Revised floral and faunal assemblages from Late Pleistocene deposits of the Gánovce-Hrádok Neanderthal site – biostratigraphic and palaeoecological implications

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Revisory research of floral and animal assemblages from the Neanderthal site of Gánovce-Hrádok confirmed the previous stratigraphic division of the travertine mound to five horizons on the basis of different petrological and palaeontological contents, indicating climatic and palaeoenvironmental changes in the vicinity, from the Saalian termination to the Holocene. At least two species of molluscs and approximately 20 taxa of vertebrates have been determined, and at least 8 endocasts of large mammals have been re-discovered. Revised floral record contained 570 specimens, but no more than 20% were suitable for taxonomic revision.</jats:p>

Solving Stone Age puzzles: From artefacts and sites towards archaeological interpretations

“…in the hard compact travertine is probably of the Eemian age. Such proboscidean assemblage is known in Slovakia so far only from the Neanderthal site of Gánovce (Sabol et al 2017). Based on that, the Santovka travertines are also a prospective Paleolithic site that would deserve systematic interdisciplinary research in the future.…”

“…Although their fossils are known mostly from cave deposits, lion remains are occasionally found also in open air sites (Diedrich 2007), such as Paleolithic settlements or travertine localities (e.g. Musil 1996;Čeklovský et al 2016;Sabol et al 2017).…”

“…Sabol et al 2017), the Quaternary distribution of Cervus elaphus in Western Carpathians is mainly related to warmer periods and forested landscapes.…”