Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry:
Gespeichert in:
1. Verfasser: | |
---|---|
Format: | Buch |
Sprache: | Polish |
Veröffentlicht: |
Wrocław
Wydawn. Uniw. Wrocławskiego
2006
|
Schriftenreihe: | Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis
2742 |
Schlagworte: | |
Online-Zugang: | Inhaltsverzeichnis Abstract |
Beschreibung: | Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: Middle palaeolithic in the Odra Valley |
Beschreibung: | 260 s. Ill., graph. Darst., Kt. 29,5 cm |
ISBN: | 9788322927731 |
Internformat
MARC
LEADER | 00000nam a2200000 cb4500 | ||
---|---|---|---|
001 | BV023096044 | ||
003 | DE-604 | ||
005 | 20080304 | ||
007 | t | ||
008 | 080123s2006 abd| |||| 00||| pol d | ||
020 | |a 9788322927731 |9 978-83-229-2773-1 | ||
035 | |a (OCoLC)169951801 | ||
035 | |a (DE-599)BVBBV023096044 | ||
040 | |a DE-604 |b ger |e rakwb | ||
041 | 0 | |a pol | |
049 | |a DE-12 |a DE-11 | ||
084 | |a RL 80132 |0 (DE-625)142361:12627 |2 rvk | ||
084 | |a RL 80153 |0 (DE-625)142361:12634 |2 rvk | ||
084 | |a 7,41 |2 ssgn | ||
084 | |a 6,11 |2 ssgn | ||
084 | |a 6,12 |2 ssgn | ||
100 | 1 | |a Wiśniewski, Andrzej |e Verfasser |4 aut | |
245 | 1 | 0 | |a Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry |c Andrzej Wiśniewski |
264 | 1 | |a Wrocław |b Wydawn. Uniw. Wrocławskiego |c 2006 | |
300 | |a 260 s. |b Ill., graph. Darst., Kt. |c 29,5 cm | ||
336 | |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
337 | |b n |2 rdamedia | ||
338 | |b nc |2 rdacarrier | ||
490 | 1 | |a Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis |v 2742 | |
500 | |a Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: Middle palaeolithic in the Odra Valley | ||
505 | 0 | |a Bibliogr. s. [237]-247. Indeks | |
650 | 7 | |a Neandertalczycy / Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 7 | |a Paleolit środkowy / Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 7 | |a Wykopaliska archeologiczne / Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 7 | |a Zabytki prehistoryczne / Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 7 | |a Neandertalczycy - Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 7 | |a Paleolit środkowy - Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 7 | |a Wykopaliska archeologiczne - Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 7 | |a Zabytki prehistoryczne - Odry, Dolina |2 jhpk | |
650 | 0 | 7 | |a Paläolithikum |0 (DE-588)4140148-7 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf |
650 | 0 | 7 | |a Archäologie |0 (DE-588)4002827-6 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf |
650 | 0 | 7 | |a Funde |0 (DE-588)4071507-3 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf |
650 | 0 | 7 | |a Ausgrabung |0 (DE-588)4129464-6 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf |
651 | 7 | |a Odry, Dolina / zabytki |2 jhpk | |
651 | 7 | |a Odry, Dolina - zabytki |2 jhpk | |
651 | 7 | |a Odertal |0 (DE-588)4303766-5 |2 gnd |9 rswk-swf | |
689 | 0 | 0 | |a Odertal |0 (DE-588)4303766-5 |D g |
689 | 0 | 1 | |a Paläolithikum |0 (DE-588)4140148-7 |D s |
689 | 0 | 2 | |a Archäologie |0 (DE-588)4002827-6 |D s |
689 | 0 | 3 | |a Ausgrabung |0 (DE-588)4129464-6 |D s |
689 | 0 | 4 | |a Funde |0 (DE-588)4071507-3 |D s |
689 | 0 | |5 DE-604 | |
830 | 0 | |a Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis |v 2742 |w (DE-604)BV004668106 |9 2742 | |
856 | 4 | 2 | |m Digitalisierung BSBMuenchen |q application/pdf |u http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |3 Inhaltsverzeichnis |
856 | 4 | 2 | |m Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen |q application/pdf |u http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |3 Abstract |
940 | 1 | |n oe | |
942 | 1 | 1 | |c 900 |e 22/bsb |f 0901 |g 438 |
943 | 1 | |a oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-016298840 |
Datensatz im Suchindex
_version_ | 1813276072134836224 |
---|---|
adam_text |
Spis
tresei
Wstęp
. 7
Rozdział I. Rozwój badań nad paleolitem środkowym w dolinie Odry
. 9
1.
1.
Definicje paleolitu środkowego oraz ramy chronologiczne i przestrzenne opracowania
. 9
1.2.
Rozwój badań nad środkowym paleolitem w dolinie Odry
. ¡2
1.3.
Zasoby źródłowe
. 15
Rozdział
II.
Stratygrafia i
paleogeografia
stanowisk oraz wiek śladów osadnictwa
. 28
II.
1.
Uwagi wstępne
. 28
11.
2.
Model chronologii i środowiska naturalnego schyłku plejstocenu środkowego
(8-6
OIS)
. 29
11.
3.
Stanowiska ze środkowego plejstocenu
. 31
11.3.1. Racibórz Studzienna, stanowisko
2 . 31
11.
3.2.
Racibórz Ocice, stanowisko
1,
poziom dolny
. 32
11.
3.3.
Bieńkowice, stanowisko A
. 33
11.
3.4.
Dzierżysław, stanowisko
1,
poziom najniższy (warstwa
1). 33
П.З.5.
Wrocław, ul.
Haliera,
poziom dolny (LH)
. 34
II.
3.6.
Pozostałe stanowiska z plejstocenu środkowego
. 35
11.
4.
Model chronologii i środowisko naturalne plejstocenu górnego
(5-3
OIS)
. 36
11.
5.
Stanowiska z górnego plejstocenu
. 37
11.5.1.
Komice, stanowisko
11 . 38
11.
5.2.
Lisięcice, stanowisko „Z"
. 39
11.
5.3.
Racibórz Ocice, stanowisko
1,
poziom górny
. 39
11.
5.4.
Dzierżysław, stanowisko
1,
poziom dolny i górny
. 40
11.
5.5.
Wrocław, ul.
Hallera,
stanowisko
1,
poziom górny
(UH)
. 41
11.
5.6.
Wrocław Oporów, stanowisko
Al,
stanowisko A2, poziom dolny i górny
. 42
11.
5.7.
Pozostałe stanowiska
. 46
11.
6.
Wiek i środowisko naturalne w dobie środkowego paleolitu w dolinie Odry
. 47
Rozdział III. Charakterystyka znalezisk kamiennych i zróżnicowanie taksonomiczne
. 81
III.
1.
Uwagi wstępne
. 81
III.
1.1.
Podstawy oceny wyrobów kamiennych
. 81
III.
1.2.
Klasyfikacja wyrobów kamiennych
. 82
111.
2.
Schyłek plejstocenu środkowego
-
wczesny paleolit środkowy (WPŚ)
. 86
111.2.1. Elementy pięściakowe
. 86
111.
2.2.
Zespoły z przewagą narządzi jednostronnych
. 87
111.
2.3.
Zespoły z narzędziami bifacjalnymi w typie noży i pięściaków
. 90
111.
2.4.
Pozostałe znaleziska
. 93
111.3. Plejstocen górny
-
późny paleolit środkowy (PPŚ)
. 93
111.3.1. Znaleziska reprezentujące zespoły z nożami bifacjalnymi i pięściakami
. 93
111.
3.2.
Zespoły z przewagą narzędzi jednostronnych
. 95
111.3.2.a.
Zespoły bez udziału produktów lewaluaskich
. 95
III.
3.2.^
Zespoły z elementami lewaluaskimi
. 96
III.
3.2.
c. Inne
znaleziska
. 96
111.
3.3.
Inwentarze i znaleziska reprezentujące zespoły z ostrzami liściowatymi
. 98
Ш.З.З.а.
Problem tzw. bohunicienu w inwentarzach z doliny Odry
-
inwentarze ze śladami
„wykorzystania" metod lewaluaskich
. 99
Ш.З.З.Ь.
Inne inwentarze z ostrzami liściowatymi
-
problem znalezisk bez udziału większej
liczby elementów środkowopaleolitycznych
. '0'
260
Spis
tresei
111.
4.
Pozostałe inwentarze datowane na plejstocen górny
. 102
111.
5.
Problem stanowisk identyfikowanych ze środkowym paleolitem
. 106
111.5.1.
Wyroby, które mogą przynależeć do środkowego paleolitu
. 106
111.
5.2.
Wyroby z innych okresów i geofakty
. 109
111.
6.
Zagadnienie zróżnicowania materiałów na terenie doliny Odry
. 112
Rozdział
IV.
Sposoby obróbki surowca kamiennego
. 162
IV.
1.
Uwagi wstępne
. 162
IV.2.
Surowce
. 162
IV.3.
Aprowizacja i problem selekcji surowca
. 163
IV.4.
Podstawowe metody produkcji półsurowca
. 165
IV.5.
Kierunki produkcji narzędzi kamiennych
. 171
IV.6.
Podsumowanie
. 173
Rozdział
V.
Aktywność neandertalczyka w dolinie Odry
. 183
V.l.
Ślady warsztatów
. 184
V.2.
Ślady obozów
. 186
V.3.
Inne formy aktywności
. 189
V.3.I.
Pozostałości praktyk łowieckich w głębi dolin rzecznych
. 189
V.3.2.
Inne
. 191
V.4.
Elementy strategii łowieckiej w dolinie Odiy
-
stanowiska z fauną
. 191
V.5.
Dolina Odry i jej otoczenie jako terytorium systemu łowieckiego
. 192
Zakończenie
. 207
Katalog stanowisk
. 209
Bibliografia
. 237
Summary
. 248
Bayerische ]
Staatsbibliothek
München J
Middle Palaeolithic in the
Odra
Valley
Summary
Introduction
The presented work is devoted to the remains testifying to
the presence of the Neanderthal man in the
Odra
valley and its
edges during the Middle Palaeolithic. Due to its geographical
advantages and easily accessible lithic material, the
Odra
val¬
ley region probably performed at that time the function of a cor¬
ridor leading from the south to the European Lowland between
the Carpathians and the Sudetes. It also constituted an attrac¬
tive hunting area, which is the only plausible explanation of
a relatively great number of traces of the hunting system units
existing in the region situated not far from the centres of Scan¬
dinavian continental
glaciations.
The research was made possible by a distinct progress in field
work and academic study of the last fifteen years, when not only
did the number of finds considerably increase but also, and more
importantly, numerous valuable sites which preserved their spa¬
tial arrangements and provided the remains of game fauna were
excavated. This enabled approximations, so far impossible, con¬
cerning many issues, from the settlement chronology to the char¬
acteristics of the elements of the hunting and gathering systems.
This study has also been considerably influenced by the change
of the paradigm in researching the Palaeolithic, consisting in al¬
lowances being made for the technological aspect of the exam¬
ined remains, which results in a wider scope of analysis of vari¬
ous manifestations of hunter-gatherers' activity.
Excavations and research carried out in the last five years
have acquired the desirable pace and scope owing to two pro¬
jects financed by the State Committee for Scientific Research.
The first was Settlement and Manners of Exploitation of the
Natural Environment in the Silesian Lowland by Humans at the
End of the Middle Pleistocene, no. H01H006
19,
and the other
The Oldest Occupation of the Wroclaw Ice-Marginal Valley and
Its Edges. An Attempt at Periodisation, no. HOI
H
023 23.
This work used the artefacts, documentation and unpub¬
lished monographs from the collections of the following insti¬
tutions: the Museum of Archaeology, department of the city
Museum of
Wrocław,
the
Opole
Silesia Museum in
Opole
and
the Upper-Silesian Museum in
Bytom,
the Museum in
Racibórz,
the Museum in
Dąbrowa Górnicza,
the Regional Museum in
C'hojnów,
the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in
Łódź,
the Archaeological Museum in
Poznań,
the Institute of
Archaeology at the University of
Wrocław,
the Institute of Ar¬
chaeology at the Jagiellonian University in
Kraków,
and the In¬
stitute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the
Wrocław
Branch
of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Chapter I. Development of the research
of the Middle Palaeolithic
in the
Odra
valley
I.I. Definition of the Middle Palaeolithic
and the work's chronological
and geographical framework
The work is concerned with the finds identified with the
Middle Palaeolithic. The criteria defining the chronological
boundaries of the period are quite clear and are concerned with
lithic artefacts. The beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic is mar¬
ked by the emergence of Levallois technology and its distinc¬
tly distinguished stage of preparation and acquisition of the end
products. This criterion for differentiating between the Lower
and Middle Palaeolithic was first proposed by G. Bosinski
(1967)
and A. Tuffreau
(1979).
The beginning of the Middle
Palaeolithic in the discussed part of Europe is marked by the
assemblages dated to
OIS 8/OIS
7.
The process of introduction
and adoption of technological innovations was very long, there¬
fore it is difficult to determine a clear-cut boundary between
the Lower and the Middle Palaeolithic. The decline of Middle
Palaeolithic industries is represented by the assemblages with
leaf points, belonging to the so-called transitional cultures,
which in Central Europe are dated to the middle part of the in-
terpleniglacial (the
Grudziądz
interstadial) ca. 50-34
thousand
years ago. Some researchers identify the transitional cultures
with the so-called Earliest Upper-Palaeolithic, including the
so-called proto-Aurignacian and the oldest Aurignacian.
According to the present state of knowledge, the assem¬
blages dated to the end of the Middle Palaeolithic were created
by the younger pre-Neanderthal man, earlier referred to as the
Homo heidelbergensis. In the
OIS
5
period Europe was settled
by the form referred to as the proto-Neanderthal man. The end
of the Middle Palaeolithic overlaps with the development of the
classic Neanderthal
forni,
dated to
4
and
3
OIS
(Condemi,
v.
Koenigswald 1997).
Geographically this work focuses on the traces excavated
in the
Odra
valley and its edges, within the adjacent mesore-
gions. Several sites come from a more distant area
-
the Sude-
tic Foreland and the Sudetes. At present the
Odra
valley stretch¬
es along the SE-NW axis, possessing several specific features
differentiating it from other forms of this scale in central Euro¬
pe. The valley and the adjacent areas do not display substantial
topographic contrasts in the west. Apart from a short section in
the Czech Republic, the valley probably had the characteristics
Summary
249
of a lowland river as it does today. The difference in levels be¬
tween fossil terraces from the Warthe and Weichselian
glacia¬
tions
between
Racibórz
(the southern section) and
Wrocław
(the
central section) amounts only to
80
m
at the length of nearly
150
km. A small gradient is also substantiated by the fact that
the difference of the valley bottom levels between its upper (the
locality of
Chałupki)
and middle (the
Ścinawa
Gorge) sections
amounts to mere
105
m (Badura,
Przybylski
2000,
p.
6).
The
discussed topographic features may have played an important
role in the process of colonisation of the Central-European Low¬
land
-
as a corridor and a hunting territory devoid of any great¬
er topographic restrictions.
The upper and middle sections of the valley, which provid¬
ed the traces of early humans' presence in question, cuts across
the Silesian Lowland (a constituent of the Central European
Lowland), considered a form of a basin type. The upper section
of the
Odra
valley runs across the
Odra
Mountains and the
Ra¬
cibórz
Basin. Further on towards the north it borders on the west
with the
Głubczyce
Plateau and on the east with the
Rybnik
Pla¬
teau and the
Chełm
Prominence. The middle section, which pro¬
vided Middle Palaeolithic sites in the detailed physiographic
perspective, is known as the
Wrocław
Ice-Marginal Valley or
the
Odra
Ice-Marginal Valley. The area borders with the Ole-
śnica-Bierutów
Plain in the north, the
Kąty
Plain (also known
as the
Wrocław
Plain) and the
Środa
Upland in the south. One
of the sites
(Vogelsand, Kr. Eisenhüttenstadt)
is located in the
northern part of the Middle
Odra
Valley. Single sites consid¬
ered to be the traces of Neanderthal man's presence are also
located outside this area, within the
Polkowice
and
Trzebnica
Hills, the Sudetes and the Sudetic Foreland, in the area of the
Kaczawa Mountains, the
Chojnów
High Plane, the Sudetic De¬
pression and the
Kłodzko
Basin.
1.2.
Development of the research
into the Middle Palaeolithic
in the
Odra
valley
First discoveries were made only in the
1920s
and the
1930s
and soon the attempts of synthetic studies (H. Lindner
and L. Zotz) followed, which reflect the contemporary paradigm
of archaeological research based on evolutionism and diffusio-
nism. The research of the Middle Palaeolithic re-initiated in the
1950s
by archaeologists M. and W. Chmielewski and a geogra¬
pher A.
Jahn
at site
Maków
20
acquired a new character. The
researchers systematised
stratigraphie data,
analysing sediments
from the perspective of the reconstruction of periglacial proces¬
ses, and introduced
F. Bordes 's
concept, who rejected the divi¬
sion into "Levalloisian" and "Clactonian". They also estimated
the cognitive value of the material acquired at a few sites locat¬
ed near
Racibórz.
In the late
1950s
and the
1960s
the issue of
the Palaeolithic in Upper Silesia was researched by J.K. Ko-
złowski,
who published the results of field work gradually
verifying the sites and the results of the analysis of artefacts.
Large surface excavations comprised such sites as
Dzierży-
sław
1,
Maków
20,
Racibórz Ocice
1
and Racibórz Studzien¬
na
2.
