Gravettian Site Research Articles

Consumption of canid meat at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic

Předmostí is one of the most famous Gravettian sites in Central Europe. Its fame is based on a unique human assemblage, sadly largely destroyed during the Second World War, a huge mammoth assemblage and a very rich large canid assemblage. It has been shown previously that mammoth played an important role in the subsistence practices of the Gravettian inhabitants of Předmostí. Detailed analyses of the large canid postcranial material were carried out to investigate whether these canid remains can be assigned to different size groups and whether these remains show evidence of being butchered and consumed by humans. Based on defleshing marks and impact traces on the long bones, it is proposed here that large canids were consumed by the Gravettian inhabitants of Předmostí, thus further elucidating the specific human-large canid relationships that existed during the Upper Palaeolithic.

Les statuettes féminines en ivoire des faciès gravettiens et post-gravettiens en Europe centrale et orientale : modes de fabrication et de représentation

During the Upper Palaeolithic, especially in Gravettian times, the hunter-gatherer societies had an economy closely linked with the exploitation of two local species in Eastern Europe: reindeer and woolly mammoth. The ivory objects are rich archives about their ways of life and their collective imagination, as in particular the ivory female statuettes show. These figurines, also called “Venus”, are one of the cultural characteristics of the Gravettian sites. To date, although they are more numerous in Eastern Europe, they were discovered, in a variable number, also in site of Central and Western Europe; today, we have no clue that this cultural tradition crossed the Pyrenees. The corpus of pieces from the Gravettian sites of the Russian Plain (dated between 25,000 and 21,000 B.P.) is the more informative about technological know-how of the Gravettian craftsmen. He consists in the leading material of this paper, completed with some data about Epigravettian and Magdalenian statuettes. Whereas the Gravettian figurines show figurative female representations, those of the later cultural facies are more stylized. In a technological point of view, there is a close link between the choice of blanks within the mammoth tusk and the morphology of the statuettes, whatever the period of time considered.

Hunting High and Low: Gravettian Hunting Weapons from Southern Italy to the Russian Plain

AbstractThe current paper aims at describing and analysing the backed tools found in two Early Gravettian sites separated geographically from each other: Grotta Paglicci (layer 23-22) in Italy, and Kostenki 8 (layer II) in Russia. A similarity between the lithic assemblages of the two sites, and other cultural aspects, has been reported by authors over many decades. The analysis of the backed tools has created the opportunity to apply the same methodological approach to verify the resemblance and potential causes for the similarity, and also to address broader considerations on Gravettian hunting strategies and the modalities and timing of the spread of new techniques, whether related to physical movement of people or assimilation of ideas. The perception is that, during the Gravettian period, shared symbolic behaviours and subsistence strategies linked people living in completely different environments with completely different resources, from the temperate regions of southern Italy, to the very cold Russian plains. This point of view cannot be questioned, but it tends to flatten an articulated palimpsest of human generations and to underestimate the very low demographic density of Prehistoric Europe.

The symbolism of breast-shaped beads from Dolní Věstonice I (Moravia, Czech Republic)

Eight breast-shaped beads were found variously scattered among differing layers of the Gravettian site, Dolní Věstonice I. Typologically, it is a set of morphologically similar beads of varying sizes made from mammoth ivory with holes for stringing them; one of the pieces was decorated with engraving. Various parts of human body were also found with the artefacts, in a manner typical for this site. The artefacts, however, have no analogies within the Gravettian. The main focus of this will paper will be the manufacturing technology, decoration and possible integration of these variously interpreted artefacts into the Gravettian symbolic system.

Investigating the last glacial Gravettian site ‘Ságvár Lyukas Hill’ (Hungary) and its paleoenvironmental and geochronological context using a multi-proxy approach

Gravettian population during the last glacial maximum (LGM) was sparse in Europe; this is generally related to harsh environmental conditions. Here we report of geoarcheological investigations (physical, chemical and biological data) of the Ságvár site in the Hungarian part of the Carpathian Basin in southeastern Europe. Geochronological control is given by luminescence dating, which places loess accumulation between 20.6±1.4ka and 17.7±1.2ka. This study demonstrates that human occupation at Ságvár did not occur during a rather mild climatic phase, but during a ‘typical’ cold LGM climate. Of the two cultural layers discussed at the section, the upper one can be clearly distinguished in the section by the physical proxy data, while the lower one is observed only in some proxies. Similarly, previous archeological investigations describe a higher tool density in the upper layer. The mollusk composition indicates dry climate for both occupation phases, but the paleoecology of the lower occupation phase suggests also the presence of mosaic spots of wet tundra, which allowed for increased weathering processes in the sediment. These are preserved as indications for weak pedogenesis in the physical and chemical proxy data, although a disturbance of human occupation in the signal cannot be excluded. This study demonstrates the advantages of integrating proxy data of different disciplines.

