The Mezhyrich mammoth-bone site in Ukraine has been re-dated using radiocarbon analyses of associated small-animal remains, placing the largest shelter between 18,323 and 17,839 years ago — just after the Last Glacial Maximum. Researchers estimate the structure may have been used for up to 429 years and likely housed five to seven people. Foundations of skulls and long bones probably supported wooden frames covered in hides or birch bark, with tusks and flat bones on the roof for weight and wind protection. Experts say more radiocarbon dates from across the site would further clarify the timeline.
Ice-Age People in Ukraine Built Mammoth-Bone Shelters — New Dates Put Largest Dwelling at ~18,000 Years Ago
Some of the remains of the mammoth shelters from the last ice age. . | Credit: Pavlo Shydlovskyi
Around 18,000 years ago, people living in what is now Ukraine adapted to extreme ice-age conditions by building parts of their shelters from the bones of woolly mammoths, a new study reports.
The mammoth-bone structures were discovered near the village of Mezhyrich, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Kyiv, during excavations carried out between 1966 and 1974. Archaeologists long suspected that the carefully arranged mammoth remains were incorporated into houses, but earlier age estimates ranged widely — roughly 19,000 to 12,000 years ago — leaving uncertainty about when and for how long the sites were used.
New Dating Sheds Light on Chronology
To refine the timeline, the research team re-examined the site and obtained new radiocarbon dates by dating the remains of about a dozen small animals found in association with the mammoth constructions. The results, published Nov. 21 on the Open Research Europe platform, place the largest structure at Mezhyrich between 18,323 and 17,839 years ago — just after the Last Glacial Maximum (about 26,500–19,000 years ago).
Mammoth bones were used to help make shelters in Ukraine. They would have protected people during the harshest parts of the last ice age. | Credit: Pavlo Shydlovskyi
Duration and Function
The investigators estimate the dwelling may have been occupied intermittently for up to 429 years. They interpret the shelters as practical, long-term survival solutions rather than permanent, year-round settlements.
How The Shelters Were Built
Study co-author Pavlo Shydlovskyi, a professor of archaeology at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, describes a possible construction sequence: mammoth skulls and large long bones set vertically into the ground formed a plinth or foundation; a wooden framework then supported coverings of hides (from smaller animals) or perhaps birch bark. Tusks and large flat bones appear to have been placed across the upper structure to add weight and shield the interior from wind.
Each shelter likely housed five to seven people and supported everyday activities such as flint knapping, processing animal skins, and butchering small game.
Scholarly Caution and Next Steps
Not all experts are fully satisfied: Francois Djindjian, an honorary professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne who has studied other possible mammoth-bone shelters, welcomed the new dates but urged more radiocarbon determinations from across Mezhyrich to strengthen the chronology. Additional dating and contextual analyses would clarify whether the measured ages reflect a single episode of construction and use or multiple phases over time.
Why it matters: The refined chronology and reconstruction of these mammoth-bone dwellings illuminate how Upper Paleolithic communities engineered shelter from large-animal remains and organized small-group lifeways in one of the coldest intervals of the last ice age.
