Hintsi archeological site

Hintsi archeological site [Гінцівська стоянка; Hintsivska stoianka]. See Map. An Upper Paleolithic site on the right bank of the Udai River near Hintsi, Lubny raion, Poltava oblast. The site dates back to the Magdalenian culture and is estimated to be 15,000 to 13,000 years old. It is the oldest archeological site in the Poltava region. It was discovered in 1871 by Fedir Kaminsky and it was the first archeological site of the Paleolithic Period to be found in Ukraine. The site was excavated in 1873, 1914–16 (by Vadym Shcherbakivsky who uncovered the first mammoth-bone dwelling there), 1935, 1952, and 1977–80. Extensive well-organized excavations of the site (utilizing a large temporary hangar to protect the site from the elements) have been conducted since 1992 under the supervision of Liudmyla Yakovleva of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The area of the excavations is approximately 4,000 sq m and the depth of the excavated strata is 2.2 to 4 m. Remains of four large (the largest of them measuring 7 m in diameter) and three smaller mammoth-bone dwellings, storage pits, fire pits, and over 3,000 flint and bone tools were uncovered, some with geometric ornament that has been identified as representing a lunar calendar.

Marko Robert Stech

[This article was updated in 2020.]