Soon
Kozłowski
made an attempt to order the data on the
chronology of finds and their
taxonomie
position, which he
published in
Paleolit na Górnym Śląsku
(The Palaeolithic in
Upper Silesia) (1964a) and
Węzłowe problemy geochronologii
paleolitu w dolinie Odry i Cyny pod Raciborzem
{Key Issues in
Geochronology of the Palaeolithic in the
Odra
and the
Супа
valley near
Racibórz)
(1965a). In accordance with the short
chronology of the Middle Palaeolithic (Eem interglacial as
well as the early and the middle phase of the Weichselian
gla¬
ciation),
many sites
-
now identified with the early phase of the
Middle-Palaeolithic assemblages
-
were considered Lower-
Palaeolithic. The subsequent year did not result in any substan¬
tial changes in the concept of the Middle Palaeolithic in the re¬
gion. Only in the
1980s
did the interest in the analysed section
of the Palaeolithic increase. The period may be considered the
most dynamic of the ones discussed so far, which is substantia¬
ted by a considerable increase of resources. Apart form verify¬
ing the sites known for many years, new sites were excavated
in the
Wrocław
Plain and the
Odra
Ice-Marginal Valley, among
others.
With time intensive field work brought about new ideas.
Below are the most significant areas of discussion and the re¬
sulting proposals:
1.
Adoption of the long chronology of the Middle Palaeo¬
lithic
(OIS
9-3),
categorising the material from
Racibórz-Stu-
dzienna
2
as belonging to the Middle Palaeolithic industries;
2.
The Upper-Silesian sites were used in constructing the
concept of the so-called transitory cultures in this part of Eu¬
rope which denoted the extinction of the Middle Palaeolithic as¬
semblages;
3.
Attempts were made to identify new
taxonomie
units
(assemblages with unifacial tools with their counterparts in the
Mousterian, Bohunician assemblages, etc.) and constructing
their chronological skeleton on the basis of the geophysical
dating, among others;
4.
Approximations of the dynamics of settlement as well
as the use and circulation of lithic raw material were made,
taking into consideration the important issue of forming of the
Middle Palaeolithic sites.
5.
Theoretical approach, so far predominated by "cultural
archaeology", to this day developed by some archaeologists,
made allowances for newer concepts, considering a wider spec¬
trum of reasons for the differentiation of archaeological assem¬
blages.
1.3.
Resources
The excavations in the
Odra
river and its edges to date
have provided
68
sites identified with the Middle Palaeolithic.
The cognitive value of this inventory is diversified. Only few
of the sites may constitute the basis for this work, while the re¬
maining ones may only constitute the background for the
discussion presented here. This is partially presented in Table
1.3,
which shows information on the type of site, the environ¬
ment where the finds were deposited as well as the methods of
documenting the finds and their stratigraphy. Lithic and organ¬
ic (bones, wood) remains found in the geological layers depos¬
ited with low transport energy are significant in determining
chronology, manners of existence, including the methods of pro¬
ducing blanks and lithic tools as well as the dynamics of settle¬
ment. Similar layers provided traces excavated in several sites,
localised in both the upper and the middle section of the
Odra
river basin
(Dzierżysław
1,
lower horizon;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street, site I, upper horizon). However, the discussed region is
predominated by the finds deposited in the layers accumulated
with much greater energy, which resulted in the dislocation or
the reduction of the remains and the location of the artefacts.
250
Summary
Most of such traces are connected with the fluvial sedimenta¬
tion environment, which is exemplified by site
Racibórz Stu¬
dzienna
2.
Apart from lithic finds, some sites provided inter¬
esting fauna remains
(Wrocław Oporów
Al
and A2). Unfortu¬
nately, weathering and transport resulted in their crushing,
which prevents identification of species, determining the num¬
ber of animals and establishing the possible traces of butcher¬
ing and hunting practices. Some remains were excavated in
slope and slope/fluvial sediments which preserved bone re¬
mains
(Dzierżysław
1,
upper horizon;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street,
site
1,
lower horizon; northern part of site
1;
Wrocław Oporów
A2, upper horizon).
The discussion concerning the chronology of human set¬
tlement episodes constitutes an important element of the work,
thus the sites where the chronology of artefacts was determined
with the use of conventional or geophysical methods play an im¬
portant role. The most significant are those where the chro¬
nology could be established with the use of several methods
(e.g.
Dzierżysław
1,
with the series of TL dates and detailed
stratigraphie
data;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street, site
1
and
Wrocław
Oporów,
sites
Al
and A2, where an attempt was made to date
with the use of the TL, OSL, EPR and I4C methods).
Chapter II. Stratigraphy
and palaeogeography of sites
and the chronology
of settlement traces
II.
1.
Model of chronology and the natural environment
of the Late Middle Pleistocene
(OIS
8-6)
Middle Palaeolithic industries in the
Odra
valley emerged
during profound changes in the natural environment caused by
the development of continental
glaciations
ca. 300
thousand
years ago. The period comprises two glacial-interglacial cycles.
Considerable impact on the physiographic system and the
Odra
valley topography was exerted by the phenomena connected
with the development and disappearance of the
Odra
continen¬
tal glacier. According to the latest data, the continental glacier
in its maximum phase reached the northern parts of the western,
central and eastern Sudetes, invading the
Jelenia Góra
Basin and
the
Kłodzko
Basin as well as the Moravian Gate in the south¬
eastern area. On the basis of TL dating of
kame
deposits the
disappearance of the continental glacier is dated to
284
±
34
thousand years BP, even though there are sites dated earlier and
later, which in itself is thus of conventional character. The most
important changes resulting from the presence of the continen¬
tal glacier in this area include the formation of a new river
network in the foreland of the melting continental glacier or
the movement of the old river beds and the emergence of se¬
quences of morainic elevations.
The natural environment of the two subsequent stages, i.e.
the Lublin
interglacial
(known as the
Lubawa
interglacial,
the
Pilica
interglacial
and the
Postsaale in
the
Opava
Basin) and the
Warthe
glaciation,
may be recreated on the basis of more nu¬
merous data. It must be emphasised, however, that a considera¬
ble amount of information comes from northern and north¬
eastern Poland. The most important site which constitutes the
basis for recreating the flora from the Lublin period is the lake
discovered in
Losy
near
Lubawa.
Only one site with organo¬
genic deposits in the form of distinctly marked horizon of
les¬
sive
soil is known in the area of the greatest interest to us, i.e.
Silesia. The site is situated in the brickyard near
Bránice,
Pro¬
vince of
Opole.
A short
interglacial
period was followed by cooling of the
climate, when the Warthe
glaciation
continental ice developed.
In its maximum
stadial
the continental ice reached the central
river basin of the
Nysa Łużycka
and further east to the
Dalków
Hills and
Trzebnica
Hills. The continuation is constituted by the
Lubin
and
Żary
lobes. Some researchers believe in a theory
of limited extent of the Warthe
glaciation
continental glacier
(thus only the deposits including moraine clays of the
Odra
gla¬
ciation
are distinguished to the south of the so-called Barucz-
Głogów
Ice-Marginal Valley), while others are for a greater
extent of moraine deposits and the deposits connected with the
extraglacial
area. This is exemplified by the fact that in the
western part of the
Dalków
Hills the continental glacier cros¬
sed the northern edge of the Silesian Rampart during the War¬
the
glaciation.
If this suggestion were confirmed, a number of
changes in the chronology of many Silesian sites should be
made. Aeolian deposits also developed during that period (e.g.
the site in
Bránice,
Kietrz, Królów, Krzanowice
and Skarszyn)
in the form of loess, but they are not very thick. During the
discussed period quite significant changes took place in the
valley zones, as in the middle sub-stage valleys in the uplands
were filled in to the height of
6-12
metres above their contem¬
porary bottom.
II.
2.
Model of chronology and the natural environment
of the Upper Pleistocene
(OIS
5-3)
The next period of the development of the Upper Palaeo¬
lithic industries in Europe coincided with the warming period
known as the Eem
interglacial
and a considerable part of the
Weichselian
glaciation,
which was expressed by gradual cooling
of climate
(OIS 5e-3).
The period of Eem warming is relative¬
ly well represented in the
Odra
river basin by palaeoecological
sites, therefore the reconstruction of the climate and flora both
in the lowland and upland zones is relatively easy. Organo¬
genic deposits enable to distinguish the pre-optimum, optimum
and decline phases, which in the narrow view correspond to the
lower, middle and upper
substages,
respectively. The pre¬
served soil horizons prove that during the pre-maximum phase
the steppe and then forest-steppe developed in the lowland-
upland areas of the
Odra
river basin. Forest complexes appear¬
ed at the turn of the middle
substage.
At its end the climate
cooled, which resulted in the predomination of the coniferous
forest complexes. Numerous data enable the observation of the
whole process of flora development in this
interglacial
(horizons
from El to E7), which with a few exceptions is similar to other
regions of Poland.
Transformation of natural environment during the Weich¬
selian
glaciation
is also better researched in the
Odra
river
basin than for the earlier period, therefore
substages
correspond¬
ing to
stadiale
and interstadials are distinguished within it.
There are gaps in part of the Weichselian
glaciation.
The begin¬
ning of the Weichselian stage begins with the disappearance of
forest complexes and emergence of shrub tundra, which is
distinctly visible in the stratotypical profile of Imbramowice. At
that time vegetation zones moved considerably to the south. In
the first period, sometimes referred to as the
Toruń
glaciation,
Summary
251
the process of degradation of
interglacial
soil sediments pro¬
bably began in the
Odra
river basin. Cooling was followed by
warming identified with Brarup and with the
Gniew
interstadial
in Poland.
According to some geomorphologists, the warming in the
Odra
river basin consisted of two warmer periods. Forest com¬
plexes developed during that period, which is documented by
pollen profiles, and so did forest-steppe or steppe soils, which
is substantiated by chernozem sediments. The examples of the
soils are found in the sites in
Braniče,
Głogówek, Racibórz
Осі
-
ce
and Skarszyn. A short cooling period was followed by an¬
other warming which in the Western-European literature is re¬
ferred to as Odderade and which probably corresponds to orga¬
nogenic deposits from the palaeoecological sites in
Zgierz
Radunici,
Stary Kurów and Władysławów.
According to some
researchers, the soil processes initiated in the early phase of the
Weichselian
glaciation
continued during that period.
Another period
(OIS
4),
known as the
Świecie
or pre-Gru-
dziądz
stadial
and as the I pleniglacial in older studies, was
characterised by rapid cooling, the return of permafrost, soli-
ftuction and cryoturbation. Dating of loess sediments accumu¬
lated at that time indicates the period between
66
and
55
thou¬
sand years ago. Yet, it is maintained that the period was slight¬
ly warmer than the main
stadial.
More palaeoclimatic data
come from the initial phase of the
interstadial
known as the
Gru¬
dziądz
interstadial
(OIS
3),
considerably cooler that the warm¬
ing from the beginning of the Weichselian
glaciation.
This is
substantiated by the persistent presence of permafrost in loess
areas. Both the results of palaeobotanical and palaeopedologi-
cal analyses indicate the development of subarctic soils in the
initial phase of that period under the complexes of shrub tun¬
dra and typical tundra. The development of such a complex is
also reconstructed on the basis of the lowland sites with flora.
A greater number of traces, rendering more chronological and
palaeogeographical data, is connected with the Upper Pleisto¬
cene.
II.
3.
Chronology and natural environment during
the Middle Palaeolithic
in the
Odra
valley
The available data enable a presentation of the chronologi¬
cal scheme of the traces of the Neanderthal man's presence,
also comprising the visible changes in the natural environment
in the
Odra
valley and its edges. The oldest traces of the Mid¬
dle Palaeolithic industries in this part of Europe are dated to the
period preceding the development of the Middle-Polish
glacia¬
tion
complexes. In the
Odra
valley the oldest elements are pro¬
bably linked with the later period following the withdrawal of
the Warthe
glaciation
continental ice. At present the traces are
correlated with the Warthe
glaciation
cooling. These are the
artefacts from site
2
in
Racibórz Studzienna,
possibly the lower
horizon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
and the lowest
horizon of site
1
in
Dzierżysław.
The artefacts found in the
ceiling of the Ocice terrace in
Racibórz Ocice,
the artefacts from
Piotrowice
Wielkie
8a and
Bieńkowice
A may also be of the
same age. It is debatable whether the artefacts from site Pietra-
szyn
49
found on the surface are of the Middle Pleistocene
character.
In terms of palaeorelief the sites tend to be located in
higher parts of the terrain
-
the sites from
Racibórz
and its
vicinity may represent the remains of the exploitation of the
terrace system in a big valley, the traces from
Dzierżysław
are
situated on a culmination dominating over the local area,
while the remains in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
confirm the
occupation of a small culmination situated in the area of a ram¬
part located between two valleys. Thus, the traces indicate the
activity in the area of undulated terrain. Obviously, the present¬
ed picture, based on fragmentary data, is incomplete. On the
asis
of the examples from Saxony and Thuringia, it may be as¬
sumed that in future traces may be discovered which will sub¬
stantiate the penetration of lower valley parts and shore zones
of lakes.
Concerning the features of the natural environment consti¬
tuting the habitat of the contemporary man, only the traces from
Haliera
street provide more detailed data. The excavations
yielded the remains of game fauna represented by the species
typical for steppe and steppe-tundra, i.e. a horse, a steppe
wisent
and a rhinoceros. The data on the smallest number of ani¬
mals and the chronological profile of the animal remains are not
yet available. The identified remains represent adult animals,
which the man probably hunted.
As it was mentioned, there are no traces from the Eem in-
terglacial. Undoubtedly the environmental conditions from the
last
interglacial
favoured settling of central Europe, which is
substantiated by numerous finds from this area. Site
Komice
11
correlated with this period does not provide any indications as
to linking its age with stage 5e, however, there are reasons to
assume that the traces may come from the early phase of the
Weichselian
glaciation.
It also seems necessary to question
the attempt to identify sites
Maków
15
and
20
as well as Pie-
traszyn
11
with the Eem
interglacial.
It seems that this situa¬
tion, "exceptional" in central Europe, results from the state of
the research and the impact of erosion processes which occur¬
red on the slopes and valley bottoms during the subsequent
cooling.
The greatest number of traces of the Neanderthal man's pre¬
sence comes from the Weichselian
glaciation.
At present the ar¬
tefacts excavated in site Kornice
11
may be linked with the
lower
substage
of the Weichselian
glaciation,
which substanti¬
ate human activity in the fluvial terrace zone. The chronology
is based on the
stratigraphie
analysis of the site's profile. The
traces located in the upper and central part of the
Odra
river
basin are identified with the pleniglacial period and possibly
with the beginning of the
Grudziądz
interstadial.
The upper sec¬
tion of the river basin is represented by two sites:
Racibórz
Oci¬
ce and
Dzierżysław
1.
In
Racibórz
Ocice the artefacts rested in
younger loess covered with gley soil of the Komorniki type,
which proves that the products are slightly younger than
the soil and substantiate human activity on the terrace of the
area's main water course. The remains excavated in
Dzierżysław
come from two horizons, which unfortunately have not been
dated precisely. The lower horizon, Bohunician, is identified
with the Moershoofd and
Hengelo
interstadial
or only with the
latter warming period, while the upper horizon, identified with
the Szeletian, may have emerged, according to the researchers,
during the cooling period between the
Hengelo
and Denekamp
interstadials. The traces indicate that the culmination dominat¬
ing over the local area was occupied. It is quite possible that the
very interesting finds from Pietraszyn
11
come from the begin¬
ning of the pleniglacial or even the period preceding it.
In the middle part of the
Odra
river basin the upper hori¬
zon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
may be dated to the
252
Summary
pleniglacial or the beginning of the interpleniglacial
(OIS
4-3).
This assumption was based on the results of geophysical dating
of bone remains found next to the concentrations of lithic arte¬
facts. Artefacts from
Hallera
street indicate the presence of
humans in the area of culmination located between the
Odra
and the
pre-Ślęza.
Other traces from the discussed region were
found in the
Ślęza
valley in
Oporów
district, several kilometres
to the north-west from the site in
Hallera
street in Wroclaw. The
artefacts excavated in site
Al
and the lower horizon of site A2
probably constitute the traces of exploitation of the area at the
beginning of the interpleniglacial, though it is also possible that
they are linked with a slightly earlier period. The products from
the upper horizon of site A2 probably come from this inter¬
pleniglacial. Location of traces from
Oporów
is interesting as
they were located in the terrace deposits at the edge of the
upland and are undoubtedly linked with the exploitation of the
valley bottom, where water reservoirs existed at that time. In
the case of the sites from
Wrocław,
evidence was acquired that
the process of occupation took place during the development of
steppe or steppe-tundra.
In conclusion, the area of the middle and upper part of
the river basin was exploited, similarly as the neighbouring
areas, during the Middle-Polish and the Weichselian
glacia¬
tions.
So far there are no sites representing the Middle Pala¬
eolithic industry from the period preceding the development
of the Middle-Polish
glaciation
or the so-called Middle-
Polish sub-stage, or possibly from their early phase. There is
a difference of opinion concerning internal differentiation of
the Middle-Polish
glaciations
and their correlation with the
isotopie
stages, which may affect the dating of the settlement
traces in the near future. If the traditional concept of the di¬
vision of the Mesopleistocene into the
Odra
glaciation,
the
Lubawa
interglacial
and the Warthe
glaciation
(e.g. Mojski
1993)
is to be adopted, the sites dated to the period following
the disappearance of the
Odra
glaciation
will be correlated
with
7
or, which is more probable,
6
stage. If the newer con¬
cept of the division of the Middle-Polish
glaciation
into the
Krzna
glaciation,
the
Lubawa
interglacial
and the
Odra
gla¬
ciation
and the Warthe
glaciation
is to be adopted, the sites
situated within the
stratigraphie
model following the
Odra
glaciation
will become younger even by a hundred thousand
years! Their position in relation to
isotopie
stages will also
change and the oldest will be identified with
OIS
6.
