| Abstrakt: |
Purpose. Determination of the rocks used for the building of the 4th millennium BCE megalithic construction in Novooleksandrivka (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine) as well as establishing the places of their probable provenance. Methodology. The study was performed using the method of comparative mineralogical and petrographic analysis in thin sections of the building stone and the rocks from the outcrops in the valleys of the rivers Mokra Sura and Dnipro. The chemical composition of the petrographically identical rocks was also compared using X-ray fluorescence analysis. Findings. Nine specimens of rocks that represent all the species of granitoids used for the cromlech-crepidoma construction of the Novooleksandrivka kurgan “Sura-Oba” were analyzed. As a result of the conducted research, it was ascertained that they are represented by plagiogranites (trondhjemites), tonalites, granite gneisses, migmatites and pegmatites. Besides, some granitoids comprise small xenoliths of biotite gneiss. All the indicated rocks are characteristic for the occurrences of the Surskyi and Dnipropetrovskyi plagiogranitoid complexes, widespread in the valley of the river Morka Sura – the right tributary of the river Dnipro, where the monument is directly located. Granitoids with the massive structure were most likely to be delivered from the occurrences located upstream of the river Mokra Sura in the village of Sursko-Lytovske. Migmatites and gneiss-like granites occur both downstream and upstream of the river from the village of Novooleksandrivka. Originality. For the first time, the building stone of the megalithic construction, discovered during the excavations of the “Sura-Oba” kurgan in the village of Novooleksandrivka (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine) has been studied using mineralogical and petrographic analysis; in addition, the probable places of its extraction were determined. Practical value. The results obtained can be used in conducting research on history and archaeology, as well as in popular science works and excursion activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
