 2018–2023. In total, the expedition uncovered 576 m2. Only one cluster of four vessel ruins was found: a large pot, a storage jar, a bowl, and the lower part of a smaller pot. Stratigraphic observations show that the remains of the vessels were in a layer of aeolian sands transformed into an eluvial horizon of sod-podzolic soil. All other materials (ceramics and flint products) were redeposited in aeolian sediments. Three flint sickles were found, which lay compactly and most likely belonged to the redeposited deposit. The largest collection of materials from the cultural layer is represented by ceramics of the Mohylianska group of the Early Iron Age: dishes and spinning wheels. A total of 187 pieces of pottery were processed, including: 102 fragments of crowns of pots and other vessels, 41 bowls, as well as 19 decorated walls, most of which belong to pots, 3 disk-covers and 7 fragments of vessel lugs, and 9 spindle whorls and their fragments. Only well-attributed materials included in the collection were used for spatial fixation of the finds. Based on the nature of the finds and the conditions of their discovery, it was concluded that the site is the remains of a settlement. The analysis of ceramics shows that three horizons of the Mohylianska group can be distinguished at the site. The first of them is the Mohyliany-Monastyrok horizon, which dates back to the Pre-Scythian period and has a wide dating range within the late 10th to 8th centuries BC. The second horizon is the Netishyn horizon, which has its counterparts in the Zhabotyn stage of the Middle Dnipro, in the Zhabotyn III horizon, and is dated to the first half of the VII century BC. The third horizon, the Khoriv, is characteristic of the Early Scythian monuments of the Right Bank Dnipro Forest-Steppe and can be dated to the second half of the 7th – early 6th centuries BC. The peculiarity of the ceramic collection from this site is the presence of features characteristic of the Lezhnytsia horizon of the Lusatian culture from the territory west of the Styr River. The division of materials into horizons is conditional, and there is no certainty that some of them are not synchronous. However, against the background of the existing culturally monolithic monuments of the Early Iron Age of Dubno region, Dubovets looks like a complex and potentially multi-phase site

Ancient history · Geography · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Chemistry · History · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts

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