Lithic inventory discovered in the Kraków Spadzista Trench E1

A Gravettian Site in Southern Poland: Kraków Spadzista – Contents

1. Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Jaros³aw Wilczyñski, Piotr Wojtal, Gary Haynes

2. Kraków Spadzista site – History of the research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Krzysztof Sobczyk

3. Natural environment of the Gravettian settlement in the Kraków Spadzista sitebased on palaeogeographical interpretation of loess-palaeosol sequences . . . 19

Maria £anczont, Przymys³aw Mroczek, Teresa Madeyska, MarynaKomar, Beata Holub, Bogdan ¯oga³a, Krzysztof Sobczyk, Jaros³awWilczyñski

4. Lithic inventory discovered in the Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 – the resultof the excavation carried out in 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Jaros³aw Wilczyñski

5. Preliminary research on red ferruginous artefacts from the Kraków Spadzistasite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Joanna Tr¹bska, Adam Gawe³, Barbara Trybalska

6. Zooarchaeological studies of large mammal remains from Kraków Spadzistasite – trench C2 and trench E1 (2011-2012 excavations). . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Piotr Wojtal, Jaros³aw Wilczyñski

7. Rodents at the Kraków Spadzista site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Barbara Miêkina

8. Carnivores from the open-air Gravettian site Kraków Spadzista . . . . . . . 117

Grzegorz Lipecki, Piotr Wojtal

9. The meaning of the mammoth age profile from Kraków SpadzistaTrench B+B1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Gary Haynes, Janis Klimowicz

10. Stable isotope and microwear investigation on the mammoth (Mammuthusprimigenius) of Kraków Spadzista: insights into diet and environment . . . 189

Dorothée G. Drucker, Florent Rivals, Susanne C. Münzel, HervéBocherens

11. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Piotr Wojtal, Jaros³aw Wilczyñski, Gary Haynes

A Gravettian Site in Southern Poland: Kraków Spadzista: 51-82

Piotr Wojtal, Jaros³aw Wilczyñski, Gary Haynes (Eds)

Lithic inventory discovered in the Kraków Spadzista

Trench E1 – the result of the excavation carried out in 2012

Jaros³aw Wilczyñski

Introduction

The Kraków Spadzista site in southern Poland, alongside such localities asPetøkovice and Milovice, is one of the most important Late Gravettian sites in CentralEurope (Fig. 1). It was discovered in 1967, and excavations have been conductedintermittently in various areas of this location with short breaks until the most recentexcavation in 2013 (Koz³owski et al. 1974; Koz³owski and Sobczyk 1987;Escutenaire et al. 1999).

Fig. 1. Map of Central Europe with the most important Late Gravettian sites marked (1 – Lubna; 2 –Milovice I; 3 – Moravany Lopata II; 4 – Trenèianske Bohuslavice; 5 – Petøkovice; 6 – KrakówSpadzista; 7 – Jaksice II; 8 – Bodrogkeresztúr–Henye; 9 – Hidasnémeti).

The excavations in the site involved three stages of research carried out in2011-13. The overall aim of this project was to verify previous findings about thenature and the chronology of the Gravettian settlement at the Kraków Spadzista site.These studies covered all three zones of the occupation that had been identified inearlier publications: the mammoth bone accumulation, the workshop, and the camparea (Sobczyk 1995; Wilczyñski et al. 2012). One practical objective of the fieldworkwas to wet sieve the excavated sediments, which substantially increased the amountof Atctic fox remains from the Trench E1 and the small backed implements from allareas; another objective was to obtain materials for a series of new radiocarbon dates.

This article contains a full description of the materials discovered during theexcavations in the Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 in 2012. Unfortunately, given thepurpose of this work, it was not possible to carry out a detailed comparative analysisof the materials discovered earlier in Trenches E and F, because these inventorieshave not been satisfactorily published and do not contain the necessarytechno-typological information (Banks 1996; Montet-White 1996).