The sites with palaeoecological data substantiate that
humans were present during the cold phases. Simultaneously,
there is no convincing data on the exploitation of the river
basin during
interglacial
optima, which is possibly connected
with the status of the excavations and the development of the
processes destroying the remains from that period, which rested
in lower parts of river valleys.
Chronological and palaeoenvironmental differentiation of
sites observed in the south-western Poland situated at the bor¬
der between two climate zones
-
oceanic and continental, re¬
flects general trends in settlement known from other regions of
north-central Europe, where such great gaps in the chronology
of the Pleistocene settlement were not observed, except for the
climate pessimum from the I pleniglacial and at the end of the
last
glaciation.
Therefore, it would be difficult to accept the hy¬
pothesis of periodical extinction of the Middle Palaeolithic set¬
tlement during cold phases in this and other regions of north-
central Europe, which is to constitute the reaction to the impact
of the periglacial environment.
Chapter III. Characteristics of lithic finds
and
taxonomie
differentiation
This part of the work is devoted to the characteristics of
lithic artefacts and the attempt to create a model of
taxonomie
differentiation of the finds form the
Odra
valley. The material
was analysed in terms of its technology and typology after it
was categorised with the use of list resembling the lists of dy¬
namic classification.
Several inventories and individual finds are identified with
the so-called Early Middle Palaeolithic, which include the arte¬
facts predominated by unifacial tools and a small number of
traces of the use of advanced methods of core exploitation.
New discoveries in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
(lower horizon of
site
1)
indicate that tools may include individual forms of bi¬
facial tools. Dating of the finds is not very precise. In classic
geostratigraphy the age of the remains corresponds to the
Lubawa
interglacial
or the Warthe
glaciation.
Slightly younger
chronology of some finds can not be excluded.
The material excavated so far has most features in common
with the industries which in the conventional system are de¬
scribed as Mousterian. In central Europe the sites classified as
Mousterian Early Middle Palaeolithic, including the assem¬
blages from the neighbouring areas, do not constitute a homo¬
geneous group in terms of chronology as well as technological
and morphological features. It would be difficult to indicate
unequivocally the source of emergence of this type of industries
in the early phase of the Middle Palaeolithic. Various possible
impulses have been discussed. The concept of quite early emer¬
gence of various traditions is taken into consideration, yet
some researchers propose palaeoeconomic causes. This factor
is increasingly more frequently proposed as the reason for the
differentiation of the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages in the
eastern part of Germany, where considerable differentiation was
observed during the examination of the site complex in
Neumark-Nord
1,
which may result from different functions of
places where lithic products and the accompanying bones were
gathered.
Another trend in the Early Middle Palaeolithic distin¬
guished in the
Odra
valley is represented by handaxes found in
four sites. Unfortunately, they can not be dated precisely as the
artefacts were found on the surface. Yet, they come from
before the last
interglacial, but
another chronological position
can not be excluded. The discussed trend, defined as young
Acheulian
(Jungacheuléen),
is not well researched in the cen¬
tral Europe due to a small number of sites with longer series
of lithic artefacts. The sites include several sites from eastern
Germany and the Czech Republic. A small number of traces of
the handaxe trend in central Europe is explained with a con¬
cept which assumes that a new migration wave of the popula¬
tion using handaxes (Acheulian) moved towards south-western
Europe and stopped in the Rhine valley and the western Alps,
known as Movius line. As the absence of handaxes beyond
that line can not be explained with technological or ecological
causes, it is assumed that more intensive settlement of the
"Acheulian population" was prevented by the populations from
earlier migrations. It would be difficult to decide which con¬
cept is correct. In any case, the finds from the Elbe region
extend the range of Movius line.
Another and at the same time most debatable Early Mid¬
dle Palaeolithic industry in the
Odra
valley are the sites identi¬
fied with Micoquian culture. So far in central Europe the sites
Summary
253
of this type were restricted to the Eem
interglacial
and the
Weichselian
glaciation.
Two inventories from Pietraszyn
49
and
Dzierżysław
1
(lowest horizon), discussed earlier, constitute the
basis for distinguishing a new
taxonomic
unit. J.K.
Kozłowski
maintains that both finds are dated to the Warthe
glaciation
and
are connected with the Middle Pleistocene Micoquian horizon,
represented by layer
6
of eponimic site La Micoque. The finds
from the
Odra
valley were classified as belonging to the sites
where assemblages with knives were excavated, dated to the end
of the Middle Palaeolithic:
Biśnik
Cave
-
assemblage A3 from
layer
14
and
Mes vin
IV. The concept suggests the continuity of
Micoquian industries in Europe from
8
to
4
OIS,
inclusive. So
far there has been a gap between the assemblage from La Mi¬
coque and Micoquian sites of ca.
150
thousand years. Now the
following sequence would be distinguished: from the oldest ho¬
rizon in La Micoque
(280
thousand years BP), to Mesvin IV
(average dating of
250
thousand years BP), to
Biśnik
Cave
(Warthe
glaciation),
to the lowest horizon of the site in
Dzier¬
żysław
1 (180
±
35
thousand years). The idea of differentiating
the third Early Middle Palaeolithic industry will entail the
need to discuss several issues in the future. The basic issue is
the definition of the Micoquian. If the liberal assumptions are
adopted, which consist in identifying all the inventories includ¬
ing asymmetric knives with the Micoquian, many Acheulian
and Mousterian assemblages, including the above-mentioned ar¬
tefacts from
Biśnik
Cave defined as the assemblages of the
Pie¬
kary
type, would have to be defined as Micoquian. If Rich-
ter's concept is to be accepted that other than knives structural
elements should be decisive for belonging to the Micoquian, the
group will be reduced to the assemblages from the last
glacia¬
tion.
Discussing the proposal of a new
taxonomic
unit, the re¬
servations concerning the number and representative character
of the material from
Dzierżysław
1
and the
stratigraphie
posi¬
tion of the material from Pietraszyn
49
can not be ignored. The
proposals concerning the need to repeat
radiometrie
dating of
the material from Mesvin IV also have to be taken into consi¬
deration.
The Late Middle Palaeolithic is known for a greater num¬
ber of traces. Some remains are represented by knives and hand-
axes connected with the Micoquian industry discussed above.
Yet, they are the artefacts devoid of the
stratigraphie
context,
which come from five sites situated near Pietrowice
Wielkie
near
Racibórz.
The issue of the sites' dating remains open.
Older Micoquian assemblages belonging to the Upper Pleisto¬
cene used to be identified with the Eem
interglacial.
Today a
view predominates that they all come from the last
glaciation.
Therefore two concepts of the development and disappearance
of Micoquian assemblages in central Europe are considered.
One, proposed by J.
Richter,
emphasises short chronology of the
development of the Micoquian industry, treated as the so-called
Micoquian with Mousterian Option ("MicoquienMM.O"). On
the basis of absolute dating of the layers in
Sesselfelsgrotte
cave
in the valley of
Altmühl
and the chronology of other Mico¬
quian sites, J.
Richter
stated that the unit developed for maxi¬
mum
15
thousand years and solely during
OIS
3.
On the other
hand, most archaeologists advocate a wider chronology of the
unit's development, allowing for biostatic premises apart from
absolute dating. They claim that the Micoquian tradition, defi¬
ned by G. Bosinski as groups with knives-handaxes (Keilmes-
sergruppenlYMG), developed prior to and following I plenigla-
cial in "lowland" Europe. In his concept, based on the assump¬
tion of a strong link existing between a tool type and a social
group, he presents the model of KMG changeability linked with
the migration of the "Micoquian" population caused by climat¬
ic changes. When climate deteriorated
(67-59
thousand years
BR), the population producing bifacial tools of the knife type
moved to the refuge niches in southern Europe.
Theoretically, the finds from the
Odra
valley may represent
three stages
(А
-C)
of the development of the Micoquian distin¬
guished by O.
Joris,
because their equivalents are found in the
neighbouring areas. Stages A and
В
occurred in
Ciemna
Cave,
Biśnik
Cave, Wylotne shelter or an open-air site in
Zwoleń,
among others, while the artefacts from layer 7a from
Kůlna
Cave in Moravia may correspond to stage
С
Other Upper-Pleistocene sites do not constitute such a dense
group as the sites discussed above. Their common feature is the
predomination of unifacial tools, thus the finds refer to the as¬
semblages from the so-called Mousterian circle (Kornice
11 ;
Pietraszyn
11 ;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street, site
1,
upper horizon).
However, it is not certain whether the feature is not coinciden¬
tal, resulting from the impact of various factors, i.e. the so-cal¬
led Mousterian character may result from, e.g. a specific
facies
which was not expressed by a properly representative number
of retouched tools. The upper horizon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
probably represents the traces of a situation
when the remains of a workshop predominate. Examples of this
group of sites are linked with the Eem
interglacial
or the begin¬
nings of the Weichselian
glaciation.
Following technological
criteria, the inventories may be divided into two subgroups:
1)
with traces of an extensive use of Levallois methods (i.e.
complete preparation of core),
2)
without evidence of use of this
method to acquire half-finished products and tools.
It should be added that in central Europe the analysis of in¬
ventories of "Mousterian characteristics" is difficult, which re¬
sults from a small number of inventories of such features. They
also include scarce tool groups, while traces of core reduction
or production of some tools do not completely exclude the link
with other units, e.g. the Micoquian. The complexes of assem¬
blages considered as Mousterian characteristically do not have
concentrations in the geographical and temporal sense, not to
mention the absence of sites with longer
stratigraphie
sequen¬
ces. This may mean that the industries of this type did not de¬
velop to the same extent as in southern and western Europe. In
the north of the
Harz
and the Alps they may have been repla¬
ced by the horizon with knives and handaxes, which some
archaeologists treat as the remains of ethnically different com¬
munities. This issue requires further research.
An equally interesting issue is another trend in the Late
Middle Palaeolithic
-
the horizon with leaf points in the
Odra
valley, which belongs to the so-called transitory cultures. One
of the more serious issues preventing better understanding of
these industries is the dating of individual sites, their internal
taxonomie
diversification and genesis. Approximate age of the
development of the industries of this type is known due to
ra¬
diometrie
dating of one site, i.e.
Dzierżysław
1.
The dating con¬
cerns only one layer and is confirmed by only one sample,
which unfortunately comes from the deposit which had under¬
gone solifluction, therefore a more precise dating of the epi¬
sode is impossible. The layer, dated to
36.5
(±
5.5
thousand
years BP) contained the remains identified with Szeletian cul¬
ture, while below there were the artefacts for some time now
identified with Bohunician culture. The acquired date falls
within the chronological range of both Szeletian culture (older
assemblages) and Bohunician culture, even though most "Bo-
254
Summary
hunician layer dates" are connected with a slightly earlier pe¬
riod:
42-38
thousand years BP.
Another issue is the evaluation whether the finds belong to
either Bohunician or Szeletian culture. As it was emphasised
earlier, the difficulty in differentiating these units results from
great similarity of both inventories from
Dzierżysław
1,
which
are to represent the Szeletian and the Bohunician. The similar¬
ity is manifested in tools. The assemblage from
Dzierżysław
al¬
so differs considerably from Bohunician assemblages. The dif¬
ference may be interpreted in two ways. It may result from
a closer link with the inventories from the so-called Szeletian
culture and then the older
taxonomic
concept of the site in
Dzierżysław
should be recalled. The other explanation assumes
that the lower assemblage may actually be linked with the Bo¬
hunician and the observed differences result from different raw
material which the groups of hunters migrating from the south
encountered. Thus, the presentation of the internal division of
the sites from the horizon with leaf points is quite difficult. In
the context of other finds, mainly surficial, isolation of the Bo¬
hunician and the Szeletian units mentioned above causes even
greater difficulty. Any attempts at a more precise differentiation
of these finds seem doomed to fail, which results from the fact
of spatial and temporal overlapping of different units with leaf
points in this part of Europe, among others.
Independently of these critical remarks, the sites with leaf
points from the
Odra
valley play an important role in the discus¬
sion on the emergence of these units in central Europe. Two hy¬
potheses are involved here. The first, especially emphasised by
P. Allsworth-Jones, claims that the
Szeleden
formed due to "ac¬
culturation" on the border between the Middle and Upper Palae¬
olithic. It assumes that adoption of certain elements, including
the method of producing half-finished blades, results from the
contact with the Upper Palaeolithic culture. The other hypothe¬
sis claims that Szeletian culture emerged locally (probably from
the Micoquian background), without the influence of Aurigna-
cian culture. This is substantiated by the method of exploitation
of blade cores, which have little preparation or lack the prepa¬
ration visible on Aurignacian cores.
Summing up the remarks concerning taxonomy, fours trends
may be distinguished among the finds from the
Odra
valley. Most
obvious are the elements of assemblages with knives and hand-
axes, identified with the so-called Micoquian, and the inventories
with leaf points. The Micoquian trend is known from the surficial
finds, therefore determining chronological framework, not to men¬
tion internal differentiation, is impossible. Most arguments sup¬
port the view that, similarly as in the neighbouring regions, the ar¬
tefacts come mainly from the last
glaciation.
The greatest contro¬
versy is caused by the surficial Micoquian finds from Pietraszyn
49,
linked with the Warthe
glaciation.
The stratified finds from
Dzierżysław
1
(lowest horizon) cannot determine the beginning
of emergence of the Micoquian trend in the
Odra
valley, because
they are not representative.
The trend with leaf points is dated on the basis of one site,
Dzierżysław
1.
The finds probably come from the first half of
the 40th millennium. In future slightly older finds may be exca¬
vated, which is substantiated by the finds from Moravia, among
others. The finds from this trend definitely indicate repeated
presence of humans in the upper section of the
Odra
valley
river basin. However, internal differentiation of the finds from
this trend still remains an open issue. The proposals to isolate
the so-called Bohunician and Szeletian cultures still require bet¬
ter arguments as the differences within the tool groups from the
inventory from
Dzierżysław
1
are not well visible.
The least consistent group are the inventories predomi¬
nated by unifacial tools. In terms of technology, they may be
divided into two subgroups: with and without traces of use of
Levallois methods. They are the finds of the greatest chrono¬
logical dispersion, because the oldest may come from the Mes-
opleistocene, while the younger are dated to the Weichselian
glaciation.
They probably determine the occupation in the cold
periods (glacials). It is also possible that some of them may con¬
stitute the
facieses
of another trend. Here, the artefacts from
Ra¬
cibórz
2,
in the past interpreted as Acheulian, as well as the re¬
cently excavated upper horizon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wroclaw, which includes certain elements known from the Mi¬
coquian assemblages, should be mentioned. In the
Odra
valley
there are also examples of bifacial tools of the handaxe type,
which may be identified with the Acheulian trend. They are,
however, solely the surficial finds, therefore no precise data on
their chronology is available. On the basis of their similarity to
the finds from the neighbouring areas (eastern Germany and
north-western part of the Czech Republic) and the geology of
individual sites, it may be assumed that they are younger than
the period of deposition of glacial deposits during the
Odra
gla¬
ciation (OIS
8).
Possibly, the trend with knives and leaf points (the Mico-
que complex), the trend with leaf points and the elements of the
trend with bifacial tools on the handaxe type constitute the re¬
mains of the exploitation of the region by the groups character¬
ised by specific technical tradition of tool production. In view
of modern research, the inventories predominated by unifacial
tools cannot be characterised in the same way.
Chapter IV. Methods of lithic
production
This chapter discusses the methods of its acquisition and
the methods of production of blanks and tools.
The basic lithic material used for production of tools dur¬
ing the Middle Palaeolithic in the
Odra
valley was erratic flint.
Thus, most probably local supply of raw material was utilised
and only at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic the material was
imported from the Drahany Upland (the Czech Republic), sev¬
eral dozen kilometres away. The research has so far shown that
the strategy of the use of lithic material by the
proto-
and Ne¬
anderthal communities in the
Odra
valley differs slightly from
the situation in Moravia, Bohemia, eastern part of Germany and
Little Poland. The most important features include limited use
of Levallois technology (B.3 author's own notation) and prac¬
tically general use of simpler methods of acquiring blanks. The
choice of other than Levallois strategies is, at least in part, con¬
nected with the characteristics of erratic flint, which prevented
the spread of the method requiring material of good quality. The
exception is the area near
Maków, Racibórz
and Pietrowice
Wielkie,
where erratic material of better quality may be en¬
countered and thus cores, flakes and other products of the Le¬
vallois method are found more frequently.
The most popular methods of blank production were: the
method of radial core (B.2), some methods of unidirectional
core (A.I, B.4.1.1) and the method of multidirectional core
(A.3). Their use is substantiated by both
Meso-
and Upper-Ple¬
istocene finds. Absence of traces of use of disc-cores, known as
bi-pyramidal cores (method B.I), is quite surprising, while in
Summary
255
Moravia and Bohemia this type of reduction played almost the
basic role. One of the reasons of a more frequent use of the me¬
thod probably results from the quality of Moravian and Bohe¬
mian material, which was worse than erratic stone encountered
in the
Odra
valley. However, other factors can not be excluded.
General view of the Middle Palaeolithic finds from the
Odra
valley reveals that the unidirectional method was very often
used without traces of preparation or only with formed platform.
