Stratigraphy, palaeoenvironment and chronostratigraphic background of the Mira succession (Zaporozhiye, Central Ukraine), Midway between Carpathians and Don

Located along the Dnieper, south of Dniepropetrovsk, the Mira site shows a thick succession of fluviatile sands capped by loess-like deposits. It included two cultural layers dated between 27.8 and 26.6 ka BP, preserved in a 55 cm thick fine alluvial deposit interbedded in the sands. Data on palaeopedology and palynology point to rather cool and dry conditions during a final phase of the Middle Pleniglacial, with meadow vegetation along the river banks and steppe vegetation on plateau. The upper cultural layer with abundant faunal remains and lithics included an archaic industry combining both Middle and Upper Palaeolithic features, and contained a remain of anatomically modern human. The lower cultural layer included a more advanced industry of Upper Palaeolithic appearance. With regard to its geographical position between Kostienki on the Don and the Carpathians, the Mira site provides new insight on the diversity of the Early Upper Palaeolithic at the end of the Middle Pleniglacial in the Russian Plain.