Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments

Abstract Mobility of people and goods during the Upper Paleolithic has proven difficult to reconstruct given the relative rareness of remains. Nevertheless, archaeological contexts like the Late Pleistocene horizon of Borsuka Cave (Southern Poland) represent a unique opportunity to explore patterns...

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Main Authors: Nina Kowalik, Robert Anczkiewicz, Jarosław Wilczyński, Piotr Wojtal, Wolfgang Müller, Luca Bondioli, Alessia Nava, Mihály Gasparik
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2020-06-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67017-2
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spelling doaj-7ba75821e9794ceca610b6c2cf13c87e2021-06-27T11:35:37ZengNature Publishing GroupScientific Reports2045-23222020-06-0110111410.1038/s41598-020-67017-2Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornamentsNina Kowalik0Robert Anczkiewicz1Jarosław Wilczyński2Piotr Wojtal3Wolfgang Müller4Luca Bondioli5Alessia Nava6Mihály Gasparik7Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Research Centre in KrakówInstitute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Research Centre in KrakówInstitute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of SciencesInstitute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of SciencesInstitut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität FrankfurtServizio di Bioarcheologia, Museo delle CiviltàServizio di Bioarcheologia, Museo delle CiviltàDepartment of Palaeontology and Geology, Hungarian Natural History MuseumAbstract Mobility of people and goods during the Upper Paleolithic has proven difficult to reconstruct given the relative rareness of remains. Nevertheless, archaeological contexts like the Late Pleistocene horizon of Borsuka Cave (Southern Poland) represent a unique opportunity to explore patterns of objects’ transportation across Central Europe. We investigated the origin of four ornaments made of European elk (Alces alces L.) incisors recovered at Borsuka Cave – the oldest known burial site in Poland, possibly a child grave. Laser-ablation plasma source mass spectrometric analyses of trace elements and Sr isotopic compositions revealed that one elk was roaming within a geologically uniform area while the others changed their pastures during their lifetimes. The non-local origin of the elk teeth is inferred from their exotic Sr isotopic compositions and the lack of evidence for the presence of elk in this territory during the Pleistocene. Instead, the elks’ Sr isotopic composition show good agreement with sites near the Austria-Slovakia border region and northern Hungary, ~250 km away from the study site. We argue that the artefacts were most likely brought to Borsuka Cave by humans or by a network of exchange, so far never reported in the time range 32.5–28.8 ka cal BP for Southern Poland.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67017-2
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Nina Kowalik
Robert Anczkiewicz
Jarosław Wilczyński
Piotr Wojtal
Wolfgang Müller
Luca Bondioli
Alessia Nava
Mihály Gasparik
spellingShingle Nina Kowalik
Robert Anczkiewicz
Jarosław Wilczyński
Piotr Wojtal
Wolfgang Müller
Luca Bondioli
Alessia Nava
Mihály Gasparik
Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments
Scientific Reports
author_facet Nina Kowalik
Robert Anczkiewicz
Jarosław Wilczyński
Piotr Wojtal
Wolfgang Müller
Luca Bondioli
Alessia Nava
Mihály Gasparik
author_sort Nina Kowalik
title Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments
title_short Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments
title_full Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments
title_fullStr Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments
title_full_unstemmed Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments
title_sort tracing human mobility in central europe during the upper paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved sr isotope records in ornaments
publisher Nature Publishing Group
series Scientific Reports
issn 2045-2322
publishDate 2020-06-01
description Abstract Mobility of people and goods during the Upper Paleolithic has proven difficult to reconstruct given the relative rareness of remains. Nevertheless, archaeological contexts like the Late Pleistocene horizon of Borsuka Cave (Southern Poland) represent a unique opportunity to explore patterns of objects’ transportation across Central Europe. We investigated the origin of four ornaments made of European elk (Alces alces L.) incisors recovered at Borsuka Cave – the oldest known burial site in Poland, possibly a child grave. Laser-ablation plasma source mass spectrometric analyses of trace elements and Sr isotopic compositions revealed that one elk was roaming within a geologically uniform area while the others changed their pastures during their lifetimes. The non-local origin of the elk teeth is inferred from their exotic Sr isotopic compositions and the lack of evidence for the presence of elk in this territory during the Pleistocene. Instead, the elks’ Sr isotopic composition show good agreement with sites near the Austria-Slovakia border region and northern Hungary, ~250 km away from the study site. We argue that the artefacts were most likely brought to Borsuka Cave by humans or by a network of exchange, so far never reported in the time range 32.5–28.8 ka cal BP for Southern Poland.
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67017-2
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