General information

The historical material presented in this article is derived from research conductedin 2012 in the Trench E1 of the Kraków Spadzista site. The area is located in themiddle of the nineteenth century Austrian fort, between the two Trenches E and F(Fig. 2) Previous research at these two trenches conducted in 1987-89 was performedby a team under the leadership of JK Koz³owski and K. Sobczyk, in cooperation withAmerican researchers, primarily A. Montet-White (Koz³owski 1996). In both areas,the amount of historical material discovered was not particularly large and consistedof extensive waste mainly related to a workshop for the exploitation of the localJurassic flint (Montet-White 1996). The lithic inventories from both trenches weresimilar. The most frequent finds were flakes, but more tools and blades wererecovered in Trench F (Banks 1996). In addition to the lithic artefacts in bothtrenches, the remains of Pleistocene fauna were found – mainly woolly mammoth andArctic fox (West 1996a; Wilczyñski et al. 2012). According to West (1996b), theArctic fox remains were from young (about 1.5 year old) individuals, which werekilled during the late summer – autumn. The disproportionate numbers of bones of thehead, axial skeleton, and legs, compared to a paucity or absence of tail bones and toesamong the Arctic fox remains, led the American researchers to develop a hypothesisabout the pelt procurement activities (West 1996a). Therefore, new excavations inthis area were desired to test this hypothesis and verify the earlier interpretations.

The trench established for the new exploration had dimensions of 6 x 4 m and itsnorthern and southern walls were in contact with the earlier Trenches E and F. Theexploration conducted within the trench did not cover the entire open space – it didnot include, among other things, section D, which created an additional transversalcross-section that replaced section S and N, constituting the wall previously exploredin areas E and F (Fig. 2).

By far, most lithic artefacts were discovered in Layer 6, a silty sediment of lightgrey colour. It is very strongly disturbed by solifluction, manifested by deformationsof an involution type, the surfaces of which are accentuated by gleying and anenrichment with iron compounds (£anczont et al. 2015). As a result of the significanttransformation of the original surface it was not possible to extract any intentionalstructures of lithic or organic material (specifically burned bones) that may havesuggested the presence in this area of the remains of flint concentrations or of ahearth, despite the fact that such structures undoubtedly occurred here. Stoneartefacts were present throughout the whole thickness of Layer 6, and were

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Lithic inventory discovered in the Kraków Spadzista Trench E1...53

Fig. 2. Plan of the Kraków Spadzista site with the zones of occupation; Trench E1 is marked on red.

Fig. 3. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – spatial distribution of the lithic artefacts.

distributed over the entire trench (Fig. 3). The differences in the artefact frequencyarose from the reduction or increase of the layer’s thickness (Fig. 4). In one part of thetrench we observed a strong disturbance of Layer 6 (Fig. 5, 6); this layer takes theform of a strongly disturbed layer that slopes slightly in a north-eastern direction,within which we can extract a single local runoff of the solifluction (Fig. 7).

The lithic artefacts associated with the Aurignacian settlement were much lessnumerous. This material was discovered directly in Layer 7, which was partially

Fig. 4. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – southern section of D.

Fig. 5. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – drawing of the western section of the B4 andC4 square metre areas.

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eroded by Layer 6. This process is most visible in the Trench C2 where theoccurrences of deep furrows in Layer 7 are filled with Layer 6 (which is similar totraces of ploughing).

Fig. 6. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – western section of the B4 and C4 metreareas.

Fig. 7. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – northern section of the C2 square metre area.


Table 2

Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – raw materials of the lithicinventory discovered in Layer 6.

