In an archaeometric research project supported by the Volkswagen Foundation (Project 90216 [https://earlynomads.wordpress.com/]), working groups consisting of chemists, geologists and archaeologists in Berlin, Kiev and Saint Petersburg collaborated on analysing pottery recovered from Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age burials and settlements from sites of different archaeological cultures in the steppes and forest steppes north of the Black Sea. The article presents the results of the classification of 201 samples using energy-dispersive X-Ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) compared to the results of MGR-analysis and WD-XRF of these samples. Fingerprints for the seven sites studied could be defined.

The unique rock art site of Kamyana Mohyla in south-eastern Ukraine contains numerous petroglyphs from different chronological periods. 3D-modelling and mesh-analysis of rock art were applied to Ukrainian rock art occurrences for the first time. They have permitted a revision of the interpretation of a particular decorated panel at this site. Previously considered to represent a mythological dragon originating from Indo-European texts, this palimpsest has a multilayered structure that was created and modified during millennia by rock artists from different cultural groups.

The article is devoted to the assemblage of gray-clay pottery tableware from the Late Scythian hill-forts and burial mounds of the Dnipro River lower region. Pottery of this group is found in all layers of the Ancient Greek sites at the north coast of the Black Sea, at the Late Scythian monuments of the Dnipro and the Danube Rivers lower regions and in the Crimea; later it becomes a peculiar feature of Cherniakhiv culture. The above analysis of materials indicates imported nature of gray pottery in «Minor Scythia» of the Dnipro River lower region. Multiple analogies can allow determining Olbia as the main direction of such imports. Ancient Greek forms known in Olbia back in the pre-Getian period predominate in the assemblage of the Late Scythian gray-clay pottery.

The article presents the results of non-invasive studies of a stone tower located within the village Vesele of Beryslav Region in Kherson Oblast, near the dam of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP) and traditionally associated with the activities of Vytautas the Great of Lithuania. This monument has never been explored archaeologically, it is in fact unknown in the scientific literature and is not mentioned in historical sources. It is known for certain only about the usage of the tower as a water-supplying one, for a nearby winery in the 19th century by Prince P.N Troubetzkoi. The importance of the research is conditioned by the preparation for the construction of the second stage of the Kakhovka HPP, and as a result, the emerging threat of destruction of the object. The method for creating a measurably accurate 3D model and for its further investigation was chosen. In fact, a digital copy of the object was created to obtain a full information about the engineering and architectural features of the Vytautas Tower. The procedure for obtaining the initial digital data consisted of aerial photography of the object and the adjacent portion of the Earth, followed by photogrammetric processing of the images. As a result of the works performed, the external and internal diameters of the structure, the height and thickness of the walls at all levels are established. The sizes of all architectural elements are defined: windows and doors apertures and apertures from fastening of wooden beams. Measurement errors do not exceed 5,0 cm. Thanks to a detailed instrumental survey of the Vytautas Tower it is established that the number of building layers of the object that are fixed from the outside does not coincide with the number of floors. The height of the tiers, the arrangement and relative position of the entrance and windows openings, the traces from the beams of the inner slabs indicate that, at four tiers, the tower had five floors. The upper tier coincides with the last floor, since it was built later in the 19th century. The location of the window openings indicates that at the time of construction, there was a priority of observation direction to the north. It is to the north from the tower where the existence of the old Tavan crossing is presumed. The established architectural parameters and features of the Vytautas Tower allow the authors to assume its mediaeval origin. However, it is obvious that conclusions about the time of its occurrence and the nature of its usage during its existence are impossible without performing archaeological research.