A REVIEW OF THE LATER UPPER PALAEOLITHIC IN THE ODER AND VISTULA BASINS IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT RESEARCH
Summary. The withdrawal of the Vistulan ice‐sheet some 15,000 years ago permitted colonisation of the Oder and Vistula basins by a succession of Late Upper Palaeolithic peoples, amongst whom various distinct groups can be recognised. Magdalenian, Shouldered Point, Curved Back Point and Tanged Point...
| Published in: | Oxford Journal of Archaeology |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1987
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0092.1987.tb00137.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1468-0092.1987.tb00137.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-0092.1987.tb00137.x |
| Summary: | Summary. The withdrawal of the Vistulan ice‐sheet some 15,000 years ago permitted colonisation of the Oder and Vistula basins by a succession of Late Upper Palaeolithic peoples, amongst whom various distinct groups can be recognised. Magdalenian, Shouldered Point, Curved Back Point and Tanged Point technocomplexes are distinguished by the author, who discusses them with reference to the salient features of the archaeological assemblages, comments on the dating evidence, and considers both internal variability and possible relationships with industries in Western and Eastern Europe. The populations of this region, which coincides approximately with the boundaries of modern Poland, were hunter‐gatherers exploiting late glacial and early postglacial game resources, but there is evidence that systematic use was made of other local resources, such as ochre (mined at Rydno), Jurassic flint and the chocolate flint of the Holy Cross Mountains. In this process some of the Late Upper Palaeolithic peoples travelled long distances and established wide contacts. Use of the chocolate flint by Swiderian groups of the Tanged Point technocomplex is proving to be a particularly worthwhile study: flint of this kind is found at some 300 out of 700 Swiderian sites. Actual quarrying places are known in the source area, with working and living sites occurring at various distances from them, offering considerable potential for a study of contemporary economic and social organisation and seasonal migration. |
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