Mezin Site

an Upper Paleolithic settlement on the right bank of the Desna River in the village of Mezin, Chernigov Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. The site was discovered in 1908 by F. K. Volkov (Vovk) and was periodically investigated from 1909 through 1961 by P. P. Efimenko, M. Ia. Rudinskii, I. G. Shovkoplias, and others. The site dates to the early stage of the Magdalenian culture.

The remains of dwellings have been preserved at Mezin as well as the places where flint and bone were worked. Also found were hearths dug outside the dwellings and holes that served as repositories for the bones of animals. The dwellings were round or oval, with diameters up to 6 m, and were built directly on the ground. They were constructed of wood, then covered with skins and edged with large bones of animals. More than 4,000 flint tools (gravers, end scrapers, perforators, instruments for engraving on bone) were found, as well as tools and household objects made of bone and antler (needles, perforators, hammer- and wedge-shaped implements, javelin tips, pendants). Of particular interest are the sculptured figurines made of ivory (stylized statuettes of women and animals), bracelets made of ivory and decorated with geometric designs, and drawings made with red ochre on large mammoth bones. Many seashells of southern origin, which were used as pendants, were also found.