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

Abstract

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 Dubočka‐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.

SUBSILIENCE: Subsistencia y resiliencia humana ante los drásticos eventos climáticos acontecidos en Europa durante el Estadio Isotópico Marino 3

“…Las poblaciones auriñacienses (~44-32ka cal BP) (Bicho et al 2017;Shao et al 2021), a las que se atribuye ser las primeras de nuestra especie en Europa, parecen haberse extendido principalmente a lo largo del valle del Danubio de acuerdo con las nuevas investigaciones en la zona (Borić et al 2021;Marín-Arroyo et al e. p.;Mihailović 2020), beneficiándose de la expansión de las zonas de bosque abierto a expensas de las de estepa desértica (Sánchez Goñi 2020). En cambio, las evidencias arqueológicas señalan que las primeras poblaciones protoauriñacienses (aparentemente también originarias del Próximo Oriente) se distribuyeron a lo largo de la costa mediterránea y en algunas áreas de Europa Central según industrias del Paleolítico Superior Inicial, como las de Bacho-Kiro (Bulgaria) y Bohuniciano (este de la República Checa).…”

Aurignacian dynamics in Southeastern Europe based on spatial analysis, sediment geochemistry, raw materials, lithic analysis, and use-wear from Românești-Dumbrăvița

“…Of particular importance are the sites in Banat region that include Coșava- Cuca , Temerești- Dealul Vinii, and Românești- Dumbrăvița (hereafter Românești) 22 , 23 . Further afield but still in Banat are Tincova, Crvenka-At (Serbia), and Tabula Traiana Cave, sites that have additionally contributed to Aurignacian chronology and settlement patterns in East-Central Europe 24 – 31 . Banat sites are of particular importance because they are the closest contemporary sites to the early Homo sapiens findspots at the Peștera cu Oase, Peștera Muierilor, and Peștera Cioclovina (Fig.…”