Its use resulted in the acquisition of elongated flakes and some¬
times blades but traces of application of more advanced Leval-
lois methods are rare. In terms of the contribution of Levallois
methods in production, the
Odra
valley remains in considerable
contrast with the
Saale
and
Elster
river basin, where this strate¬
gy of acquiring tools played a very important role. German
sites with Levallois technology are dated to the whole period of
the development of the Middle Palaeolithic
(OIS
9-4).
The most
typical examples come from sites Zwochau near
Deutsch,
Markkleeberg
near
Leipzig, Ehringsdorf-
Weimar and
König¬
saue
В.
Recently traces of the application of the methods were
discovered in the area of
Neumark
Nord
I and II. With the
exception of the assemblage from Ehringsdorf-Weimar, the pro¬
duction utilised erratic flint of very good quality.
Another method, known as a blade method, is as yet repre¬
sented by the finds from
OIS
3.
So far the traces of the so-cal¬
led laminar (blade) Mousterian, known from the Little Poland,
western part of Germany and France, are missing. The method
appears in the assemblages identified with the Late Middle
Palaeolithic or Early Upper Palaeolithic. It was encountered in
two variants: ordinary (C.I) without complete preparation and
Upper Palaeolithic (C.2) with complete preparation, sometimes
preceded by the pre-core stage. So far no evidence has been
found for combining Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeo¬
lithic methods within one core, as was the case in the geogra¬
phically close site
Stránská Skála
in Moravia.
Tool production represents practically all the lines known
from other areas of central Europe. It was established that it usu¬
ally assumed the so-called mixed character, consisting in pro¬
duction of unifacial tools with the contribution of the bifacial
concept. The oldest stratified inventories are linked with the
trend of unifacial tool production. The tools were made from
the flake material and hardly ever from blades. The inventories
display the traces of use of bifacial tools but they are not fre¬
quent and the processing hardly ever assumes the form of clas¬
sic invasive retouch. Several handaxes have been found in the
Odra
valley and its close vicinity but unfortunately they are sin¬
gle finds. If the concept of dating them to the younger phase of
Acheulian complex is correct, they mark the northern bounda¬
ry of their influence in Poland. The continuation of the bifacial
concept is found in the finds and inventories dated to the
so-called Micoquian. At present this
taxonomie
unit's lower
boundary, which some authors set at the Warthe
glaciation,
is
debatable. Yet, most assemblages of this type in central Europe
come from the last
glaciation.
During the Weichselian
glaciation
groups of humans
reached the
Odra
valley, which cultivated the custom of produc¬
ing and use of tools made directly from debris or flake blanks
but it is not known which tool production trend they should be
connected with. In the traditional concept they were classified
as belonging to the so-called Mousterian circle. The industries
which emerged ca.
40-35
thousand years ago should be treated
in a different way, as they include numerous examples of the
use of tools of the Upper Palaeolithic type and the forms wide¬
ly used previously.
Chapter V. Neanderthal man's activity
in the
Odra
valley
Each archaeological site more profoundly analysed in this
work is linked with the activity of the groups of Neanderthal
people but only some of the excavated remains enable a closer
look at the practices resulting from the contemporary style of
life and economy. With the use of combination of features
several categories of "locales" have been distinguished, consti¬
tuting the units of the Neanderthal man's hunting system in the
Odra
valley. The remains from layer
11
(lower horizon) from
site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
belong to the category of
workshops. The site is situated directly on the erratic flint out¬
crop located on the glacial layers constituting the bedrock of the
area. The analysis of the general structure of the artefact inven¬
tory shows that the part of the site excavated so far was devoted
to blank production. The artefacts are distinctly predominated
by the elements connected with core reduction
(43
cores/599
flakes and blades), while the contribution of retouched tools is
low. Some of the artefacts formed concentrations, some were
scattered. The concentration was situated in the place where
stratification was horizontal. Considering the complicated
stratigraphie
situation of the discussed horizon, two alternative
models of human activity may be presented. The first assumes
that all the lithic artefacts are connected with one "settlement"
episode. In this model the differences in the state of preserva¬
tion are explained with differing intensity of forming processes.
Some artefacts were not dislocated because they were on a hor¬
izontal surface. In the other model the concentration and
dispersed artefacts are treated as the remains of at least two
settlement periods, which may be partly substantiated by the
difference in the position of artefacts.
In the discussed site consumption practices were performed
close to the place of blank production, which may be indirectly
substantiated by the presence of fauna remains. The remains
from layer
11
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
are thus less similar
to the examples illustrated by production concentrations exca¬
vated in, e.g. Zwochau near Delitzsch, Saxony. They are rather
like workshops belonging to more spacious and structurally
complicated encampments, such as Rheindahlen Bl (West-
wand), North Rhine Westphalia, which may come from the early
phase of the Weichselian
glaciation
or even from the
Saale
gla¬
ciation.
The category of functioning workshops includes site Pie-
traszyn
11,
whose inventory was predominated by the form link¬
ed with reduction. The percentage of finished tools was
3.8%.
Unfortunately, the site was excavated in the
1930s,
therefore
there are no precise data on its internal spatial arrangement. The
products are known to have been scattered in the area of a doz¬
en metres, including dispersed charcoal interpreted as the re¬
mains of a hearth. It was situated in a small basin. Hanske, who
excavated the site, found erratic boulders, which were first in¬
terpreted as a hearth or a butchering site (Herd
oder Zerlegungs¬
platz)
and recently as the remains of a cover.
Dzierżysław
8
is interpreted as the site of the workshop
type. It provided primarily the flakes from core exploitation
and tool production. Tools constitute ca.
3.14%
of the collec¬
tion.
The remains from two sites constitute an example of
a structure linked with various activities approximating a mod¬
el of a camp. However, in both cases there are no grounds for
precise data on the length of human presence and a season of
256
Summary
the year. Older material comes from layer
16
(upper horizon)
of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław.
Similarly as artefacts from
the lowest horizon, the products were made from blocks of flint
or their fragments. The inventory structure is not very charac¬
teristic. Most products are linked with the stage of core exploi¬
tation or tool production
(77.95% -
including the products from
outside the
stratigraphie
context). Animal bone remains are im¬
portant for a full evaluation of human activity in site
1
in
Hal¬
iera
street in
Wrocław.
The remains of a steppe
wisent,
a horse
and a mammoth were found. The most numerous were the re¬
mains of the
wisent,
less numerous are those of the horse and
there were only individual remains of the mammoth (small frag¬
ments of an incisor). The fauna bones were encountered as
dispersed and in a concentration. The bone concentration was
excavated in the distance of
7-8
metres from the greatest con¬
centration of flint products. They probably belong to two spe¬
cimens of
wisent,
Bison priscus (oral information from K. Ste-
faniak, Institute of Zoology, University of
Wrocław).
The re¬
mains were encountered in the layer of low-energy silt depos¬
its, resting in a small indentation of the depth of ca.
0.3
m,
whose bottom was formed from gravel-sand deposits of the
lower layer. The bones are predominated by fragments of skull
with some fragments of long bones and vertebrae. Absence of
a greater number of skeleton elements containing meat tissue
suggests that they are the remains of a consumption. However,
until taphonomic analyses are completed, it can not be decided
whether the remains result from the activity of predatory ani¬
mals or human activity. The latter option is supported by the
location of the remains, situated outside the local erosion base
and the fact that the concentration is composed of the remains
of at least two specimens. Other traces which may be linked
with a similar form of hunting-gathering activity come from the
lower horizon of site
1
in
Dzierżysław
(the artefacts identified
with Bohunician culture). The site is located in an exposed place,
on the southern slope of a culmination. The research carried out
by J.K.
Kozłowski
and then by E. Foltyn proves that the mate¬
rial is predominated by numerous tools, including household
forms, such as side-scrapers, endscrapers, notched and denticu¬
lated tools, perforators and gravers (Foltyn
2003,
p.
14).
The
place could have been a transitional camp during a seasonal
expedition connected with hunting or acquisition of flint materi¬
al, or it could have even been a base camp. The place was pro¬
bably selected due to presence of water reservoir in the form of
a thermokarst depression. The authors distinguished four zones
of activity (three small ones and one expansive), which were
characterised by a greater amassment of flint artefacts forming
rare refittings. The zones also displayed stone pebbles, interpret¬
ed as seats or anvils. On the basis of spatial analysis as well as
typological, technological and traseological data (traces of
wood and bone processing, butchering), the authors attempted
to define the places of human activity within the zones, using
L. Binford's model and
D. Staperťs
concept of rings. Unfortu¬
nately, location of the artefacts within solifluction layers
weakens considerably this detailed interpretation.
The researchers attribute the function of an equally stable
structure to the remains constituting the so-called upper horizon
of site
1
in
Dzierżysław.
The horizon provided extensive evi¬
dence of intensive development of solifluction, which prevents
precise characteristics of location of artefacts. Surface excava¬
tions from
1957
and
1958
revealed dispersed artefacts in the
north-eastern and southern part of the trenches. Considerably
crushed charcoal, possibly from destroyed fires, was encounter¬
ed in the vicinity of the southern concentration of products. Ac¬
cording to E. Foltyn, the concentrations constituted fragments
of two flint concentrations, yet the most significant discovery
was the pavement consisting of forty one erratic boulders situ¬
ated in the context of "pit" remains, i.e. a depression filled with
sand. The erratic boulders may have been transported from the
outcrop situated several dozen metres below the excavated area.
The boulder concentration formed an oval and the stones were
encountered at approximately the same height. The diameter of
the biggest reached
0.35-0.45
m. According to
K. Sklenár,
the
boulders may constitute the remains of the screen protecting
against wind or they may have strengthened a hut's floor. The
hut may have had the surface of ca.
6-7
m2 and the entrance
towards SSE.
Other traces of activity were discovered in the
Odra
valley
and the adjacent areas. Some of them come from
Oporów
district of in
Wrocław.
The best preserved remains in the so-cal¬
led lower horizon of site A2 prompt the functioning of make¬
shift flint workshops in the river valley bottom on the surface
of dry sand terraces in the vicinity of a lake. The flint material
was brought from the local culminations made from moraine
clay or erosion channels of the river valley. The preservations
status prevents a reconstruction of technological phenomena
and the encountered products may, unfortunately, constitute
fragments of units of different production processes. Retouched
tools were made from flakes from various phases of exploita¬
tion and chunks. These data support the view that the excava¬
ted products are linked with an ephemeral stay whose purpose
was the replenishment of tools. On the basis of the objects
alone it is difficult to conclude as to the type of hunting activi¬
ty which the flint production was connected with, whether the
products were made to be taken away or the series of flakes
were made to be used on the spot, similarly as in the sites lo¬
cated near a lake in Neumark-Nord (Saxony-Anhalt). The col¬
lection of fauna remains accompanying the artefacts in both ho¬
rizons of site A2 and in site
Al
remains a mystery. Most of them
represent an extreme degree of weathering (IV and V after Beh-
rensmeyer), which prevents identification of traces of possible
butchering practices. Single so-called green bones carry the
traces which prove participation of predators in their fragmen¬
tation. On the basis of the remains from the lower horizon of
site A2 it was established that the bone remains belong to at
least two specimens of a mammoth, one horse and one
wisent/
aurochs. Considering the data acquired so far, it may be as¬
sumed that the remains testify to a wide scope of activity of
humans penetrating the bottom of the
pre-Ślęza
valley, i.e. but¬
chering, including necrophagia, and short-term stay to replenish
tools. These activities were favoured by the contemporary con¬
ditions of the natural environment, i.e. water reservoirs in the
deep valley attracting game fauna. Lake deposits provided
the remains of the same species of cryophilic fauna (except for
the reindeer) which were found in sand outwash with lithic ar¬
tefacts. Interesting traces of exploitation of valley environment
were excavated in site Pietraszyn
49.
The artefacts, represent¬
ing the Micoquian trend, unfortunately, were found in subsur¬
face layers. Yet, a very good preservation status of most of the
artefacts suggests that they were dislocated at a short distance.
The inventory is predominated by tools
(64%)
with side-scrap¬
ers (fourteen specimens), knives (twelve specimens) and hand-
axes (three specimens). These features of the inventory suggest
that they are remains of a camp. The site requires further
excavation work.
Summary
257
Numerous remains prove that the
Odra
valley constituted
an important area in the hunting-gathering system of the Nean¬
derthal man. The issue may be characterised with the use of two
scales of approximation: microterritorial, in practice limited to
the sites usually corresponding to the place of implementing the
practices, and
macroterritorial,
comprising the regions in ques¬
tion. In the case of the microterritorial scale, the features of the
natural environment should be mentioned, which may have
been decisive for the selection of "locales" for implementing
hunting and gathering practices. The analysis of better preserv¬
ed remains suggests that several factors may have influenced
the selection, the basic being the possibility of acquiring food
and an easy access to rock material to replenish tools. After ana¬
lysing the location of sites in relation to the palaeorelief of the
terrain, a conclusion may be drawn that human activity encom¬
passed practically the whole cross-section of river valleys and
"uplands", which is very well substantiated by the excavated
sites located in the
Odra
valley or at its edges. They do not
display any regularity in relation to the most important mor¬
phological horizons of the
Odra
and, remaining close to each
other, they differ considerably in terms of absolute height,
which probably results from the mosaic and very
contrastive
character of Pleistocene landscape. There is a certain dispropor¬
tion between the sites located higher (uplands, their edges, val¬
ley slopes) and the sites located in the valley bottoms (higher
and lower terraces, alluvial areas), favouring the former. Yet,
these data can not be treated as the grounds for any more pro¬
found conclusions. The environment now, especially the topo¬
graphy is considerably deformed, because deeper parts of val¬
leys were remodelled, not to mention the fact that they are
rarely accessible for archaeological observation.
The view of the
Odra
valley and its surroundings in the
macroscale
draws attention to the concentration of sites in two
regions, i.e. the
Racibórz Basin/Głubczyce
Upland and
Wrocław
Ice-Marginal Valley with the
Kąty (Wrocław)
Plain adjacent in
the south. It seems that the
150
kilometre long strip of land
between both concentrations played an important role in the
hunting system, while absence of traces results from the present
state of research. There is no information on topographic or ecol¬
ogical obstacles which would explain the absence of settlement
places in this part of the
Odra
valley. Quantitative disproportion
of the remains excavated so far is also interesting. Most sites are
situated in the
Racibórz
Basin or on the edge of the
Głubczyce
Upland. The difference may result from numerous causes. The
discussion from chapter I mentions the fact that the regions
were relatively early penetrated by amateurs and archaeologists,
which probably influenced the general number of sites.
A greater number of traces in the southern part of the
Odra
val¬
ley may also result from more frequent presence of hunters and
gatherers in the area, which may have had a lot to do with the
Moravian Gate as a corridor leading north between the Sudetes
and the Carpathians.
Translated bv
Bartłomiej Madejski |
adam_txt |
Spis
tresei
Wstęp
. 7
Rozdział I. Rozwój badań nad paleolitem środkowym w dolinie Odry
. 9
1.
1.
Definicje paleolitu środkowego oraz ramy chronologiczne i przestrzenne opracowania
. 9
1.2.
Rozwój badań nad środkowym paleolitem w dolinie Odry
. ¡2
1.3.
Zasoby źródłowe
. 15
Rozdział
II.
Stratygrafia i
paleogeografia
stanowisk oraz wiek śladów osadnictwa
. 28
II.
1.
Uwagi wstępne
. 28
11.
2.
Model chronologii i środowiska naturalnego schyłku plejstocenu środkowego
(8-6
OIS)
. 29
11.
3.
Stanowiska ze środkowego plejstocenu
. 31
11.3.1. Racibórz Studzienna, stanowisko
2 . 31
11.
3.2.
Racibórz Ocice, stanowisko
1,
poziom dolny
. 32
11.
3.3.
Bieńkowice, stanowisko A
. 33
11.
3.4.
Dzierżysław, stanowisko
1,
poziom najniższy (warstwa
1). 33
П.З.5.
Wrocław, ul.
Haliera,
poziom dolny (LH)
. 34
II.
3.6.
Pozostałe stanowiska z plejstocenu środkowego
. 35
11.
4.
Model chronologii i środowisko naturalne plejstocenu górnego
(5-3
OIS)
. 36
11.
5.
Stanowiska z górnego plejstocenu
. 37
11.5.1.
Komice, stanowisko
11 . 38
11.
5.2.
Lisięcice, stanowisko „Z"
. 39
11.
5.3.
Racibórz Ocice, stanowisko
1,
poziom górny
. 39
11.
5.4.
Dzierżysław, stanowisko
1,
poziom dolny i górny
. 40
11.
5.5.
Wrocław, ul.
Hallera,
stanowisko
1,
poziom górny
(UH)
. 41
11.
5.6.
Wrocław Oporów, stanowisko
Al,
stanowisko A2, poziom dolny i górny
. 42
11.
5.7.
Pozostałe stanowiska
. 46
11.
6.
Wiek i środowisko naturalne w dobie środkowego paleolitu w dolinie Odry
. 47
Rozdział III. Charakterystyka znalezisk kamiennych i zróżnicowanie taksonomiczne
. 81
III.
1.
Uwagi wstępne
. 81
III.
1.1.
Podstawy oceny wyrobów kamiennych
. 81
III.
1.2.
Klasyfikacja wyrobów kamiennych
. 82
111.
2.
Schyłek plejstocenu środkowego
-
wczesny paleolit środkowy (WPŚ)
. 86
111.2.1. Elementy pięściakowe
. 86
111.
2.2.
Zespoły z przewagą narządzi jednostronnych
. 87
111.
2.3.
Zespoły z narzędziami bifacjalnymi w typie noży i pięściaków
. 90
111.
