Prehistoric Charcoal Graffiti Discovered in Katerinska Cave, Czech Republic

0542652 - ÚJF 2022 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Golec, M. - Zajíček, P. - Světlík, Ivo - Pachnerová Brabcová, Kateřina - Maříková, L. - Čermáková, E. - Ovšonková, Zuzana Aurélia
Prehistoric Charcoal Graffiti Discovered in Katerinska Cave, Czech Republic.
Radiocarbon. Roč. 63, č. 2 (2021), s. 473-480. ISSN 0033-8222. E-ISSN 1945-5755
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT EF16_019/0000728
Institutional support: RVO:61389005
Keywords : cave graffiti * prehistoric and historic periods * wipe-sampling method
OECD category: Physical chemistry
Impact factor: 6.324, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2021.5

The article reports on a new sampling method and the archaeological context of cave drawings, which include the oldest currently known graffiti in the Czech Republic. Between 2016 and 2020, samples with a small amount of charcoal were taken from drawings found in Kateinska Cave (Catherine's Cave) of the Moravian Karst in the Czech Republic. A new gentle method of sampling charcoal from the cave walls was developed for the purpose of radiocarbon (C-14) dating cave drawings of unknown age, while preserving the contours of the drawings. C-14 analysis has provided data from four periods of prehistory and history: from the Neolithic around 5000 BC, the turn of the Neolithic and Eneolithic around 4300 BC, the Hallstatt Period from 800-450 BC, and also from the Middle Ages (13th century). The radiocarbon dates of the graffiti correspond to the dates of the pottery finds from the entrance portal of Kateinska Cave, thus validating the dates and the sampling method.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0320025