16.4.

2014

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After the Great Cold: The Epigravettien in Austria and the Grubgraben site | Aggsbach's Paleolithic Blog

http://www.aggsbach.de/2013/07/after-the-great-cold-the-epigravettien-in-austria/

After the Great Cold: The Epigravettien in Austria and the

Grubgraben site
by Katzman

http://www.aggsbach.de/2013/07/after-the-great-cold-the-epigravettien-in-austria/

July 27, 2013

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After the Great Cold: The Epigravettien in Austria and the Grubgraben site | Aggsbach's Paleolithic Blog

This is a short (3,5 cm long) and rather thick endscraper from the Grubgraben site in Lower Austria, found
at the beginning of the last century, dated to ca 18 k.al BP. To my knowledge most the Grubgraben material
is stored at the Krahuletz Museum in Eggenburg
(http://www.krahuletzmuseum.at/startseite/schausammlung/archaeologie.html), where I saw an exhibition
about this site some years ago.
The Last Glacial Maximum played a more important role in cultural adaptation than it was expected
previously. During this time period, the western part of central Europe appeared as an area of remarkable
demographic decrease. A more regular network of sites is recorded in the eastern part of central Europe,
namely in the Carpathian Basin and parts of Lower Austria, which seemed to have functioned as one of the
European refugia.
Industries from Middle Danube region dated after the Last Glacial Maximum (20-15 k.a. BP (Grubgraben,
Rosenburg, Langmannersdorf, Saladorf, Strnsk skla, Szgvr, Arka, Kasov upper layer, Lipa) have
some common features and have been described as Epigravettian. Alberndorf, once dated to the LGM
and classified as Epiaurignacian, has now securely dated to a late Aurignacian at 28 k.a. BP (AMS).
In terms of raw material exploitation and economy, there was more emphasis on local sources, although
long distance lithic provisioning is documented in small quantities at some sites (for example Obsidian from
Slovakia and Hungary in lower Austria at Grubgraben and Rosenburg). Some sites were located directly in
the vicinity of the outcrops and display the character of primary workshops (Arka, Lipa). Other sites may
represent short hunting camps / kill sites (Stranska Skla; Saladorf) of horse and reindeer. Grubgraben
seems to have been a major aggregation site with repeated settlement and a diversified lithic industry.
Contrary to the Gravettian based predominantly on lithic imports and producing long blades from the
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After the Great Cold: The Epigravettien in Austria and the Grubgraben site | Aggsbach's Paleolithic Blog

classical crested and prismatic cores, the Epigravettian blanks (flakes, shorter blades, microblades) are
usually produced from short and cubical cores as well as from elongated blade cores.
Typologically, the groups of short endscrapers and burins predominate, but their quantitative relationship
may be flexible at the individual sites. Both types are usually made on short blanks. Some of them are thick
and some are polyhedric, thus recalling Aurignacian forms, but the quantity of these types is low. The
backed implements, previously used as the key argument for continuity of the Gravettian tradition, are also
present but are in fact less frequent than expected within an industry, that is called Epigravettian. Indeed
there are great differences to the Epigravettian industries at the Balkans and in Italy, but we lack of
comparative data about this issue.
The bone-and-antler industry, whenever preserved, shows parallels to the Magdalenian but also to the
preceding Gravettian at Krems Wachtberg, Willendorf, Dolni Vestonice and the Swabian caves (btons de
commandement at Grubgraben, and Sgvr, spatulas needles and a flute at Grubgraben) .
At Grubgraben, artifacts made of different raw materials were found. Fine-grained flints resembled in their
mineralogical composition the raw material of Strnsk skla. The radiolarites had in part parallels with
those from the Vh basin. 2-5% of the artifacts were made of quartz. Endscrapers were the most frequent
tool type, followed by burins, backed bladelets and marginally retouched tools. Obermaier (1908) and
Brandtner (1989) described thick (Aurignacoid) endscrapers on flakes, (Mousteroid) sidescrapers and
multiple fine borers-similar to that of the contemporaneous Badegoulian in France and the Mezinian.
These are pages from Obermaiers publication(1908): Die am Wagramdurchbruch des Kamp gelegenen
niedersterreichischen Quartrfundpltze: Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis des lteren Jungpalolithikum in
Mitteleuropa. At this time the site was classified as Aurignacien moyen and compared to the Hudssteig
site at Krems. A nice example of a misleading typological approach..

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After the Great Cold: The Epigravettien in Austria and the Grubgraben site | Aggsbach's Paleolithic Blog

About the Austrian Paleolithic:

www.landesmuseum.at/pdf_frei/31560.pdf
http://www.oeaw.ac.at/praehist/fileadmin/template/main/res/pdf/pal_lit/

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