The loess-palaeosol sequence in the Upper Palaeolithic site at Kraków Spadzista: A palaeoenvironmental approach

Łanczont, Maria; Madeyska, Teresa; Mroczek, Przemysław; Komar, Maryna; Łącka, Bożena; Bogucki, Andriy; Sobczyk, Krzysztof; Wilczyński, Jarosław

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.11.033

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Łanczont et al (2016) interpreted the Gravettian-era landscape as having “rather poor” vegetational cover, steppe-like with small patches of scattered trees, herbs, and grasses, as supported by Péan and Wojtal (2003). The grass provided most if not all of the mammoth diet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The site known as Kraków Spadzista (formerly Kraków Spadzista Street) in southern Poland is ~2 ha in extent, located on the easternmost part of Sowiniec horst, a tectonic upland plateau of varying relief that has a steep drop on the north and gentler slopes to the west and south (Kozłowski et al, 1974; Wilczyński et al, 2012; Łanczont et al, 2016). The site is ~50 m above the current floodplain terraces of the Rudawa and Vistula Rivers, which are ~0.5 km and ~1+ km distant, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mammoth bones in Kraków Spadzista are buried in fine-grained sediments that overlie waterlogged and calcareous rocks, within a small karstic paleodepression (Łanczont et al (2013, 2015a, 2015b, 2016). Most of the lithics and animal bones in the site are within a silt sediment disturbed by periglacial solifluction processes, which formed lobes and involutions (Łanczont et al, 2015a, 2015b). This deposit, below a partially denuded Eemian–early glacial paleosol, corresponds to a younger part of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (Interplenivistulian age).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This deposit, below a partially denuded Eemian–early glacial paleosol, corresponds to a younger part of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (Interplenivistulian age). The site was occupied by Gravettian hunter-gatherers in the latter part of MIS 3, probably for no more than a few hundred years (Sobczyk, 2012, cited in Łanczont et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Łanczont et al (2013, 2015a, 2015b, 2016) sampled pollen and sediments from the entire Kraków Spadzista site and provided relatively detailed reconstructions of sediment deposition and changing vegetational communities. Pollen and spore profiles from the site’s zones I and II have gaps in the record, but data pertaining to the time of deposition of the mammoth bones indicate dry conditions with rather poor vegetational diversity and sparse plant coverage (Łanczont et al, 2016). An analysis of mammalian associations from the site (Péan and Wojtal, 2003) also concluded the landscape was open.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A comparative study of woolly mammoths from the Gravettian site Kraków Spadzista (Poland), based on estimated shoulder heights, demography, and life conditions

2018

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This article interprets the life conditions of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) from the Upper Paleolithic archaeological site Kraków Spadzista in Poland. We propose that the mammoths’ irregular mortality profile (also known as age profile) was shaped over several decades by major death events, which serially depleted the youngest cohorts. Taphonomic data and comparisons with other Eurasian archaeological and nonarchaeological sites provide context for hypothesizing that the mammoth-bone assemblage was accumulated at least partly through opportunistic human hunting of the most vulnerable animals in mixed herds. Humans exploited heightened mammoth vulnerability during climatic stress periods, killing and butchering most of the animals, although some mammoths in the assemblage may have died from natural causes. The evidence for environmental stress affecting the mammoths includes paleoecological data about local climatic conditions, the abundant signs of mammoth-bone abnormalities in the assemblage, the relatively smaller size of adult female mammoths compared with those from the similarly dated archaeological site Milovice I (Czech Republic), and the unusually high proportion of juvenile mammoths in the assemblage.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A comparative study of woolly mammoths from the Gravettian site Kraków Spadzista (Poland), based on estimated shoulder heights, demography, and life conditions

2018

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State‐of‐the‐art overview of the Loess Palaeolithic of Poland

Valde‐Nowak

Łanczont

2021

J Quaternary Science

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In Poland, loess mainly occurs in the southern part of the country, in the Polish Uplands, and on the northern foreland of the Sudetes and the Carpathians. Most of these sediments come from the time of the last glaciation-the Vistulian (Weichselian) glaciation. Thin covers of loess from the penultimate glaciation have been preserved in Upper Silesia. Only a few sites from the Middle Palaeolithic remain in the loess. In the eastern part of Poland loess creates profiles several metres high. Discoveries in this zone represent the cultural sequence from the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic. We know more traces of various cultures from the Upper Palaeolithic exist. The study attempts to synchronise profiles from selected archaeological open-air sites, outlines of the history of research on loess sites, and attempts to explain terminological and conceptual issues. The issue of loess in the cave site profiles will not be discussed in the article.

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Last Glacial Maximum active layer thickness in Western Europe, and the issue of ‘tundra gleys’ in loess sequences

Bertrán

Albers

Ludwig

2022

J Quaternary Science

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Late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and MIS 2 loess-palaeosol sequences in Western Europe comprise alternating loess layer and 3-to 30-cm-thick bleached soil horizons with Fe-Mn oxide precipitations, which are usually interpreted as waterlogged active layers and referred to as 'tundra gleys'. Active layer thickness data derived from a regional climate model simulation and the fossils (shells, earthworm granules) found in 'tundra gleys' argue against such an assumption. Most of these horizons better correspond to Fe-depleted, slightly humic topsoil horizons or subsurface eluvial horizons and should be referred to as (incipient) Ag or Eg horizons. They formed during climate ameliorations associated with vegetation (cryptogams, herbs) development, possibly limited by long-lasting snow cover. Strong mixing usually occurred in these horizons due to the activity of anecic earthworms and frost activity.

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The loess-palaeosol sequence in the Upper Palaeolithic site at Kraków Spadzista: A palaeoenvironmental approach

Cited by 14 publications

References 41 publications

A comparative study of woolly mammoths from the Gravettian site Kraków Spadzista (Poland), based on estimated shoulder heights, demography, and life conditions

A comparative study of woolly mammoths from the Gravettian site Kraków Spadzista (Poland), based on estimated shoulder heights, demography, and life conditions

State‐of‐the‐art overview of the Loess Palaeolithic of Poland

Last Glacial Maximum active layer thickness in Western Europe, and the issue of ‘tundra gleys’ in loess sequences

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