Mousterian lithic assemblage from Vinica cave (Hrvatsko zagorje, Croatia).
New insights into regional Middle Paleolithic technological behavior
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3986/AV.73.01Keywords:
Croatia, Vinica cave, Middle Paleolithic, Mousterian, lithic industry, raw material, 14C AMS dating, shortterm occupationAbstract
In this paper we present techno-typological and raw material analysis of the Mousterian lithic assemblage from Vinica cave (Hrvatsko zagorje, Croatia) excavated during late 1990s and early 2000s. Lithic artefacts are found in two Mouste- rian layers, c and d, whose age is determined by 14C AMS dating. Sample from layer d brought indefinite age older than 50,300 years BP while calibrated age for the sample from layer c is 36–34.5 ka BP. Quartz is predominant raw material in both layers followed by different cherts. Quartz cobbles were knapped on-site while at least some chert artefacts were not flaked in the cave but brought from elsewhere as blanks and tools. Among small number of tools, scrapers are the most frequent. Small lithic assemblages from both layers suggest that cave was used as short term Neandertal camp during Middle Paleolithic.
Downloads
References
AHERN et al. 2004 = J. C. M. Ahern, I. Karavanić, M. Paunović, I. Janković, F. H. Smith 2004, New discoveries and interpretations of hominid fossils and artifacts from Vindija Cave, Croatia. – Journal of Human Evolution 46, 27–67.
BANDA, M., I. KARAVANIĆ 2019, The Mousterian industry of Veternica Cave. – Prilozi Instituta za arheologiju u Zagrebu 36, 5–40.
BLASER et al. 2002 = F. Blaser, D. Kurtanjek, M. Paunović 2002, L’industrie du site néandertalien de la grotte de Vindija (Croatie): une révision des matières premières lithiques. – L’Anthropologie 106, 387–398.
BORDES, F. 19885, Typologie du Paléolithique ancien et moyen. – Bordeaux.
BROCK et al. 2010 = F. Brock, T. Higham, P. Ditchfield, C. Bronk Ramsey 2010, Current pretreatment methods for AMS radiocarbon dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU). – Radiocarbon 52/1, 103–112.
BRONK RAMSEY, C. 2009, Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. – Radiocarbon 51/1, 337–60.
BRONK RAMSEY et al. 2004 = C. Bronk Ramsey, T. Higham, A. Bowles, R. Hedges 2004, Improvements to the pretreatment of bone at Oxford. – Radiocarbon 46/1, 155–163.
CARTMILL, M., F. H. SMITH 2009, The Human Lineage. – Hoboken.
DE NIRO, M. J. 1985, Post-mortem preservation and altera- tion of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to paleodietary reconstruction. – Nature 317, 806–809.
DEBÉNATH, A., H. L. DIBBLE 1994, Handbook of Paleolithic Typology. Volume one: Lower and Middle Paleolithic of Europe. – Philadelphia.
DEVIÈSE et al. 2017 = T. Devièse, I. Karavanić, C. D. Comeskey, C. Kubiak, P. Korlević, M. Hajdinjak, S. Radović, N. Procopio, M. Buckley, S. Pääbo, T. Higham 2017, Direct dating of Neanderthal remains from the site of Vindija Cave and implications for the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. – Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114, 10606–10611.
GREEN et al. 2010 = R. E. Green, J. Krause, A.W. Briggs, T. Maricic, U. Stenzel, M. Kircher, N. Patterson, H. Li, W. Zhai, M. Hsi-Yang Fritz, N. F. Hansen, E. Y. Durand, A.-S. Malaspinas, J. D. Jensen, T. Marques-Bonet, C. Alkan, K. Prüfer, M. Meyer, H. A. Burbano, J. M. Good, R. Schultz, A. Aximu-Petri, A. Butthof, B. Höber, B. Höffner, M. Siegemund, A. Weihmann, C. Nusbaum, E. S. Lander, C. Russ, N. Novod, J. Affourtit, M. Egholm, C. Verna, P. Rudan, D. Brajkovic, Ž. Kucan, I. Gušic, V. B. Doronichev, L. V. Golovanova, C. Lalueza-Fox, M. De La Rasilla, J. Fortea, A. Rosas, R. W. Schmitz, P. L. F. Johnson, E. E. Eichler, D. Falush, E. Birney, J. C. Mullikin, M. Slatkin, R. Nielsen, J. Kelso, M. Lachmann, D. Reich, S. Pääbo 2010, A Draft Sequence of the Ne- andertal Genome. – Science 328, 710–722.
