- University of Warsaw, Faculty "Artes Liberales", Post-Docadd
- Archaeology, Experimental Archaeology, Prehistory, Palaeolithic Archaeology, Landscapes in prehistory, Neanderthals (Palaeolithic Archaeology), and 52 moreMiddle Palaeolithic, Eurasian Prehistory, Upper Palaeolithic boundary, Bifacial Tools, Rock Art, Flint, Stone tools, Philosophy of Archaeology, Human Evolution, Evolution and Human Behavior, Upper Paleolithic, Lithic Technology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Middle Paleolithic, Quaternary Geology, Paleolithic Europe, Lithics, Mousterian, Lithic Technology (Archaeology), Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition, Lithic Analysis, Paleoenvironment, Lower and Middle Paleolithic, Aurignacian, Neandertals, Palaeolithic, Flint (Archaeology), Upper Palaeolithic, Paleoanthropology, Paleolithic Archaeology, Flint Technology, Early Upper Paleolithic technocomplex (Archaeology), Settlement Patterns, Lower Palaeolithic, Lower Paleolithic, GeoArcheology, Archaeology of Caves and Caverns (Archaeospeleology), Lithic Refitting, Palaeoanthropology, Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene, Archaeological Science, Pleistocene, Hunter-Gatherers (Anthropology), Geochronology, Archaeological Site Formation Processes, Lithic Raw Material Sourcing, Central Asia, Stable Isotope Analysis, Quaternary Sedimentology and Geomorphology, Archaeozoology, Svante Pääbo, and Keilmesser and Keilmessergruppenedit
- fascinated by Neanderthals and their knapping technologiesedit
This project aims to reconstruct the settlement patterns and palaeoenvironment of the Sąspów Valley in the Polish Jura by combining unpublished archaeological fieldwork with results of recent excavations at 13 cave sites.
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Until quite recently, only laminar complexes o f Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition provide information on cultural content o f Middle Paleolithic and Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition at the territory o f Western Tian Shan. The Katta... more
Until quite recently, only laminar complexes o f Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition provide information on cultural content
o f Middle Paleolithic and Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition at the territory o f Western Tian Shan. The Katta Sai site (2013-2015) was excavated in collaboration o f Institute archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS (Novosibirsk, Russia),
Institute o f Archaeology. University o f Warsaw (Poland) and Institute o f Archaeology o f AS RUz (Samarkand, Uzbekistan).
This investigation allows determining that ancient people have occupied the mid-mountain zone o f Chatkal ridge during the warm spells, obviously correlated with OIS 4. As grain size measurement, geochemical and micromorphological analyses o f sediments well as species composition o f malakofauna shows that in this period climate was close to modern conditions. Technological and typological analyses o f lithic collection define that stone raw material utilization base oneself on the flat-faced core flaking for production o f the flattenedflakes o f predesignate form. The Mousterian point, single side-scraper
and flakes with irregular retouch is the best illustrations o f the tool assemblage. The all data array gives an opportunity
to determine the functional type o f this occurrence as a camp-workshop. The odds are that in this area the tool blanks had been produced for further transportation from the site. The provided investigations suggest a new adaptational variant of ancient human occupation in the foothills o f the Western Tien Shan. It stands out from the Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition and resemble the Mousterian sites, which had not presented at this territory before.
o f Middle Paleolithic and Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition at the territory o f Western Tian Shan. The Katta Sai site (2013-2015) was excavated in collaboration o f Institute archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS (Novosibirsk, Russia),
Institute o f Archaeology. University o f Warsaw (Poland) and Institute o f Archaeology o f AS RUz (Samarkand, Uzbekistan).
This investigation allows determining that ancient people have occupied the mid-mountain zone o f Chatkal ridge during the warm spells, obviously correlated with OIS 4. As grain size measurement, geochemical and micromorphological analyses o f sediments well as species composition o f malakofauna shows that in this period climate was close to modern conditions. Technological and typological analyses o f lithic collection define that stone raw material utilization base oneself on the flat-faced core flaking for production o f the flattenedflakes o f predesignate form. The Mousterian point, single side-scraper
and flakes with irregular retouch is the best illustrations o f the tool assemblage. The all data array gives an opportunity
to determine the functional type o f this occurrence as a camp-workshop. The odds are that in this area the tool blanks had been produced for further transportation from the site. The provided investigations suggest a new adaptational variant of ancient human occupation in the foothills o f the Western Tien Shan. It stands out from the Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition and resemble the Mousterian sites, which had not presented at this territory before.