Subsistencia, movilidad y adaptación al medio de los cazadores-recolectores gravetienses en el sector occidental de la región cantábrica: la cueva de Coímbre (Asturias)

En el trabajo presentamos el nivel gravetiense de Coímbre, uno de los contados ejemplos de esta cronología en el centro-occidente cantábrico. Se trata de uno de los yacimientos de mayor interés para el análisis del Gravetiense cerca de su margen occidental de expansión por el continente europeo. Mediante el análisis arqueozoológico y tafonómico de la fauna, de la industria lítica, los restos arqueobotánicos, la interpretación de la secuencia arqueológica y sedimentológica, y la obtención de dataciones AMS, se han podido analizar las ocupaciones gravetienses de Coímbre bajo una perspectiva territorial, donde las estrategias de susbsistencia desarrolladas son determinantes para interpretar el tipo de ocupación existente. En el marco de la región cantábrica, podemos interpretar la existencia de un patrón de movilidad y subsistencia determinado, desarrollado por estas poblaciones humanas, que se manifiesta como una ocupación efímera, de tipo logístico y puntual, ligada posiblemente con un eje de tránsito en sentido este-oeste. Esto supone uno de los elementos de mayor interés que aporta este estudio.

Micromorphology of an Upper Paleolithic cultural layer at Grub-Kranawetberg, Austria

Cultural layers are a fundamental part of open-air loess sites. As complex representations of the interaction between human activity and natural processes, we believe these layers deserve detailed investigation. In this paper we consider the impact of hunter-gatherers on sediments and soil formation and present a small-scale, micromorphological study of a cultural layer at Grub-Kranawetberg. Grub-Kranawetberg is a Gravettian site located on a flat crest overlooking the Morava river valley in Lower Austria. We used micromorphology to study the formation of the main cultural layer of the site as well as the bordering underlying and overlying deposits. The studied cultural layer of Grub-Kranawetberg shows evidence of 1) substantial anthropogenic input of organic and mineral material, 2) bioturbation by a diverse soil fauna including mollusks and earthworms, 3) translocation of carbonates, indicating soil-forming processes, 4) trampling and 5) a preserved, though bioturbated, occupation surface without signs of erosion or redeposition. By enhancing nutrient availability and soil faunal activity, the human waste influenced the diversity and composition of the plant communities. We argue that the cultural layer is best described as an anthropogenic soil, indicating that anthropogenic waste already played a role in Late Pleistocene human landscape modification.

A wolf in dog's clothing: Initial dog domestication and Pleistocene wolf variation

The process and timing of initial dog domestication is an important topic in human evolution and one which has inspired much recent debate. Findings of putative domesticated dogs have recently been reported from two Gravettian sites by Germonpré et al. (2015a), joining a handful of other reputed “Paleolithic dogs” dating to before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Though these findings have been challenged previously, this paper draws attention to the most significant shortcoming in claims of early domesticated dogs – a lack of data on Pleistocene wolf variation. Without comprehensive data on the range of variation within Pleistocene wolf populations, the identification of domesticated dogs from prior to the Late Upper Paleolithic cannot be conclusively accepted or rejected.

Osseous technology as a reflection of chronological, economic and sociological aspects of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers: Examples from key Aurignacian and Gravettian sites in South-West Europe

Typological studies applied on the osseous industry developed slowly in France following the pioneering work of H. Camps-Fabrer and the technological renewal that F. Billamboz and D. Stordeur brought to this field in the 1970–1980s. This field has been thriving since the 2000s. Technology represents part of a systemic approach where each component of a technical system is analysed as to its purpose, its structure and its connection to other components of the socio-economic system. Nevertheless, technology is not an end in itself. Any technological observation must be considered in its sociological and palaeohistorical context in order to understand, not only the activities that took place during the occupation of a site, but more broadly to translate these data into “a realistic story of human behaviours”. That is why reducing osseous technology to analysis of technical stigmata alone oversimplifies the potentials of this approach. We will illustrate this topic using Aurignacian and Gravettian examples from a few key French and Spanish sites. By showing technical and conceptual differences in the manufacturing of osseous projectile points (e.g. split-based points) in assemblages usually considered homogeneous, we can infer the existence of different techno-typological traditions and discuss if they are – or not – representative of different cultural traditions. Various technical details such as splitting base preparation by scraping, are significant indicators allowing discussion of whether there was diffusion of ideas and/or human groups from one side of the Pyrenees to the other at the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic.

