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The material provenance of Polovtsian stone stelae evacuated from Donetsk region

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Parent Category: 2026

Category: Content №1 2026

Created on 27 February 2026

Last Updated on 27 February 2026

Published on 30 November -0001

Written by I. S. Nikitenko, O. V. Starik, M. V. Netecha

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Authors:

I. S. Nikitenko*, orcid.org/0000-0003-4207-2427, Dnipro University of Technology, Dnipro, Ukraine, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

O. V. Starik, orcid.org/0000-0001-8419-6853, Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum named after D.I. Yavornytskyi, Dnipro, Ukraine, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

M. V. Netecha, orcid.org/0009-0009-5887-5110, Dnipro University of Technology, Dnipro, Ukraine, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

* Corresponding author e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

повний текст / full article

Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu. 2026, (1): 005 - 012

https://doi.org/10.33271/nvngu/2026-1/005

Abstract:

Purpose. Based on the results of mineralogical and petrographic study of the raw materials of Polovtsian stone statues evacuated to Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum named after D. I. Yavornytskyi from the territory of Donetsk region, to establish the name and origin of this raw materials.

Methodology. The study was conducted using petrographic analysis of the material of stone statues in transparent thin sections with a polarizing microscope. The mineral composition of sandstone cement, if possible, was studied using X-ray structural analysis, for which oriented preparations were made. The results obtained after conducting mineralogical and petrographic analysis were compared with the features of similar rocks from various deposits and occurrences of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, using thin sections of rocks from natural outcrops and previously studied Polovtsian stone statues, as well as literary data.

Findings. As a result of the study of 14 stone statues, it was found that 12 of them were made of sandstones with polymineral clastic material and cement, containing a significant part of rock fragments. According to the percentage ratio of quartz fragments and rock fragments, the rocks were defined as quartz, sublithic and lithic arenites. The cement is of a relict nature, most of the clastic grains are connected without cement as a result of dense compressing. Two samples from the studied collection have clastic material completely composed of quartz, cemented by siliceous cement, which has undergone hypergenic processes, and a matrix of smaller quartz grains. Sandstones of the largest group are characteristic of the Carboniferous deposits of the Donets Coal Basin, which form deposits and numerous occurrences in the territory of Donetsk region, from where they were brought. Two samples of quartz sandstones, which differ from the rest of the samples, most likely belong to Neogene sediments that form deposits in the east of Dnipropetrovsk region, as well as in Donetsk region.

Originality. For the first time, a petrographic study in thin sections has been conducted on Polovtsian “stone babas” relocated from the east of Donetsk region to the city of Dnipro.

Practical value. The information obtained is important for further archaeological and art historical research on the stone statues. Information on the mineral composition and preservation of the sandstone cement is important for restoration work.

Keywords: Polovtsian “stone babas”, sandstones, petroarchaeology, Donets Basin, Dnipro-Donets Aulacogen

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