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Discussion of differences and possible links between bifacially and unifacially shaped tools has quite a long tradition. Certain techno-complexes are distinguished due to the presence or absence of bifacial technology (e.g. Keilmesser... more
Discussion of differences and possible links between bifacially and unifacially shaped tools has quite a long tradition. Certain techno-complexes are distinguished due to the presence or absence of bifacial technology (e.g. Keilmesser group, MP/UP transition leafpoint industries). The paper draws attention to a problem of defining bifacial and unifacial technology. The Ehringsdorf (Germany) tools show traces of multiple, subsequent resharpening. The knapper started from unifacial retouch on one or both edges of a flake's dorsal side. In the course of further resharpening, the ventral side of the flake required certain adjustments. After several rejuvenation phases tools show all the features of bifacially shaped tools in a type of leafpoints or knives. From a technological point of view, the question arises if such a reduction sequence can be called bifacial, unifacial, or should be defined in a different way.
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Leafpoint industries were widely spread in Central Europe. Bifacially shaped leafpoints became an “index fossil” for Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transitional industries. This paper presents a comparison of bifacial leafpoints from Szeleta... more
Leafpoint industries were widely spread in Central Europe. Bifacially shaped leafpoints became an “index fossil”
for Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transitional industries. This paper presents a comparison of bifacial leafpoints from Szeleta
Cave, Nietoperzowa Cave, Brno-Bohunice Kejbaly, Sajóbábony-Méhésztető, Jankovich Cave, Vedrovice V, Moravský Krumlov
IV and Muselievo. The leafpoints were analysed by the scar pattern (working step) method in order to reconstruct their chaîne
opératoire and the general knapping concept of the tools. The aim of the analyses was to check if the leafpoints ascribed to
different transitional cultures share similar concepts of tool making or schemes of manufacture.
for Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transitional industries. This paper presents a comparison of bifacial leafpoints from Szeleta
Cave, Nietoperzowa Cave, Brno-Bohunice Kejbaly, Sajóbábony-Méhésztető, Jankovich Cave, Vedrovice V, Moravský Krumlov
IV and Muselievo. The leafpoints were analysed by the scar pattern (working step) method in order to reconstruct their chaîne
opératoire and the general knapping concept of the tools. The aim of the analyses was to check if the leafpoints ascribed to
different transitional cultures share similar concepts of tool making or schemes of manufacture.
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This paper presents the results of a large-scale fieldwork project of interdisciplinary studies on the Middle Paleolithic settlement in the western Tian Shan piedmont. A complex of newly discovered “loess Paleolithic” open-air sites near... more
This paper presents the results of a large-scale fieldwork project of interdisciplinary studies on the Middle Paleolithic settlement in the western Tian Shan piedmont. A complex of newly discovered “loess Paleolithic” open-air sites near Yangiobod (Uzbekistan), Katta Sai, was excavated. The excavations allowed identification of a new variant of human adaptation in the regional Middle Paleolithic. In the light of the newest anthropological and genetic data, this new archaeological sites fit to the current studies on the relations between different human species during the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic in Central Asia. Geoarchaeological investigation of the sites has shown that the Paleolithic assemblages of Katta Sai are not preserved in situ. Cultural levels suffered from rill erosion, and most of the artifacts were re-deposited by water flow, and accumulated in secondary positions on the bottom of the branched rill system. This paper aims to reconstruct the subsequent processes of the site formation and to present the complicated geological situation of the studied sites of the Katta Sai complex, with implication for the archaeological interpretation of Paleolithic assemblages of the region.
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Until quite recently, only laminar complexes o f Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition provide information on cultural content o f Middle Paleolithic and Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition at the territory o f Western Tian Shan. The Katta... more
Until quite recently, only laminar complexes o f Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition provide information on cultural content
o f Middle Paleolithic and Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition at the territory o f Western Tian Shan. The Katta Sai site (2013-2015) was excavated in collaboration o f Institute archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS (Novosibirsk, Russia),
Institute o f Archaeology. University o f Warsaw (Poland) and Institute o f Archaeology o f AS RUz (Samarkand, Uzbekistan).
