Trenčianske Bohuslavice Gravettian site has been known since the early 1980s, with possibly the longest sequence of Upper Palaeolithic human occupation in the region, including a peculiar assemblage of lithic tools composed of bifacial leaf points. This paper presents the results of the 2017 excavation season that produced new data on the absolute chronology, stratigraphy, paleobotany, archaeology, and archaeozoology of the site. We found that the earliest occupation most probably belongs to the Aurignacian. This is followed by two Late Gravettian layers and the layer that yielded the bifacial leaf points. An Early Epigravettian layer dated to 26 kya seals the sequence. The succession of biological remains and geological evidence enabled the reconstruction of a cooling climate and disappearing boreal forest, which corresponded well with the development of the Last Glacial Maximum.
In 2019, two partially damaged features linked to the late phase of the Mierzanowice culture were examined during a short rescue survey in Dobranowice, Kraków district. A fragmentarily preserved human skeleton was discovered at the bottom of one of the pits. Aerial prospection established that the two examined features are part of an extensive Early Bronze Age settlement, perfectly legible in a highly eroded ploughed field. The site had not been previously recorded. It belongs to a settlement micro-region abundant in settlement and funerary finds of the Mierzanowice culture. The results of the research indicate that the archaeological resources of the Lesser Poland Upland are still insufficiently known and that systematic surveys using aerial photography should be undertaken.
Oberc T. 2020. Some remarks on flat graves of the southeastern group of the Funnel Beaker Culture. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 72/1, 115-146.Flat graves of the southeastern group of the Funnel Beaker Culture (FBC SE) are a phenomenon underrepresented in archaeological studies of the Eneolithic. Researchers' focus on "the megalithic idea" in recent decades left other forms of burial largely unexplored. In fact, it seems that even 70% of graves of the FBC SE could be described as part of the latter group. In this study, some comments on the location of flat graves within cemeteries, the construction and orientation of graves, as well some insights about the buried population will be provided. This research is based on a sample collected from previously published studies from most of the known geographical range of the FBC SE. As will be shown, the problem of flat graves is a complex one, which should be considered in the context of the entirety of FBC SE funerary practices.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.