Did prehistoric foragers behave in an economically irrational manner? Raw material availability and technological organisation at the early Gravettian site of Willendorf II (Austria)

Willendorf II provides the longest and best-studied MIS 3 sequence in the Middle Danube region, and represents one of the key reference sequences for this time period in Central Europe. The assemblage chosen for analysis derives from archaeological horizon (AH) 5, attributed to the period of the first Gravettian between 30 and 27 ka uncal. BP. Previous analyses were all based on a selected inventory (mainly tools and cores) derived from the 1908/1909 excavations. The discovery of labelled wooden boxes containing numerous additional artefacts from the 1908/1909 excavations at the end of the 1990s in the cellar of the Natural History Museum in Vienna considerably raises the total number of finds for all archaeological horizons, and opens new perspectives for investigating Upper Palaeolithic behavioural variability in the Middle Danube region. For the first time, all artefacts have been assigned to a raw material source area, thus providing a picture of the geographic extent of the foraging territory, and allowing for quantified observations on raw material economy and technological variability in the early Gravettian of the Middle Danube region. Willendorf II provides an excellent basis for the study of Gravettian lithic assemblage variability due to the wide array of local and nonlocal lithic resources available at varying distances from the settlement. Source provenance information and patterns of raw material use offer complementary measures of mobility. We discuss the results in the light of the concepts of “technological provisioning” developed by S.L. Kuhn. Distance to source alone is not suitable to predict and explain raw material frequencies and the character of transported technologies on nonlocal material at Willendorf II-AH5. We argue that other factors such as the degree of anticipation of foreseeable activities and occupation span might account for the observed economic patterns. Our results clearly have broader relevance for understanding assemblage variability in the Gravettian of Central Europe and further afield.

The Engraved Stone Pendant from Poiana Cireşului-Piatra Neamţ, Romania. New Contributions to the Understanding of Symbolic Behavior in Gravettian

The 2013 archaeological excavation campaign carried out at Poiana Ciresului-Piatra Neamţ Paleolithic site (Neamţ County, North-Eastern Romania) led to the discovery, in the Gravettian I layer, of the fi rst engraved stone pendant found in this settlement, in an area where such discoveries are very rare. The Gravettian I layer provided the largest number of art objects and tools made of hard animal materials from the Romanian Upper Paleolithic. Besides a technological analysis of the pendant, a stylistic analysis of the engravings has also been provided, in order to identify similarities to other stone pendants. It seems that for the Paleolithic contexts of Eurasia, the discovery of such stone pendants, engraved on both sides is very rare, especially for Gravettian. Therefore, the specimen found at Poiana Ciresului is even more interesting, since it shows several original peculiarities. The new personal ornaments discovered in the Gravettian sites of South-Eastern Europe can provide important information on the ethno-cultural features of the Paleolithic communities of this region.

Pavlov I: A large Gravettian site in space and time

The formation of the large site clusters of the Gravettian (Pavlovian) represents one of the final effects of modern human adaptation in central Europe, but chronology of the site formation processes at such sites are still little understood. Here we present new evidence from Pavlov I, a site now prepared for the construction of a museum and subjected to a large-scale preparatory excavation. Understanding the spatial organisation, microstratigraphies, and the effects of cryogenic processes on the site formation is the basic presumption for lithic analysis at a large and complex site. Obviously, these extensive sites have a longer prehistory than was previously thought. The detection of the Early Upper Palaeolithic/Gravettian boundary was related to a radical change in the lithic raw material composition. The early and evolved Gravettian industries complete previously recorded the techno/typological spectrum by additional microlithic assemblages. With this new evidence, the paper also discusses the question of Gravettian origin.