Raw material Cores Flakes Blades Retouchedtools

Burinspalls Others

Total

N %

Local Jurassic flint 36 1031 812 111 36 – 2026 98.0

Gray spotted biege chert – 1 1 – – – 2 0.1

Radiolarite – 1 – 1 – – 2 0.1

Obsidian – – 1 – – – 1 0.1

Burnt 3 13 16 2 – – 34 1.6

Others – – – – 4 4 0.2

Total 39 1046 830 114 36 4 2069 100

Gravettian inventory – cores

In the Gravettian layer, 39 cores and their fragments are described (Figs 8-11).The cores are not numerous in this inventory, and together with the fragments theyrepresent 1.9% of the whole inventory (Table 1). Among them are flint chunks withsingle scars, single pre-cores, 34 cores, and four core fragments that have beenomitted in further analysis. The finds represent all stage of core reduction, including:tested nodules, initial cores, full debitage, and residual specimens.

The cores are regular in volume, with frequent double platform specimens whichwere used previously for blade production, but during the exploitation the ratio of thespecimens to flakes increased. The cores are characterised by an intensivepreparation of the striking platform and the pre-flaking surface. They aremedium-sized, with the biggest specimen having dimensions of 135 x 68 x 71 mm.Among the cores are seven specimens from the initial stages of reduction; 13 coresfrom the advanced phase of exploitation; and 13 residual cores (Table 3).

Table 3

Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – cores discovered in Layer 6.

Flakecores

Blade-flake cores

Bladecores Total

Precore and chunk with initial preparation 2 2

Initial cores total: 6 0 1 7

single-platform 5 1 6

semi-discoid 1 1

Advanced stage of reduction total: 2 1 10 13

single-platform 4 4

double-platform with common striking surface 1 6 7

witch changed orientation 2 2

Residual cores total: 3 3 7 13

single-platform 2 1 3 6

double-platform with common striking surface 1 2 4 7

Total 13 4 18 35


Fig. 8. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1 – a double-platform core with a commonstriking surface.

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Fig. 9. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1, 2 – single-platform cores; 3 – a double-platform core with a common striking surface; 4 – a double-platform core with a twisted striking surface.

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Fig. 10. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1, 3 – double-platform cores with a twistedstriking surface; 2 – a double-platform core with a common striking surface.


Fig. 11. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1, 2 – double-platform cores with a commonstriking surface; 3 – a single-platform core.

Among the cores from the initial stages of reduction, only single-platform andsemi-discoid cores are present. They were used for flake production, and only singlespecimens have blade scars on the striking surface. The cores are frequently amorphicin shape and are covered by a primary thermal surface.

The cores from the advanced phase of exploitation (N=13) consist of a diversegroup. Among them are: four single-platform specimens; seven double-platformspecimens with a common striking surface; and two cores with a changed orientation.The cores were used mainly for blade production, although some flake specimens arealso noted (Table 3). Among the double-platform cores are very regular cores witha quadrangular cross-section, indicating an aim to obtain uniform blades. In this groupare very characteristic double-platform specimens with a striking surface located onthe greatest width of the nodule and with both sides prepared with lateral crests (Fig. 8).Similar specimens have also been noted in other trenches at the Kraków Spadzista site.

Among the residual cores are six single-platform specimens and sevendouble-platform specimens with a common striking surface. Among these, cores forblade production prevail. The residual cores are sometimes very small, with thesmallest measuring 38 x 17 x 33 mm.

Gravettian inventory – blanks

The inventory from Layer 6 contained 1046 flakes, i.e., 50.6% of all the artefactsexcluding the chips and chunks (Table 1). All of the complete flakes and the flakefragments 2 cm have been included in the analysis (Table 4). The flakes have alsobeen differentiated into: 430 complete pieces, 206 proximal fragments, 95 medialfragments, and 315 distal flake fragments. Just over half of the flakes were covered bycortical or natural weathered surfaces (N=548; 52.4%). The specimens that arewholly, or almost wholly cortical, account for nearly 1/4 of the flake inventory(N=243; 23.2%).

Table 4

Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 – flakes discovered in Layer 6.

