Gravettian and Epigravettian lithics in Slovakia (original) (raw)
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New Gravettian site from Ratnovce (Slovak Republic).
The chipped stone industry from Ratnovce-Úvozová Cesta was gained at cleaning of the loess profile during the investigation in 2008. The collection of 131 artifacts contains 92.36% artifacts made of erratic silicite and 6.78% are made of radiolarite. The collection includes five cores, 18 blades, four bladelets, seven retouched tools, 81 flakes and 16 burin spalls. There are three burins, a retouched blade, a shouldered point and a retouched flake in the group of tools. The industry is classified as Late Gravettian, which appears in the Váh river basin in 24.0-20.0 ky BP, before the LGM. The new site extends the network of known sites of the Late Gravettian, the horizon of shouldered points, in the area of Moravany-Banka-Ratnovce.
Existing state of research on the Late Palaeolit}ric in Spiś is not satisfactory. Majority of sites were explored by reconnaissance mrlv. Intemational archaeological excavations in 2005 was realised at the site of Staró tubovńa at Pod Śtoko* I position, rrcrth_eastem part of Spiś, over the river Poprad right-barrk terrace. The site geological substrafum is the Inner Carpathian Palaeogene, on which Quarterian terrace of the river Poprad has been preserved. The area of 5 x 10 m was exploreł at the śte with considerable accumulation of chipped stone artefacts. Typology of the chipped stone indusĘ from the reconnaissance and the control trench allows to separate several "technological components" -Neolithic, Swideriary Magdaleniary Epgraveftian(?) and Mddle Palaeolithic ones. A pseudo-Levalloisian point is the Middle Palaeolithic artefact. Severil massive blades and a blade core with flat platform are Epigravettian. A point with flat retouch on its tan& that is characteristic for tlre Swiderian culfurą is a distinct form of typology. Explicit contacts with the Magdalenian cultu}e, with analogies mairrly qr the territories of Poland, Moravia and Switzerland, are in the group of typical cores and implements. Macrolitfuc formi of budns and some types of borers are characteristic. Connections to the closest workshop of the Magdalenian culfure for working of radiolarite raw material at the site Sromowce Wyżne-Kąty 1 and Sromowce-Wyżne 8 are relevant. As far as fte used raw materials are concemed, red Pieniny radiolarite predominates followed by manganese/ green and flysh Jasło radiolarites; other less frequent raw materials areBircza flin! Cretaceous, Volhynian and Jurassic flints, rarely obsidian aud limnoquartzite. Raw material composition of artifacts from the territory of present-day Poland can indicate the settlerrsrt that originally lived at the Carpathians northem side. The raw material spectrum is colourfuf what is characteristic $or "Carpathian provenience of chipped arhfacts". The entire inventory was subjected to the refiftings method. MajoriĘ of the chipped stone industry from Staró tubovńa belongs to the Magdalenian technocomplex. Presenie of the Magóalenian culfure at Spiś has been for the first time indicated by older finds from Haligovce-Aksamitka but they have no suPPort in significant finds' Proving of the settlement of the Magdalenian culfure bearers in northem Slovakia has changed thó óxtend of this culfure at its entire space.
The first excavated Palaeolithic site of Bohemia was Lubna, where J. Kusta in 1890 excavated station I. At least seven other sites (Lubna II to VIII) were discovered in its vicinity over time, making the Lubna area the richest site cluster in Bohemia. It is also the only place in Bohemia where several stations are located in a small area. All sites belong to the Upper Gravettian period, dated to 25 to 21 ka BP. For comparison of Lubna sites, there are 3646 artefacts from 6 sites in Lubna. The largest assemblage is Lubna III with 1442 artefacts; the second largest is the assemblage of Lubna II with 952 artefacts. Lubna IV has 566 artefacts and Lubna I 460 artefacts. The smallest assemblages come from sites Lubna VI and VIII (162 and 64 artefacts). Dominant raw materials are silicites of glacial sediments from the north (Silesia and Saxony). There are small amounts of quartzites of northwestern Bohemia and Bavarian plattensilex. All sites have very low amount of cores, and they show high stages of exploitation. Microchips, flakes and burin spalls demonstrate blade and tool production on sites. Tool composition is typical for the Gravettian with gravettian points and micropoints, domination of burins, and numerous microliths. Kostenki points are absent. Pavlovian microliths, triangles and segments, are present.
