We present several approaches to directly date the prehistoric human activity of lighting a fire at the Early Gravettian infant burial site of Krems-Wachtberg (Austria) by thermoluminescence (TL) ...methods. Blue thermoluminescence (B-TL) from polymineral fine grain and orange-red thermoluminescence (R-TL) from fine-grained quartz separates, both extracted from the baked loess immediately underlying the hearth were employed. The B-TL dating followed the “classic” multiple aliquot-additive dose (MAAD) protocol. For R-TL dating, the multiple aliquot-regenerative (MAR) and a shortened single-aliquot-regeneration (SAR) protocol were tested. All thermoluminescence ages obtained agree within 1-σ uncertainties and assign a weighted mean age of 33.9 ± 2.3 ka to the last use of the hearth and by inference to the infant burial. Anomalous fading is precluded due to the agreement of results from all luminescence protocols as well as with independent dating methods. The TL ages are consistent with calibrated radiocarbon ages on associated charcoal, OSL dating of the sediment deposition and with age estimates obtained by two magnetic dating approaches.
In this article we present first information on results of analyses of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) graveyard of Kleinhadersdorf carried out in recent years. First, we briefly present the excavations ...and main characteristics of the burials. Analyses of C-, N- and Sr- isotopes, executed with- in a large-scale international project, showed that most of the people were born and lived in the area and gathered food nearby. Only three individuals came from a geologically different region, i.e. the gneiss-granite zone of the Bohemian massif. Adzes and some quern stones were also obtained in this area, while flint raw materials and Spondylus shells for ornaments were procured from other regions.
The scientific investigation of Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages requires close transdisciplinary collaborations involving raw material studies and typological and techno-economic analyses. It has ...also become clear that such in-depth analyses have to be conducted by trained specialists followed by recombination of the datasets. Our current paper presents successful cooperative efforts in a case study concerning specific raw material types in the lithic assemblage from Stratzing-Galgenberg, one of the most important Aurignacian open-air sites in Central Europe. The structure of our study follows the imperative analytical steps to achieve conclusive results for such an investigation. First, we demonstrate the application of the analytical classification system used for stereomicroscopic single artefact raw material determination. Secondly, we discuss the problematic nature of purely macroscopic raw material investigation for particular raw material types, in this case Southern Moravian chert varieties. Subsequently, the behavioural assessments focus on the results provided by raw material analyses and allow for preliminary reflections concerning resource management strategies of late Aurignacian hunter-gatherer societies in the Middle Danube region.
Since 2005, detailed archaeological investigations have been carried out at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Krems-Wachtberg in eastern Austria where a well-preserved Gravettian find layer is embedded ...in an 8 m high Late Pleistocene loess sequence. The excavations are accompanied by interdisciplinary sampling strategies applied on the main profiles' entire sediment series as well as on selected locations within the archaeological context. The latter include both evident anthropogenic structures, an in situ occupation surface with hearths and burials, and periglacial features that together determine the morphology and explain the formation of the main Gravettian find horizon.
Since 2005, annual excavation campaigns have been conducted at the open air site of Krems-Wachtberg in eastern Austria. This paper provides an overview of the preliminary archaeological results, ...including a presentation of the site's Upper Palaeolithic features and find inventories, as well as a discussion of its position within the Gravettian of the Middle Danube region.
The site is characterized by a well-developed occupation layer with associated features like hearths and burials. From a local perspective, the station is part of an extensive Gravettian settlement cluster on the Wachtberg promontory. Beyond that, more far-ranging connections can be established to sites of the older Gravettian forming the regional group of the Pavlovian. These analogies apply to topographic position and economic factors, as well as to technological and typological criteria of the lithic inventories. Furthermore, parallels in burial rituals and art are evident.
The publication gives a complete documentation of the old rescue excavations by Josef Bayer and Viktor Lebzelter in 1931 as well as of the systematic investigations of the Neolithic cemetery under ...the direction of Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer and Christine Neugebauer-Maresch between 1987–1991. The burial customs of this early farming population are analyzed together with the grave goods, which comprise an exceptionally large number of grinding stones, as well as ceramics, bone tools, shell ornaments, chert and traces of red ochre. The results of analyses of anthropological remains pertaining to 57 inhumations − more than half of the bodies were oriented SE-NW and the majority buried in a crouched position on the left side − are complemented by 14C-dates and isotope-analyses.
Die Publikation bietet sowohl eine vollständige Dokumentation der ersten Notgrabungen von Josef Bayer und Viktor Lebzelter 1931 als auch der systematischen Rettungsgrabungen zwischen 1987–1991 unter der Leitung von Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer und Christine Neugebauer-Maresch. Die Bestattungssitten dieser frühen bäuerlichen Bevölkerung werden ebenso eingehend analysiert wie die Grabfunde, die eine ungewöhnlich große Anzahl an Mahlsteinfragmenten und Reibplatten umfassen, weiters Keramik, Knochengeräte, Muschelschmuck, Silex und Spuren von Rötel. Die Resultate der Analysen der anthropologischen Überreste von 57 Körperbestattungen - mehr als die Hälfte der Körper waren SO-NW orientiert und die überwiegende Mehrheit in linker Hockerlage bestattet − werden durch 14C-Datierungen und Isotopen-Analysen ergänzt.
Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the ...widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed from the historical period onward (3000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.g. Armenia and France). We found that most regions show remarkable inter-individual heterogeneity. At least 7% of historical individuals carry ancestry uncommon in the region where they were sampled, some indicating cross-Mediterranean contacts. Despite this high level of mobility, overall population structure across western Eurasia is relatively stable through the historical period up to the present, mirroring geography. We show that, under standard population genetics models with local panmixia, the observed level of dispersal would lead to a collapse of population structure. Persistent population structure thus suggests a lower effective migration rate than indicated by the observed dispersal. We hypothesize that this phenomenon can be explained by extensive transient dispersal arising from drastically improved transportation networks and the Roman Empire's mobilization of people for trade, labor, and military. This work highlights the utility of ancient DNA in elucidating finer scale human population dynamics in recent history.
From about 5500 cal BC to soon after 5000 cal BC, the lifeways of the first farmers of central Europe, the LBK culture (Linearbandkeramik), are seen in distinctive practices of longhouse use, ...settlement forms, landscape choice, subsistence, material culture and mortuary rites. Within the five or more centuries of LBK existence a dynamic sequence of changes can be seen in, for instance, the expansion and increasing density of settlement, progressive regionalisation in pottery decoration, and at the end some signs of stress or even localised crisis. Although showing many features in common across its very broad distribution, however, the LBK phenomenon was not everywhere the same, and there is a complicated mixture of uniformity and diversity. This major study takes a strikingly large regional sample, from northern Hungary westwards along the Danube to Alsace in the upper Rhine valley, and addresses the question of the extent of diversity in the lifeways of developed and late LBK communities, through a wide-ranging study of diet, lifetime mobility, health and physical condition, the presentation of the bodies of the deceased in mortuary ritual. It uses an innovative combination of isotopic (principally carbon, nitrogen and strontium, with some oxygen), osteological and archaeological analysis to address difference and change across the LBK, and to reflect on cultural change in general.
The classic Upper Palaeolithic location of the Wachtberg in Krems (eastern Austria) features a multitude of exposures in a limited area of about 50,000 m2. In addition to Gravettian sites which have ...been investigated in detail in the course of recent years using modern methods, there are the records of old excavations, several documented sections, as well as a considerable number of core samples displaying heterogeneous documentation standards. This paper provides an overview of these different sources of information and aims at synthesizing the data for a comprehensive understanding of the local loess sedimentation and Palaeolithic occupation.
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