Flakes N %

Number of flakes /% of the whole inventory 1046 50.6

Cortical flakes (% among flakes) 548 52.4

Wholly/almost wholly cortical flakes (% among flakes) 243 23.2

Traces of regularization of the butt edge (% among flakes) 10 1.6

Traces of abrasion/polishing of the butt edge (% among flakes) 13 2.0

Traces of lip (% among flakes) 110 17.3

The average dimensions of complete flakes (in mm) 75 x 113 x 22

The flakes are dominated by specimens with a unidirectional dorsal pattern(N=648; 61.9%); specimens with a transversal or an oblique dorsal pattern are muchless frequent (N=184; 17.6%). Sporadically, trimming flakes occur, which are mainlytwo-sided (N=49), and less frequently one-sided (N=29). It is unclear if these comefrom the initial phase of exploitation (10 of them are almost wholly covered bya natural surface) or if they were produced during changes to the orientation of the core,

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but it is probable that both possibilites took place. Rejuvenation of the core platformis evidenced by tablets and small flakes that have been struck from the platform edge(N=26). The flake butts are mostly single-blow (N=280; 44.2%), or less oftenmultiple blow (N=128; 20.1%). Linear or punctiform butts, which document the useof a hard hammer, are less numerous (N=115; 18.1%). Often the butts are covered bya natural surface (N=74; 11.6%). The average dimensions of the intact flakes are 36 x32 x 7 mm; whereas 110 specimens have a length of more than 50 mm (representing10.5% of all the flakes). The biggest flake made of Jurassic flint has dimensions of 75x 113 x 22 mm.

In Layer 6, 830 blades were counted, representing (excluding chips and chunks)40.1% of the whole inventory (Table 1). Among the blades we can distinguish only64 complete specimens, with 229 proximal, 345 medial and 192 distal fragments. Themajority of the blades have no traces of a natural surface (N=564; 31.7%), and only57 blades (6.9%) are wholly or almost wholly covered by a natural surface (Table 5).

Table 5

Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – blades discovered in Layer 6.

Blades N %

Number of blades/% of the whole inventory 829 40.1

Cortical blades (% among blades) 265 31.9

Wholly/almost wholly cortical blades (% among blades) 57 6.9

Crested and secondary crested blades (% among blades) 128 15.4

Unidirectional scars (% among blades) 598 72.0

Bidirectional scars (% among blades) 68 8.2

Traces of regularization of the butt edge (% among blades) 68 23.2

Traces of abrasion/polishing of the butt edge (% among blades) 55 18.8

Traces of lip (% among blades) 170 58.0

The average dimensions of complete specimens 53x19x6

As far as the dorsal pattern of the blades is concerned, specimens with a unidirectionalscar pattern predominate (N=598; 72.0%) while the blades with a bi-directionaldorsal pattern are much less common (N=68; 8.2%). A large proportion of theinventory includes a variety of crested blades (N=69; 8.3%) and secondary crestedblades (N=59; 7.1%). This share considerably increases if we calculate only thenumber of whole specimens, in which case the crested and secondary crested bladescomprise 24.2%. Blade butts are usually of a single-blow type (N=171; 58.4%); thenumber of blade butts formed with multiple blows (N=62; 22.2%) is much smaller.Linear or punctiform butts, which document the use of a hard hammer, are lessnumerous. Also, only nine blade butts are covered by a natural surface (3%).Numerous blades have a regularised butt edge (N=68; 23.2%) and additionally,55 specimens (18.8%) have clearly visible traces of abrasion (sometimes with a verystrong abrasion, similar to polishing). The frequency of the lips observed on theventral side indicates the common use of soft-hammer percussion (N=170; 58%).Generally, the blades are thickset and massive. The average dimensions of thecomplete specimens, including the refittings, are 53 x 19 x 6 mm; while 81 specimens(9.8%) are more than 50 mm in length. The two longest blades made of Jurassic flint


have dimensions of 121 x 45 x 12 and 113 x 45 x 11 mm. Among the blades, there isno tendency for the production of bladelets. Also, 12 blade specimens (1.4%) showtraces of their utilisation in the form of a fine retouch observed on the edges.

