Neanderthals on the Lower Danube: Middle Palaeolithic evidence in the Danube Gorges of the Balkans

2022
Authors
Borić, Dušan
Cristiani, Emanuela
Hopkins, Rachel
Schwenninger, Jean-Luc
Gerometta, Katarina
French, Charly A., I
Mutri, Giuseppina
Calić, Jelena

Dimitrijević, Vesna

Marin-Arroyo, Ana B.

Jones, Jennifer R.
Stevens, Rhiannon
Masciana, Alana
Uno, Kevin
Richter, Kristine Korzow
Antonović, Dragana

Wehr, Karol
Lane, Christine
White, Dustin
Article (Published version)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The article presents evidence about the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition interval in the karst area of the Danube Gorges in the Lower Danube Basin. We review the extant data and present new evidence from two recently investigated sites found on the Serbian side of the Danube River - Tabula Traiana and Dubocka-Kozja caves. The two sites have yielded layers dating to both the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and have been investigated by the application of modern standards of excavation and recovery along with a suite of state-of-the-art analytical procedures. The presentation focuses on micromorphological analyses of the caves' sediments, characterisation of cryptotephra, a suite of new radiometric dates (accelerator mass spectrometry and optically stimulated luminescence) as well as proteomics (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry) and stable isotope data in discerning patterns of human occupation of these locales over the long term.
Keywords:
ZooMS / radiocarbon dating / Palaeolithic / OSL dating / Danube Gorges / cryptotephraSource:
Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022, 37, 2, 142-180Publisher:
- Wiley, Hoboken
Funding / projects:
- High Risk Research in Archaeology grant of the National Science Foundation [BCS-0442096, 40967]
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in Cambridge
- Cardiff University
- NOMIS Foundation
- HIDDEN FOODS: Plant foods in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic societies of SE Europe and Italy (EU-639286)
- UK Natural Environment Research CouncilUK Research & Innovation (UKRI)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) [NE/E015670/1, NE/E015913/1]
- SUBSILIENCE: Subsistence and human resilience to sudden climatic events in Europe during MIS3 (EU-818299)
DOI: 10.1002/jqs.3354
ISSN: 0267-8179