Hunters of the giants: Woolly mammoth hunting during the Gravettian in Central Europe

Between 30,000 and 20,000 years ago, Gravettian hunter-gatherers spread across most of Europe. In Central Europe, large and important sites have been discovered, especially those in the Czech Republic at the base of the Pavlovské (Palava) Hills, and in southern Poland. The remains of different mammalian carnivores and herbivores accumulated in bone assemblages at these Gravettian sites. Mammoth bones and teeth are significant components in them. Mammoths certainly played a significant role in the lifetime of the Central European societies of Gravettian hunter-gatherers. These Pleistocene giants provided not only food, but also raw materials for tools and the production of ornaments. The presence of the remains of many mammoths shows that the Gravettian people were specialized in the hunting of these animals.

Istállóskő revisited: Lithic artefacts and assemblages, sixty years after

The Istállóskő cave, one of the classical sites in Hungary was generally regarded as the only important locality of the Aurignacian culture with two discrete culture-bearing layers. The assemblages played a key role in several theories on the appearance of the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe; however, this is the first time that all the lithic artefacts found since 1912 until 1965 are studied in details. As a result of our analysis, none of the studied lithic assemblages could be attributed to to the s. str. Aurignacian industry as the diagnostic pieces are absent. Quite atypical fragmented blades and a bifacial tool have been uncovered in the poor ‘lower ( Aurignacian I) culture-bearing layer’, which — together with the rich osseous industry, including split based points — are compared to the assemblages of the Jankovich cave (Transdanubia), the Dzeravá skála/Pálffy cave (Slovakia) and layer G1 in the Vindija cave (Croatia). In the ‘upper (Aurignacian II) culture-bearing layer’ the few Mladec/Olschewa-type osseous artefacts were associated with Gravettian flint lithics and Middle Palaeolithic and bifacial elements made from radiolarite and felsitic porphyry. This industry is compared to those known from early Gravettian sites and the Szeleta cave.

The loess-palaeosol sequence in the Upper Palaeolithic site at Kraków Spadzista: A palaeoenvironmental approach

The Kraków Spadzista open-air site, situated in the loess belt in southern Poland, belongs to the best-known Gravettian sites of Europe. Many years of archaeological studies revealed a wealth of faunal remains (especially mammoths) as well as numerous Aurignacian, Gravettian and Epigravettian stone artefacts in several cultural layers. Field pedogeomorphological investigations (2011–2012) and laboratory analyses (geochemical, granulometric, micromorphological, palynological and IRSL dating) were the basis for palaeogeographical discussion on the conditions of the loess-soil sequence development. Five independent litho- and pedological units, corresponding to MIS 5 to 2, were distinguished. Primary loess layers are relatively thin and contain many hiatuses. Diverse structure and development of intra-loess palaeosols reflect their origin, age and stratigraphic rank. The cultural layers were found in weakly developed soils with the traces of subsequent periglacial, mainly deluvial–solifluction, transformations of different intensity. The palaeosols represent two periods of interglacial rank (Eemian forest palaeosol and the overlying postglacial “modern” soil; MIS 5 and 1, respectively) and two interstadials (subarctic soils with the Gravettian artefacts; MIS 3). One weakly developed gleyic horizon with the features of tundra soil occurs within the loess corresponding to climatic pessimum of Weichselian Glaciation (MIS 2). In the very local (promontory with the site) and micro-regional (Sowiniec horst) scales, the distinguished soils are undoubtedly important palaeogeographical and archaeological key horizons.

The late Gravettian of Borshevo 5 in the context of the Kostenki-Borshevo sites (Don basin, Russia)

The multilayered site Borshevo 5 is one of the recently excavated Upper Paleolithic settlements in the Kostenki-Borshevo location (Russia). Borshevo 5 has been investigated over a total area of 130 m2 since 2002. Five habitation levels of the Upper Paleolithic were established. The uppermost first cultural layer was associated with the Gravettian 14C dated 22–20 ka BP uncal.It was discovered in the excavation area 2009–2010 that the first cultural layer upslope was split in two separate cultural horizons divided by a sterile loam. Horizons 1a and 1b were associated with two different paleosols. Both of the horizons yielded almost typologically identical stone assemblages.The stone industry was based on the exploitation of mainly Cretaceous and some Carboniferous flints as well as quartzite, sandstone, and slate raw materials. According to the typology of tools, 1a and 1b assemblages of Borshevo 5 have analogies in the neighboring Gravettian sites Kostenki 9 and Kostenki 4. A clear feature of the assemblages is the occurrence of slate and dolomite artifacts treated by polishing. It seems that this kind of culture had no relations with the typical Eastern Gravettian Kostenki-Avdejevo culture. According to the features in knapping (wedge cores and small blades size), as well as tool composition (Gravette and Vachon points), Borshevo 5 should be called late Gravettian or early Epigravettian. The cultural roots of these communities may originate from the Central European context such as Milovice (upper layer), with similar 14C dates and stone industries.