Gravettian inventory – retouched tools and burin spalls

The retouched tools (N=114) represent 5.5% of the whole inventory.Additionally, 36 burin spalls are present (1.7%). In the Gravettian tool inventory,burins (N=45) and backed blades (N=31) prevail, and these constitute more than 66%of the whole tool assemblage (Table 5). Other tool groups occur much less frequently,and among them retouched blades (N=11) and Kostienki knives (N=10) are the mostnumerous.

Table 6

Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – retouched tools discovered inLayer 6.

Retouched tools N %

Endscrapers 2 1.7

Burins 45 39.5

Backed pieces 31 27.2

Shouldered points 5 4.4

Truncations blade 1 0.9

Kostienki knives 10 8.8

Perforator 1 0.9

Retouched blades 11 9.6

Retouched flakes 4 3.5

Combined tools 4 3.5

Total 114 100

Endscrapers

Both endscapers are made on blades and are preserved as distal fragments (Fig. 12:1,2). The first one of these was made on a semi-cortical blade with a unidirectionaldorsal pattern and a trapezoidal cross-section; while the second one was made ona secondary crested blade with a triangular cross-section.

Burins

The burins comprise one of the most numerous tool groups in this inventory(N=45; 39.5% of the tools). Among them, specimens that are dihedral (N=13), ona break (N=13), and on a truncation (N=6) prevail (Fig. 12: 3-8; Fig. 13-17). Also,combinations of different kinds of burins can be distinguished (N=4), as well asfragments of damaged/broken specimens of an undetermined type (N=7). For theproduction of the burins, blades were mainly used (N=42); only three burins weremade on flakes. Frequently, the burins are made on blanks without any traces ofa natural surface (N=32); while only four of them are wholly or mainly covered bysuch a surface. In terms of their production, mainly blades with unidirectional scarswere used (N=27), and less often specimens were used with a bi-directional dorsalpattern (N=3) or crested blades (N=5). The burins were mainly produced on blanks of

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a triangular (N=25) or a trapezoidal cross section (N=15). The average dimensions ofa complete burin (made on a blade and including refittings) are 50 x 21 x 7 mm, with11 specimens measuring more than 50 mm in length.

Two simple burins were made on a slender non-cortical blade and a massive flake.Single burins of that type made on flakes represent multiple specimens (Fig. 12: 3, 4).

Burins on a break (N=13) were mainly made on non-cortical blades (Fig. 12: 5-8;Fig. 13: 1-9). Among these, regular non-cortical blades with a trapezoidal crosssection prevail; however, two of them are doubled specimens.

Burins on a truncation (N=6) are composed of specimens made on medium-sized,slender blades (Fig. 14: 1-6). The retouch which created the truncation was mostoften made by a fine regular retouch. There is a single specimen of a transversal burin.

The dihedral burins generally were made by a number of blows, among which sixdouble specimens have been counted (Fig. 14: 7-9; Fig. 15; Fig. 16: 1-6). Among thedihedral burins, we can further divide a group of characteristic multiple specimenswith a twisted working surface, where a series of negatives which shaped one edge ofthe burin overlaps on the ventral side of the blank (Fig. 15: 1-4).

Not numerous are other combinations of burins (Fig. 17: 1-3) and fragments ofundetermined burins (Fig. 17: 4-8). Furthermore, the presence of burin spalls (N=36)in this assemblage indicates that the burins were shaped or repaired on-site.

Combination tools

Combination tools are represented by two burins on a break combined withKostienki knives, as well as a single combination of a dihedral burin with a Kostienkiknife and a dihedral burin with a truncated blade (Fig. 16: 7; Fig. 18: 1-3). All of theseare massive specimens.

