Stable isotopes takes us back in time and reveal forgotten secrets of Palaeolithic

0538282 - ARÚB 2021 CZ eng A - Abstrakt
Moravcová, M. - Nývltová Fišáková, Miriam
Stable isotopes takes us back in time and reveal forgotten secrets of Palaeolithic.
Art-Science workshop for stable isotope mass spectrometry. České Budějovice: Czech Society for Stable Isotopes, 2020. s. 19. ISBN N.
[Inaugural meeting of the Czech Society for Stable Isotopes. 09.12.2020-11.12.2020, Online]
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68081758
Klíčová slova: stable isotopes * Gravettian * Trenčianske Bohuslavice
Obor OECD: Archaeology

Trenčianske Bohuslavice - Pod Tureckom represents one of the most important archaeological Upper Palaeolithic sites in Slovakia. Both the findings of the lithic industry and radiocarbon dating results placed the site into the Willendorf-Kostenkian phase of the Gravettian (27 000 - 29 500 years before present). Detailed scientific research was carried out on the site: isotopic, archaeological, sedimentological, malacozoological, palynological, faunal spectrum, seasonality, lithic raw materials and fired clay pellets analyses. The stable isotope analyses were used for the first time in Palaeolithic research in Slovakia. Carbon isotope analyses of five tusk layers of mammoth indicated variability of d13C values. This indicates changes in dietary intake during the life of the animal. This could be related to annual climatic periodicity and vegetation cover, reaction to changes in climatic conditions, or to the migration of this animal. This finding demonstrates that the mammoth steppe was a complex mosaic of environments during the Gravettian period. The results of 13C/12C and 15N/14N isotope ratios analyses of reindeer support this mosaic character of the Gravettian palaeoenvironment. This corroborates phytopaleontological and palynological studies reporting that mosaic areas existed in Gravettian time: gallery woodland along streams and rivers with open environments around them. Analyses of the tooth cement microstructure of reindeer indicates that the site was seasonal and probably related to spring and autumn migrations. Migration of reindeer and arctic fox was also confirmed by the results of 87Sr/86Sr ratio analyses. This research represents the interdisciplinary cooperation of various scientific disciplines at the international level.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0318714