As a part of the multidisciplinary project entitled ‘Archaeological Investigations into the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of the Lim Channel, Istria’, archaeological research has been conducted at four sites: Romuald's Cave, Abri Kontija 002, Pećina at Rovinjsko Selo and Lim 001 (Figure 1). There is much debate on issues related to biological and behavioural continuity, to patterns of changes and adaptations during this crucial period, and to external factors (e.g. changes in ecology and climate). For example, a clearer insight is needed into how climatic change affects the ecology of specific regions, including changing sea levels. Additionally, there continues to be debate centring on who produced the earliest (Initial) Upper Palaeolithic industries in Europe. To achieve a more precise insight into long-term diachronic changes and cultural relations around the Adriatic, and to document the presence of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic humans in Istria, we concentrated on a single microregion (the Lim Channel in Istria, Croatia). Here we report work on the two sites that to date have yielded Pleistocene material: Romuald's Cave and Abri Kontija 002.
Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys were conducted at the Velika Pećina near Kličevica and Romuald's Cave sites in Croatia in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the surveys was to estimate sediment depth to bedrock. However, neither survey produced reliable results at the 0.5 m probe spacing. In 2017, the Romuald's Cave site was revisited utilizing a high data density survey of 0.1 m probe spacing. All three surveys were conducted with a GeoScan RM85 in a pole–pole configuration. The high data density survey produced reliable results given the subsurface information available from three excavation trenches in the first chamber of the cave. The 2015 and 2017 ERT survey results are presented along with the results from two additional high data density ERT surveys located in the back chamber of Romuald's Cave. These results suggest that utilizing high data densities may improve the reliability of ERT surveys in cave environments.
The large faunal assemblage from the Fort St. Joseph site reveals the importance of wild over domesticated animals, the importance of fur trade activities, and the importance of daily interactions with local indigenous populations. Whereas both subsistence and fur trade activities occurred at the site, our study provides detailed information on where (the habitat) and what species were procured. Faunal specimens also include examples of bone tools, ornaments, and gaming pieces that site inhabitants made or made and/or used. Attention to the spatial distribution of animal remains attempts to understand refuse disposal patterns and distinctive activity areas where animals were processed for their hides, meat, and bone marrow. The Fort St. Joseph animal exploitation pattern shows a preference for wild animal resources, which is consistent with other French colonial sites like the ones in the Upper Great Lakes and in Louisiana.
Rad donosi rezultate arheoloških istraživanja provedenih u sklopu projekta Hrvatske zaklade za znanost pod nazivom „Prapovijesni lovci i sakupljači u Istri i obližnjim regijama: obrasci života i kretanja tijekom kasnog pleistocena (PREHISTRIA)“ u sezoni 2021. kada su provedena sustavna istraživanja Ljubićeve pećine kraj Marčane, te Abri Kontije 002 u Limskom kanalu. U Ljubićevoj pećini proširena je postojeća sonda u manjoj pećinskoj dvorani te su u njoj otkriveni arheološki nalazi (keramika, litički nalazi, ljudski i životinjski ostaci) iz različitih prapovijesnih razdoblja (brončano doba, eneolitik, neolitik i paleolitik). Nadalje, provedena su i manja sustavna istraživanja u postojećoj arheološkoj sondi na lokalitetu Abri Kontija 002. Otkriveni su brojni litički i faunski nalazi iz razdoblja gornjeg paleolitika. Na oba lokaliteta uzeti su uzorci za radiometrijsko datiranje, analize sedimentne DNA, geoarheološke, arheobotaničke i analize sirovinskog materijala, ZooMS te druge vrste analiza. Analize ova dva nalazišta omogućit će bolje razumijevanje gornjopaleolitičkih obrazaca ponašanja i korištenja resursa tijekom posljednjeg glacijalnog maksimuma i kasnog glacijala na prostoru Istre.
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