Elsevier

Quaternary International

Volumes 272–273, 12 September 2012, Pages 288-296
Quaternary International

New information from Maszycka Cave and the Late Glacial recolonisation of Central Europe

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.02.052Get rights and content

Abstract

Maszycka cave is one of the most important Magdalenian sites in Central Europe. The assemblage is characterized by a considerable number of organic tools including points, navettes and a decorated perforated antler. The cave was related to the middle Magdalenian of western Europe and identified as one of the earliest Magdalenian sites of Central Europe. A series of four AMS-dates now assigns the site more precisely to the period 16,350 to 16,100 calBC (c. 15.000 BP). No other reliably dated Magdalenian sites of this early period of recolonisation of southern Central Europe are known and its clearest parallels to the west are the Grotte Grappin at Arlay in western France and perhaps the open air site Munzingen in southwestern Germany. After the first short episode of recolonisation, a more permanent Magdalenian expansion into Central Europe started hundreds of years later with sites such as Kesslerloch in northern Switzerland.

Introduction

There is an ongoing debate on the Late Glacial recolonisation of Central Europe. According to Housley et al. (1997) the process of resettlement was characterized by a pioneer phase and a subsequent residential phase with groups living permanently in different regions of Central Europe. This model has been challenged by methodological arguments (Blockley et al., 2000) and new archaeological data (Terberger and Street, 2002; Terberger, in press). Nevertheless, the systematic approach against the background of a larger record of radiocarbon dates contributed to a much better understanding of the process. A major problem in the discussion was and still is the lack of reliable radiocarbon dates for the early phase of recolonisation after Heinrich event 2 and the Last Glacial Maximum. This paper presents high precision AMS-dates for the most relevant site of the early Central European Magdalenian, the Maszycka Cave in southern Poland.

Section snippets

Maszycka Cave – general information

Maszycka Cave is located on the left slope of the Prądnik valley in the Kracow district (Fig. 1). In Palaeolithic times the cave entrance was about 6 m wide and 2.5 m high (Fig. 2). The entrance chamber (ca 40 m2) and the back chamber (c. 13 m2) are together about 13 m long. The cave mouth opens onto an approximately 10 m long terrace c. 20 m² in area (Kozłowski and Sachse-Kozłowska, 1995, 115).

Field work was begun in 1883 by G. Ossowski, who excavated the cave and a smaller part of the terrace

Find material

The Maszycka material shows remarkable conditions of preservation (Fig. 4) and about 360 faunal remains were identified to species (Fig. 5; Lasota-Moskalewska, 1995). They are dominated by horse, followed by reindeer, red deer, bovines, saiga and bear (mostly Ursus arctos). Most of the bones are broken and this probably reflects human activity. Some bones of rhinoceros suggest hunting of this large herbivore, while mammoth is only represented by some ivory artefacts. A minimum number of four

Numerical dating of Maszycka cave

The presence of sagaies à double biseau, the navettes, special elements of decoration (décors en cupules) and sexual/phallic symbols suggest a close connection of the Maszycka assemblage with the Magdalénien à navettes of the French record (Allain et al., 1985, 94–99). Phallic symbols are also present, for example, at the sites of Laugerie Basse and La Garenne.

Although two conventional radiocarbon dates of 15,490 ± 310 BP (Ly-2454) and 14,520 ± 240 BP (Ly-2453) supported the general assignment

The Magdalenian of eastern Central Europe

Recent years have seen increasing evidence for the eastern Magdalenian and today about 70 sites are known from Poland and the Czech Republic (Fig. 1; Połtowicz-Bobak, 2009; Valoch and Neruda, 2005). No close parallel to the Maszycka cave can be described, but an AMS-date for the site of Brno-Videnská (or Brno-Konevova) obtained on a cutmarked bone testify to human presence in Bohemia at 14,820 ± 120 BP/ca 16,500 to 16,350 or ca 16,100 to 15,900 calBC (GrA-20001; Verpoorte, 2004, 262). The site

Parallels in the west

The Munzingen site located in the upper Rhine valley (Fig. 13) has been discussed as an early Central European Magdalenian for a long period of time, although radiocarbon results varying from 16,000 to 13,000 BP make closer dating of the find layer(s) problematic (Housley et al., 1997, 32). However, some bone points at Munzingen find parallels at French Middle Magdalenian sites such as Lascaux and Arlay (Pasda, 1998; Cupillard and Welte, 2006).

The Arlay site is a more reliable parallel for the

The early recolonisation of Central Europe

There is increasing evidence for a first phase of recolonisation in Central Europe from refugia in more southern regions soon after Heinrich Event 2 (Fig. 12). The most reliable evidence is available from sites such as Kastelhöhle-Nord in the Swiss Jura, Wiesbaden-Igstadt in the central Rhineland, Mittlere Klause in the Altmühl valley and Grubgraben in lower Austria (Street and Terberger, 2000; Terberger and Street, 2002; Terberger, in press). A close connection between human presence and the

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank M. Hüls, M.-J. Nadeau and P. M. Grootes, Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Isotope Research in Kiel, for fruitful cooperation. Furthermore we would like to thank M. Street for very helpful comments on the text and M. Langlais and S. Ducasse for providing us important new information on the French Badegoulian and Magdalénien.

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