Ořechov IV is a recently investigated Bohunician site located in southern Moravia, but outside the Brno Basin where most of the other known Bohunician sites are located. It appears to belong to the pure Bohunician industry with no bifacial technology detected. It was probably discovered in the 1930s and due to later errors in reporting its exact location, it was ‘saved’ from prospecting by amateur archaeologists for several decades. We have re-located this site in 2010 and have conducted numerous pedestrian surveys and subsurface testing. We have collected a total of 3214 artifacts (most of them recorded by GPS) and a small amount of ochre. Two-thirds of the artifacts were manufactured on Stránská Skála chert. The second most common raw material used was Krumlovský Les chert followed by very small numbers of other raw materials including erratic flint, a long-distance import. Up to 20 % of the artifacts were damaged by frost action and agricultural activities. Numerous Levallois points and evidence for bidirectional flaking support the Bohunician classification. Test pitting has confirmed the presence of undisturbed sediments with cultural material including 4 structured hearths. Results of radiocarbon dating of some of these hearths are consistent with Bohunician antiquity. Only one lithic artifact in association with a hearth was found insitu. It is likely that future subsurface testing will yield more artifacts., Petr Škrdla, Tereza Rychtaříková, Ladislav Nejman, Jaroslav Bartík, Alena Hrušková, Jan Krása., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The territory of Moravia is well known for its high density of Early Upper Paleolithic sites. However, the majority of sites are surface sites lacking chrono-stratigraphic data. To further our understanding of the technological development, and replacement of Neanderthals by Anatomically Modern Humans between 50-40 kya, necessitates the discovery of new stratified sites. We implemented a project aimed at discovering new EUP sites with intact sediments. Central part the Bobrava Highland is an important EUP microregion and is located on the southwestern margin of the Brno Basin. We relocated almost all previously published sites in the area and conducted surface surveys in an attempt to discover additional surface sites. At each site we recorded the artifact clusters in absolute coordinates, and searched for potential artifacts in the intact sediments, often along the edges of surface artifact clusters. We have located intact sediments at four sites previously recorded as surface sites. We found in situ artifacts at two of the sites. The developed and successfully tested survey strategy may have potential application for surveys in other microregions., Petr Škrdla ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The Middle to Upper Paleolithic (MP/Up) transitional period and the question of a replacement of Neanderthals by Anatomically Modern Humans is a crucial question in current Archaeology and ANthropology. However, without the discovery and excavation of new Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) sites, no progress in the issue of the MP/UP transitional period in the Middle Danube Region would be possible. The systematic and repeated surface surveys on the site of Tvarožná-Za školou (Fig. 2) resulted in an important Bohunician artifact assemblage. Among the important features of thsi assemblage is an equal ratio of Stránska skála type adn Krumlovský les type cherts, which are supplemented by non-specified Moravian Jurassic cherts, Cretaceous spongolite cherts, radiolarite, and erratic flint. The industry is characterized by the absence of bifacial reduciton and the application of Levalloisian technology on all recognized types of raw material. Because the test pits excavated during 2006-2008 yielded arfifact within intact sediments, a larger and more complex excavation was realized during summer 2008 and a continuation is planned for 2010. The straifiied collection from Tvarožhná will contribute to the knowledge about the EUP in MOravia by clarifying the chronology and homogeneity/heterogenity of Bohunician collections (cf. hypothesis in Tostevin, Škrdla 2006). Another important issue is the cmoparison of the surface and excavated collection from the same site. While the surface collection was already published (Škrdla 2007), this arcitcle presents field results and preliminary interpretations from the 2008 season., Petr Škrdla ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury