Archeozoological studies on the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in the north Pontic region

The development of subsistence economy and the emergence of animal husbandry in the North Pontic region is examined on the basis of the faunal assemblages from 35 Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites. During the Mesolithic period, very distinct forms of resource exploitation were implemented according to the natural conditions of the area (forest-steppe, steppe zone, Crimean mountain region). The finds from south Crimea reveal that the abris were used seasonally for hunting, particularly on wild boar. Elements of the Neolithic economy emerge in the investigated region, bath in the western section (Bug-Dnestr culture) and in the steppes around the Azov Sea (Matveev-Kurgan sites), beginning around 6 000 BC. The morphological findings do not support the theory of the autochthonic domestication of pigs on the Crimean Peninsula, nor of cattle in the north Pontic steppe regions.