2.4.
Pozostałe znaleziska
. 93
111.3. Plejstocen górny
-
późny paleolit środkowy (PPŚ)
. 93
111.3.1. Znaleziska reprezentujące zespoły z nożami bifacjalnymi i pięściakami
. 93
111.
3.2.
Zespoły z przewagą narzędzi jednostronnych
. 95
111.3.2.a.
Zespoły bez udziału produktów lewaluaskich
. 95
III.
3.2.^
Zespoły z elementami lewaluaskimi
. 96
III.
3.2.
c. Inne
znaleziska
. 96
111.
3.3.
Inwentarze i znaleziska reprezentujące zespoły z ostrzami liściowatymi
. 98
Ш.З.З.а.
Problem tzw. bohunicienu w inwentarzach z doliny Odry
-
inwentarze ze śladami
„wykorzystania" metod lewaluaskich
. 99
Ш.З.З.Ь.
Inne inwentarze z ostrzami liściowatymi
-
problem znalezisk bez udziału większej
liczby elementów środkowopaleolitycznych
. '0'
260
Spis
tresei
111.
4.
Pozostałe inwentarze datowane na plejstocen górny
. 102
111.
5.
Problem stanowisk identyfikowanych ze środkowym paleolitem
. 106
111.5.1.
Wyroby, które mogą przynależeć do środkowego paleolitu
. 106
111.
5.2.
Wyroby z innych okresów i geofakty
. 109
111.
6.
Zagadnienie zróżnicowania materiałów na terenie doliny Odry
. 112
Rozdział
IV.
Sposoby obróbki surowca kamiennego
. 162
IV.
1.
Uwagi wstępne
. 162
IV.2.
Surowce
. 162
IV.3.
Aprowizacja i problem selekcji surowca
. 163
IV.4.
Podstawowe metody produkcji półsurowca
. 165
IV.5.
Kierunki produkcji narzędzi kamiennych
. 171
IV.6.
Podsumowanie
. 173
Rozdział
V.
Aktywność neandertalczyka w dolinie Odry
. 183
V.l.
Ślady warsztatów
. 184
V.2.
Ślady obozów
. 186
V.3.
Inne formy aktywności
. 189
V.3.I.
Pozostałości praktyk łowieckich w głębi dolin rzecznych
. 189
V.3.2.
Inne
. 191
V.4.
Elementy strategii łowieckiej w dolinie Odiy
-
stanowiska z fauną
. 191
V.5.
Dolina Odry i jej otoczenie jako terytorium systemu łowieckiego
. 192
Zakończenie
. 207
Katalog stanowisk
. 209
Bibliografia
. 237
Summary
. 248
Bayerische ]
Staatsbibliothek
München J
Middle Palaeolithic in the
Odra
Valley
Summary
Introduction
The presented work is devoted to the remains testifying to
the presence of the Neanderthal man in the
Odra
valley and its
edges during the Middle Palaeolithic. Due to its geographical
advantages and easily accessible lithic material, the
Odra
val¬
ley region probably performed at that time the function of a cor¬
ridor leading from the south to the European Lowland between
the Carpathians and the Sudetes. It also constituted an attrac¬
tive hunting area, which is the only plausible explanation of
a relatively great number of traces of the hunting system units
existing in the region situated not far from the centres of Scan¬
dinavian continental
glaciations.
The research was made possible by a distinct progress in field
work and academic study of the last fifteen years, when not only
did the number of finds considerably increase but also, and more
importantly, numerous valuable sites which preserved their spa¬
tial arrangements and provided the remains of game fauna were
excavated. This enabled approximations, so far impossible, con¬
cerning many issues, from the settlement chronology to the char¬
acteristics of the elements of the hunting and gathering systems.
This study has also been considerably influenced by the change
of the paradigm in researching the Palaeolithic, consisting in al¬
lowances being made for the technological aspect of the exam¬
ined remains, which results in a wider scope of analysis of vari¬
ous manifestations of hunter-gatherers' activity.
Excavations and research carried out in the last five years
have acquired the desirable pace and scope owing to two pro¬
jects financed by the State Committee for Scientific Research.
The first was Settlement and Manners of Exploitation of the
Natural Environment in the Silesian Lowland by Humans at the
End of the Middle Pleistocene, no. H01H006
19,
and the other
The Oldest Occupation of the Wroclaw Ice-Marginal Valley and
Its Edges. An Attempt at Periodisation, no. HOI
H
023 23.
This work used the artefacts, documentation and unpub¬
lished monographs from the collections of the following insti¬
tutions: the Museum of Archaeology, department of the city
Museum of
Wrocław,
the
Opole
Silesia Museum in
Opole
and
the Upper-Silesian Museum in
Bytom,
the Museum in
Racibórz,
the Museum in
Dąbrowa Górnicza,
the Regional Museum in
C'hojnów,
the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in
Łódź,
the Archaeological Museum in
Poznań,
the Institute of
Archaeology at the University of
Wrocław,
the Institute of Ar¬
chaeology at the Jagiellonian University in
Kraków,
and the In¬
stitute of Archaeology and Ethnology at the
Wrocław
Branch
of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Chapter I. Development of the research
of the Middle Palaeolithic
in the
Odra
valley
I.I. Definition of the Middle Palaeolithic
and the work's chronological
and geographical framework
The work is concerned with the finds identified with the
Middle Palaeolithic. The criteria defining the chronological
boundaries of the period are quite clear and are concerned with
lithic artefacts. The beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic is mar¬
ked by the emergence of Levallois technology and its distinc¬
tly distinguished stage of preparation and acquisition of the end
products. This criterion for differentiating between the Lower
and Middle Palaeolithic was first proposed by G. Bosinski
(1967)
and A. Tuffreau
(1979).
The beginning of the Middle
Palaeolithic in the discussed part of Europe is marked by the
assemblages dated to
OIS 8/OIS
7.
The process of introduction
and adoption of technological innovations was very long, there¬
fore it is difficult to determine a clear-cut boundary between
the Lower and the Middle Palaeolithic. The decline of Middle
Palaeolithic industries is represented by the assemblages with
leaf points, belonging to the so-called transitional cultures,
which in Central Europe are dated to the middle part of the in-
terpleniglacial (the
Grudziądz
interstadial) ca. 50-34
thousand
years ago. Some researchers identify the transitional cultures
with the so-called Earliest Upper-Palaeolithic, including the
so-called proto-Aurignacian and the oldest Aurignacian.
According to the present state of knowledge, the assem¬
blages dated to the end of the Middle Palaeolithic were created
by the younger pre-Neanderthal man, earlier referred to as the
Homo heidelbergensis. In the
OIS
5
period Europe was settled
by the form referred to as the proto-Neanderthal man. The end
of the Middle Palaeolithic overlaps with the development of the
classic Neanderthal
forni,
dated to
4
and
3
OIS
(Condemi,
v.
Koenigswald 1997).
Geographically this work focuses on the traces excavated
in the
Odra
valley and its edges, within the adjacent mesore-
gions. Several sites come from a more distant area
-
the Sude-
tic Foreland and the Sudetes. At present the
Odra
valley stretch¬
es along the SE-NW axis, possessing several specific features
differentiating it from other forms of this scale in central Euro¬
pe. The valley and the adjacent areas do not display substantial
topographic contrasts in the west. Apart from a short section in
the Czech Republic, the valley probably had the characteristics
Summary
249
of a lowland river as it does today. The difference in levels be¬
tween fossil terraces from the Warthe and Weichselian
glacia¬
tions
between
Racibórz
(the southern section) and
Wrocław
(the
central section) amounts only to
80
m
at the length of nearly
150
km. A small gradient is also substantiated by the fact that
the difference of the valley bottom levels between its upper (the
locality of
Chałupki)
and middle (the
Ścinawa
Gorge) sections
amounts to mere
105
m (Badura,
Przybylski
2000,
p.
6).
The
discussed topographic features may have played an important
role in the process of colonisation of the Central-European Low¬
land
-
as a corridor and a hunting territory devoid of any great¬
er topographic restrictions.
The upper and middle sections of the valley, which provid¬
ed the traces of early humans' presence in question, cuts across
the Silesian Lowland (a constituent of the Central European
Lowland), considered a form of a basin type. The upper section
of the
Odra
valley runs across the
Odra
Mountains and the
Ra¬
cibórz
Basin. Further on towards the north it borders on the west
with the
Głubczyce
Plateau and on the east with the
Rybnik
Pla¬
teau and the
Chełm
Prominence. The middle section, which pro¬
vided Middle Palaeolithic sites in the detailed physiographic
perspective, is known as the
Wrocław
Ice-Marginal Valley or
the
Odra
Ice-Marginal Valley. The area borders with the Ole-
śnica-Bierutów
Plain in the north, the
Kąty
Plain (also known
as the
Wrocław
Plain) and the
Środa
Upland in the south. One
of the sites
(Vogelsand, Kr. Eisenhüttenstadt)
is located in the
northern part of the Middle
Odra
Valley. Single sites consid¬
ered to be the traces of Neanderthal man's presence are also
located outside this area, within the
Polkowice
and
Trzebnica
Hills, the Sudetes and the Sudetic Foreland, in the area of the
Kaczawa Mountains, the
Chojnów
High Plane, the Sudetic De¬
pression and the
Kłodzko
Basin.
1.2.
Development of the research
into the Middle Palaeolithic
in the
Odra
valley
First discoveries were made only in the
1920s
and the
1930s
and soon the attempts of synthetic studies (H. Lindner
and L. Zotz) followed, which reflect the contemporary paradigm
of archaeological research based on evolutionism and diffusio-
nism. The research of the Middle Palaeolithic re-initiated in the
1950s
by archaeologists M. and W. Chmielewski and a geogra¬
pher A.
Jahn
at site
Maków
20
acquired a new character. The
researchers systematised
stratigraphie data,
analysing sediments
from the perspective of the reconstruction of periglacial proces¬
ses, and introduced
F. Bordes 's
concept, who rejected the divi¬
sion into "Levalloisian" and "Clactonian". They also estimated
the cognitive value of the material acquired at a few sites locat¬
ed near
Racibórz.
In the late
1950s
and the
1960s
the issue of
the Palaeolithic in Upper Silesia was researched by J.K. Ko-
złowski,
who published the results of field work gradually
verifying the sites and the results of the analysis of artefacts.
Large surface excavations comprised such sites as
Dzierży-
sław
1,
Maków
20,
Racibórz Ocice
1
and Racibórz Studzien¬
na
2.
Soon
Kozłowski
made an attempt to order the data on the
chronology of finds and their
taxonomie
position, which he
published in
Paleolit na Górnym Śląsku
(The Palaeolithic in
Upper Silesia) (1964a) and
Węzłowe problemy geochronologii
paleolitu w dolinie Odry i Cyny pod Raciborzem
{Key Issues in
Geochronology of the Palaeolithic in the
Odra
and the
Супа
valley near
Racibórz)
(1965a). In accordance with the short
chronology of the Middle Palaeolithic (Eem interglacial as
well as the early and the middle phase of the Weichselian
gla¬
ciation),
many sites
-
now identified with the early phase of the
Middle-Palaeolithic assemblages
-
were considered Lower-
Palaeolithic. The subsequent year did not result in any substan¬
tial changes in the concept of the Middle Palaeolithic in the re¬
gion. Only in the
1980s
did the interest in the analysed section
of the Palaeolithic increase. The period may be considered the
most dynamic of the ones discussed so far, which is substantia¬
ted by a considerable increase of resources. Apart form verify¬
ing the sites known for many years, new sites were excavated
in the
Wrocław
Plain and the
Odra
Ice-Marginal Valley, among
others.
With time intensive field work brought about new ideas.
Below are the most significant areas of discussion and the re¬
sulting proposals:
1.
Adoption of the long chronology of the Middle Palaeo¬
lithic
(OIS
9-3),
categorising the material from
Racibórz-Stu-
dzienna
2
as belonging to the Middle Palaeolithic industries;
2.
The Upper-Silesian sites were used in constructing the
concept of the so-called transitory cultures in this part of Eu¬
rope which denoted the extinction of the Middle Palaeolithic as¬
semblages;
3.
Attempts were made to identify new
taxonomie
units
(assemblages with unifacial tools with their counterparts in the
Mousterian, Bohunician assemblages, etc.) and constructing
their chronological skeleton on the basis of the geophysical
dating, among others;
4.
Approximations of the dynamics of settlement as well
as the use and circulation of lithic raw material were made,
taking into consideration the important issue of forming of the
Middle Palaeolithic sites.
5.
Theoretical approach, so far predominated by "cultural
archaeology", to this day developed by some archaeologists,
made allowances for newer concepts, considering a wider spec¬
trum of reasons for the differentiation of archaeological assem¬
blages.
1.3.
Resources
The excavations in the
Odra
river and its edges to date
have provided
68
sites identified with the Middle Palaeolithic.
The cognitive value of this inventory is diversified. Only few
of the sites may constitute the basis for this work, while the re¬
maining ones may only constitute the background for the
discussion presented here. This is partially presented in Table
1.3,
which shows information on the type of site, the environ¬
ment where the finds were deposited as well as the methods of
documenting the finds and their stratigraphy. Lithic and organ¬
ic (bones, wood) remains found in the geological layers depos¬
ited with low transport energy are significant in determining
chronology, manners of existence, including the methods of pro¬
ducing blanks and lithic tools as well as the dynamics of settle¬
ment. Similar layers provided traces excavated in several sites,
localised in both the upper and the middle section of the
Odra
river basin
(Dzierżysław
1,
lower horizon;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street, site I, upper horizon). However, the discussed region is
predominated by the finds deposited in the layers accumulated
with much greater energy, which resulted in the dislocation or
the reduction of the remains and the location of the artefacts.
250
Summary
Most of such traces are connected with the fluvial sedimenta¬
tion environment, which is exemplified by site
Racibórz Stu¬
dzienna
2.
Apart from lithic finds, some sites provided inter¬
esting fauna remains
(Wrocław Oporów
Al
and A2). Unfortu¬
nately, weathering and transport resulted in their crushing,
which prevents identification of species, determining the num¬
ber of animals and establishing the possible traces of butcher¬
ing and hunting practices. Some remains were excavated in
slope and slope/fluvial sediments which preserved bone re¬
mains
(Dzierżysław
1,
upper horizon;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street,
site
1,
lower horizon; northern part of site
1;
Wrocław Oporów
A2, upper horizon).
The discussion concerning the chronology of human set¬
tlement episodes constitutes an important element of the work,
thus the sites where the chronology of artefacts was determined
with the use of conventional or geophysical methods play an im¬
portant role. The most significant are those where the chro¬
nology could be established with the use of several methods
(e.g.
Dzierżysław
1,
with the series of TL dates and detailed
stratigraphie
data;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street, site
1
and
Wrocław
Oporów,
sites
Al
and A2, where an attempt was made to date
with the use of the TL, OSL, EPR and I4C methods).
Chapter II. Stratigraphy
and palaeogeography of sites
and the chronology
of settlement traces
II.
1.
Model of chronology and the natural environment
of the Late Middle Pleistocene
(OIS
8-6)
Middle Palaeolithic industries in the
Odra
valley emerged
during profound changes in the natural environment caused by
the development of continental
glaciations
ca. 300
thousand
years ago. The period comprises two glacial-interglacial cycles.
Considerable impact on the physiographic system and the
Odra
valley topography was exerted by the phenomena connected
with the development and disappearance of the
Odra
continen¬
tal glacier. According to the latest data, the continental glacier
in its maximum phase reached the northern parts of the western,
central and eastern Sudetes, invading the
Jelenia Góra
Basin and
the
Kłodzko
Basin as well as the Moravian Gate in the south¬
eastern area. On the basis of TL dating of
kame
deposits the
disappearance of the continental glacier is dated to
284
±
34
thousand years BP, even though there are sites dated earlier and
later, which in itself is thus of conventional character. The most
important changes resulting from the presence of the continen¬
tal glacier in this area include the formation of a new river
network in the foreland of the melting continental glacier or
the movement of the old river beds and the emergence of se¬
quences of morainic elevations.
The natural environment of the two subsequent stages, i.e.
the Lublin
interglacial
(known as the
Lubawa
interglacial,
the
Pilica
interglacial
and the
Postsaale in
the
Opava
Basin) and the
Warthe
glaciation,
may be recreated on the basis of more nu¬
merous data. It must be emphasised, however, that a considera¬
ble amount of information comes from northern and north¬
eastern Poland. The most important site which constitutes the
basis for recreating the flora from the Lublin period is the lake
discovered in
Losy
near
Lubawa.
Only one site with organo¬
genic deposits in the form of distinctly marked horizon of
les¬
sive
soil is known in the area of the greatest interest to us, i.e.
Silesia. The site is situated in the brickyard near
Bránice,
Pro¬
vince of
Opole.
A short
interglacial
period was followed by cooling of the
climate, when the Warthe
glaciation
continental ice developed.
In its maximum
stadial
the continental ice reached the central
river basin of the
Nysa Łużycka
and further east to the
Dalków
Hills and
Trzebnica
Hills. The continuation is constituted by the
Lubin
and
Żary
lobes. Some researchers believe in a theory
of limited extent of the Warthe
glaciation
continental glacier
(thus only the deposits including moraine clays of the
Odra
gla¬
ciation
are distinguished to the south of the so-called Barucz-
Głogów
Ice-Marginal Valley), while others are for a greater
extent of moraine deposits and the deposits connected with the
extraglacial
area. This is exemplified by the fact that in the
western part of the
Dalków
Hills the continental glacier cros¬
sed the northern edge of the Silesian Rampart during the War¬
the
glaciation.