Trenčianske Bohuslavice-Pod Tureckom is one of the most important Gravettian open-air sites in the Slovak Republic. It is situated inWestern Slovakia, in the middle course of the Váh River, in the area with abundant Upper Palaeolithic settlement. A small (2 m2) amount of revisory research conducted in 2008 had an interdisciplinary character, including detailed sedimentological, stable isotope, seasonality, fired clay pellets, lithic raw materials, pollen and malacofaunal analyses. Stable isotope analyses were used for the first time in Palaeolithic research in Slovakia. TThe results of most analyses were similar to those obtained from other Gravettian sites in the Middle Danube region. The analyses of sediment and malacofauna indicated cooling in the studied time intervals, Stable isotope analyses indicated the mosaic character of the Gravettian palaeoenvironment. Floral and faunal analyses agreed well with the dates of all three cultural layers, which represent rather colder stadial than warmer interstadial conditions. 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved
Quaternary International, 2015
Previous studies on the Gravettian in Central Europe did not pay much attention to the issue of the marginal areas' occupation, because the main research interest was placed on analysis of remains from the area of classic refugia, the middle Danube valley or southern Moravia. Consequently, little is known about the mechanisms associated with occupation of areas located to the north of the Carpathians and the Sudetes, both in terms of chronology as well as system of mobility. The results of excavations at the open-air site in Henryk ow (SW Poland), presented in this paper, indicate that attempts of exploitation of upland territories located to the north of the mountain chains, started very early, i.e. in the so-called Early Gravettian period. This is indicated by radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples (28.5e31.5 ka BP) from the site. These dates were confirmed by dating of mineral deposits using the OSL method (ca. 29 ka). Based on geoarchaeological studies, the period of human stay at the Henryk ow site plausibly associated with development of the soil complex of the Komorniki (L1S1, Stillfried B/Lohner Boden type). Archaeological data indicate that the stay was linked with hunting practices. The features of the Henryk ow site, typical for marginal occupation, suggest that during the visit tool kits were reconstructed, stocks were replenished and fire was used. The dataset suggests that traces from Henryk ow should be treated as a result of pioneering expeditions. This mobility probably never had a more stable character, as in the later period of the Gravettian complex development.
This article summarizes archaeological data obtained from two Late Gravettian assemblages discovered at Krak ow Spadzista and Jaksice II sites. At the Krak ow Spadzista site different tool types in each zone were discovered, what could be a reflection of the varied activities carried out on each part of the site. From the other hand at Jaksice cite a homogeneous lithic assemblage, with a predominance of the ar-matures was discovered. These two inventories differ fundamentally both in terms of the raw materials used, tool-making technologies, as well as the lithic typology and morphology. These dissimilarities could be observed not only between above mentioned sites, but also among other Late Gravettian localities known from Central Europe and they concern primarily retouched tool assemblages. This leads us to conclude that in this period we could observe a mosaic of dissimilar inventories, but e at least at the current stage of research e they do not define any group of sites either geographically or chronologically. Whether this is the reflection of cultural diversity or seasonally varied assemblages used by Palaeolithic hunteregatherers we can not unriddle. We could only state that the problem is most complicated, and needs more detailed studies focused not only on the lithic artefacts, but also on faunal remains, chronology , and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Only the correlation of all this data can bring us closer to solving the problem of the diversification of the Late Gravettian industries.
