Dwellings of the Chernoles culture in the forest-steppe between the Dniester and Dnieper Rivers (analysis, typology and comparative analysis)

The paper attempts to make a detailed analysis of residential structures of the population relating to the Chernoles culture in the forest-steppe between the Dniester and Dnieper Rivers. Vestiges of dwellings were found on 23 unfortified settlements. All the sites, except the Early Chernoles settlements of Bol'shaya Andrusovka I, Bol'shaya Snytonka IV and Mikhalkiv I, as well as the lower layer of the Subbotovo settlement, were associated with the late stage of the Chernoles culture. In all on the sites of the Early Chernoles culture there were found 17 semi-dugouts and one dugout. On settlements of the late stage 70 surface dwellings, 10 semi-dugouts and 11 dugouts were identified. In general, the analysis provided an opportunity to compare dwellings referring to the early and the late periods of the Chernoles culture based on such data as the location of dwellings, their shapes, sizes, designs and interior condition. The main result is an identification of common and distinctive features in the construction of houses of the Chernoles culture bearers. The comparative analysis of dwellings made it possible to trace the major stages in the development of homebuilding at the Chernoles population and revealed similarities and differences between dwellings belonging to the early and the late periods of the Chernoles culture. On the other hand a weak source base (no publications) leaves unresolved a number of topical issues. Nevertheless, the importance of research lies in the fact that the dwellings as an important category of archaeological sources allow to study various aspects of life of the Chernoles population.