Human Occupation of the Central Balkans during the Last Glacial Maximum: Recent Results from Serbia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Interdisciplinary Research into the Late Pleistocene of Europe" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), or Marine Isotope Stage 2, produced some of the most extraordinary environmental challenges faced by Homo sapiens during the Pleistocene. Large parts of temperate and subarctic Eurasia were depopulated, as humans retreated to areas with relatively favorable conditions. Although the Balkans have long been seen as a potential LGM human refugium, archaeological evidence for humans in the area during MIS 2 has been very sparse. Recent excavation and dating projects have identified a number of localities in Serbia dating to just before, during, and just after the LGM: these include Šalitrena Pećina, Bukovac, Velika Pećina, Hadži Prodanova Pećina, Pešturina, Meča Dupka, Dubočka-Kozja Pećina, Velika Vranovica, Pećina kod Stene, Petrovaradin Fortress and Potpeč). These sites show a number of similarities in form, location, and lithic assemblages. These common features enable us to define some basic features of LGM Upper Paleolithic traditions and adaptations in this part of the central Balkans. At the same time, they highlight apparent voids in the existing record of LUP land use during this period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Interdisciplinary Research into the Late Pleistocene of Europe   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37844.0