Reconstruction of the Gravettian food-web at Předmostí I using multi-isotopic tracking (13C, 15N, 34S) of bone collagen

The Gravettian site of Předmostí I in the central Moravian Plain has yielded a rich and diverse large mammal fauna dated around 25–27,000 14C years BP (ca. 29,500–31,500 cal BP). This fauna includes numerous carnivores (cave lion, wolf, brown bear, polar fox, wolverine) and herbivores (reindeer, large bovine, red deer, muskox, horse, woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth) whose trophic position could be reconstructed using stable isotopic tracking (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) of bone collagen (n = 63). Among large canids, two morphotypes, “Pleistocene wolves” and “Palaeolithic dogs”, were considered, and two human bones attributed to the Gravettian assemblage of Předmostí I were also sampled. The trophic system around the Gravettian settlement of Předmostí I showed the typical niche partitioning among herbivores and carnivores seen in other mammoth-steppe contexts. The contribution of the analyzed prey species to the diet of the predators, including humans, was evaluated using a Bayesian mixing model (SIAR). Lions included great amounts of reindeer/muskox and possibly bison in their diet, while Pleistocene wolves were more focused on horse and possibly mammoth. Strong reliance on mammoth meat was found for the human of the site, similarly to previously analyzed individuals from other Gravettian sites in Moravia. Interestingly, the large canids interpreted as “Palaeolithic dogs” had a high proportion of reindeer/muskox in their diet, while consumption of mammoth would be expected from the availability of this prey especially in case of close interaction with humans. The peculiar isotopic composition of the Palaeolithic dogs of Předmostí I may indicate some control of their dietary intake by Gravettian people, who could have use them more for transportation than hunting purpose.

East Gravettian Khotylevo 2 site: Stratigraphy, archeozoology, and spatial organization of the cultural layer at the newly explored area of the site

The present paper discusses the spatial and stratigraphic analysis of an assemblage of archeological remains from the newly found point B (lettered in Cyrillic) of the Eastern Gravettian site Khotylevo 2. The new find was discovered by the Khotylevo Archaeological Expedition in 2005. The cultural layer of the site relates to a level of initial soil formation at the base of the Desna loess horizon. The stratigraphic position of the cultural layer at point B is typical of the entire Khotylevo 2 site and does not differ substantially from those at points А and Б. Currently, two closely related assemblages of archeological remains have been discovered at point B over an area of 45 m2. The first assemblage is noted for the presence of rounded shallow pits and embedded mammoth bones surrounding concentrations of bone coal; it also contains split animal bones, and flint splinters. Similar assemblages were discovered by F.M. Zavernyaev during the excavations at Khotylevo 2 in the 1970s. The second assemblage is marked by large clusters of intentionally arranged bones of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). There is a certain pattern traceable in the bone arrangement, similar to those observed in mammoth bone structures of the Anosovka-Mesin dwellings. Microstratigraphic correlation of the two assemblages considered together with the radiocarbon dates strongly suggests them to be of different ages. The most abundant bone remains within the studied area belong to woolly mammoth. The list of mammal species identified from this site shows no significant difference from species lists known from other sites of the Russian Plain dated to the same chronological interval. The scarcity of bones belonging to other herbivorous mammals may be due to the fact that no butchering was performed at this part of the site. The abundance of mammoth bones does not directly indicate simultaneous overkill of those animals; it is quite possible, however, that individual animals were killed periodically.

The phenomenon of Gravettian necklaces – Mammoth ivory necklaces from Dolní Věstonice I (Moravia, Czech Republic)

This paper discusses the phenomenon of mammoth ivory necklaces from Dolní Věstonice I (Moravia, Czech Republic). The ivory artefacts were described by the excavator K. Absolon in 1937 as necklaces, and this primary interpretation is still in use today. In this case, mammoth ivory was worked into repeating standardised forms of various size, which are almost absent elsewhere in the Upper Palaeolithic. The seven artefacts were here examined for their state of conservation, manufacturing technology, decorating style and supposed functional purpose. Partial reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire can enable integration of these artefacts into the style of mammoth ivory processing at this Gravettian site, and help to define the status of this raw material.

Large canids at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic: The mandible

Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at Předmostí of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.