Backed blades

Backed blades (N=31; 27.2% of the tools) make up one of the most numerousgroups among the retouched tools (Table 6; Fig. 19: 1-21; Fig. 20: 1-8). The backedblades are mainly regular in size, with some massive specimens; although a singlemicro-backed blade is also present. Among the backed blades, two fragments ofirregular and probably unfinished specimens are present (Fig. 20: 7,8). A partiallycortical blade was used only for the production of a single backed blade. Among thebacked blades, there are 16 mesial fragments and 15 proximal (base) parts. Where thebase is preserved, it is almost always covered by a flat ventral retouch, accompaniedby a semi-abrupt or an abrupt retouch of the dorsal side. This retouch createsa pointed or rounded base. Also, among the backed blades two rectangles are present,represented by two base fragments with a transversal edge covered by an abrupt stepretouch (Fig. 20: 9,10). One of these has a retouch on the ventral side, but it isdifferent from other Late Gravettian rectangles known from the Jaksice II and otherCentral European sites, because it was created by using a step retouch (�aár 2007;Polanská and Hromadová 2015; Wilczyñski et al. 2015a). The backed blades arefrequently fragmented; therefore, it is difficult to determine the average whole lengthof this type of tool. The average dimensions of the width (8 mm) and the thickness(8 mm) indicate that rather slender blades were chosen for their production; however,we must remember that the width is reduced because of retouch along the single edge.The dimensions of the largest preserved fragment are 55 x 11 x 2 mm.


Shouldered points

Among the shouldered points (N=5) a single base with a notch, two medial parts,and two point fragments with a notch are present (Fig. 20: 11-16). These always havea weakly marked notch, made by a regular fine step retouch or by a more distinct andirregular retouch. They are medium and small-sized specimens, made on blades witha unidirectional dorsal pattern, which are sometimes partially covered by a thermalsurface. The dimensions of the biggest fragment are 43 x 22 x 3 mm. The base of asingle shouldered point is rounded, prepared by a flat retouch. Also two distalfragments have a fine step retouch that is visible on the dorsal side of the tip. Theretouch was made either on the opposite edge from the notch or on the same side.Because of the poorly marked notch and the presence of an irregular retouch, some ofthese points can resemble unfinished backed blades.

Truncated blade

A single truncated blade is represented by a distal fragment of a straight specimen,made on a non-cortical blade (Fig. 21: 1).

Kostienki knives

All of the Kostienki knives were made on blades (N=10), and sometimes on verymassive blades having a polygonal cross-section (Fig. 21: 2-8; Fig. 22: 1,5,6). Amongthe Kostienki knives the biggest complete specimen measures 67 x 22 x 14 mm. Thetypes of these tools discovered in Trench E1 represent classical forms with cutting edgesimilar to specimens known from sites in the Russian Plain, but there are also isolatedforms which were used for bladelet flaking (Klaric et al. 2015). Two of these are doublespecimens (Fig. 21: 6,7). The notch was prepared by a single blow, or by a series ofstrikes, and occasionally the surface of a break was used. Thus, the formed surfacewas used for detaching flat flakes or bladelets from the dorsal surface of a blank.

Perforator

A single fragment of a perforator was made on a regular blade with a unidirectionaldorsal surface and a triangular cross section (Fig. 22: 2). The working edge wasformed by a semi-abrupt retouch.

Retouched blades

Among the retouched blades (N=11), six proximal, three medial, and two distalparts are present (Fig. 22: 3,4,7; Fig. 23: 1-5). The biggest part has dimensions of 67 x38 x 10 mm. Eight of these were made on blades with a unidirectional dorsal patternand three were made on crested and secondary crested blades. Generally, theretouched blades are covered on the dorsal side by a fine semi-abrupt or an abruptretouch of a single edge.

Retouched flakes

The retouched flakes are represented mainly by fragments. The retouch coveringthese flakes is often irregular, semi-abrupt, and sometimes denticulated (Fig. 23: 6).Only a single flake (a transversal scraper) is preserved as a whole specimen, withdimensions of 50 x 55 x 9 mm (Fig. 23: 7).

