The Upper Palaeolithic occupation and stratigraphy at Trenčianske Bohuslavice, Western Carpathians, Slovakia
Description
Trenčianske Bohuslavice Gravettian site has been known since the early 1980s with possibly having the longest Upper Palaeolithic sequence 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, palaeobotany, archaeology, 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 seals the sequence dated to 26 ky cal BP. The succession of biological remains and geological evidences enabled to reconstruct a cooling climate and disappearing boreal forest, which corresponded well with the development of the last glacial maximum.