Tracing the transfers of raw materials in the Gravettian of Moravia and Silesia

Abstract

In order to reconstruct the procurement pattern of lithics in the Moravian/Silesian Gravettian culture and to make a comparison with neighbouring areas, raw material analysis from five Gravettian sites in Moravia/Silesia (Czech Republic) was carried out using stereomicroscopy and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). In Moravia, the characteristic raw material economy of the Gravettian was the import of fine-grained cherts and erratic flints from northern Moravia (and Silesia) or Southern Poland. However, radiolarites from the Pieniny Klippen Belt (present-day Slovakia and Poland) were also used and complemented on sites under the Pavlovské vrchy Hills by local (gravel) materials. Elemental analysis has also confirmed the use of Hungarian radiolarites at Moravian sites. However, these, as well as obsidian from Eastern Slovakia, were rarely used. The contact between Moravia and these two areas (Eastern Slovakia and Hungary) was probably less intensive than with Lower Austria and Southern Poland. Compared to the procurement pattern of the preceding Aurignacian culture, the most striking difference is the longer (and costly) transfers of erratic flints in the Gravettian. These now dominated the lithic material even at sites along the Danube River, 250 km from their sources. This probably correlates with organised provisioning of large, semi-permanent sites and specialised hunting.