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Fig. 12. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1, 2 – endscrapers; 3, 4 – simple burins; 5-8– burins on a break.

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Fig. 13. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-9 – burins on a break.


Fig. 14. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-6 – burins on a truncation; 7-9 – dihedral burins.

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Fig. 15. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-4 – “twisted” dihedral burins.


Fig. 16. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-4 – dihedral burins; 5, 6 – double dihedralburins; 7 – combinations of dihedral burins and truncation blades.

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Fig. 17. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-3 – combinations of burins; 4-8 – fragments ofundetermined burins.


Fig. 18. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-3 – combinations of Kostienki knives andburins.

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Fig. 19. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-21 – backed blades.

Fig. 20. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-8 – backed blades; 9, 10 – rectangles;11-15 – shouldered points, 16 – unfinished(?) backed blade.


Fig. 21. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1 – a truncated blade; 2-8 – Kostienki knives.

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Fig. 22. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1, 5, 6 – Kostienki knives; 2 – a perforator;3, 4, 7 – retouched blades.


Fig. 23. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012). 1-5 – retouched blades; 6, 7 – retouchedflakes; 8 – blade made of red radiolarite; 9 – flake made of green radiolarite; 10 – blade made of obsidian.

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Aurignacian inventory (Layer 7)

During the 2012 excavations a scant lithic inventory was discovered (Table 7). Inearlier articles concerning the inventories discovered in Trenches E and F, there was alack of information about the discovery of any artefacts within Layer 7 (Sobczyk1995; Banks 1996; Montet-White 1996). Within this assemblage the most numerousfinds were flakes (N=12) and blades (N=6). Other groups in the inventory such ascores, tools, or burin spalls are represented only by single artefacts.

Table 7

Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – general structure of the lithicinventory discovered in Layer 7.

Artefacts N %

Cores and fragments 2 8.7

Flakes 12 52.2

Blades 6 26.1

Retouched tools 2 8.7

Burin spalls 1 4.3

Total 23 100

The whole inventory is made from both variants of the local Jurassic flint, thebrown type B and the blue-grey type C. The artefacts are often covered by a patina(21.7%) and their surface is glossy.

Among the cores are a single-platform core for blades in the advanced stage ofreduction and a carinated core/endscraper. The single-platform core has a thermalstriking platform and a flat flaking surface covered by single blade negative scars.A single carinated endscraper/core was made on flat thermal chunks and is coveredby a series of regular bladelets.

Flakes (N=12) are represented mainly by their distal parts (N=6) or by wholespecimens (N=5). These are often covered by a natural surface (N=9), and only threeof them are non-cortical flakes.

Among the blades are three proximal, a single mesial, and two distal fragments.Half of them are non-cortical specimens, and unidirectional scars are mainly on thedorsal surface.

Retouched tools are represented by a single burin on a break made on a flake anda mesial fragment of a retouched blade. Additionally, a single burin spall wasdiscovered.

Summary

The Gravettian lithic inventory discovered in Trench E1 during the 2012excavations is similar to the assemblages known from the other parts of this site –both in terms of the raw materials that were used and the tool types, as well as theproportions of the particular retouched tools. This occupation was functionallyrelated to a lithic workshop, focused first of all on exploitation of local Jurassic flintimported to the site from the nearby surroundings. A noticeable feature is a very lowshare of grey spotted beige chert, which reaches a higher proportion in other parts ofthe site, especially in Trench C2 (Wilczyñski et al. 2012, 2015b). Similarly to theother trenches, only single artefacts were made from the extra-local raw materials


radiolarite and obsidian, which might indicate long-range exchanges or movementsby the Kraków Spadzista people, and suggests contact with the southern Carpathianarea – a territory in present-day Slovakia (Kaminská 1991).

The cores are mainly double-platform specimens, the majority of which havecommon flaking surfaces, almost always used for blade production. During theprocessing of the cores, a rejuvenation treatment mainly connected with repairing theplatform was conducted. The presence of all inventory groups in this trench at theappropriate proportions (some initial cores, with numerous flakes and residual cores)confirms that the whole of the lithic processing was carried out at this location.

