From Gravettian to Epigravettian in the Eastern Carpathians: Insights from the Bistricioara-Lutărie III archaeological site

Abstract

The Eastern Romanian Carpathians harbor a rich Upper Paleolithic archaeological record, mostly concentrated on the Bistrița river terraces. Despite extensive field research spanning decades, the regional archaeological record has long suffered from poor chronometric support and contradictory taxonomy.The recently excavated spot at Bistricioara-Lutărie III, located in the Ceahlău Basin, brought a wealth of fresh chronostratigraphic and archaeological information, here summarized for the first time. The site preserves a thick (up to 9 m) sedimentary archive of mixed colluvial and aeolian origin, capping the fluvial gravel of a Bistrița terrace and likely extending back to Marine Isotope Stage 5. Six well preserved archaeological layers located in the upper part of the sequence were assigned to the Gravettian and Epigravettian technocomplexes. Earlier archaeological traces are indicated by presence of charcoals and burnt sediment, but have not yet been fully assessed.BL III hosts a well preserved Late Gravettian layer with shouldered points dated to around 27 ka cal BP. The Epigravettian occupations starting at 24 ka cal BP provided rich lithic assemblages as well. The robustly dated sequence at BL III brings a major contribution to the understanding of the regional Upper Paleolithic cultural landscape across the Late Glacial Maximum. At the same time, exotic raw materials (Cretaceous flint, obsidian, radiolarites and cherts) pointing at extensive provisioning areas connect the Eastern Carpathian record to the wider East-Central European paleo-cultural dynamics.