Maria Łanczont

Abstract

The actual state of research on natural aspects of history of prehistoric settlement inthe peri- and meta-Carpathian zones based on investigations of important multilayer Palaeolithicsites is presented. Traces of Palaeolithic people stay, in the form of cultural layers, arefound at sites representing three types of sedimentary environment, i.e. cave (Biśnik cave in theCzęstochowa Upland, Obłazowa cave in the Podhale region), loess (Galich and Yezupil in theGalich Prydnistrov’ia region, Velykyj Glybochok in the Podil’ia region), and travertine (Hôrka-Ondrej and other sites in the Spiš region).Different geological methods were used in investigations of separate site types, and the obtainedresults are complementary and verify one another. Their comparison enables us to obtain multilevelpicture of palaeoenvironmental changes. Correlation of deposit sections in these differenttypes of sites is based on climatically controlled sequences of environmental changes. Chronostratigraphicextents of individual cultural units from selected sites and their correlation arebased on oxygen-isotope stratigraphy. The extents are presented as continuous despite the factthat cultural layers represent mostly traces of short-lasting settlement.Investigations of Palaeolithic sites in the Podil’ia and Prydnistrov’ia regions proved that settlementexisted from the penultimate interglacial to the end of the last glacial (MOIS 7-2). Materialsfrom the Biśnik cave represent similar period but there are premises that Middle Palaeolithicsettlement started earlier.

Keywords: Palaeolithic chronology, cave sites, loess sites, travertine sites, palaeoenvironment, Poland, Ukraine

Maria Łanczont, Department of Geoecology and Palaeogeography, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Al. Kraśnicka 2 cd, 20-718 Lublin, Poland
Teresa Madeyska-Niklewska, Laboratoire de Géologie du Quaternaire de l'Institut de Géologie de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences