Kammern-Grubgraben revisited - First results from renewed investigations at a well-known LGM site in east Austria

Abstract

Kammern-Grubgraben is among the few stratified Upper Palaeolithic sites in Central Europe dating to the Last Glacial Maximum which provided not only substantial amounts of archaeological materials but also extensive preserved occupational structures. Although the site has been known since the last quarter of the 19th century, systematic excavations didn't start until the 1980's. These were carried out subsequently by two different teams providing partly incongruent observations and interpretations. Renewed field investigations commenced in 2015 and aim at reassessing stratigraphy and chronology, settlement structures and occupational sequence, as well as mobility and economy. First results provide a robust multi-method chrono-stratigraphic bracket for occupation between Greenland Stadials GS-3 and GS-2.1. Artefact technology and typology point at supra-regional contacts to both the west and east on a more general scale while a high degree of mobility is specifically demonstrated for the hunter-gatherer groups occupying the site by displaying procurement patterns for various raw materials targeting not only local, but also regional and far-distance sources. Furthermore, the new investigations have been able to almost double the previously established site extent, and targeted excavations show that the diversity and complexity of stone constructions considerably exceeds what has previously been observed.