If this suggestion were confirmed, a number of
changes in the chronology of many Silesian sites should be
made. Aeolian deposits also developed during that period (e.g.
the site in
Bránice,
Kietrz, Królów, Krzanowice
and Skarszyn)
in the form of loess, but they are not very thick. During the
discussed period quite significant changes took place in the
valley zones, as in the middle sub-stage valleys in the uplands
were filled in to the height of
6-12
metres above their contem¬
porary bottom.
II.
2.
Model of chronology and the natural environment
of the Upper Pleistocene
(OIS
5-3)
The next period of the development of the Upper Palaeo¬
lithic industries in Europe coincided with the warming period
known as the Eem
interglacial
and a considerable part of the
Weichselian
glaciation,
which was expressed by gradual cooling
of climate
(OIS 5e-3).
The period of Eem warming is relative¬
ly well represented in the
Odra
river basin by palaeoecological
sites, therefore the reconstruction of the climate and flora both
in the lowland and upland zones is relatively easy. Organo¬
genic deposits enable to distinguish the pre-optimum, optimum
and decline phases, which in the narrow view correspond to the
lower, middle and upper
substages,
respectively. The pre¬
served soil horizons prove that during the pre-maximum phase
the steppe and then forest-steppe developed in the lowland-
upland areas of the
Odra
river basin. Forest complexes appear¬
ed at the turn of the middle
substage.
At its end the climate
cooled, which resulted in the predomination of the coniferous
forest complexes. Numerous data enable the observation of the
whole process of flora development in this
interglacial
(horizons
from El to E7), which with a few exceptions is similar to other
regions of Poland.
Transformation of natural environment during the Weich¬
selian
glaciation
is also better researched in the
Odra
river
basin than for the earlier period, therefore
substages
correspond¬
ing to
stadiale
and interstadials are distinguished within it.
There are gaps in part of the Weichselian
glaciation.
The begin¬
ning of the Weichselian stage begins with the disappearance of
forest complexes and emergence of shrub tundra, which is
distinctly visible in the stratotypical profile of Imbramowice. At
that time vegetation zones moved considerably to the south. In
the first period, sometimes referred to as the
Toruń
glaciation,
Summary
251
the process of degradation of
interglacial
soil sediments pro¬
bably began in the
Odra
river basin. Cooling was followed by
warming identified with Brarup and with the
Gniew
interstadial
in Poland.
According to some geomorphologists, the warming in the
Odra
river basin consisted of two warmer periods. Forest com¬
plexes developed during that period, which is documented by
pollen profiles, and so did forest-steppe or steppe soils, which
is substantiated by chernozem sediments. The examples of the
soils are found in the sites in
Braniče,
Głogówek, Racibórz
Осі
-
ce
and Skarszyn. A short cooling period was followed by an¬
other warming which in the Western-European literature is re¬
ferred to as Odderade and which probably corresponds to orga¬
nogenic deposits from the palaeoecological sites in
Zgierz
Radunici,
Stary Kurów and Władysławów.
According to some
researchers, the soil processes initiated in the early phase of the
Weichselian
glaciation
continued during that period.
Another period
(OIS
4),
known as the
Świecie
or pre-Gru-
dziądz
stadial
and as the I pleniglacial in older studies, was
characterised by rapid cooling, the return of permafrost, soli-
ftuction and cryoturbation. Dating of loess sediments accumu¬
lated at that time indicates the period between
66
and
55
thou¬
sand years ago. Yet, it is maintained that the period was slight¬
ly warmer than the main
stadial.
More palaeoclimatic data
come from the initial phase of the
interstadial
known as the
Gru¬
dziądz
interstadial
(OIS
3),
considerably cooler that the warm¬
ing from the beginning of the Weichselian
glaciation.
This is
substantiated by the persistent presence of permafrost in loess
areas. Both the results of palaeobotanical and palaeopedologi-
cal analyses indicate the development of subarctic soils in the
initial phase of that period under the complexes of shrub tun¬
dra and typical tundra. The development of such a complex is
also reconstructed on the basis of the lowland sites with flora.
A greater number of traces, rendering more chronological and
palaeogeographical data, is connected with the Upper Pleisto¬
cene.
II.
3.
Chronology and natural environment during
the Middle Palaeolithic
in the
Odra
valley
The available data enable a presentation of the chronologi¬
cal scheme of the traces of the Neanderthal man's presence,
also comprising the visible changes in the natural environment
in the
Odra
valley and its edges. The oldest traces of the Mid¬
dle Palaeolithic industries in this part of Europe are dated to the
period preceding the development of the Middle-Polish
glacia¬
tion
complexes. In the
Odra
valley the oldest elements are pro¬
bably linked with the later period following the withdrawal of
the Warthe
glaciation
continental ice. At present the traces are
correlated with the Warthe
glaciation
cooling. These are the
artefacts from site
2
in
Racibórz Studzienna,
possibly the lower
horizon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
and the lowest
horizon of site
1
in
Dzierżysław.
The artefacts found in the
ceiling of the Ocice terrace in
Racibórz Ocice,
the artefacts from
Piotrowice
Wielkie
8a and
Bieńkowice
A may also be of the
same age. It is debatable whether the artefacts from site Pietra-
szyn
49
found on the surface are of the Middle Pleistocene
character.
In terms of palaeorelief the sites tend to be located in
higher parts of the terrain
-
the sites from
Racibórz
and its
vicinity may represent the remains of the exploitation of the
terrace system in a big valley, the traces from
Dzierżysław
are
situated on a culmination dominating over the local area,
while the remains in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
confirm the
occupation of a small culmination situated in the area of a ram¬
part located between two valleys. Thus, the traces indicate the
activity in the area of undulated terrain. Obviously, the present¬
ed picture, based on fragmentary data, is incomplete. On the
asis
of the examples from Saxony and Thuringia, it may be as¬
sumed that in future traces may be discovered which will sub¬
stantiate the penetration of lower valley parts and shore zones
of lakes.
Concerning the features of the natural environment consti¬
tuting the habitat of the contemporary man, only the traces from
Haliera
street provide more detailed data. The excavations
yielded the remains of game fauna represented by the species
typical for steppe and steppe-tundra, i.e. a horse, a steppe
wisent
and a rhinoceros. The data on the smallest number of ani¬
mals and the chronological profile of the animal remains are not
yet available. The identified remains represent adult animals,
which the man probably hunted.
As it was mentioned, there are no traces from the Eem in-
terglacial. Undoubtedly the environmental conditions from the
last
interglacial
favoured settling of central Europe, which is
substantiated by numerous finds from this area. Site
Komice
11
correlated with this period does not provide any indications as
to linking its age with stage 5e, however, there are reasons to
assume that the traces may come from the early phase of the
Weichselian
glaciation.
It also seems necessary to question
the attempt to identify sites
Maków
15
and
20
as well as Pie-
traszyn
11
with the Eem
interglacial.
It seems that this situa¬
tion, "exceptional" in central Europe, results from the state of
the research and the impact of erosion processes which occur¬
red on the slopes and valley bottoms during the subsequent
cooling.
The greatest number of traces of the Neanderthal man's pre¬
sence comes from the Weichselian
glaciation.
At present the ar¬
tefacts excavated in site Kornice
11
may be linked with the
lower
substage
of the Weichselian
glaciation,
which substanti¬
ate human activity in the fluvial terrace zone. The chronology
is based on the
stratigraphie
analysis of the site's profile. The
traces located in the upper and central part of the
Odra
river
basin are identified with the pleniglacial period and possibly
with the beginning of the
Grudziądz
interstadial.
The upper sec¬
tion of the river basin is represented by two sites:
Racibórz
Oci¬
ce and
Dzierżysław
1.
In
Racibórz
Ocice the artefacts rested in
younger loess covered with gley soil of the Komorniki type,
which proves that the products are slightly younger than
the soil and substantiate human activity on the terrace of the
area's main water course. The remains excavated in
Dzierżysław
come from two horizons, which unfortunately have not been
dated precisely. The lower horizon, Bohunician, is identified
with the Moershoofd and
Hengelo
interstadial
or only with the
latter warming period, while the upper horizon, identified with
the Szeletian, may have emerged, according to the researchers,
during the cooling period between the
Hengelo
and Denekamp
interstadials. The traces indicate that the culmination dominat¬
ing over the local area was occupied. It is quite possible that the
very interesting finds from Pietraszyn
11
come from the begin¬
ning of the pleniglacial or even the period preceding it.
In the middle part of the
Odra
river basin the upper hori¬
zon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
may be dated to the
252
Summary
pleniglacial or the beginning of the interpleniglacial
(OIS
4-3).
This assumption was based on the results of geophysical dating
of bone remains found next to the concentrations of lithic arte¬
facts. Artefacts from
Hallera
street indicate the presence of
humans in the area of culmination located between the
Odra
and the
pre-Ślęza.
Other traces from the discussed region were
found in the
Ślęza
valley in
Oporów
district, several kilometres
to the north-west from the site in
Hallera
street in Wroclaw. The
artefacts excavated in site
Al
and the lower horizon of site A2
probably constitute the traces of exploitation of the area at the
beginning of the interpleniglacial, though it is also possible that
they are linked with a slightly earlier period. The products from
the upper horizon of site A2 probably come from this inter¬
pleniglacial. Location of traces from
Oporów
is interesting as
they were located in the terrace deposits at the edge of the
upland and are undoubtedly linked with the exploitation of the
valley bottom, where water reservoirs existed at that time. In
the case of the sites from
Wrocław,
evidence was acquired that
the process of occupation took place during the development of
steppe or steppe-tundra.
In conclusion, the area of the middle and upper part of
the river basin was exploited, similarly as the neighbouring
areas, during the Middle-Polish and the Weichselian
glacia¬
tions.
So far there are no sites representing the Middle Pala¬
eolithic industry from the period preceding the development
of the Middle-Polish
glaciation
or the so-called Middle-
Polish sub-stage, or possibly from their early phase. There is
a difference of opinion concerning internal differentiation of
the Middle-Polish
glaciations
and their correlation with the
isotopie
stages, which may affect the dating of the settlement
traces in the near future. If the traditional concept of the di¬
vision of the Mesopleistocene into the
Odra
glaciation,
the
Lubawa
interglacial
and the Warthe
glaciation
(e.g. Mojski
1993)
is to be adopted, the sites dated to the period following
the disappearance of the
Odra
glaciation
will be correlated
with
7
or, which is more probable,
6
stage. If the newer con¬
cept of the division of the Middle-Polish
glaciation
into the
Krzna
glaciation,
the
Lubawa
interglacial
and the
Odra
gla¬
ciation
and the Warthe
glaciation
is to be adopted, the sites
situated within the
stratigraphie
model following the
Odra
glaciation
will become younger even by a hundred thousand
years! Their position in relation to
isotopie
stages will also
change and the oldest will be identified with
OIS
6.
The sites with palaeoecological data substantiate that
humans were present during the cold phases. Simultaneously,
there is no convincing data on the exploitation of the river
basin during
interglacial
optima, which is possibly connected
with the status of the excavations and the development of the
processes destroying the remains from that period, which rested
in lower parts of river valleys.
Chronological and palaeoenvironmental differentiation of
sites observed in the south-western Poland situated at the bor¬
der between two climate zones
-
oceanic and continental, re¬
flects general trends in settlement known from other regions of
north-central Europe, where such great gaps in the chronology
of the Pleistocene settlement were not observed, except for the
climate pessimum from the I pleniglacial and at the end of the
last
glaciation.
Therefore, it would be difficult to accept the hy¬
pothesis of periodical extinction of the Middle Palaeolithic set¬
tlement during cold phases in this and other regions of north-
central Europe, which is to constitute the reaction to the impact
of the periglacial environment.
Chapter III. Characteristics of lithic finds
and
taxonomie
differentiation
This part of the work is devoted to the characteristics of
lithic artefacts and the attempt to create a model of
taxonomie
differentiation of the finds form the
Odra
valley. The material
was analysed in terms of its technology and typology after it
was categorised with the use of list resembling the lists of dy¬
namic classification.
Several inventories and individual finds are identified with
the so-called Early Middle Palaeolithic, which include the arte¬
facts predominated by unifacial tools and a small number of
traces of the use of advanced methods of core exploitation.
New discoveries in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
(lower horizon of
site
1)
indicate that tools may include individual forms of bi¬
facial tools. Dating of the finds is not very precise. In classic
geostratigraphy the age of the remains corresponds to the
Lubawa
interglacial
or the Warthe
glaciation.
Slightly younger
chronology of some finds can not be excluded.
The material excavated so far has most features in common
with the industries which in the conventional system are de¬
scribed as Mousterian. In central Europe the sites classified as
Mousterian Early Middle Palaeolithic, including the assem¬
blages from the neighbouring areas, do not constitute a homo¬
geneous group in terms of chronology as well as technological
and morphological features. It would be difficult to indicate
unequivocally the source of emergence of this type of industries
in the early phase of the Middle Palaeolithic. Various possible
impulses have been discussed. The concept of quite early emer¬
gence of various traditions is taken into consideration, yet
some researchers propose palaeoeconomic causes. This factor
is increasingly more frequently proposed as the reason for the
differentiation of the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages in the
eastern part of Germany, where considerable differentiation was
observed during the examination of the site complex in
Neumark-Nord
1,
which may result from different functions of
places where lithic products and the accompanying bones were
gathered.
Another trend in the Early Middle Palaeolithic distin¬
guished in the
Odra
valley is represented by handaxes found in
four sites. Unfortunately, they can not be dated precisely as the
artefacts were found on the surface. Yet, they come from
before the last
interglacial, but
another chronological position
can not be excluded. The discussed trend, defined as young
Acheulian
(Jungacheuléen),
is not well researched in the cen¬
tral Europe due to a small number of sites with longer series
of lithic artefacts. The sites include several sites from eastern
Germany and the Czech Republic. A small number of traces of
the handaxe trend in central Europe is explained with a con¬
cept which assumes that a new migration wave of the popula¬
tion using handaxes (Acheulian) moved towards south-western
Europe and stopped in the Rhine valley and the western Alps,
known as Movius line. As the absence of handaxes beyond
that line can not be explained with technological or ecological
causes, it is assumed that more intensive settlement of the
"Acheulian population" was prevented by the populations from
earlier migrations. It would be difficult to decide which con¬
cept is correct. In any case, the finds from the Elbe region
extend the range of Movius line.
Another and at the same time most debatable Early Mid¬
dle Palaeolithic industry in the
Odra
valley are the sites identi¬
fied with Micoquian culture. So far in central Europe the sites
Summary
253
of this type were restricted to the Eem
interglacial
and the
Weichselian
glaciation.
Two inventories from Pietraszyn
49
and
Dzierżysław
1
(lowest horizon), discussed earlier, constitute the
basis for distinguishing a new
taxonomic
unit. J.K.
Kozłowski
maintains that both finds are dated to the Warthe
glaciation
and
are connected with the Middle Pleistocene Micoquian horizon,
represented by layer
6
of eponimic site La Micoque. The finds
from the
Odra
valley were classified as belonging to the sites
where assemblages with knives were excavated, dated to the end
of the Middle Palaeolithic:
Biśnik
Cave
-
assemblage A3 from
layer
14
and
Mes vin
IV. The concept suggests the continuity of
Micoquian industries in Europe from
8
to
4
OIS,
inclusive. So
far there has been a gap between the assemblage from La Mi¬
coque and Micoquian sites of ca.
150
thousand years. Now the
following sequence would be distinguished: from the oldest ho¬
rizon in La Micoque
(280
thousand years BP), to Mesvin IV
(average dating of
250
thousand years BP), to
Biśnik
Cave
(Warthe
glaciation),
to the lowest horizon of the site in
Dzier¬
żysław
1 (180
±
35
thousand years). The idea of differentiating
the third Early Middle Palaeolithic industry will entail the
need to discuss several issues in the future. The basic issue is
the definition of the Micoquian. If the liberal assumptions are
adopted, which consist in identifying all the inventories includ¬
ing asymmetric knives with the Micoquian, many Acheulian
and Mousterian assemblages, including the above-mentioned ar¬
tefacts from
Biśnik
Cave defined as the assemblages of the
Pie¬
kary
type, would have to be defined as Micoquian. If Rich-
ter's concept is to be accepted that other than knives structural
elements should be decisive for belonging to the Micoquian, the
group will be reduced to the assemblages from the last
glacia¬
tion.
Discussing the proposal of a new
taxonomic
unit, the re¬
servations concerning the number and representative character
of the material from
Dzierżysław
1
and the
stratigraphie
posi¬
tion of the material from Pietraszyn
49
can not be ignored. The
proposals concerning the need to repeat
radiometrie
dating of
the material from Mesvin IV also have to be taken into consi¬
deration.
The Late Middle Palaeolithic is known for a greater num¬
ber of traces. Some remains are represented by knives and hand-
axes connected with the Micoquian industry discussed above.
Yet, they are the artefacts devoid of the
stratigraphie
context,
which come from five sites situated near Pietrowice
Wielkie
near
Racibórz.
The issue of the sites' dating remains open.
Older Micoquian assemblages belonging to the Upper Pleisto¬
cene used to be identified with the Eem
interglacial.
Today a
view predominates that they all come from the last
glaciation.
Therefore two concepts of the development and disappearance
of Micoquian assemblages in central Europe are considered.
One, proposed by J.
Richter,
emphasises short chronology of the
development of the Micoquian industry, treated as the so-called
Micoquian with Mousterian Option ("MicoquienMM.O"). On
the basis of absolute dating of the layers in
Sesselfelsgrotte
cave
in the valley of
Altmühl
and the chronology of other Mico¬
quian sites, J.
