Menu of Gravettian people from southern Moravia.

Abstract

There are a number of Upper Palaeolithic sites of Gravettian people in the southern Moravia. These people had eaten animals and their bones were used for creating artefacts. Their food was based on several species that lived in the vicinity of their settlement unit. The sites Dolní Vĕstonice II (Under Western Slope--UWS), IIa and III and Pavlov (1952, 1953, 1957 and 1958) have been studied to obtain a picture of the menu of Gravettian people in this region. Hunted animals fall into two groups, the first one includes those species hunted consistently and the second group those hunted occasionally. The following animals rank among the first group: mammoth, reindeer, horse, wolf, hare and fox. The second group includes bear, lion, wolverine, wildcat, lynx, deer, woolly rhinoceros and birds. The carnivores were hunted for their hides, fur and bones. The long bones of hunted animals were crushed for marrow. The proximal parts of bones were used for creating tools since distal parts of bones have been found predominantly. Teams of several hunters hunted herd animals. The rest of the species was hunted accidentally, some of them probably by hunting nets.