Use of obsidian in Slovak prehistory
2021
Obsidian near the Zemplín Hills comes from primary (Viničky) and secondary (Brehov and Cejkov) sources. In Viničky, primary sources of obsidian come from two phases of rhyolite volcanism. The older phase is represented by perlite breccias with obsidian found underneath rhyolite extrusive body, younger phase consists of obsidian and perlite bonded with intrusive dyke bodies. The Brehov site is a primary source of secondary obsidian accumulations in Quaternary deluvial/ fluvial deposits, partially covered by eolian sands in the area of Brehov and Cejkov. These allochthonous obsidian nodule occurrences with surface relief were the principal source of obsidian industry found at Palaeolithic-Neolithic archaeological sites. Obsidian was mostly used by the cultures settled in Eastern Slovakia, in the vicinity of its sources. In the Palaeolithic, the cultures of Gravettian and Epigravettian prefered this raw material. In Spiš, it occurs in the Świderian culture and in other Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic cultures. Mesolithic industry in Košice-Barca was made exclusively of obsidian. In the Neolithic, it was the most prevalent raw material in Eastern Linear Potter culture in the Eastern Slovak Lowland and in Bükk culture. In other parts of Slovakia, obsidian was most favoured during the existence of Želiezovce group and Lengyel culture. In Eastern Slovakia, obsidian was used also in the Late Neolithic and the Eneolithic, and partly also in the Early Bronze Age. INT RODUCTION Apart from climate and environmental conditions, information on used lithic raw materials is an important aspect when evaluating life and activities of people of the Stone Age. It can reveal much about the mobility of both hunter and farmer societies as well as the extent of their contacts on the local and interregional levels. Therefore, it is important to be aware of what kinds of lithic raw materials were used and from what sources they came. Slovakia's sources of high-quality lithic raw materials are scarce. It was mostly radiolarites from the Klippen Belt and limnosilicites from various regions that were used, in Eastern Slovakia it was mainly
The early Gravettian in a marginal area: New evidence from SW Poland
Quaternary International, 2014
Previous studies on the Gravettian in Central Europe did not pay much attention to the issue of the marginal areas' occupation, because the main research interest was placed on analysis of remains from the area of classic refugia, the middle Danube valley or southern Moravia. Consequently, little is known about the mechanisms associated with occupation of areas located to the north of the Carpathians and the Sudetes, both in terms of chronology as well as system of mobility. The results of excavations at the open-air site in Henryk ow (SW Poland), presented in this paper, indicate that attempts of exploitation of upland territories located to the north of the mountain chains, started very early, i.e. in the so-called Early Gravettian period. This is indicated by radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples (28.5e31.5 ka BP) from the site. These dates were confirmed by dating of mineral deposits using the OSL method (ca. 29 ka). Based on geoarchaeological studies, the period of human stay at the Henryk ow site plausibly associated with development of the soil complex of the Komorniki (L1S1, Stillfried B/Lohner Boden type). Archaeological data indicate that the stay was linked with hunting practices. The features of the Henryk ow site, typical for marginal occupation, suggest that during the visit tool kits were reconstructed, stocks were replenished and fire was used. The dataset suggests that traces from Henryk ow should be treated as a result of pioneering expeditions. This mobility probably never had a more stable character, as in the later period of the Gravettian complex development.
Quaternary …, 2011
a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Available online xxx a b s t r a c t Tren cianske Bohuslavice-Pod Tureckom is one of the most important Gravettian open-air sites in the Slovak Republic. It is situated in Western Slovakia, in the middle course of the Váh River, in the area with abundant Upper Palaeolithic settlement. Systematic archaeological research was conducted by Juraj Bárta in 1981e1986, when 478 m 2 of the site was investigated. A small (2 m 2 ) amount of revisory research conducted in 2008 had an interdisciplinary character, including detailed sedimentological, stable isotope, seasonality, fired clay pellets, lithic raw materials, pollen and malacofaunal analyses. Stable isotope analyses were used for the first time in Palaeolithic research in Slovakia. Three Gravettian occupational levels in superposition were discovered at depths of 25e35 cm (layer I e w27 ka), 55e75 cm (layer II e w28 ka) and of 85e125 cm (layer III e 29.5 ka). The results of most analyses were similar to those obtained from other Gravettian sites in the Middle Danube region. The analyses of sediment and malacofauna indicated cooling in the studied time intervals, Stable isotope analyses indicated the mosaic character of the Gravettian palaeoenvironment. Floral and faunal analyses agreed well with the dates of all three cultural layers, which represent rather colder stadial than warmer interstadial conditions. (T. Michalík), miriam@iabrno.cz (M. Nývltová Fi sáková), daniel.nyvlt@ geology.cz (D. Nývlt), martina.moravcova@geology.sk (M. Moravcová), kralik@sci. muni.cz (M. Králík), pekova.k@gmail.com (K. Péková), prichy@sci.muni.cz (A. P richystal), alena16@seznam.cz (A. Dohnalová).
2019
Trenčianske Bohuslavice Gravettian site has been known since the early 1980s with possibly having the longest Upper Palaeolithic sequence in the region including a peculiar assemblage of lithic tools composed of bifacial leaf points. This paper presents the results of the 2017 excavation season that produced new data on the absolute chronology, stratigraphy, palaeobotany, archaeology, archaeozoology of the site. We found that the earliest occupation most probably belongs to the Aurignacian. This is followed by two Late Gravettian layers and the layer that yielded the bifacial leaf points. An Early Epigravettian layer seals the sequence dated to 26 ky cal BP. The succession of biological remains and geological evidences enabled to reconstruct a cooling climate and disappearing boreal forest, which corresponded well with the development of the last glacial maximum.