HIGHAM et al. 2006 = T. Higham, C. Bronk Ramsey, I. Karavanić, F. H. Smith, E. Trinkaus 2006, Revised direct radiocarbon dating of the Vindija G1 Upper Paleolithic Neandertals. – Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103, 553–557.
INIZAN et al. 1999 = M.-L. Inizan, M. Reduron-Ballinger, H. Roche, J. Tixier 1999, Technology and Terminology of Knapped Stone. – Préhistoire de la Pierre Taillée 5, Nanterre.
JANKOVIĆ et al. 2016 = I. Janković, J. C. M. Ahern, I. Karavanić, F. H. Smith 2016, The importance of Croa- tian Pleistocene hominin finds in the study of human evolution. – In: K. Harvati, M. Roksandic (eds.), Pa- leoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human Evolution and its Context, 35–50, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, Dordrecht.
JANKOVIĆ et al. 2018 = I. Janković, N. Vukosavljević, J. C. M. Ahern, I. Karavanić, S. Mihelić, F. H. Smith 2018, Bukovac Cave Revisited: Recent Excavations of an Early Upper Paleolithic Site in the Gorski Kotar Region of Croatia. – Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 48/3, 297–306.
KARAVANIĆ, I., M. PATOU-MATHIS 2009, Middle/ Upper Paleolithic Interface in Vindija Cave (Croatia): New Results and Interpretations. – In: M. Camps, P. R. Chauhan (eds.), Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transi- tions. Methods, Theories, and Interpretations, 397–405, New York.
KARAVANIĆ, I., F. H. SMITH 1998, The Middle/Upper Paleolithic interface and the relationship of Neanderthals and early modern humans in the Hrvatsko Zagorje, Croatia. – Journal of Human Evolution 34, 223–248.
KARAVANIĆ, I., F. H. SMITH 2013, Alternative interpreta- tions of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic interface at Vindija cave (northwestern Croatia) in the context of Central Europe and the Adriatic. – Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 41/4, 11–20.
KARAVANIĆ et al. 2021 = I. Karavanić, J. Hellstrom, G. Rabeder, N. Vukosavljević, M. Banda, F. H. Smith 2021, New U-Th Dates from Vindija, Velika pećina (Kličevica) and Mujina pećina and their Implications for Chronology of the Middle Paleolithic in Croatia. Collegium Antropologicum 45, 1–10.
KATASTAR 2021 = Vinica. Katastar speleoloških objekata Republike Hrvatske. Hrvatska agencija za okoliš i prirodu [http://www.haop.hr/hr/baze-i-portali/katastar-spe- leoloskih-objekata-republike-hrvatske] (last access: 21/3/2021).
KURTANJEK, D., V. MARCI 1990, Petrografska istraživanja paleolitskih artefakata spilje Vindije. – Rad Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti 449 (Razred za prirodne znanosti knjiga 24), 227–238.
MALEZ, M. 1981, Paleolitik na području Zagreba. – In: Ž. Rapanić (ed.), Arheološka istraživanja u Zagrebu i njegovoj okolici, Izdanja Hrvatskog arheološkog društva 6, 65–108.
MALEZ et al. 1984 = M. Malez, An. Šimunić, Al. Šimunić 1984, Geološki, sedimentološki i paleoklimatski odnosi spilje Vindije i bliže okolice. – Rad Jugoslavenske aka- demije znanosti i umjetnosti 411 (Razred za prirodne znanosti knjiga 20), 231–264.
