GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE IN SOUTHERN UKRAINE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Current work in southern Ukraine seeks to elicit the ecological circumstances of the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition. Traditionally thought to be represented by a cultural shift from sedentism to nomadism, this transition is poorly represented archaeologically. This summer’s fieldwork at the Late Bronze Age (3.5-2.5 ka) sites of Rozanivka/Розанівка, Reprinka/Репринка, and Dikij Sahd/Дикий Сад revealed relatively fertile alfisols. The soil parent at Rozanivka and Reprinka is the Archaean granulite-gneiss of the Ukrainian Shield/Український щит, while soils at Dikij Sahd are sourced in alluvial sand deposits. Though pollen records from other sites indicate a drying trend for the terminal Bronze Age, our initial results indicate relative stability in soil-forming processes from occupation to the present. Geochemical and geomorphological analyses are also underway for each site.