Late Middle Palaeolithic occupations in Ciemna Cave, southern Poland

Abstract

Recent excavations in Ciemna Cave in the Prądnik valley near Ojców, southern Poland have brought to light new stratigraphic and techno-typological evidence concerning Late Middle Palaeolithic groups and their cultural affinities. In 2007, excavations began in the hitherto-unexplored main chamber of Ciemna Cave, with the goal of clarifying the results of previous work in other parts of the cave. During excavation the rocky floor of the cave was reached. About 1000 stone artifacts have been collected to date. Three cultural traditions have been documented: Mousterian, Taubachian, and Micoquian. Within the Micoquian tradition, three cultural levels were observed, which enriches the previous understanding of occupational phases at the site. These findings permit revision of the traditional terms “Prądnik industry” and “Prądnik technique.”

Keywords:

• Prądnik
• Prondnik
• Micoquian
• Taubachian
• Middle Palaeolithic
• Ciemna Cave

Acknowledgments

The research reported in this paper was performed under grant No. UMO-2014/15/B/HS3/02219, “The Last Neanderthals in the Ciemna Cave” obtained from the Polish National Science Centre. We would like to thank the Director and the Scientific Committee of the Ojców National Park for their support. We are also greatly indebted to JFA editorial board, especially Dr. Peter Bogucki for his comments on this manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paweł Valde-Nowak

Paweł Valde-Nowak (Ph.D. 1986, Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw) is a Professor of Stone Age Archaeology in the Jagiellonian University of Cracow and a senior scientist in the Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow. He has carried out investigations in various parts of Middle Europe, in the mid-mountainous zone of Poland, Slowakia and Germany. His research focuses on the questions of transhumance and seasonal settlement forms of Neolithic penetrations of the mountainous areas, as well as the interactions between nature and human occupation in areas less favorable for agriculture.

Bridget Alex

Bridget Alex (M.A. 2012, Harvard University) is a doctoral candidate in Anthropological Archaeology and Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Her research focuses on understanding the timing and nature of Neanderthal-modern human interactions, and uses radiocarbon dating to reconstruct the biogeography of these populations. Her field projects are in the Balkans, Central Europe, and the Levant.

Bolesław Ginter

Bolesław Ginter (Ph.D. 1966, Jagiellonian University of Kraków) is a Pensionary Professor of Stone Age Archaeology in the University of Cracow and University of Rzeszów. He has conducted field investigations at Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in southern Poland (especially flint Workshops), Central Europe, Balkan Penisula (esp. EUP) and North-East Africa (prehistory and predynastic period).

Maciej T. Krajcarz

Maciej T. Krajcarz (Ph.D. 2010, University of Warsaw, Poland) is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. His research is focused on the lithostratigraphy of cave sediments from archaeological and palaeontological cave sites of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, and the usefulness of sediments and fossil bones as a source of geological and geochemical information, such as weathering and diagenetic conditions and isotopic record. He has also worked on stratigraphy and taphonomy of loess Palaeolithic sites of Poland, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Teresa Madeyska

Teresa Madeyska (Ph.D. 1967, Polish Academy of Science) is retired professor of the Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Science, and a specialist in Quaternary Geology. Her areas of research are the lithology and stratigraphy of clastic cave sediments in Poland, the stratigraphy and palaeopedology of loess with fossil soils sequences in the Carpathian foreland in southern Poland and Western Ukraine, and the reconstruction of the Quaternary palaeoenvironment fluctuations. All the mentioned problems are closely connected with the history and natural conditions of Palaeolithic human settlement and fall within the scope of geoarchaeology.

Barbara Miękina

Barbara Miękina (Ph.D. 1995, Polish Academy of Sciences) is Curator of the mammal collection of the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow. She specializes in the taxonomy of contemporary and fossil rodents. Her research is focused on biostratigraphy and the environmental reconstruction of caves and open air sites in southern Poland during the Quaternary period.

Krzysztof Sobczyk

Krzysztof Sobczyk (Ph.D. 1984, Jagiellonian University, Kraków) is an Associate Professor of Stone Age Archaeology in Jagiellonian University of Kraków, and specializes in MP (Micoquian) and UP archaeology (Gravettian, Magdalenian). His research encompasses many Polish archaeological sites (he has conducted research in Kraków Spadzista Street, Ciemna Cave and Piekary) as well as numerous sites abroad: Greece (Klissoura), Slovakia (Moravany), Mongolia (Kharukhyn) and Hungary (Andornaktalia).

Damian Stefański

Damian Stefański (M.A. 2004, Jagiellonian University, Kraków) is a doctoral candidate in the Jagiellonian University and assistant curator of the Archeological Museum in Kraków. His research focuses on lithic technologies, functional analysis and spatial organization.

Piotr Wojtal

Dr Piotr Wojtal (Ph.D. 1997, Polish Academy of Sciences) works in the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences. He studies mammal remains from archaeological sites. His research focuses on the zooarchaeology and taphonomy of archaeological sites from Palaeolithic, Bronze Age and Middle Ages.

Mirosław Zając

Mirosław Zając (M.A. 1988, Jagiellonian University, Kraków) is a curator of the Archeological Museum of Kraków. His research focuses on the chronology and enviromental context of late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic in Little Poland. Since the 1980′s he has been conducting methodological surveys and excavation.

Katarzyna Zarzecka-Szubińska

Katarzyna Zarzecka-Szubińska (M.A. 2010, Jagiellonian University, Kraków) is a doctoral candidate at Wrocław Univesity and Jagiellonian University. Her research focuses on taxonomy and taphonomy analysis of mamal remains from Pleistocene sites and also she is working on Gravettan lithic assemblages.