The new Upper Palaeolithic site Korman' 9 in the Middle Dniester valley (Ukraine): Human occupation during the Last Glacial Maximum.

Korman' 9 is a newly discovered Upper Palaeolithic site in the Middle Dniester valley (Ukraine). Here we present chronostratigraphic, palaeoenvironmental, chronological, lithic and faunal data. Within a ~4 m deep sequence we have identified four Archaeological Layers (AL 0 to III) and AL I can be attributed to the Epigravettian, AL II most probably to the Epigravettian (small sample size), and AL III most probably to the Gravettian. AL 0 is too small to allow a cultural attribution. Lithic analysis for AL I shows microblade technology and a toolkit dominated by microliths (backed and marginally retouched microblades and bladelets). Faunal analysis demonstrates that exploitation focuses on reindeer and horse. The archaeological results fit well into the regional Upper Palaeolithic record, and the correlations with sites like Molodova V, Korman' IV, Cosautsi, and Dorochivsti III are well established. Our results allow us to conclude that humans were present at Korman' 9 during the Last Glacial Maximum under arctic (AL II and AL III) and sub-arctic (AL I) conditions. We also discuss implications for our findings for the discussion of human presence/absence during cold and arid conditions around the Last Glacial Maximum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]