The Lower Palaeolithic assemblages in Central Europe in stratigraphic and palaeogeographic background

Abstract

The hominin presence during Lower Palaeolithic in Central Europe was sporadic and followed cold-warm climatic cycle connected with spreading of Scandinavian ice sheet. Up to now there had been discovered about 50 archaeological assemblages from 17 sites from 700 ka years, mostly from second part of it, during c. 300 ka between MIS 15 and 9. The Lower Paleolithic hominins visited Central Europe during warmer periods with deciduous or coniferous forests, even during open domination of open or partly open landscape. Incredible finds, like Bilzingsleben and Schöningen show how complex was life of early hunter-gatherers. In opposite to the previous concept, according to which Lower Palaeolithic hominins were mostly scavengers. The discovery of wooden tools, like spears in lakeshore in opencast mine Schöningen, denies this concept. Contrary to that, early hominins were smart hunters following animal herds and hunted distant way and experienced gatherers. Local lithic technology based on core-flake processing in opposite to Western and Southern Europe dominated by handaxes. Moreover, the preferred usage of “small tools”, which are difficult to use only by fingers may be explained by identification of wooden hafts on few lithic artifacts in Schöningen. However, very long duration of unchanged lithic technology is surprising. An intense accumulation of glacial, eolian and alluvial sediments covered large part of Central Europe and this way Lower Palaeolithic sites are very difficult to discover. All known sites were identified in deep travertine quarries or opencast mines. Future research must be focused on systematic prospection of such outcrops.