Barrows from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age in the Upper Dniester River Basin in Ukraine. Geophysical Research and Archaeological Verification

Abstract

This article evaluates the potential of magnetometry to establish the internal structure of three mounds in the barrow cemetery of Bukivna in the Upper Dniester River Basin in Ukraine. We also evaluate the effects of geomorphological processes on the magnetometric results. The three-stage research method we applied comprises the preparation of a digital elevation model of the mounds, conducting geomagnetic surveys and, finally, targeted excavations, the latter enabling the verification of previously detected magnetic anomalies. In effect our studies show exceptionally complex geophysical anomalies, difficult to interpret with any certainty. In the peculiar case of the barrows 6 and 7 in group I, partly connected by an earthen mantle, the overlapping magnetic fields did not allow the two mounds to be distinguished from each other; it was possible to achieve only through subsequent excavations. In both barrows, a series of ritual and sepulchral structures were discovered that provided clear magnetic signals. The arrangement of the anomalies in the mound 1, group II, potentially reflects various aspects of the barrow’s structure and its state of preservation, beginning with postdepositional processes related to erosion or to the run-off of material down the slope, and ending with the mound’s stratigraphy, formed over the course of two phases. In turn, in the case of mounds 6 and 7, it can be assumed that the effects of these processes have been somewhat “suppressed” in the magnetometric image, due to the strong impact of the burnt wooden structures located underneath the features.