Loess, flints and bones: Multidisciplinary research at Jaksice II Gravettian site (southern Poland) Jaros1aw Wilczy  nski a, * , Piotr Wojtal a , Maria qanczont b , Przemys1aw Mroczek b , Dobrawa Sobieraj a , Stanis1aw Fedorowicz c a Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Slawkowska 17, 31-016 Kraków, Poland b Department of Geoecology and Palaeogeography, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Kra snicka 2cd, 20-718 Lublin, Poland c Institute of Geography, Department of Geomorphology and Quaternary Geology, University of Gda nsk, Ba _ zy nskiego 4, 80-950 Gda nsk, Poland article info Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Upper Palaeolithic Vistula Valley Terrace Cryogenic structures Artefacts Interplenivistulian abstract The Jaksice II Gravettian site was occupied when the landscape was a mosaic of steppe, tundra, and parkland (having rare groups of trees). Results from new excavations show that the site was part of a hunting camp inhabited by groups of Late Gravettian hunters 24,000e20,000 14 C BP. Archaeological and palaeontological assemblages consist of, among others, ivory artefacts and manufacturing debris, mollusc shell pendant, hematite fragments, and numerous backed lithic artefacts. The site also yielded a great quantity of bone remains from woolly mammoth and reindeer, which vastly outnumber the remains of other mammal species. These two species were the main sources of meat and raw material for the Gravettian hunter-gatherers at this site. The lithic assemblages include certain forms characteristic of Eastern European Gravettian sites (such as numerous backed artefacts, especially rectangles), but also lack diagnostic Gravettian tool forms such as Kostienki knives and shouldered points. The assemblage from Jaksice II site is widely different from the assemblage recovered in Kraków Spadzista, only 40 km away, and dated to the same period. This makes the recently investigated site at Jaksice II invaluable for improving our state of knowledge of the variability to be expected in Gravettian occupations, not only in Poland but in Central Europe. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In Central Europe Gravettian settlement appeared around 30,000 14 C BP (note that radiocarbon dates are not calibrated unless noted). The process which led to the emergence of this cultural unit in Europe has not been fully elucidated, which has led to inter- pretive disagreements (Conard, 2000; Svoboda, 2007; Koz1owski, 2013). Today it seems obvious that the Mid Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) is characterised by both diversity and uniformity in various domains of life (Missi et al., 2000). This observation is clear in the study of Western European MUP materials which define a newly coined term civilization mosaïque (Klaric, 2007; Klaric et al., 2009). This diversity is also visible in Moravian materials e both Pavlovian (Early Gravettian) as well as Late Gravettian (Oliva, 1999; Polanská, 2013). In this paper we aim to explore similar issues related to Gravettian settlement in Poland, especially in light of new archae- ological materials discovered at the Jaksice II site. The Gravettian is recorded in southern Poland only in a very small number of locations. Notable are open-air sites at Wójcice, Henryków 15 and Kraków Spadzista (Ginter, 1966; Koz1owski et al., 1974; P1onka and Wi sniewski, 2004). Unfortunately, the investi- gation of Wójcice has not been comprehensive and only for the Kraków Spadzista site are there multiple radiometric dates (e.g. Wilczy nski et al., 2012). This makes the study of the Gravettian occupation in Poland rather challenging. For one thing, the number of sites is very small; for another, they have been investigated to unequal extent, furnishing quite mixed inventories in terms of the quantity and type of the material discovered. Fieldwork carried out at the Jaksice II site, its location reconfirmed after a lapse of nearly century after its discovery, has yielded an extraordinary assemblage of lithic finds, at least one ivory implement, and personal orna- ments. The chronometric age of this occupation site is similar to that of Kraków Spadzista but, quite unexpectedly, their lithic in- ventories appear to be quite dissimilar. One possible explanation is that they belong to two different traditions, manifested in the Gravettian lithic inventories. * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: wilczynski@isez.pan.krakow.pl (J. Wilczy nski), wojtal@isez. pan.krakow.pl (P. Wojtal), lanczont@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl (M. qanczont), przemyslaw.mroczek@umcs.pl (P. Mroczek), geosf@ug.edu.pl (S. Fedorowicz). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.002 1040-6182/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e17 Please cite this article in press as: Wilczy nski, J., et al., Loess, flints and bones: Multidisciplinary research at Jaksice II Gravettian site (southern Poland), Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.002