engleski

Underwater Palaeolithic sites in Croatia

The end of Pleistocene saw drastic change in climate, including sea level rise, which reached approximately today's levels at the beginning of Holocene. All this resulted in submerging or erasing of many sites. So far, underwater Palaeolithic sites at eastern Adriatic shore are very rare. However, Kaštel Štafilić – Resnik can be attributted to the Middle Paleolithic while finds from another underwater site, located near the island of Stipanac in Prokljansko lake near Skradin, may be attributed to Pleistocene. Kaštel štafilić - Resnik is located at about 4 meters below today's sea level. Technological and typological analysis of all collected lithic finds was undertaken, including measurements of roundness and sphericity. Analysis shows that the most abudant tool types at Kaštel Štafilić - Resnik are side scrapers, typical of Mousterian industry. Lithic industry of Stipanac will be preliminary presented in this oral presentation. Research on underwater Palaeolithic sites has a great potential, yet it comes with difficulties. One of major problems is distinguishing artefatcts from geofacts, both when collecting, as well as during analysis. In addition, the sites are often disturbed by changes in sea level. Furthermore, underwater research is more time consuming, and much more expensive than research at land sites. However, the potential rewards are great, as very little is known about many aspects of formation of such sites, as well as various processess that affected the sites since human habitation. Therefore, it is essential to invest into and further our efforts in this type of research, which will benefit future knowledge and methodology alike.

middle paleolithic ; lithic analysis ; underwater archaeology ; mousterian

nije evidentirano