MIRACLE, P. 1991, Carnivore dens or carnivore hunts? A review of Upper Pleistocene Mammalian Assemblages in Croatia and Slovenia. – Rad Hrvatske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti 458 (Razred za prirodne znanosti knjiga 25), 193–219.
MIRACLE, P. T. 2007, The Krapina paleolithic site: zoo- archaeology, taphonomy, and catalog of the faunal remains. – Zagreb.
MIRACLE, P. T., D. BRAJKOVIĆ 2010, The palaeoecological significance of the Pleistocene mammalian fauna from Veternica Cave, Croatia. Revision of the lagomorpha, canidae, mustelidae and felidae. – Geologia Croatica 63/2, 207–224.
OSOLE, F. 1959, Analiza pleistocenskih jamskih sedimentov. – Geologija. Razprave in poročila 5, 123–128.
PAVLENOK et al. 2017 = K. K. Pavlenok, M. B. Kozlikin, A. V. Kandyba, L. Bulatović, A. P. Derevianko, M. V. Shunkov 2017, Style, deficit or reduction? Analysing the Bioče Micro-Mousterian. – Quartär 64, 95–106.
REIMER et al. 2020 = P. Reimer, W. Austin, E. Bard, A. Bayliss, P. Blackwell, C. Bronk Ramsey, M. Butzin, H. Cheng, R. Edwards, M. Friedrich, P. Grootes, T. Guilderson, I. Hajdas, T. Heaton, A. Hogg, K. Hughen, B. Kromer, S. Manning, R. Muscheler, J. Palmer, C. Pearson, J. Van der Plicht, R. Reimer, D. Richards, E. Scott, J. Southon, C. Turney, L. Wacker, F. Adolphi, U. Büntgen, M. Capano, S. Fahrni, A. Fogtmann-Schulz, R. Friedrich, P. Köhler, S. Kudsk, F. Miyake, J. Olsen, F. Reinig, M. Sakamoto, A. Sookdeo, S. Talamo 2020, The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 cal kBP), Radiocarbon 62/4, 725–757.
RINK et al. 1995 = W. J. Rink, H. P. Schwartz, F. H. Smith, J. Radovčić 1995, ESR ages for Krapina hominida. – Nature 378, 24.
SIMEK, J. F., F. H. SMITH 1997, Chronological changes in stone tool assemblages from Krapina (Croatia). – Journal of Human Evolution 32, 561–575.
SMITH, F. H. 1976, The Neandertal Remains from Krapina: A Descriptive and Comparative Study. – University of Tennessee Reports of Investigation 15.
SMITH et al. 1999 = F. H. Smith, E. Trinkaus, P. B. Pettitt, I. Karavanić, M. Paunović 1999, Direct radiocarbon dates for Vindija G1 and Velika Pećina Late Pleistocene hominid remains. – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of United States of America 96, 12281–12286.
ŠIMEK, M. 1994, Špilje sjeverozapadne Hrvatske – arheološka nalazišta II. – Hrvatski kajkavski kalendar 1994., 114–119. ŠIMUNIĆ et al. 1981 = An. Šimunić, M. Pikija, I. Hećimović, Al. Šimunić 1981, Osnovna geološka karta SFRJ 1:100.000.
Tumač za list Varaždin L 33–69. – Zagreb, Beograd. VISHNEVSKIY et al. 2019 = A. V. Vishnevskiy, K. K. Pav- lenok, M. B. Kozlikin, V. A. Ulyanov, A. P. Derevianko, M. V. Shunkov 2019, A Neanderthal Refugium in the Eastern Adriatic. – Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 47/4, 3–15.
VOGEL, J. C., H. T. WATERBOLK 1972, Groningen radiocarbon dates X. – Radiocarbon 14/1, 6–110.
WILD et al. 2001 = E. A. Wild, M. Paunović, G. Rabeder, I. Steffan, P. Steier 2001, Age determination of fossil bones from the Vindija Neanderthal site in Croatia. - Radiocarbon 43, 1021–1028.
WOLPOFF, M. 19992, Paleoanthropology. – New York.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit their self to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
More in: Submission chapter
