Between Magdalenian and Epigravettian. A contribution to the study of the Palaeolithic on the Polish-Ukrainian border

Abstract

The terrains of Poland, located north of the Carpathians and the Sudetes, have been almost completely abandoned during the period of the LGM sensustricte. The reoccupation of Polish territories took place not until the end of LGM. These areas were then settled by the societies of the Magdalenian complex – a tradition that included upland areas of Western and Central Europe. On the basis of today's state of knowledge, it can be concluded that the eastern borders of Poland are at the same time the eastern boundary of the Magdalenien settlement. Five Magdalenian sites from the areas of today's Podkarpackie Voivodship are known (fig. 1). In the 1940s, a single-row harpoon linked to Magdalenian was found in Przemyśl. Further discoveries of sites fall into the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Four of the mhave been discovered up to this day: in Hłomcza, Grodzisko Dolne, Wierzawice and Łąka. This sites are only short-lived campsprovided small inventories. So far, no traces of large, longer settled base camp types have been found. If this situation is not only the result of the current state of research, then it may suggest that the areas of south-eastern Poland were part of a larger territory exploited by some Magdalenian community. On the basis of the analysis, it may be assumed that this territory may have covered the areas of eastern Poland. Magdalenian settlement in eastern Poland continues throughout the presence of Late Magdalenian societies in Central Europe, from Dryas I to Alleröd. It means that the population, or traditions of this culture, reached the eastern periphery relatively quickly and for a long time. The question arises if the Magdalenian population, functioning in the eastern borderlands, occupied areas not covered by any previous settlement, and whether were there contacts between them and representatives of other traditions – Epigravettian, whose settlement extends east of today's Polish borders on the territory of Ukraine. Finally, the last question is whether the line of the San is the final eastern limit of Magdalenian. This last question should be answered in the affirmatively, though not categorically. So far, we do not know of any Magdalenian sites from the areas east of Poland. The answer to the remaining questions is difficult. A certain light is being shed on them by the discovery of the site in Święte. The part of the site studied so far provided a small concentration of lithic artefacts – flakes and blades as well as several tools. These materials were described as Epigravettian. The TL dates obtained from the profile indicate that it is contemporary to the Magdalenian settlement. Perhaps, therefore the Magdalenian population who came to this area inhabited the areas that were occupied by the “Epigravettian” population? Perhaps we are also dealing with a zone penetrated by both these communities? So far, we know only one Epigravettian site from this area, which is contemporary to the Magdalenian settlement, but its significance in the discussion of Magdalenien-Epigravettian relations is very important. To what extent this borderland was the area of contacts and what the consequences could have been is unexplained yet. Apart from the few possible imports of Volhynian flint in Magdalenian inventories (Wierzawice, Grodzisko Dolne?), there are no other elements that could be a material confirmation of such contacts. An in-depth analysis of possible contacts on the west-east axis is also hindered by the poor level of recognition of the Polish-Ukrainian borderland on the Ukrainian side. Research conducted in the south-east of Poland shows that the Polish-Ukrainian borderland is an important area through which the border between two cultural traditions passes at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. This is an extremely important area in discussion on the relationship between Magdalenian and Epigravettian. Today's knowledge and questions set the prospects for further work.

Authors and Affiliations

Dariusz Bobak, Marta Połtowicz-Bobak

Keywords

Related Articles

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPOSITION OF THE MUSEUM FOR PREHISTORY AND PROTOHISTORY IN KYIV (1942–1943)

In 1942, the archaeological collections of the Central Historical Museum in Kyiv (now – National Museum of History of Ukraine) were packed by employees of the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce and transported from the ter...

BURIAL CEREMONY AND RITUAL ATTRIBUTES IN XVII–XVIII CENTURIES (ON THE MATERIALS OF THE EXCAVATIONS IN BERNARDINE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN DUBNO)

General categories of ritual artifacts, which were the material reflection of semantic of burial ceremony – in the narrow sense and revealed philosophic and theological sense of concept of man and his mortality – in broa...

POTELYCH COLLECTION OF CERAMICS FROM THE MUSEUM OF SHEVCHENKO SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

Issues of localization and ancient history of the region Telych (Potelych) are analyzed at the article. Telych was mentioned at the first time at the Halychyna-Volhynian chronicle in 1262. However, its localization remai...

STAGES OF LIFE AND SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF LVIV ARCHAEOLOGIST VOLODYMYR SAVYCH

The article includes overview of the main stages of biography and scientific career of Lviv archaeologist Volodymyr Savych. The latter was connected with two archaeological centers – the Lviv Historical Museum and the In...

ANTIQUARIAN AND ARCHEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS AND MUSEUMS IN POLAND SINCE 1918 IN POLAND SINCE 1918– ATHEMATIC OUTLINE

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the complexity of the emergence of ancient and archeological collections and museums in Poland since 1918, without exploring the history of each partition. Polish archeolog...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP532210
  • DOI 10.33402/mdapv.2018-22-42-53
  • Views 74
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Dariusz Bobak, Marta Połtowicz-Bobak (2018). Between Magdalenian and Epigravettian. A contribution to the study of the Palaeolithic on the Polish-Ukrainian border. Матеріали і дослідження з археології Прикарпаття і Волині, 22(), 42-53. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-532210