Each retouched tool type was made from different blanks, chosen specifically forthe production (Fig. 24). Among the burins and especially among the Kostienkiknives many massive specimens were found, sometimes made on crested and semicrested blades or on blades covered by a natural surface. In turn, for the production ofbacked blades and shouldered points, more slender, thinner blades with a straightlongitudinal section were selected.

The presence in this area of numerous burins and backed blades is characteristic ofthe rest of the site (Wilczyñski et al. 2012). It should be noted that similar specimensof shouldered points (with a weakly marked notch) are known from Trench D whichis located approximately 30 metres south of Trench E1, and these differ significantlyfrom the specimens discovered in the Trench B + B1 area where the greatest amountof such tool types were discovered (Koz³owski et al. 1974; Sobczyk 1996). Amongthe points, geometric forms (except of the two rectangles) and flechettes are not

Fig. 24. Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 (excavation in 2012) – the width and thickness of the main toolgroups, as well as the unretouched blades.

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present, which is again a characteristic trait of the entire site (Wilczyñski 2015b;Wilczyñski et al. 2015b).

Presence at this trench a large number of the Arctic fox remains could explain theoccurrence of retouched tools and blanks (especially blades) in a base-campinventory (Wojtal and Wilczyski, in this volume). Therefore on the basis of the lithicinventory studies as well as zooarcheological analysis of the animal remains from theTrench E1, we conclude that at this site area a mixing occurred of at least two separatehuman occupational episodes, one that was related to exploitation of local flint andone that was related to Arctic fox hunting. This supports earlier suppositions aboutpost depositional processes (e.g., solifluction) mixing repeated separate visits byhunter-gatherers into a single cultural level (Sobczyk 1995; Kalicki et al. 2007;Wilczyñski 2007; Wilczyñski et al. 2012).

Although only a scant lithic inventory connected with the Aurignacian settlementwas discovered in Trench E1, it does have analogies with other parts of the KrakówSpadzista site (Koz³owski et al. 1975; Koz³owski and Sobczyk 1987; Sobczyk 1995;Wilczyñski et al. 2015b).

The lithic inventory discovered in the Kraków Spadzista Trench E1 is part ofa larger assemblage at that site and relates to other Late Gravettian inventories knownfrom Central Europe (Bárta 1989; Simán 1989, Kazior et al. 1998; Dobosi 2000;Novák 2004; �aár 2007; Svoboda 2008; Oliva 2009; Šída 2009; Lengyel 2015;Wilczyñski et al. 2015a). This similarity is observed especially in the presence ofdouble-platform cores and a high proportion of burins and various types of backedimplements among the retouched tools. Among the sites we can observe the presenceof tool types such as backed blades, flechettes, microgravettian points, rectangles(also of a Late Gravettian type), and shouldered points. These are sometimes presentin different proportions or are absent, and can also be accompanied by other tools –such as Kostienki knives or leaf points. The occurrence of such dissimilarities in theLate Gravettian inventories is still not well explained (Wilczyñski et al. 2015a).Unfortunately (except for the Jaksice II site), the relationships of the KrakówSpadzista inventory to those of other Gravettian sites from Poland such as Wójcice orthe Mamutowa Cave are not clear. This is due to a lack of radiocarbon dating, as wellas a shortage of complementary studies of the lithic inventories (Ginter 1966;Kowalski 1967; Wilczyñski 2015).

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Gary Haynes for his help in correction of English text.The research was partly supported by National Science Centre (grant decision

No. DEC-2011/01/B/ST10/06889 awarded to P. Wojtal).

Author:Jaros³aw WilczyñskiInstitute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Science,S³awkowska 17, 31-016 Kraków, PolandE-mail: [email protected]

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Lithic inventory discovered in the Kraków Spadzista Trench E1