Molodova Site

Neandertal (Mousterian) Middle and Upper Paleolithic habitation site located on the southern bank of Dniester River in the Chernovtsy (or Chernivtsi) province of Ukraine, between the Dniester river and the Carpathian mountains. Charcoal radiocarbon dating from a hearth yealded dates before c 42,000 BCE, while microfauna and palynological marine isotope dating is at 60,000-24,000 BCE. The excavation yielded a great number of stone tools associated with bones of large mammals. Most of the bones appear to have been intentionally selected and assembled by Neanderthals to build a circular structure. The ring of bones included 116 complete mammoth bones, including 12 skulls, five mandibles, 14 tusks, 34 pelves and 51 long bones, representing at least 15 individual mammoths, both male and female, and both adults and juveniles. Most of the bones appear to have been intentionally selected and assembled by Neanderthals to build a circular structure which measured 5x8 meters (16x26 feet) inside and 7x10 m (23x33 ft) externally. The basic framework of this hut was probably of wood covered with skins, which were weighted down at the edge by mammoth tusks, skulls, and bones. Inside the hut, diggers uncovered fifteen hearths, many animal bones, and thousands of flint flakes, which indicate a long period of use.

This territory of Ukraine is the probable loction of where the horse was first domesticated.

Elevation is c. 200 meters (650 feet) above sea level.

Sources:
1. Hirst, K. Kris. "Molodova I (Ukraine)." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/molodova-i-ukraine-paleolithic-site-171818.
2. Demay L, Péan S, and Patou-Mathis M. in press. Mammoths used as food and building resources by Neanderthals: Zooarchaeological study applied to layer 4, Molodova I (Ukraine). Quaternary International.
3. Meignen, L., J.-M. Genest, L. Koulakovsaia, and A. Sytnik. 2004; Koulichivka and its place in the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in eastern Europe. Chapter 4 in The Early Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe, P.J. Brantingham, S.L. Kuhn, and K. W. Kerry, eds. University of California Press, Berkeley.
4. Vishnyatsky, L.B. and P.E. Nehoroshev. 2004; The beginning of the Upper Paleolithic on the Russian Plain. Chapter 6 in The Early Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe, P.J. Brantingham, S.L. Kuhn, and K. W. Kerry, eds. University of California Press, Berkeley.