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.
