Krzysztof Cyrek
Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Institut of Archaeology, Department Member
- I'm working with the Paleolithic of Central Europeedit
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Abstract The aim of the article is to analyse the problem of the beginnings of the Levallois method at the northern foreland of the Carpathians, referring to the oldest cultural levels (layers 19bcd, 19a and 19) at the Biśnik Cave and... more
Abstract The aim of the article is to analyse the problem of the beginnings of the Levallois method at the northern foreland of the Carpathians, referring to the oldest cultural levels (layers 19bcd, 19a and 19) at the Biśnik Cave and several other sites. A proto-Levallois method has been distinguished, which evolved into the method of recurrent type with centripetal preparation and parallel, bidirectional and unidirectional core reduction. The process began during MIS 10/9, was developed in MIS 8 and disseminated in MIS 7. Simultaneously, a method of a polyhedral core for flakes with no preparation was used, as well as the microlithic-flake method. As a result of the absence of bifacial forms in the assemblages in question, which would be identifiable with the Acheulean tradition, and a considerable number of microlithic forms, a hypothesis was made that the technology of the Lower Palaeolithic flake microlith had a significant impact on the development of the local Mousterian tradition with the dominant Levallois method.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Geology, Mousterian, Quaternary, Cave, and 3 morePergamon, Acheulean, and Foreland Basin
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Research Interests: Archaeology, Geology, Paleontology, Mousterian, Aurignacian, and 4 morePleistocene, Cave, Eemian, and subfossil
Biśnik Cave is situated in the limestone rock, 7 m above the bottom of the presently dry Wodąca valley. It is located in the Smoleń–Niegowonice Range in the southern part of the Częstochowa Upland. To date, an area of 260 m2 has been... more
Biśnik Cave is situated in the limestone rock, 7 m above the bottom of the presently dry Wodąca valley. It is located in the Smoleń–Niegowonice Range in the southern part of the Częstochowa Upland. To date, an area of 260 m2 has been explored, to the depth of 150–850 cm. The results of sedimentological, geomorphological, palaeozoological and archaeological investigations provided the basis for the reconstruction of the history of habitation at the Biśnik Cave, in the background of palaeoenvironmenal transformations. Throughout about 300,000 years of occupation, the cave was surrounded by a changing and widely diversified natural environment, with steppe, tundra and forest ecosystems, and marshland and aquatic biotopes. This, combined with the opportunity to exploit varied ecological niches, made the cave a particularly attractive habitation site. As a result, the cave has remnants of a number of habitation phases: ten in the Middle Palaeolithic, one in the Upper Palaeolithic and at least five in the period between the Neolithic and the Middle Ages.The importance of the Biśnik Cave stems from the fact that it has the longest sequence of cave sediments in Poland, seventeen cultural levels including remnants of the oldest Palaeolithic in this part of Europe and the oldest dwelling structures ever discovered in Poland. The history of environment changes was reconstructed based on sedimentological and palaeozoological data. The multiproxy palaeoecology and climatology data are extremely significant for the reconstruction of palaeogeography of Central Europe in the Middle and Upper Pleistocene as well as human occupation history.
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Applied to an article: H. Wieckowska : Jeszcze raz o sposobach wykonywania zbrojnikow. - Archeologia Polski ; 43 (1998) 1-2, p. 167-173
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The Shelter above the Zegar Cave (Shel- ter No 388) (N 50°25'41" E 19°40'27") is located in the Zegarowe Rocks ridge in the Ryczow Upland (southern part of the Czestochowa Upland), munici- pality Wolbrom, district... more
The Shelter above the Zegar Cave (Shel- ter No 388) (N 50°25'41" E 19°40'27") is located in the Zegarowe Rocks ridge in the Ryczow Upland (southern part of the Czestochowa Upland), munici- pality Wolbrom, district Olkusz. In 2009, Mrs. Jadwiga and Mr. Lucjan Wodarz found an archeological flint artifact in a type of leaf point at the slope below the Shelter. This finding allowed suspecting the presence of Palaeolithic cultural layers inside or near the Shelter. The authors' aim was to recognize the geological context of the Palaeolithic settlement of the Shelter above the Zegar Cave and its neighborhood, and in further perspective of the entire southern part of the Ryczow Upland micro-region. Four layers were discovered in the Shelter during field works (downward): I - humic silty loam, Holocene; II - loess altered by second- ary soil processes during the Holocene; III - unaltered loess, dated to MOIS 2; IV - silty cave loam with limestone rubble, dated to MOIS ...
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Research Interests: Archaeology, Geology, Paleontology, Paleoecology, Pleistocene, and 3 moreQuaternary, Cave, and Skull
Muskox <i>Ovibos moschatus</i> is a Pleistocene relic, which has survived only in North America and Greenland. During the Pleistocene, it was widely distributed in Eurasia and North America. To evaluate its morphological... more
Muskox <i>Ovibos moschatus</i> is a Pleistocene relic, which has survived only in North America and Greenland. During the Pleistocene, it was widely distributed in Eurasia and North America. To evaluate its morphological variability through time and space, we conducted an extensive morphometric study of 217 <i>Praeovibos</i> and <i>Ovibos</i> skull remains. The analyses showed that the skulls grew progressively wider from <i>Praeovibos</i> sp. to the Pleistocene <i>O. moschatus</i>, while from the Pleistocene to the recent <i>O. moschatus</i>, the facial regions of the skull turned narrower and shorter. We also noticed significant geographic differences between the various Pleistocene <i>Ovibos</i> crania. Siberian skulls were usually larger than those from Western and Central Europe. Eastern European muskoxen also exceeded in size those from the other regions of Europe. The large size of Late Pleist...
