Abstract
The paper deals with the double pinfolds (up to 50 m in diameter) at the Late Bronze Age settlements discovered using remote and geophysical methods in 2007–2017 in Northwestern Crimea. By now, researches have already revealed fi fteen oval stone double pens. These structures were fi rst revealed here. Dwellings in the form of pits with the walls of stone slabs set on edge were found near the pens. The new economic and cultural phenomenon constituted by double pens and earth dwellings nearby could be found only thanks to large-scale magnetic surveys in combination with analysis of satellite photos. The stone double fences of the Late Bronze Age are animal pens and suggest an animal breeding character of the economy of the Late Bronze Age tribes here. Settlements of the Late Bronze Age occupy a peculiar landscape niche situated on promontories between two converging arroyos of the banks. The fact that at the settlements including several dwelling and economic buildings there is always only a single double pen suggests some peculiarities of the local social structure. The houses belonged to particular families while the entire community owned the livestock.
Keywords
Archaeology, Late Bronze Age, North-Western Crimea, pinfolds, pit houses, magnetic survey, satellite images, electromagnetic survey
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