Gravettian occupation of the Beckov Gate in Western Slovakia as viewed from the interdisciplinary research of the Trenčianske Bohuslavice-Pod Tureckom site

Abstract

Trenčianske 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 1981–1986, when 478 m2 of the site was investigated. 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. Three Gravettian occupational levels in superposition were discovered at depths of 25–35 cm (layer I – ∼27 ka), 55–75 cm (layer II – ∼28 ka) and of 85–125 cm (layer III – 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.