This investigation allows determining that ancient people have occupied the mid-mountain zone o f Chatkal ridge during the
warm spells, obviously correlated with OIS 4. As grain size measurement, geochemical and micromorphological analyses
o f sediments well as species composition o f malakofauna shows that in this period climate was close to modern conditions. Technological and typological analyses o f lithic collection define that stone raw material utilization base oneself on the flat-faced core flaking for production o f the flattenedflakes o f predesignate form. The Mousterian point, single side-scraper and flakes with irregular retouch is the best illustrations o f the tool assemblage. The all data array gives an opportunity to determine the functional type o f this ccurrence as a camp-workshop. The odds are that in this area the tool blanks had been produced for further transportation from the site. The provided investigations suggest a new adaptational variant of ancient human occupation in the foothills o f the Western Tien Shan. It stands out from the Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition and resemble the Mousterian sites, which had not presented at this territory before.
o f Middle Paleolithic and Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition at the territory o f Western Tian Shan. The Katta Sai site (2013-2015) was excavated in collaboration o f Institute archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS (Novosibirsk, Russia),
Institute o f Archaeology. University o f Warsaw (Poland) and Institute o f Archaeology o f AS RUz (Samarkand, Uzbekistan).
This investigation allows determining that ancient people have occupied the mid-mountain zone o f Chatkal ridge during the
warm spells, obviously correlated with OIS 4. As grain size measurement, geochemical and micromorphological analyses
o f sediments well as species composition o f malakofauna shows that in this period climate was close to modern conditions. Technological and typological analyses o f lithic collection define that stone raw material utilization base oneself on the flat-faced core flaking for production o f the flattenedflakes o f predesignate form. The Mousterian point, single side-scraper and flakes with irregular retouch is the best illustrations o f the tool assemblage. The all data array gives an opportunity to determine the functional type o f this ccurrence as a camp-workshop. The odds are that in this area the tool blanks had been produced for further transportation from the site. The provided investigations suggest a new adaptational variant of ancient human occupation in the foothills o f the Western Tien Shan. It stands out from the Obi-Rakhmat cultural tradition and resemble the Mousterian sites, which had not presented at this territory before.
Research Interests:
The Kukayaz sites were found in 1999 by Dr. Mukhiddin Khudzhanazarov who spotted a number of surface concentrations of stone artefacts on the terraces along the edge of Kukayaz valley. The collected material consisted mostly of large,... more
The Kukayaz sites were found in 1999 by Dr. Mukhiddin Khudzhanazarov who spotted a number of surface concentrations of stone artefacts on the terraces along the edge of Kukayaz valley. The collected material consisted mostly of large, massive, more or less symmetric bifacial
tools, in a shape of points or handaxes, accompanied by fl akes. The chronology was preliminarily suggested by the analogical bifacial forms as Acheulean. In 2009, Polish-Uzbek expedition revisited Kukayaz sites, in order to verify the preliminary results. The majority of the newly
collected artefacts is connected to bifacial tools manufacturing process. The obtained results allow us to discuss the possible chronology of the sites once again. Most of the arguments indicate the Bronze Age chronology of the Kukayaz sites. In the light of the presented results the chronology of other regional surface collections with bifacial tools might be questioned.
tools, in a shape of points or handaxes, accompanied by fl akes. The chronology was preliminarily suggested by the analogical bifacial forms as Acheulean. In 2009, Polish-Uzbek expedition revisited Kukayaz sites, in order to verify the preliminary results. The majority of the newly
collected artefacts is connected to bifacial tools manufacturing process. The obtained results allow us to discuss the possible chronology of the sites once again. Most of the arguments indicate the Bronze Age chronology of the Kukayaz sites. In the light of the presented results the chronology of other regional surface collections with bifacial tools might be questioned.
