The excavations of Branko Gavela in the Risovača Cave near Aranđelovac and in Jerinina's Cave near Kragujevac during the 1950s marked the beginning of the systematic exploration of the Palaeolithic in Serbia. Explorations at Risovača... more
The excavations of Branko Gavela in the Risovača Cave near Aranđelovac and in Jerinina's
Cave near Kragujevac during the 1950s marked the beginning of the systematic exploration
of the Palaeolithic in Serbia. Explorations at Risovača lasted, with interruptions,
from 1955 to 1977. The excavations, during which all the sediment was removed from the
cave, encompassed the examination of several layers with abundant remains of Pleistocene
fauna, especially bones of carnivores. A small number of chipped stone artefacts were discovered
in layer 6. The layer has been determined in the Würm interstadial 1-2, while two
14C dates were obtained for the layer above: 36,400 ± 6,000 (Z-1296) and 31,100 ± 2,800 BP
(Z-1297) (Димитријевић 1997: 185). The artefacts were attributed to the Szeletian (Гавела
1969; Гавела 1988) but were never published integrally and in detail.
It was established that the collection from Risovača contained one core formed on a Levallois
flake, one unretouched blade and flake and 12 retouched artefacts. Five artefacts were
made from quartz and the others from various types of chert. Denticulate tools were by far
the predominant type (5 pieces), besides one side-scraper, a raclette, a Mousterian point, an
irregular steeply retouched bladelet and a borer. The collection also includes two bifacially
knapped leaf-points, of which only one was available for analysis. Both points were elongated
and relatively large (87 mm and 109 mm); one was broader at the base and the other,
shaped like a willow leaf, was a little wider in the middle.
Analyses have shown that the entire collection can be linked with the Szeletian and the
Middle Palaeolithic industries with leaf-shaped points in the Lower Danubian Basin, but
that it also had parallels with other locations in the Balkans where bifacial elements are
found. In light of the fact that leaf-shaped points were discovered recently on the locality
of the Šalitrena Cave - terrace (Mihailović et al. 2014) and Koceljeva (Шарић 2012), the assumption
was made that, at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic, these industries were widespread
not only in central and eastern Europe, but also in the peri-Pannonian part of the
Balkans. There are strong indications that the presence of blades and bladelets was not the
result of the mixing of layers, but that the industry had a transitional character. This significantly
changes the picture of the cultural and demographic circumstances in the northern
Balkans in the periods before and after the settlement of the bearers of the Aurignacian technocomplex.
Cave near Kragujevac during the 1950s marked the beginning of the systematic exploration
of the Palaeolithic in Serbia. Explorations at Risovača lasted, with interruptions,
from 1955 to 1977. The excavations, during which all the sediment was removed from the
cave, encompassed the examination of several layers with abundant remains of Pleistocene
fauna, especially bones of carnivores. A small number of chipped stone artefacts were discovered
in layer 6. The layer has been determined in the Würm interstadial 1-2, while two
14C dates were obtained for the layer above: 36,400 ± 6,000 (Z-1296) and 31,100 ± 2,800 BP
(Z-1297) (Димитријевић 1997: 185). The artefacts were attributed to the Szeletian (Гавела
1969; Гавела 1988) but were never published integrally and in detail.
It was established that the collection from Risovača contained one core formed on a Levallois
flake, one unretouched blade and flake and 12 retouched artefacts. Five artefacts were
made from quartz and the others from various types of chert. Denticulate tools were by far
the predominant type (5 pieces), besides one side-scraper, a raclette, a Mousterian point, an
irregular steeply retouched bladelet and a borer. The collection also includes two bifacially
knapped leaf-points, of which only one was available for analysis. Both points were elongated
and relatively large (87 mm and 109 mm); one was broader at the base and the other,
shaped like a willow leaf, was a little wider in the middle.
Analyses have shown that the entire collection can be linked with the Szeletian and the
Middle Palaeolithic industries with leaf-shaped points in the Lower Danubian Basin, but
that it also had parallels with other locations in the Balkans where bifacial elements are
found. In light of the fact that leaf-shaped points were discovered recently on the locality
of the Šalitrena Cave - terrace (Mihailović et al. 2014) and Koceljeva (Шарић 2012), the assumption
was made that, at the end of the Middle Palaeolithic, these industries were widespread
not only in central and eastern Europe, but also in the peri-Pannonian part of the
Balkans. There are strong indications that the presence of blades and bladelets was not the
result of the mixing of layers, but that the industry had a transitional character. This significantly
changes the picture of the cultural and demographic circumstances in the northern
Balkans in the periods before and after the settlement of the bearers of the Aurignacian technocomplex.
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Crvena Stijena represents one of the key Middle Paleolithic sites in southeastern Europe. In the course of earlier investigations, the upper part of the Mousterian sequence was excavated on two occasions: in 1956 and 1958 by M. Brodar and... more
Crvena Stijena represents one of the key Middle Paleolithic sites in southeastern Europe. In the course of earlier investigations, the upper part of the Mousterian sequence was excavated on two occasions: in 1956 and 1958 by M. Brodar and from 1961 to 1964 by Ð. Basler. Materials from these campaigns were published separately and interpreted differently. After re-analysis of all these materials, it has been established that the artifact assemblages can not be directly assigned to any of the traditional facies (Denticulate Mousterian, Micromousterian, etc.), but rather to an undifferentiated (non-Levallois) facies of Typical Mousterian, which is characterized by pronounced expedient technology based on the exploitation of local raw materials and the application of ad hoc methods of core reduction and the preparation of tools. This re-analysis pointed out especially that in the final Mousterian at Crvena Stijena, as at several other sites in the Adriatic-Ionian region, blade/bladelet technology and Uluzzian elements (flaking of blades and bladelets from unipolar or bipolar cores on flakes, splintered pieces, backed tools) are present. This seems to indicate continuity and connection among cultural phenomena over the entire Adriatic-Ionian region during MIS3 and suggests the possibility that the Uluzzian might have spread from the southern Balkans towards Italy along the southern rim of the " Great Adriatic Plain, " all of which could have belonged to a single " social territory. "