Comparison of Kulichivka (lower layer) and the Moravian Bohunician

Petr ŠkrdlaInstitute of Archeology ASCR, Brno

Pavel NikolajevMasaryk University, Brno

IAA#800010801http://www.iabrno.cz/EUP.htm

• MP/UP transitional period• Complex of evolved Levallois industries• Comparable industries from the Near East

(Boker Tachtit), through the Balkan Peninsula (Temnata), Ukraine (Kulichivka) and even further to the east (e.g. Kara Bom)

Emiran - Bohunician

Figure 1. Map of the Eurasia with location of discussed sites. M: Moravian site cluster – see Figure 2 for details, L: Levantine sites (Boker Tachtit, Ksar Akil, Üçagizli), 1: Hradsko, 2: Stajnia, 3: Piekary, 4: Nižný Hrabovec, 5: Temnata, 6: Kulichivka, 7: Kara Bom, 8: Shuidonggo. Made with Natural Earth.

Figure 2. Moravia and neighboring regions. 1: Brno Basin (Bohunice, Stránská skála, Líšeň, Podolí, Tvarožná), 2: Bobrava area (Ořechov, Želešice, Dolní Kounice), 3: Mohelno area (Mohelno, Lhánice), 4: Ondratice/Želeč area, 5: Popovice, 6: Diváky, 7: Hradsko, 8: Dzierzyslaw (PL), 9: Piekary (PL), 10: Stajnia (PL), 11: Nižný Hrabovec (SK), 12: Kulichivka (UA).

Bohunician in the Brno basin

Chronology

TL and OSL datings

TL: 48.2 ±1.9 kya (Richter et al. 2008)

Stránská skála, refittingsThe sites Stránská skála III, IIIa & IIIc had provided 14 very completely reconstructed cores supplemented by a series of shorter sequences.

Bohunician technologyCross-sections of the most completely reconstructed cores and the theoretical

scheme

The first series of Levallois point production

The second series of Levallois point production

Artifact

Core residual

Levallois point

Crest blade removal Preparation of the

frontal crest

Shaping the triangular form of the core’s frontal face

Narrowing the core face

Boker Tachtit, Central NegevCross-sections of the most completely reconstructed cores

Levallois point

Artifact

Core residual

Layer 4

Layer 2

Layer 1

Comparison of Bohunician and Kulichivka chaîne opératoire

• Raw material procurement

Preparation stage

• nodules or blocks were shaped using the classic Upper Palaeolithic method, i.e. with a prepared frontal crest

• one or two opposed reduction platforms were prepared

Production stage

• Production of elongated Levallois points

Discussion

• distance between Brno Basin and Kremenets - ca. 670 km in a straight line distance

• similar site location - strategic position above a river valley• same raw material procurement strategy – located at an

important raw material outcrop with the economy focused on exploitation of local raw material

• high degree of technological similarity - similar technological categories including crested blades and opposed directional cores; similar target product – elongated Levallois point with facetted striking platform and bidirectional dorsal scars

• chronology position - discrepancy in obtained dates – how do they relate? Bohunician – dozens of dates falling into the time span of GIS-12 to GIS-9 / Kulichivka has two dates falling into the time span GIS-8 to GIS-7

Conclusion

• We have documented a high degree of similarity between the Brno basin and Kulichivka

• The Emiro-Bohunician technocomplex is extremely important for the study of AMH dispersal into Eurasia from the Levant, e.g.

– Bradtmöller, M., Pastoors, A., Weninger, B., Weniger, G.-C. 2012: The repeated replacement model – Rapid climate change and population dynamics in Late Pleistocene Europe. Quaternary International 247, 38-49.

– Hoffecker, J.F. 2009. The spread of modern humans in Europe. PNAS 106(38): 16040-16045. – Hublin, J.-J. 2012: The earliest modern human colonization of Europe. PNAS 109 (34), 13471-13472.

• Further research needs to be completed to verify these results –technology studies (including refitting and attribute analysis) and dating are also needed to confirm the chronological position of Kulichivka

Thank you for your attention!