Richter
stated that the unit developed for maxi¬
mum
15
thousand years and solely during
OIS
3.
On the other
hand, most archaeologists advocate a wider chronology of the
unit's development, allowing for biostatic premises apart from
absolute dating. They claim that the Micoquian tradition, defi¬
ned by G. Bosinski as groups with knives-handaxes (Keilmes-
sergruppenlYMG), developed prior to and following I plenigla-
cial in "lowland" Europe. In his concept, based on the assump¬
tion of a strong link existing between a tool type and a social
group, he presents the model of KMG changeability linked with
the migration of the "Micoquian" population caused by climat¬
ic changes. When climate deteriorated
(67-59
thousand years
BR), the population producing bifacial tools of the knife type
moved to the refuge niches in southern Europe.
Theoretically, the finds from the
Odra
valley may represent
three stages
(А
-C)
of the development of the Micoquian distin¬
guished by O.
Joris,
because their equivalents are found in the
neighbouring areas. Stages A and
В
occurred in
Ciemna
Cave,
Biśnik
Cave, Wylotne shelter or an open-air site in
Zwoleń,
among others, while the artefacts from layer 7a from
Kůlna
Cave in Moravia may correspond to stage
С
Other Upper-Pleistocene sites do not constitute such a dense
group as the sites discussed above. Their common feature is the
predomination of unifacial tools, thus the finds refer to the as¬
semblages from the so-called Mousterian circle (Kornice
11 ;
Pietraszyn
11 ;
Wrocław,
Hallera
street, site
1,
upper horizon).
However, it is not certain whether the feature is not coinciden¬
tal, resulting from the impact of various factors, i.e. the so-cal¬
led Mousterian character may result from, e.g. a specific
facies
which was not expressed by a properly representative number
of retouched tools. The upper horizon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
probably represents the traces of a situation
when the remains of a workshop predominate. Examples of this
group of sites are linked with the Eem
interglacial
or the begin¬
nings of the Weichselian
glaciation.
Following technological
criteria, the inventories may be divided into two subgroups:
1)
with traces of an extensive use of Levallois methods (i.e.
complete preparation of core),
2)
without evidence of use of this
method to acquire half-finished products and tools.
It should be added that in central Europe the analysis of in¬
ventories of "Mousterian characteristics" is difficult, which re¬
sults from a small number of inventories of such features. They
also include scarce tool groups, while traces of core reduction
or production of some tools do not completely exclude the link
with other units, e.g. the Micoquian. The complexes of assem¬
blages considered as Mousterian characteristically do not have
concentrations in the geographical and temporal sense, not to
mention the absence of sites with longer
stratigraphie
sequen¬
ces. This may mean that the industries of this type did not de¬
velop to the same extent as in southern and western Europe. In
the north of the
Harz
and the Alps they may have been repla¬
ced by the horizon with knives and handaxes, which some
archaeologists treat as the remains of ethnically different com¬
munities. This issue requires further research.
An equally interesting issue is another trend in the Late
Middle Palaeolithic
-
the horizon with leaf points in the
Odra
valley, which belongs to the so-called transitory cultures. One
of the more serious issues preventing better understanding of
these industries is the dating of individual sites, their internal
taxonomie
diversification and genesis. Approximate age of the
development of the industries of this type is known due to
ra¬
diometrie
dating of one site, i.e.
Dzierżysław
1.
The dating con¬
cerns only one layer and is confirmed by only one sample,
which unfortunately comes from the deposit which had under¬
gone solifluction, therefore a more precise dating of the epi¬
sode is impossible. The layer, dated to
36.5
(±
5.5
thousand
years BP) contained the remains identified with Szeletian cul¬
ture, while below there were the artefacts for some time now
identified with Bohunician culture. The acquired date falls
within the chronological range of both Szeletian culture (older
assemblages) and Bohunician culture, even though most "Bo-
254
Summary
hunician layer dates" are connected with a slightly earlier pe¬
riod:
42-38
thousand years BP.
Another issue is the evaluation whether the finds belong to
either Bohunician or Szeletian culture. As it was emphasised
earlier, the difficulty in differentiating these units results from
great similarity of both inventories from
Dzierżysław
1,
which
are to represent the Szeletian and the Bohunician. The similar¬
ity is manifested in tools. The assemblage from
Dzierżysław
al¬
so differs considerably from Bohunician assemblages. The dif¬
ference may be interpreted in two ways. It may result from
a closer link with the inventories from the so-called Szeletian
culture and then the older
taxonomic
concept of the site in
Dzierżysław
should be recalled. The other explanation assumes
that the lower assemblage may actually be linked with the Bo¬
hunician and the observed differences result from different raw
material which the groups of hunters migrating from the south
encountered. Thus, the presentation of the internal division of
the sites from the horizon with leaf points is quite difficult. In
the context of other finds, mainly surficial, isolation of the Bo¬
hunician and the Szeletian units mentioned above causes even
greater difficulty. Any attempts at a more precise differentiation
of these finds seem doomed to fail, which results from the fact
of spatial and temporal overlapping of different units with leaf
points in this part of Europe, among others.
Independently of these critical remarks, the sites with leaf
points from the
Odra
valley play an important role in the discus¬
sion on the emergence of these units in central Europe. Two hy¬
potheses are involved here. The first, especially emphasised by
P. Allsworth-Jones, claims that the
Szeleden
formed due to "ac¬
culturation" on the border between the Middle and Upper Palae¬
olithic. It assumes that adoption of certain elements, including
the method of producing half-finished blades, results from the
contact with the Upper Palaeolithic culture. The other hypothe¬
sis claims that Szeletian culture emerged locally (probably from
the Micoquian background), without the influence of Aurigna-
cian culture. This is substantiated by the method of exploitation
of blade cores, which have little preparation or lack the prepa¬
ration visible on Aurignacian cores.
Summing up the remarks concerning taxonomy, fours trends
may be distinguished among the finds from the
Odra
valley. Most
obvious are the elements of assemblages with knives and hand-
axes, identified with the so-called Micoquian, and the inventories
with leaf points. The Micoquian trend is known from the surficial
finds, therefore determining chronological framework, not to men¬
tion internal differentiation, is impossible. Most arguments sup¬
port the view that, similarly as in the neighbouring regions, the ar¬
tefacts come mainly from the last
glaciation.
The greatest contro¬
versy is caused by the surficial Micoquian finds from Pietraszyn
49,
linked with the Warthe
glaciation.
The stratified finds from
Dzierżysław
1
(lowest horizon) cannot determine the beginning
of emergence of the Micoquian trend in the
Odra
valley, because
they are not representative.
The trend with leaf points is dated on the basis of one site,
Dzierżysław
1.
The finds probably come from the first half of
the 40th millennium. In future slightly older finds may be exca¬
vated, which is substantiated by the finds from Moravia, among
others. The finds from this trend definitely indicate repeated
presence of humans in the upper section of the
Odra
valley
river basin. However, internal differentiation of the finds from
this trend still remains an open issue. The proposals to isolate
the so-called Bohunician and Szeletian cultures still require bet¬
ter arguments as the differences within the tool groups from the
inventory from
Dzierżysław
1
are not well visible.
The least consistent group are the inventories predomi¬
nated by unifacial tools. In terms of technology, they may be
divided into two subgroups: with and without traces of use of
Levallois methods. They are the finds of the greatest chrono¬
logical dispersion, because the oldest may come from the Mes-
opleistocene, while the younger are dated to the Weichselian
glaciation.
They probably determine the occupation in the cold
periods (glacials). It is also possible that some of them may con¬
stitute the
facieses
of another trend. Here, the artefacts from
Ra¬
cibórz
2,
in the past interpreted as Acheulian, as well as the re¬
cently excavated upper horizon of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wroclaw, which includes certain elements known from the Mi¬
coquian assemblages, should be mentioned. In the
Odra
valley
there are also examples of bifacial tools of the handaxe type,
which may be identified with the Acheulian trend. They are,
however, solely the surficial finds, therefore no precise data on
their chronology is available. On the basis of their similarity to
the finds from the neighbouring areas (eastern Germany and
north-western part of the Czech Republic) and the geology of
individual sites, it may be assumed that they are younger than
the period of deposition of glacial deposits during the
Odra
gla¬
ciation (OIS
8).
Possibly, the trend with knives and leaf points (the Mico-
que complex), the trend with leaf points and the elements of the
trend with bifacial tools on the handaxe type constitute the re¬
mains of the exploitation of the region by the groups character¬
ised by specific technical tradition of tool production. In view
of modern research, the inventories predominated by unifacial
tools cannot be characterised in the same way.
Chapter IV. Methods of lithic
production
This chapter discusses the methods of its acquisition and
the methods of production of blanks and tools.
The basic lithic material used for production of tools dur¬
ing the Middle Palaeolithic in the
Odra
valley was erratic flint.
Thus, most probably local supply of raw material was utilised
and only at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic the material was
imported from the Drahany Upland (the Czech Republic), sev¬
eral dozen kilometres away. The research has so far shown that
the strategy of the use of lithic material by the
proto-
and Ne¬
anderthal communities in the
Odra
valley differs slightly from
the situation in Moravia, Bohemia, eastern part of Germany and
Little Poland. The most important features include limited use
of Levallois technology (B.3 author's own notation) and prac¬
tically general use of simpler methods of acquiring blanks. The
choice of other than Levallois strategies is, at least in part, con¬
nected with the characteristics of erratic flint, which prevented
the spread of the method requiring material of good quality. The
exception is the area near
Maków, Racibórz
and Pietrowice
Wielkie,
where erratic material of better quality may be en¬
countered and thus cores, flakes and other products of the Le¬
vallois method are found more frequently.
The most popular methods of blank production were: the
method of radial core (B.2), some methods of unidirectional
core (A.I, B.4.1.1) and the method of multidirectional core
(A.3). Their use is substantiated by both
Meso-
and Upper-Ple¬
istocene finds. Absence of traces of use of disc-cores, known as
bi-pyramidal cores (method B.I), is quite surprising, while in
Summary
255
Moravia and Bohemia this type of reduction played almost the
basic role. One of the reasons of a more frequent use of the me¬
thod probably results from the quality of Moravian and Bohe¬
mian material, which was worse than erratic stone encountered
in the
Odra
valley. However, other factors can not be excluded.
General view of the Middle Palaeolithic finds from the
Odra
valley reveals that the unidirectional method was very often
used without traces of preparation or only with formed platform.
Its use resulted in the acquisition of elongated flakes and some¬
times blades but traces of application of more advanced Leval-
lois methods are rare. In terms of the contribution of Levallois
methods in production, the
Odra
valley remains in considerable
contrast with the
Saale
and
Elster
river basin, where this strate¬
gy of acquiring tools played a very important role. German
sites with Levallois technology are dated to the whole period of
the development of the Middle Palaeolithic
(OIS
9-4).
The most
typical examples come from sites Zwochau near
Deutsch,
Markkleeberg
near
Leipzig, Ehringsdorf-
Weimar and
König¬
saue
В.
Recently traces of the application of the methods were
discovered in the area of
Neumark
Nord
I and II. With the
exception of the assemblage from Ehringsdorf-Weimar, the pro¬
duction utilised erratic flint of very good quality.
Another method, known as a blade method, is as yet repre¬
sented by the finds from
OIS
3.
So far the traces of the so-cal¬
led laminar (blade) Mousterian, known from the Little Poland,
western part of Germany and France, are missing. The method
appears in the assemblages identified with the Late Middle
Palaeolithic or Early Upper Palaeolithic. It was encountered in
two variants: ordinary (C.I) without complete preparation and
Upper Palaeolithic (C.2) with complete preparation, sometimes
preceded by the pre-core stage. So far no evidence has been
found for combining Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeo¬
lithic methods within one core, as was the case in the geogra¬
phically close site
Stránská Skála
in Moravia.
Tool production represents practically all the lines known
from other areas of central Europe. It was established that it usu¬
ally assumed the so-called mixed character, consisting in pro¬
duction of unifacial tools with the contribution of the bifacial
concept. The oldest stratified inventories are linked with the
trend of unifacial tool production. The tools were made from
the flake material and hardly ever from blades. The inventories
display the traces of use of bifacial tools but they are not fre¬
quent and the processing hardly ever assumes the form of clas¬
sic invasive retouch. Several handaxes have been found in the
Odra
valley and its close vicinity but unfortunately they are sin¬
gle finds. If the concept of dating them to the younger phase of
Acheulian complex is correct, they mark the northern bounda¬
ry of their influence in Poland. The continuation of the bifacial
concept is found in the finds and inventories dated to the
so-called Micoquian. At present this
taxonomie
unit's lower
boundary, which some authors set at the Warthe
glaciation,
is
debatable. Yet, most assemblages of this type in central Europe
come from the last
glaciation.
During the Weichselian
glaciation
groups of humans
reached the
Odra
valley, which cultivated the custom of produc¬
ing and use of tools made directly from debris or flake blanks
but it is not known which tool production trend they should be
connected with. In the traditional concept they were classified
as belonging to the so-called Mousterian circle. The industries
which emerged ca.
40-35
thousand years ago should be treated
in a different way, as they include numerous examples of the
use of tools of the Upper Palaeolithic type and the forms wide¬
ly used previously.
Chapter V. Neanderthal man's activity
in the
Odra
valley
Each archaeological site more profoundly analysed in this
work is linked with the activity of the groups of Neanderthal
people but only some of the excavated remains enable a closer
look at the practices resulting from the contemporary style of
life and economy. With the use of combination of features
several categories of "locales" have been distinguished, consti¬
tuting the units of the Neanderthal man's hunting system in the
Odra
valley. The remains from layer
11
(lower horizon) from
site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
belong to the category of
workshops. The site is situated directly on the erratic flint out¬
crop located on the glacial layers constituting the bedrock of the
area. The analysis of the general structure of the artefact inven¬
tory shows that the part of the site excavated so far was devoted
to blank production. The artefacts are distinctly predominated
by the elements connected with core reduction
(43
cores/599
flakes and blades), while the contribution of retouched tools is
low. Some of the artefacts formed concentrations, some were
scattered. The concentration was situated in the place where
stratification was horizontal. Considering the complicated
stratigraphie
situation of the discussed horizon, two alternative
models of human activity may be presented. The first assumes
that all the lithic artefacts are connected with one "settlement"
episode. In this model the differences in the state of preserva¬
tion are explained with differing intensity of forming processes.
Some artefacts were not dislocated because they were on a hor¬
izontal surface. In the other model the concentration and
dispersed artefacts are treated as the remains of at least two
settlement periods, which may be partly substantiated by the
difference in the position of artefacts.
In the discussed site consumption practices were performed
close to the place of blank production, which may be indirectly
substantiated by the presence of fauna remains. The remains
from layer
11
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław
are thus less similar
to the examples illustrated by production concentrations exca¬
vated in, e.g. Zwochau near Delitzsch, Saxony. They are rather
like workshops belonging to more spacious and structurally
complicated encampments, such as Rheindahlen Bl (West-
wand), North Rhine Westphalia, which may come from the early
phase of the Weichselian
glaciation
or even from the
Saale
gla¬
ciation.
The category of functioning workshops includes site Pie-
traszyn
11,
whose inventory was predominated by the form link¬
ed with reduction. The percentage of finished tools was
3.8%.
Unfortunately, the site was excavated in the
1930s,
therefore
there are no precise data on its internal spatial arrangement. The
products are known to have been scattered in the area of a doz¬
en metres, including dispersed charcoal interpreted as the re¬
mains of a hearth. It was situated in a small basin. Hanske, who
excavated the site, found erratic boulders, which were first in¬
terpreted as a hearth or a butchering site (Herd
oder Zerlegungs¬
platz)
and recently as the remains of a cover.
Dzierżysław
8
is interpreted as the site of the workshop
type. It provided primarily the flakes from core exploitation
and tool production. Tools constitute ca.
3.14%
of the collec¬
tion.
The remains from two sites constitute an example of
a structure linked with various activities approximating a mod¬
el of a camp. However, in both cases there are no grounds for
precise data on the length of human presence and a season of
256
Summary
the year. Older material comes from layer
16
(upper horizon)
of site
1
in
Hallera
street in
Wrocław.
Similarly as artefacts from
the lowest horizon, the products were made from blocks of flint
or their fragments. The inventory structure is not very charac¬
teristic. Most products are linked with the stage of core exploi¬
tation or tool production
(77.95% -
including the products from
outside the
stratigraphie
context). Animal bone remains are im¬
portant for a full evaluation of human activity in site
1
in
Hal¬
iera
street in
Wrocław.
The remains of a steppe
wisent,
a horse
and a mammoth were found. The most numerous were the re¬
mains of the
wisent,
less numerous are those of the horse and
there were only individual remains of the mammoth (small frag¬
ments of an incisor). The fauna bones were encountered as
dispersed and in a concentration. The bone concentration was
excavated in the distance of
7-8
metres from the greatest con¬
centration of flint products. They probably belong to two spe¬
cimens of
wisent,
Bison priscus (oral information from K. Ste-
faniak, Institute of Zoology, University of
Wrocław).
The re¬
mains were encountered in the layer of low-energy silt depos¬
its, resting in a small indentation of the depth of ca.
