Looking for provisioning places of shaped tools of the late Neanderthals: Astudy of a Micoquian open-air site, Pietraszyn 49a (southwestern Poland) = À la recherche des lieux d’approvisionnement en outils des derniers néandertaliens : étude d’un site micoquien de plein air, Pietraszyn 49a (Sud-Ouest de la Pologne)

The purpose of this article is to yield new insights into the topic of provisioning places of late Neanderthals using records from the central European Micoquian workshop Pietraszyn 49a, located in southwestern Poland. The site has been radiometrically dated back, using optically stimulated luminescence, to the final phase of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 or the beginning of MIS 3. The technological study, supported by numerous refits, shows that the main goals of manufacturing were shaped tools typologically corresponding to knives, handaxes, and bifacial scrapers. Considering the large variety of lithic raw materials and technical features, it can also be concluded that this assemblage resulted from the activity of at least several individuals. A microscopic investigation of use-wear traces indicates that this place was integrated within other elements of foraging zones, such as killing or butchering sites. Résumé L’objectif de cet article est d’approfondir notre connaissance des lieux d’approvisionnement des derniers néandertaliens, à partir des données fournies par un atelier micoquien d’Europe centrale, Pietraszyn 49a, localisé dans le Sud-Ouest de la Pologne. Le site a été daté radiométriquement par luminescence stimulée optiquement, de la dernière phase du stade isotopique marin 4 ou du début du stade 3. L’étude technologique, basée sur un nombre important de réaménagements, montre que le principal objectif du façonnage était de confectionner des outils correspondant typologiquement à des couteaux à dos, des bifaces et des racloirs à retouche bifaciale. Au vu de la grande variété des matières premières lithiques et des caractéristiques techniques, on peut également conclure que cet assemblage résulte de l’activité de plusieurs individus au moins. L’étude, réalisée au microscope, des traces d’utilisation/usure montre que le site était intégré à un réseau d’autres sites d’approvisionnement, de types haltes de chasse ou aires de dépeçage

Environment changes during Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in southern Poland (Central Europe). A multiproxy approach for the MIS 3 sequence of Koziarnia Cave (Kraków-Częstochowa Upland)

Marine Isotope Stage 3 is considered a period with several climate oscillations that drove the environments to rapid changes. To understand how these stadial-interstadial cycles affected southern Poland, we combined the results of eight proxies analysed in the samples from the old excavations and a new 2017 trench of Koziarnia Cave (Ojców National Park, Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, Poland) in layers related to Middle Palaeolithic, Jerzmanowician, and Early Gravettian. Among the studied proxies were charcoals, pollen record, remains of malacofauna, and vertebrates (including rodents, birds and large mammals, and ZooMS analysis of fragmented bones). Moreover, sediment samples have been analysed for lipid composition (by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, GC–MS).Despite several taphonomic issues, it was possible to recognise two oscillations. The first one, reflected in pollen record and lipid analysis, took place during Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) 14 to 8 and included Heinrich Stadial (HS) 4. The second one, recorded by rodents and bird proxies, was related to DO 8/7 to DO 6 and included HS 3. Charcoal and large mammal proxies provided the broad context of our study. The Jerzmanowician occupation was connected with a relatively cold episode in a landscape characterized mainly by grassland and periglacial environments, while the Late Middle Palaeolithic and Early Gravettian groups settled the cave during milder climatic conditions, where environments were open with sparse boreal woodlands. Such trends provide additional arguments in a broad discussion on Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in Central Europe