Geophysical Research at the Prepoštská Cave and Čertova Pec Cave Neanderthal Sites (Western Slovakia)

Abstract

AbstractThe sedimentary filling of two Slovak Neanderthal sites – the Prepoštská Cave near Prievidza (Micoquian) and the Čertova Pec Cave near Radošina (Szeletian, Mousterian) was investigated, while archaeological and palaeontological studies have shown these caves are very important sites from the viewpoint of the ancient man settlements. No geophysical research had previously been conducted here, therefore ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) geophysical methods were applied in order to expose its depths for future archaeological and palaeontological field campaigns. The GPR survey at the Prepoštská Cave revealed a disrupted zone in the southwest (SW) corner of the investigate area, encapsulated in travertine surrounding the bedrock layer identified at a depth between 0.4 to 2.4 m. This discovered zone is assumed to be an undocumented recent excavation zone. The combined ERT and GPR survey also identified at the Čertova Pec Cave, aside from some main structures (large limestone blocks, loamy‐clayey sediment in the central part and debris), intact cave sediments, deposited under the debris filling and large limestone block, located at approximately 2 m depth in the back part of the cave, close to its northeast (NE) entrance. These unconsolidated intact deposits represent the lower part of the Mousterian horizon. Thus, the geophysical survey supported previous hypotheses on the assumed existence of deeper layers with potential archaeological and/or palaeontological content, which have since been spatially defined. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.