Research Interests:
Bifacially worked leafpoints are often treated as a kind of “index fossil” for MP/UP transitional industries in Central Europe. In some cases, their presence determines if a given inventory is assigned to a leafpoint industry. For the... more
Bifacially worked leafpoints are often treated as a kind of “index fossil” for MP/UP transitional industries in Central Europe. In some cases, their presence determines if a given inventory is assigned to a leafpoint industry. For the last 50 years, research has established the oldest leafpoints in Central and Southern Europe. As a result, a few dozen sites can be recently ascribed as leafpoint assemblages older than transitional Szeletian or Jerzmanowician assemblages. This article was designed as a point in the ongoing debate on the legitimacy of treating leafpoints as the main culture indicator of such assemblages. It challenges the notion that the tools called “leafpoints” in the whole of Central and Southern Europe illustrate a similar tool concept, in terms of their technology. In total, 17 collections of leafpoints from 8 countries were analysed by a scar pattern analysis in order to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire. The results show that the analysed artefacts are not coherent from the perspective of the technology, and one can distinguish at least few different techno-functional concepts of tools. On the basis of the analyses, the manuscript presents a technological definition of the leafpoint as a tool which has two symmetrical edges converging at the tip; both edges were treated in the same way in the course of knapping; the tool is symmetrical and was made to be such.
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In 2009, two test trenches were opened in Brštanica cave in Kotor Bay, giving the opportunity to establish a chronology of the site. The cave was settled mainly in the Eneolithic period. Single pieces of ceramics can also be dated to the... more
In 2009, two test trenches were opened in Brštanica cave in Kotor Bay, giving the opportunity to establish a chronology of the site. The cave was settled mainly in the Eneolithic period. Single pieces of ceramics can also be dated to the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age pottery was also found on the surface in a newly discovered cave called Kriti Ponor.
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The article shows the results of a scar pattern analysis of 21 bifacially worked artefacts from the site Weinberghöhlen (Mauern) in the Altmühl Valley, Germany. A characteristic feature of the described tools is the significant asymmetry... more
The article shows the results of a scar pattern analysis of 21 bifacially worked artefacts from the site Weinberghöhlen (Mauern) in the Altmühl Valley, Germany. A characteristic feature of the described tools is the significant asymmetry of one edge, which is much more convex than the other one. The results show that none of the analysed tools bear traces of an idea of creating a symmetric tool with two edges convergent at the exposed tip. A lot
more effort was put on the retouch of the edge and its course than on exposing the tip and making the tool more symmetrical. The asymmetry appeared at the moment of shaping the edges, the retouch has slightly deepened it. There is no trace of sequences which eliminated the asymmetry and form the shape of the tool. Therefore, we may conclude that none of the analysed tools can be called leafpoints from a technological point of view. The raw material used to produce tools from Mauern certainly conditioned the form of the tools. The small thickness of flat flint slabs meant that in order to obtain a usable edge it was necessary to perform broad flat decorticating removals on both sides. Further
knapping had to follow the same pattern, so as not to blunt the edge. At the same time the thickness of the material was
too small to create tools in the type of Micoquian Keilmesser, but the raw material allowed for producing tools with long working edges. It was logical, therefore, to change the system of repair of one edge into a tool in which one could use subsequently fragments of edges and then abandon them. Therefore analysed tool should be rather called "leafknives" than leafpoints.
more effort was put on the retouch of the edge and its course than on exposing the tip and making the tool more symmetrical. The asymmetry appeared at the moment of shaping the edges, the retouch has slightly deepened it. There is no trace of sequences which eliminated the asymmetry and form the shape of the tool. Therefore, we may conclude that none of the analysed tools can be called leafpoints from a technological point of view. The raw material used to produce tools from Mauern certainly conditioned the form of the tools. The small thickness of flat flint slabs meant that in order to obtain a usable edge it was necessary to perform broad flat decorticating removals on both sides. Further
knapping had to follow the same pattern, so as not to blunt the edge. At the same time the thickness of the material was
too small to create tools in the type of Micoquian Keilmesser, but the raw material allowed for producing tools with long working edges. It was logical, therefore, to change the system of repair of one edge into a tool in which one could use subsequently fragments of edges and then abandon them. Therefore analysed tool should be rather called "leafknives" than leafpoints.
In 2008 two testing trenches were opened in Tamnica cave in Kotor Bay which gave an opportunity to establish a chronology of the site. The cave was settled mainly in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. There are pieces of ceramics which... more
In 2008 two testing trenches were opened in Tamnica cave in Kotor Bay which gave an opportunity to establish a chronology of the site. The cave was settled mainly in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. There are pieces of ceramics which can be dated from Early Neolithic, Late Neolithic, Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. Additionally, a piece of Roman amphora, and a single microlithic backed piece found on a surface, give an evidence that the site was occupied also in other periods. Unfortunately, because of the mixed character of the sediment, there is no possibility to define more detailed chronology, nor analyze any aspects of the settlement.
