The Early Upper Paleolithic Site Crvenka-At, Serbia–The First Aurignacian Lowland Occupation Site in the Southern Carpathian Basin

Peter Fischer,Janina J. Nett,Andreas Vött,Igor Obreht,Wei Chu,Frank Lehmkuhl,Slobodan B. Marković,Milivoj B. Gavrilov,Nicole Klasen,Lea Obrocki,Dušan Mihailović,Stephan Pötter,Ulrich Hambach,Christian Zeeden

doi:10.3389/feart.2021.599986

Abstract

The Carpathian Basin is a key region for understanding modern human expansion into western Eurasia during the Late Pleistocene because of numerous early hominid fossil find spots. However, the corresponding archeological record remains less understood due to a paucity of well dated, contextualized sites. To help rectify this, we excavated and sampled Crvenka-At (Serbia), one of the largest Upper Paleolithic sites in the region to obtain radiometric ages for the archeological artifacts and evaluate their depositional context and subsequent site formation processes. Our results confirm that this locality represents a multiple-occupation Aurignacian site that dates to 36.4 ± 2.8 ka based on modeling of luminescence ages. Electrical resistivity tomography measurements indicate that the site formed on a sandy-gravelly fill terrace covered by overbank deposits. Complex grain size distributions further suggest site formation in contrasting depositional environments typically occurring alongside fluvial channels, at lakeshores, in alluvial fan or delta settings. The site is thus the closest (ca. 50 km) known Aurignacian site to the earliest undisputed modern human remains in Europe at the Peştera cu oase and some intervals of the occupation may therefore have been contemporaneous with them. This suggests that modern humans, during their initial settlement of Europe, exploited a wider range of topographic and ecological settings than previously posited. Our findings indicate that lowland areas of the Carpathian Basin are an important part of understanding the early settlement patterns of modern humans in Europe.

Highlights

While it is generally accepted that the initial dispersal of modern humans into western Eurasia originated in Africa, the timing, trajectory and conditions of this spread are still not fully understood (e.g., Davies et al, 2015; Obreht et al, 2017; Staubwasser et al, 2018; Teyssandier and Zilhão, 2018; Bösken, 2020; Hublin et al, 2020)
The conspicuous absence of accompanying archeological artifacts stimulated the re-investigation of the openair sites of Romanesţ i, Cosava and Tincova (Figure 1) that highlight the archeological importance of the Banat during the early Upper Paleolithic (e.g., Anghelinu et al, 2012; Sitlivy et al, 2012; Kels et al, 2014; Sitlivy et al, 2014; Chu et al, 2016b)
The stratigraphic succession of adjacent sand pit (At I) trench 5 started with fine white sands showing a fining up trend as coarser sands and mica flitters occur at the profile base (4.45–4.20 m depth; see Figure 2; Supplementary Figure S2; description follows ISO 11277, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

While it is generally accepted that the initial dispersal of modern humans into western Eurasia originated in Africa, the timing, trajectory and conditions of this spread are still not fully understood (e.g., Davies et al, 2015; Obreht et al, 2017; Staubwasser et al, 2018; Teyssandier and Zilhão, 2018; Bösken, 2020; Hublin et al, 2020). An often-discussed potential trajectory of human migration into Central Europe is along the Danube, where river valleys and/or piedmonts have been suggested as possible ecological corridors (Kozłowski, 1992; Zilhão et al, 2007; Conard and Bolus, 2008; Hauck et al, 2018; Chu, 2018) Central to this discussion is the Banat, a geographically and environmentally diverse region in the southeastern Carpathian Basin shared by Romania, Serbia and Hungary. A test excavation in 1984 identified three separate archeological levels containing 19 flints and several dozen quartz artifacts (Radovanovic, 1986) These were later attributed to “typical” Aurignacian (IIa at At and IIb at Crvenka) and “Krems” style Aurignacian assemblages (Layer IIb at Crvenka; Mihailovic, 1992) based on their typological characteristics. The site was relocated through a series of trench excavations and its sedimentary and environmental contexts were investigated through chronostratigraphical dating and sedimentological analyses (cf. Chu et al, 2014; Chu et al, 2016a)

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