Publication details
Re-excavation of cultural deposits at Švédův stůl cave in the Moravian Karst, Czech Republic
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Archaeological Science : Reports |
| Citation | |
| web | Stránky vydavatele |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105449 |
| Keywords | Middle-Upper Palaeolithic Transition; Moravian Karst; Re-excavation; OSL dating; Cave excavation |
| Description | Over the last 150 years archaeologists in Europe have targeted caves and rock-shelters. This has both enriched our knowledge of Palaeolithic cultures, and significantly reduced the number of sites with pristine, unexcavated cultural deposits dated to the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic (MP-UP) transition available for study today. In this paper we report the discovery of in situ sediments which preserve artefacts dating to the Neanderthal-Homo sapiens transition period, at a site previously assumed to have been excavated in its entirety. Our results demonstrate the utility of re-investigating previously excavated sites and provide further support for hominin presence in the Moravian Karst during the MP-UP transition. In situ sediments with excavation potential still remain at this site. As well as their archaeological potential, these remnant deposits, which span the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and possibly earlier stages, have considerable potential for enhancing our understanding of the palaeoenvironmental history of the Moravian Karst. |