Neanderthal and Modern Human Adaptations in Eastern Europe

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40 years of excavations at Mitoc–Malu Galben (Romania): changing fieldwork methodologies and implications for the comparability of archaeological assemblages

Publication . Noiret, Pierre; Libois, Timothée; Chirica, Vasile; Branscombe, Tansy; Murphree, William; Bosch, Marjolein D.; Haesaerts, Paul; Nigst, Philip R.

Mitoc-Malu Galben (Romania) is one of the key-sites for the Upper Palaeolithic in Eastern Europe, with abundant Upper Palaeolithic archaeological layers embedded in a similar to 14 meters long loess-palaeosol sequence. The excavations in 1978-1990 yielded rich remains of Aurignacian and Gravettian workshops. From 1992 to 1995, an international collaboration helped better define their stratigraphical position, age, and typological characteristics. Since 2013, our team has conducted new fieldwork focusing on interdisciplinary study of site formation processes and a detailed technological study of the lithic artefacts. These different excavation phases have employed quite substantially different fieldwork methodologies. Here, we explore the impact of the changing excavation methodologies on the comparability of the generated assemblages by analyzing the frequency of bladelets among the elongated blanks as well as the length distribution of elongated blanks. Our preliminary study allows us to suggest that some of the assemblages seem to be influenced by the fieldwork methodology employed by each excavation phase, but more studies are needed to start to understand how the assemblages are biased.

2021Journal article

Restricted access

Fire use during the last glacial maximum: evidence from the epigravettian at korman' 9, middle dniester valley, Ukraine

Publication . Murphree, William; Ferro‐Vázquez, Cruz; Kulakovska, Larissa; Usyk, Vitalii I.; Kononenko, Olesia; Bosch, Marjolein D.; Haesaerts, Paul; Damblon, Freddy; Pirson, Stéphane; Nigst, Philip R.; Aldeias, Vera

The Last Glacial maximum (LGM), spanning from 26.5 to 19 thousand years before present (ka bp), is a period of extreme climatic degradation associated with reduced biomass production and resource stress throughout Eurasia. Arguably, one of the most fundamental tools for human survival during this cold and arid period was the ability to create, maintain and use fire. While fire is widely considered a ubiquitous tool in modern human behaviour, there are surprisingly few well-described combustion features during the LGM in Europe. In this paper, we provide high-resolution geoarchaeological research into three combustion features associated with Epigravettian occupations at the site of Korman' 9 (Ukraine) with ages falling in the LGM. Our results show distinct variations in the size and structure of the combustion features, potentially indicating multiple occupations within the same layer or reflect differences in site organization or function during a single occupation. Additionally, our analysis shows clear evidence of the effect of solifluction and the lack of preservation of the ash layer(s) of the combustion features, as well as the development of bioturbation features enhanced by anthropogenic input. To better estimate heating temperatures of the combustion events, we employed a novel approach using colour analysis showing temperatures reaching 600 degrees C in the substrate underlying the combustion features. In all, the combustion features at Korman' 9 provide invaluable new insights as well as high resolution description of pyrotechnological behaviours during the LGM, which has been lacking during this critical period in our evolutionary history.

2025-03Journal article

Open access