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Le silex couleur chocolat etait tres repandu parmi les communautes du bassin de la Vistule et de ses environs au Mesolithique final. L'auteur decrit sa repartition dans cette region, et etudie l'importante sepulture d'un... more
Le silex couleur chocolat etait tres repandu parmi les communautes du bassin de la Vistule et de ses environs au Mesolithique final. L'auteur decrit sa repartition dans cette region, et etudie l'importante sepulture d'un mineur-tailleur de silex mesolithique situe a Janislawice
Abstract The aim of the article is to analyse the problem of the beginnings of the Levallois method at the northern foreland of the Carpathians, referring to the oldest cultural levels (layers 19bcd, 19a and 19) at the Biśnik Cave and... more
Abstract The aim of the article is to analyse the problem of the beginnings of the Levallois method at the northern foreland of the Carpathians, referring to the oldest cultural levels (layers 19bcd, 19a and 19) at the Biśnik Cave and several other sites. A proto-Levallois method has been distinguished, which evolved into the method of recurrent type with centripetal preparation and parallel, bidirectional and unidirectional core reduction. The process began during MIS 10/9, was developed in MIS 8 and disseminated in MIS 7. Simultaneously, a method of a polyhedral core for flakes with no preparation was used, as well as the microlithic-flake method. As a result of the absence of bifacial forms in the assemblages in question, which would be identifiable with the Acheulean tradition, and a considerable number of microlithic forms, a hypothesis was made that the technology of the Lower Palaeolithic flake microlith had a significant impact on the development of the local Mousterian tradition with the dominant Levallois method.
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Abstract This article presents the results of traceological studies of ornaments observed on selected prehistoric osseous products from Poland and Lithuania. Included are unique artefacts from this region dated to the Late Palaeolithic,... more
Abstract This article presents the results of traceological studies of ornaments observed on selected prehistoric osseous products from Poland and Lithuania. Included are unique artefacts from this region dated to the Late Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, or which are connected to Subneolithic communities. The article presents the results of analyses focused on interpreting the applied decorative techniques and tools employed in making the ornaments. In some cases, the use of metal tools, rare or unknown in a given area, is suggested, which presents a significant impact on the interpretation of the socio-cultural nature. An attempt is also made to identify the roles of symbolic features hidden in the way the ornaments were created or how they were treated afterwards. For the analysis of the artefacts, stereomicroscopes, SEM, computed tomography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) have been used.
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ABSTRACT Yezupil is the first Middle Palaeolithic site discovered in upper part of the Dnister River valley. It is situated in a set of sediments composed of loess and fossil soils lying on alluvia. The results of geological and... more
ABSTRACT Yezupil is the first Middle Palaeolithic site discovered in upper part of the Dnister River valley. It is situated in a set of sediments composed of loess and fossil soils lying on alluvia. The results of geological and palaeopedological investigations are presented. They contain lithological and geochemical analyses (main components and trace elements), as well as micromorphological study. Palaeo- and petromagnetic record is presented too. Horohiv pedocomplex developed from the older, Wartanian loess. It is composed of luvisol originated during the Eemian interglacial and chernozem soil - during the Early Vistulian interstadials. An subarctic brown Dubno soil dated to the Interplenivistulian (Middle Vistulian interstadials) separates two parts of the younger loess. Older assemblage of Middle Palaeolithic - Mousterian culture with Levalloisian technique was found in the E horizon of the luvisol and therefore it could be dated to the Eemian interglacial. Younger Middle Palaeolithic - Micoquian-type materials were situated in partially redeposited by solifluction, Early Vistulian chernozem. Scanty and uncharacteristic Upper Palaeolithic assemblage was found in interstadial Dubno palaeosol.
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The area of Kraków-Częstochowa Upland is an underestimated source of knowledge about Palaeolithic communities in Poland despite the large number of archaeological cave sites. Among them the Final Palaeolithic localities are rather rare... more
The area of Kraków-Częstochowa Upland is an underestimated source of knowledge about Palaeolithic communities in Poland despite the large number of archaeological cave sites. Among them the Final Palaeolithic localities are rather rare and one of them is Krucza Skała Rockshelter. The site is mostly known from a very interesting fragmentary preserved object made of antler, covered with complex ornamentation, identified with Late Magdalenian tradition. Most likely it is a part of the so-called baguette demi-ronde, a typical type of osseous objects in Magdalenian. It was a subject of detailed taphonomic and microscopic analyses, which revealed the subsequent steps of ornament manufacturing. The goal of the proposed presentation is to present the results of performed technological and contextual analysis of this artefact.