Mezhyrich ( uk, Межиріч, also referred to as Mezhirich) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

(''selo'') in central

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It is located in

Cherkasy Raion Cherkasy Raion ( uk, Черкаський район, translit.: ''Cherkas'kyi raion'') is a raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast. It is located in the central part of Cherkasy oblast, and the center of the raion is the city of Cherkasy. The popul ...

(

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

) of

Cherkasy Oblast Cherkasy Oblast ( uk, Черка́ська о́бласть, Cherkaska oblast, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna ( uk, Черка́щина, ) is an oblast (province) of central Ukraine located along the Dnieper River. The administrative center ...

(

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

), near the point where the Rosava River flows into the Ros'. Mezhyrich belongs to

Kaniv urban hromada Kaniv ( uk, Канів, ) city located in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast (province) in central Ukraine. The city rests on the Dnieper River, and is also one of the main inland river ports on the Dnieper. It hosts the administration of Kaniv ur ...

, one of the

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

s of Ukraine. Until 18 July 2020 Mezhyrich belonged to

Kaniv Raion Kaniv Raion ( uk, Канівський район) was a raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. Its administrative centre was located at the town of Kaniv which was incorporated separately as a city of oblast significance and did ...

. The raion was abolished as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Cherkasy Oblast to four. The area of Kaniv Raion was merged into Cherkasy Raion. Mezhyrich hosted the administration of Mezhyrich rural hromada, which was abolished and merged into Kaniv urban hromada.

Pre-historic finds

In 1965, a farmer dug up the

lower jawbone In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

of a

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...

while in the process of expanding his cellar. Further excavations revealed the presence of 4

huts A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...

, made up of a total of 149 mammoth bones. These dwellings, dating back some 15,000 years, were determined to have been some of the oldest shelters known to have been constructed by pre-historic man, usually attributed to

Cro-Magnon Early European modern humans (EEMH), or Cro-Magnons, were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from Western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They ...

. Also found on the site: * a map inscribed onto a bone, presumably showing the area around the settlement * remains of a "drum", made of a mammoth skull painted with a pattern of red

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

dots and lines * amber ornaments and fossil shells

. In Russian. Contains summary in English and French; table of contents also in English and French. * Pidoplichko, I. H. (1998) ''Upper Palaeolithic dwellings of mammoth bones in the Ukraine: Kiev-Kirillovskii, Gontsy, Dobranichevka, Mezin and Mezhirich'', Oxford: J. and E. Hedges. . * Pidoplichko, I. H. (1978) '' The Mezhirich mammoth-bone houses'', U.S. Geological Survey. ISBN B0006WZGIS. * (1972). ''Історія міст і сіл Української CCP - Черкаська область (History of Towns and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR - Cherkasy Oblast)'', Kiev. ;On-line citations
Ancient Inventions of Ukraine by Andrew Gregorovich

a

References

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Ukraine Villages in Cherkasy Raion

Pre-historic finds

See also

Bibliography

References