Universität zu Köln

Chu, Wei ORCID: 0000-0002-4595-388X, Lengyel, Gyorgy ORCID: 0000-0002-7803-3043, Zeeden, Christian ORCID: 0000-0002-8617-0443, Pentek, Attila, Kaminska, Lubomira and Mester, Zsolt (2018). Early Upper Paleolithic surface collections from loess-like sediments in the northern Carpathian Basin. Quat. Int., 485. S. 167 - 183. OXFORD: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. ISSN 1873-4553

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The way in which modern humans first entered Europe has been a recent focus of Upper Paleolithic research. A leading theory posits that the Danube served as a conduit for migration from Southeastern into Central and Western Europe. However, a challenge to this has been the scarcity of Early Upper Paleolithic sites along the Middle Danube (Carpathian) Basin. Though several sites with Early Upper Paleolithic features (Szeletian, Aurignacian) are known from surface prospections, few have been archeologically investigated in detail. Here, our aim is to elucidate this long-standing deficiency by evaluating two unknown and three known sites from the northern Carpathian Basin in Hungary and Slovakia through a series of keyhole excavations. The objectives were to see if in situ stratified material still existed and to characterize the sites' archeological assemblages and sedimentological contexts. To do this, field observations supplemented by granulometry were employed to determine if the surrounding sedimentary matrix was eolian loess and/or if it had been mixed with underlying older deposits. The results indicate that the lithics represent Early Upper Paleolithic assemblages that experienced post-depositional mixing. However, two sites (Sena I, Nagyrede 1) showed more nuanced site formation processes and may contain in situ artifacts warranting further exploration. These studies highlight the importance of including sedimentological research into archeological investigations, because the paucity of sites may not simply mean a lack of human occupation, but can indicate a dynamic geomorphological evolution of the Pleistocene landscape that may have erased past traces of human settlements through insufficient sedimentation. The results provide new insights into the Early Upper Paleolithic settlement and the sedimentary dynamics of the Carpathian Basin ultimately leading to a greater understanding of the early modern human settlement patterns in Europe. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Chu, Wei UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-4595-388X UNSPECIFIED Lengyel, Gyorgy UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-7803-3043 UNSPECIFIED Zeeden, Christian UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-8617-0443 UNSPECIFIED Pentek, Attila UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kaminska, Lubomira UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mester, Zsolt UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-176296
DOI:	10.1016/j.quaint.2017.05.017
Journal or Publication Title:	Quat. Int.
Volume:	485
Page Range:	S. 167 - 183
Date:	2018
Publisher:	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Place of Publication:	OXFORD
ISSN:	1873-4553
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language BLACK-SEA SEDIMENTS; PALEOSOL SEQUENCE; VINDIJA CAVE; CENTRAL-EUROPE; HUNTER-GATHERERS; EASTERN-EUROPE; TOKAJ HUNGARY; N ISOTOPES; GRAIN-SIZE; STABLE C Multiple languages Geography, Physical; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/17629