0.3
m,
whose bottom was formed from gravel-sand deposits of the
lower layer. The bones are predominated by fragments of skull
with some fragments of long bones and vertebrae. Absence of
a greater number of skeleton elements containing meat tissue
suggests that they are the remains of a consumption. However,
until taphonomic analyses are completed, it can not be decided
whether the remains result from the activity of predatory ani¬
mals or human activity. The latter option is supported by the
location of the remains, situated outside the local erosion base
and the fact that the concentration is composed of the remains
of at least two specimens. Other traces which may be linked
with a similar form of hunting-gathering activity come from the
lower horizon of site
1
in
Dzierżysław
(the artefacts identified
with Bohunician culture). The site is located in an exposed place,
on the southern slope of a culmination. The research carried out
by J.K.
Kozłowski
and then by E. Foltyn proves that the mate¬
rial is predominated by numerous tools, including household
forms, such as side-scrapers, endscrapers, notched and denticu¬
lated tools, perforators and gravers (Foltyn
2003,
p.
14).
The
place could have been a transitional camp during a seasonal
expedition connected with hunting or acquisition of flint materi¬
al, or it could have even been a base camp. The place was pro¬
bably selected due to presence of water reservoir in the form of
a thermokarst depression. The authors distinguished four zones
of activity (three small ones and one expansive), which were
characterised by a greater amassment of flint artefacts forming
rare refittings. The zones also displayed stone pebbles, interpret¬
ed as seats or anvils. On the basis of spatial analysis as well as
typological, technological and traseological data (traces of
wood and bone processing, butchering), the authors attempted
to define the places of human activity within the zones, using
L. Binford's model and
D. Staperťs
concept of rings. Unfortu¬
nately, location of the artefacts within solifluction layers
weakens considerably this detailed interpretation.
The researchers attribute the function of an equally stable
structure to the remains constituting the so-called upper horizon
of site
1
in
Dzierżysław.
The horizon provided extensive evi¬
dence of intensive development of solifluction, which prevents
precise characteristics of location of artefacts. Surface excava¬
tions from
1957
and
1958
revealed dispersed artefacts in the
north-eastern and southern part of the trenches. Considerably
crushed charcoal, possibly from destroyed fires, was encounter¬
ed in the vicinity of the southern concentration of products. Ac¬
cording to E. Foltyn, the concentrations constituted fragments
of two flint concentrations, yet the most significant discovery
was the pavement consisting of forty one erratic boulders situ¬
ated in the context of "pit" remains, i.e. a depression filled with
sand. The erratic boulders may have been transported from the
outcrop situated several dozen metres below the excavated area.
The boulder concentration formed an oval and the stones were
encountered at approximately the same height. The diameter of
the biggest reached
0.35-0.45
m. According to
K. Sklenár,
the
boulders may constitute the remains of the screen protecting
against wind or they may have strengthened a hut's floor. The
hut may have had the surface of ca.
6-7
m2 and the entrance
towards SSE.
Other traces of activity were discovered in the
Odra
valley
and the adjacent areas. Some of them come from
Oporów
district of in
Wrocław.
The best preserved remains in the so-cal¬
led lower horizon of site A2 prompt the functioning of make¬
shift flint workshops in the river valley bottom on the surface
of dry sand terraces in the vicinity of a lake. The flint material
was brought from the local culminations made from moraine
clay or erosion channels of the river valley. The preservations
status prevents a reconstruction of technological phenomena
and the encountered products may, unfortunately, constitute
fragments of units of different production processes. Retouched
tools were made from flakes from various phases of exploita¬
tion and chunks. These data support the view that the excava¬
ted products are linked with an ephemeral stay whose purpose
was the replenishment of tools. On the basis of the objects
alone it is difficult to conclude as to the type of hunting activi¬
ty which the flint production was connected with, whether the
products were made to be taken away or the series of flakes
were made to be used on the spot, similarly as in the sites lo¬
cated near a lake in Neumark-Nord (Saxony-Anhalt). The col¬
lection of fauna remains accompanying the artefacts in both ho¬
rizons of site A2 and in site
Al
remains a mystery. Most of them
represent an extreme degree of weathering (IV and V after Beh-
rensmeyer), which prevents identification of traces of possible
butchering practices. Single so-called green bones carry the
traces which prove participation of predators in their fragmen¬
tation. On the basis of the remains from the lower horizon of
site A2 it was established that the bone remains belong to at
least two specimens of a mammoth, one horse and one
wisent/
aurochs. Considering the data acquired so far, it may be as¬
sumed that the remains testify to a wide scope of activity of
humans penetrating the bottom of the
pre-Ślęza
valley, i.e. but¬
chering, including necrophagia, and short-term stay to replenish
tools. These activities were favoured by the contemporary con¬
ditions of the natural environment, i.e. water reservoirs in the
deep valley attracting game fauna. Lake deposits provided
the remains of the same species of cryophilic fauna (except for
the reindeer) which were found in sand outwash with lithic ar¬
tefacts. Interesting traces of exploitation of valley environment
were excavated in site Pietraszyn
49.
The artefacts, represent¬
ing the Micoquian trend, unfortunately, were found in subsur¬
face layers. Yet, a very good preservation status of most of the
artefacts suggests that they were dislocated at a short distance.
The inventory is predominated by tools
(64%)
with side-scrap¬
ers (fourteen specimens), knives (twelve specimens) and hand-
axes (three specimens). These features of the inventory suggest
that they are remains of a camp. The site requires further
excavation work.
Summary
257
Numerous remains prove that the
Odra
valley constituted
an important area in the hunting-gathering system of the Nean¬
derthal man. The issue may be characterised with the use of two
scales of approximation: microterritorial, in practice limited to
the sites usually corresponding to the place of implementing the
practices, and
macroterritorial,
comprising the regions in ques¬
tion. In the case of the microterritorial scale, the features of the
natural environment should be mentioned, which may have
been decisive for the selection of "locales" for implementing
hunting and gathering practices. The analysis of better preserv¬
ed remains suggests that several factors may have influenced
the selection, the basic being the possibility of acquiring food
and an easy access to rock material to replenish tools. After ana¬
lysing the location of sites in relation to the palaeorelief of the
terrain, a conclusion may be drawn that human activity encom¬
passed practically the whole cross-section of river valleys and
"uplands", which is very well substantiated by the excavated
sites located in the
Odra
valley or at its edges. They do not
display any regularity in relation to the most important mor¬
phological horizons of the
Odra
and, remaining close to each
other, they differ considerably in terms of absolute height,
which probably results from the mosaic and very
contrastive
character of Pleistocene landscape. There is a certain dispropor¬
tion between the sites located higher (uplands, their edges, val¬
ley slopes) and the sites located in the valley bottoms (higher
and lower terraces, alluvial areas), favouring the former. Yet,
these data can not be treated as the grounds for any more pro¬
found conclusions. The environment now, especially the topo¬
graphy is considerably deformed, because deeper parts of val¬
leys were remodelled, not to mention the fact that they are
rarely accessible for archaeological observation.
The view of the
Odra
valley and its surroundings in the
macroscale
draws attention to the concentration of sites in two
regions, i.e. the
Racibórz Basin/Głubczyce
Upland and
Wrocław
Ice-Marginal Valley with the
Kąty (Wrocław)
Plain adjacent in
the south. It seems that the
150
kilometre long strip of land
between both concentrations played an important role in the
hunting system, while absence of traces results from the present
state of research. There is no information on topographic or ecol¬
ogical obstacles which would explain the absence of settlement
places in this part of the
Odra
valley. Quantitative disproportion
of the remains excavated so far is also interesting. Most sites are
situated in the
Racibórz
Basin or on the edge of the
Głubczyce
Upland. The difference may result from numerous causes. The
discussion from chapter I mentions the fact that the regions
were relatively early penetrated by amateurs and archaeologists,
which probably influenced the general number of sites.
A greater number of traces in the southern part of the
Odra
val¬
ley may also result from more frequent presence of hunters and
gatherers in the area, which may have had a lot to do with the
Moravian Gate as a corridor leading north between the Sudetes
and the Carpathians.
Translated bv
Bartłomiej Madejski |
any_adam_object | 1 |
any_adam_object_boolean | 1 |
author | Wiśniewski, Andrzej |
author_facet | Wiśniewski, Andrzej |
author_role | aut |
author_sort | Wiśniewski, Andrzej |
author_variant | a w aw |
building | Verbundindex |
bvnumber | BV023096044 |
classification_rvk | RL 80132 RL 80153 |
contents | Bibliogr. s. [237]-247. Indeks |
ctrlnum | (OCoLC)169951801 (DE-599)BVBBV023096044 |
discipline | Geographie |
discipline_str_mv | Geographie |
format | Book |
fullrecord | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><collection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/MARC21/slim"><record><leader>00000nam a2200000 cb4500</leader><controlfield tag="001">BV023096044</controlfield><controlfield tag="003">DE-604</controlfield><controlfield tag="005">20080304</controlfield><controlfield tag="007">t</controlfield><controlfield tag="008">080123s2006 abd| |||| 00||| pol d</controlfield><datafield tag="020" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">9788322927731</subfield><subfield code="9">978-83-229-2773-1</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(OCoLC)169951801</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(DE-599)BVBBV023096044</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="040" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">DE-604</subfield><subfield code="b">ger</subfield><subfield code="e">rakwb</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="041" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">pol</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="049" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">DE-12</subfield><subfield code="a">DE-11</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="084" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">RL 80132</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-625)142361:12627</subfield><subfield code="2">rvk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="084" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">RL 80153</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-625)142361:12634</subfield><subfield code="2">rvk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="084" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">7,41</subfield><subfield code="2">ssgn</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="084" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">6,11</subfield><subfield code="2">ssgn</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="084" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">6,12</subfield><subfield code="2">ssgn</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="100" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Wiśniewski, Andrzej</subfield><subfield code="e">Verfasser</subfield><subfield code="4">aut</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="245" ind1="1" ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry</subfield><subfield code="c">Andrzej Wiśniewski</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="264" ind1=" " ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Wrocław</subfield><subfield code="b">Wydawn. Uniw. Wrocławskiego</subfield><subfield code="c">2006</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="300" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">260 s.</subfield><subfield code="b">Ill., graph. Darst., Kt.</subfield><subfield code="c">29,5 cm</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="336" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">txt</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacontent</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="337" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">n</subfield><subfield code="2">rdamedia</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="338" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="b">nc</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacarrier</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="490" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis</subfield><subfield code="v">2742</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="500" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: Middle palaeolithic in the Odra Valley</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="505" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Bibliogr. s. [237]-247. Indeks</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Neandertalczycy / Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Paleolit środkowy / Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Wykopaliska archeologiczne / Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Zabytki prehistoryczne / Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Neandertalczycy - Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Paleolit środkowy - Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Wykopaliska archeologiczne - Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Zabytki prehistoryczne - Odry, Dolina</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1="0" ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Paläolithikum</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4140148-7</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1="0" ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Archäologie</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4002827-6</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1="0" ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Funde</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4071507-3</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1="0" ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Ausgrabung</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4129464-6</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="651" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Odry, Dolina / zabytki</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="651" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Odry, Dolina - zabytki</subfield><subfield code="2">jhpk</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="651" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">Odertal</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4303766-5</subfield><subfield code="2">gnd</subfield><subfield code="9">rswk-swf</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Odertal</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4303766-5</subfield><subfield code="D">g</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Paläolithikum</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4140148-7</subfield><subfield code="D">s</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="2"><subfield code="a">Archäologie</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4002827-6</subfield><subfield code="D">s</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="3"><subfield code="a">Ausgrabung</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4129464-6</subfield><subfield code="D">s</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2="4"><subfield code="a">Funde</subfield><subfield code="0">(DE-588)4071507-3</subfield><subfield code="D">s</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="689" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="5">DE-604</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="830" ind1=" " ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis</subfield><subfield code="v">2742</subfield><subfield code="w">(DE-604)BV004668106</subfield><subfield code="9">2742</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="2"><subfield code="m">Digitalisierung BSBMuenchen</subfield><subfield code="q">application/pdf</subfield><subfield code="u">http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA</subfield><subfield code="3">Inhaltsverzeichnis</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="2"><subfield code="m">Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen</subfield><subfield code="q">application/pdf</subfield><subfield code="u">http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA</subfield><subfield code="3">Abstract</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="940" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="n">oe</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="942" ind1="1" ind2="1"><subfield code="c">900</subfield><subfield code="e">22/bsb</subfield><subfield code="f">0901</subfield><subfield code="g">438</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="943" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-016298840</subfield></datafield></record></collection> |
geographic | Odry, Dolina / zabytki jhpk Odry, Dolina - zabytki jhpk Odertal (DE-588)4303766-5 gnd |
geographic_facet | Odry, Dolina / zabytki Odry, Dolina - zabytki Odertal |
id | DE-604.BV023096044 |
illustrated | Illustrated |
index_date | 2024-07-02T19:43:05Z |
indexdate | 2024-10-18T18:06:57Z |
institution | BVB |
isbn | 9788322927731 |
language | Polish |
oai_aleph_id | oai:aleph.bib-bvb.de:BVB01-016298840 |
oclc_num | 169951801 |
open_access_boolean | |
owner | DE-12 DE-11 |
owner_facet | DE-12 DE-11 |
physical | 260 s. Ill., graph. Darst., Kt. 29,5 cm |
publishDate | 2006 |
publishDateSearch | 2006 |
publishDateSort | 2006 |
publisher | Wydawn. Uniw. Wrocławskiego |
record_format | marc |
series | Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis |
series2 | Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis |
spelling | Wiśniewski, Andrzej Verfasser aut Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry Andrzej Wiśniewski Wrocław Wydawn. Uniw. Wrocławskiego 2006 260 s. Ill., graph. Darst., Kt. 29,5 cm txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 2742 Zsfassung in engl. Sprache u.d.T.: Middle palaeolithic in the Odra Valley Bibliogr. s. [237]-247. Indeks Neandertalczycy / Odry, Dolina jhpk Paleolit środkowy / Odry, Dolina jhpk Wykopaliska archeologiczne / Odry, Dolina jhpk Zabytki prehistoryczne / Odry, Dolina jhpk Neandertalczycy - Odry, Dolina jhpk Paleolit środkowy - Odry, Dolina jhpk Wykopaliska archeologiczne - Odry, Dolina jhpk Zabytki prehistoryczne - Odry, Dolina jhpk Paläolithikum (DE-588)4140148-7 gnd rswk-swf Archäologie (DE-588)4002827-6 gnd rswk-swf Funde (DE-588)4071507-3 gnd rswk-swf Ausgrabung (DE-588)4129464-6 gnd rswk-swf Odry, Dolina / zabytki jhpk Odry, Dolina - zabytki jhpk Odertal (DE-588)4303766-5 gnd rswk-swf Odertal (DE-588)4303766-5 g Paläolithikum (DE-588)4140148-7 s Archäologie (DE-588)4002827-6 s Ausgrabung (DE-588)4129464-6 s Funde (DE-588)4071507-3 s DE-604 Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 2742 (DE-604)BV004668106 2742 Digitalisierung BSBMuenchen application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Inhaltsverzeichnis Digitalisierung BSB Muenchen application/pdf http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA Abstract |
spellingShingle | Wiśniewski, Andrzej Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis Bibliogr. s. [237]-247. Indeks Neandertalczycy / Odry, Dolina jhpk Paleolit środkowy / Odry, Dolina jhpk Wykopaliska archeologiczne / Odry, Dolina jhpk Zabytki prehistoryczne / Odry, Dolina jhpk Neandertalczycy - Odry, Dolina jhpk Paleolit środkowy - Odry, Dolina jhpk Wykopaliska archeologiczne - Odry, Dolina jhpk Zabytki prehistoryczne - Odry, Dolina jhpk Paläolithikum (DE-588)4140148-7 gnd Archäologie (DE-588)4002827-6 gnd Funde (DE-588)4071507-3 gnd Ausgrabung (DE-588)4129464-6 gnd |
subject_GND | (DE-588)4140148-7 (DE-588)4002827-6 (DE-588)4071507-3 (DE-588)4129464-6 (DE-588)4303766-5 |
title | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry |
title_auth | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry |
title_exact_search | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry |
title_exact_search_txtP | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry |
title_full | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry Andrzej Wiśniewski |
title_fullStr | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry Andrzej Wiśniewski |
title_full_unstemmed | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry Andrzej Wiśniewski |
title_short | Środkowy paleolit w dolinie Odry |
title_sort | srodkowy paleolit w dolinie odry |
topic | Neandertalczycy / Odry, Dolina jhpk Paleolit środkowy / Odry, Dolina jhpk Wykopaliska archeologiczne / Odry, Dolina jhpk Zabytki prehistoryczne / Odry, Dolina jhpk Neandertalczycy - Odry, Dolina jhpk Paleolit środkowy - Odry, Dolina jhpk Wykopaliska archeologiczne - Odry, Dolina jhpk Zabytki prehistoryczne - Odry, Dolina jhpk Paläolithikum (DE-588)4140148-7 gnd Archäologie (DE-588)4002827-6 gnd Funde (DE-588)4071507-3 gnd Ausgrabung (DE-588)4129464-6 gnd |
topic_facet | Neandertalczycy / Odry, Dolina Paleolit środkowy / Odry, Dolina Wykopaliska archeologiczne / Odry, Dolina Zabytki prehistoryczne / Odry, Dolina Neandertalczycy - Odry, Dolina Paleolit środkowy - Odry, Dolina Wykopaliska archeologiczne - Odry, Dolina Zabytki prehistoryczne - Odry, Dolina Paläolithikum Archäologie Funde Ausgrabung Odry, Dolina / zabytki Odry, Dolina - zabytki Odertal |
url | http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000003&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&local_base=BVB01&doc_number=016298840&sequence=000004&line_number=0002&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA |
volume_link | (DE-604)BV004668106 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT wisniewskiandrzej srodkowypaleolitwdolinieodry |