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REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH
Given the severity of the ongoing war in Ukraine, it is no surprise that the rich prehistoric archaeology of the country has been largely forgotten, especially within its southern and eastern regions, but it makes this publication particularly valuable.
Kamyana Mohyla boasts a remarkable assemblage of early prehistoric rock art and engraved mobiliary bone and antler items. The site has the largest rock-art complex in Ukraine and, being within the western hinterlands of the Eurasian Steppe, it provides an essential link between rock-art assemblages in Western Europe and the Russian provinces to the east and north. Although the style of the art at Kamyana Mohyla is typically European, Simon Radchenko does recognise local and regional traits that possibly originate further east, suggesting movement of ideas and people.
The site is located on a raised sandstone ‘island’ within the Molochna River Valley and was once surrounded by water. It contains a complex and unique rock-art assemblage that dates from the Upper Palaeolithic, but includes Mesolithic and Neolithic engravings and faded painted imagery. The imagery on both the rock panels and portable artefacts includes geometric forms (mainly confused scratched lines), animals, and human figures.
The book is organised into eight chapters with a thought-provoking endnote that briefly discusses the future of this site and the conflict that rages around it. Chapter 1 is a personal account of how the author researched and undertook fieldwork at Kamyana Mohyla, while Chapter 2 provides the reader with a useful geological, geomorphological, and archaeological context of the site – from the Upper Palaeolithic era to the medieval period. Chapter 3 sets out a history of archaeological research, which extends back to at least the early part of the 20th century with the pioneering work of Nikolai Veselovskiy and Otto Bader. In Chapter 4, the focus is on Wizard Cave and the politics surrounding the interpretation made by archaeologists Valentin Danilenko and Mykola Rudinskiy during the mid to late 20th century, with counterarguments and interpretations by the author. Similar discussions are made in Chapters 5 and 6, where the author discusses Dragon Cave, Churinga Cave, Goat Cave, and Bull Cave. Finally, Chapters 7 and 8 provide the reader with an interpretive account of the artistic endeavour associated with this remarkable complex, focusing on the site’s development and the wider cultural landscape. Radchenko rightly argues that Kamyana Mohyla, like all other early prehistoric areas of Europe, cannot be looked at in isolation: the site was probably a catalyst for contact and exchange networks. Moreover, the community using this site would have created a regional identity through its production of art that is not repeated elsewhere.
Given the geopolitical instability of this region of Europe, Radchenko has done remarkably well to pull together a detailed account of a rock-art and mobiliary assemblage that provides a significant piece of the jigsaw that proves that Upper Palaeolithic communities outside the Franco-Cantabrian region of Europe were also engaged in artistic endeavours.
Portable and Parietal Art of Kamyana Mohyla, Ukraine
Simon Radchenko
BAR Publishing, £60
ISBN 978-1407353852
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