A new look at an old site: Studies of the Kraków Spadzista site 1968–2013
Piotr Wojtal, Krzysztof Sobczyk, Jarosław Wilczyński
10.5817/CZ.MUNI.M210-7781-2015-15
WOJTAL, Piotr, SOBCZYK, Krzysztof and WILCZYŃSKI, Jarosław. A new look at an old site: Studies of the Kraków Spadzista site 1968–2013. In: Sandra SÁZELOVÁ, Martin NOVÁK and Alena MIZEROVÁ (eds.). Forgotten times and spaces: New perspectives in paleoanthropological, paleoetnological and archeological studies. 1st Edition. Brno: Institute of Archeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Masaryk University, 2015, pp. 169-190. ISBN 978-80-7524-000-2; 978-80-210-7781-2. DOI: 10.5817/CZ.MUNI.M210-7781-2015-15.
Abstract
The excavations at site Kraków Spadzista (Poland) were conducted in eleven trenches from 1968 until present with several interruptions. During this period approximately 370.0 m2 of the site were explored. The series of radiocarbon dates cluster from 25.0 to 20.0 ky uncal BP, placing the site into the Gravettian cultural complex. Up to 2013 more than 50, 000 bone remains of different mammals of the Pleistocene steppe-tundra environment were discovered. At Kraków Spadzista site most of the faunal remains belong to woolly mammoth, of which a minimum of 93 individuals were estimated. Other large mammal taxa are represented only by isolated bones and teeth of single individuals. On the basis of the analyses of lithic materials, faunal remains, and radiometric data we can suggest that the Kraków Spadzista site was frequently re-occupied area by groups of Gravettian hunters within periods of few weeks or months. This short-term camp site was related to mammoth hunting. Most of the animals were probably killed by hunters directly at the site or in close vicinity, and then dismembered. The analysis allows the identification of three possible activity zones: a camp area, a lithic workshop, and an animal-processing area, besides the well-known accumulation of mammoth bones.
Keywords
Gravettian, settlement strategies, faunal remains, Kraków Spadzista, Poland
Résumé
Depuis 1968, avec quelques interruptions, des fouilles dans onze tranchées ont été effectué au site de Cracovie Spadzista (Pologne). Au total, 370.0 m2 du site ont été explorés. La série de datations radiocarbones, concentrés entre 25,000 et 20,000 BP non calibré, permet d’attribuer le site au complexe culturel du Gravettien. Jusqu’en 2013, plus que 50,000 restes osseuses de différents animaux pléistocènes, vivant dans la steppe-toundra, ont été trouvés. A Cracovie Spadzista, la plupart des restes fauniques appartient à au moins 93 individus de mammouth. D’autres taxons de grandes mammifères sont représentés par quelques os et dents isolés de peu d’individus. Sur la base des analyses du matériel lithique, des restes fauniques et des datations radiocarbones on peut conclure que le site était réoccupé fréquemment pendant quelques semaines ou quelques mois par des groupes de chasseurs gravettiens. Ce camp de base de courte durée est lié à la chasse au mammouth. La plupart des animaux étaient probablement tués par des chasseurs sur le site même ou très proche du site, et étaient ensuite désarticulés. L’analyse permet d’identifier à coté de l’accumulation d’ossements de mammouth trois zones d’activités possibles : une zone d’habitation, un atelier de taille et une zone de traitement des carcasses.
Zusammenfassung
Die Ausgrabungen im Fundplatz Kraków Spadzista (Polen) wurden von 1968 an, mit wenigen Unterbrechungen bis heute, in elf Schnitten durchgeführt. Während dieser Zeit wurden ungefähr 370 Quadratmeter des Fundplatzes untersucht. Die Serie der Radiocarbon Datierungen konzentriert sich auf einen Zeitraum von 25.000 bis 20.000 uncal BP, die den Fundplatz in das Gravettien stellen. Bis 2013 wurden mehr als 50.000 Knochenfunde verschiedener Säugetiere der Pleistozänen Tundrasteppe gemacht. Am Fundplatz Kraków Spadzista gehören die meisten Faunenreste zum Wollhaarigen Mammut, das durch mindestens 93 Individuen belegt ist, während andere Großsäugetier-Taxa nur durch isolierte Knochen und Zähne einzelner Individuen belegt sind. Auf der Basis der Analyse des lithischen Materials, der Faunenreste und der radiometrischen Datierungen kann geschlossen werden, dass Kraków Spadzista durch gravettien-zeitliche Jägergruppen häufiger freuquentiert wurde im Zeitraum von einigen Wochen oder Monaten. Dieses Kurzzeitcamp wurde für die Mammutjagd genutzt. Die meisten Tiere wurden wahrscheinlich durch die Jäger direkt am Fundplatz oder in der Nähe gejagt und dann zerlegt. Die Auswertung erlaubt uns drei mögliche Aktivitätszonen zu identifizieren: eine Camp-Areal, eine Steinschlagzone und eine Zone zum Zerlegen von Tieren neben der wohlbekannten Akkumulation von Mammutknochen.
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