Jiří A. Svoboda

The Czech Academy of Sciences | AVCR · Institute of Archaeology (Brno)

Tertiary primates - Earliest hominins - First Europeans - Neanderthals - Modern humans. Illustrations.

The goal of this paper is to refine the relative and absolute chronology of Epigravettian culture (26.5–15.0 ka) in eastern Central Europe (ECE) and clarify its relation to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and subsequent climatic changes. Epigravettian sites were sorted into three chronological clusters: initial LGM (ILGM) (26.5–24.0 ka), local LGM (...

Significance The microbiome plays key roles in human health, but little is known about its evolution. We investigate the evolutionary history of the African hominid oral microbiome by analyzing dental biofilms of humans and Neanderthals spanning the past 100,000 years and comparing them with those of chimpanzees, gorillas, and howler monkeys. We id...

Objective Describe pathological features on internal and external aspects of the skull of an ancient grey wolf. Materials Wolf remains that were found at the southwestern settlement Area A of Gravettian site Pavlov I. Methods Visual observation and description; microcomputed tomography; porosity and fragmentation indices for internal and external...

Synthetic monograph on history, geoarchaeology, settlement archaeology, paleoanthropology, symbolism and art of an Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) settlement complex.

In this paper we discuss recent claims that dogs were first domesticated from wild wolves in the Middle Upper Paleolithic (MUP), about 27 ka BP. According to our data, we think the presence of large canids at the Pavlovian/ MUP sites is a result of hunting specialization and not a sign of an early process of dog domestication. Our interpretation is...

Last Glacial Maximum-Epigravettian-Moravia-horse hunting strategy A B S T R A C T With the end of MIS3, the unity of larger Gravettian settlements based predominantly on mammoth exploitation split into a mosaic of smaller Epi-gravettian sites with specific behaviors and economies. Based on C14 chronology , the site of Stránská skála IV (together wi...

An edited volume presenting a variety of Catalogues, Documents and Studies concerning cave sites in the Czech Republic, with special emphasis on Moravian and Bohemian Karst.

Insights into human life in Central Europe at~30-20,000 years ago have come from studies of archaeological and paleontological materials in Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia, including assemblages from sites such as Dolní Věstonice I and II, Pavlov I, Kraków Spadzista, Jaksice II, and Moravany-Lopata II. Pavlovian mammal bone assemblages from settlemen...

Pavlovské vrchy Hills represent a distinctive elevation near the Czech-Austrian border where the active, dormant and relict landslides cover 12% of the area. Here we focused on the chronology of landsliding in this area using geological, archaeological and historical evidence. The earliest records of landsliding were determined in locations underly...

Review of two Middle Pleistocene sites with small-sized industries in Central Bohemia (Czech Republic)

This paper focuses on two accumulations of horse bones at the Stránská skála IV site, dated from around the Last Glacial Maximum (Epigravettian). Osteological material was subjected to taxonomical and taphonomical analyses. The results confirmed the prevalence of horses, and quantitative analyses indicated a minimum of 10 individuals, which is the...

The paper contains an account of what happened 30 to 22 thousand years BC - the impact of the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS2) on the natural landscape of the preceding interpleniglacial (MIS3) and on the society of the Moravian Gravettian. It is evident that the impact was harsher as the economy became increasingly specialised and its social structure...

Summary of the 1981-1986 excavation at Stránská skála: Bohuncian, Aurignacian, Epigravettian

Description of a key Bohunician / Aurignacian section in terms of cryogeology, pedology, and archaeology

The formation of extensive mammoth bone deposits is a characteristic feature of the large Upper Paleolithic settlements of the Moravian Gravettian (approximately 30 ky cal BP). Some of these were preferentially deposited in moist locations, possibly for reasons of hygiene and conservation. Here, we present a case of a mammoth bone deposit located i...

Excavation report and field description of the Gravettian settlement area at Dolní Věstonice II, units S1-3, and human burial DV 16.

The rich earlier Mid Upper Palaeolithic (Pavlovian) sites of Dolní Vĕstonice I and II and Pavlov I (∼32,000–∼30,000 cal BP) in southern Moravia (Czech Republic) have yielded a series of human burials, isolated pairs of extremities and isolated bones and teeth. The burials occurred within and adjacent to the remains of structures (‘huts’), among dom...

The regions on the Middle Danube and Upper Elbe rivers in eastern central Europe represent two important provinces at the eastern Magdalenian periphery. Analysis of the adaptation strategies suggests a certain degree of variation in settlement patterns, hunting specialisation, and art.

Review of mammoth representations in the Upper Paleolithic art of Moravia, and how they reflect Gravettian hunting and living strategies.

Review of current evidence on plant and animal domesticat at the time of the Conference

Geochronology and radiocarbon chronology of Gravettian occupations (as in 1990´s), especially at sites in the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia.

Complex analysis of a large hunter´s settlement: settlement structure, art, fossils.

Problems of the Magdalenian art in Central Europe.

A geometric design dated by radiocarbon to the Aeneolithic period.

Description of a male burial at Dolní Věstonice

Spatial analysis of the Gravettian sites in Moravia on several levels of investigation, from landscapes to sites and to individual dwellings.

Time, space, narration and identity. Notes on the structure of Paleolithic mind.

Methods, analogies and interpretations in Paleolithic research.

Multidisciplinary view of the Early Upper Paleolithic sites in the Brno area: Stránská skála and Bohunice.

Ethnoarchaeological approach to interpretation of the formation of circular dwelling structures, based on two different analogies: Terra del Fuego and Canadian Arctic.

Aspects of dynamic technological analysis; cases of Lower Paleolithic (Mlazice model) and Early Upper Paleolithic (Ondratice model).

Chronostratigraphy of central European loess and position of Paleolithic sites in this sequence.

Stratigraphy and pedology; Paleobotany and malacozoology; Settlement patterns and geography; Lithic raw materials and subsistence.

Occasional and informative visits by American scholars in South Moravia evolved into more systematic international projects.

Review of stratigraphic evidence, chronology and industries of the Early Upper Paleolithic

Definition of the Bohunician industries in the Brno Basin, Moravia, chronostratigraphic and environmental context.

Analysis of lithic industry of Caune de l Arago, southern France

This paper emphasizes time-awareness as a part of the Upper Paleolithic adaptative complex. It investigates causal relationships between temporal frameworks and symbolism. The standardization visible in archaeological record is explained as the effect of time-awareness, self-identity, epic construct, and life and death concepts.

Chronological and environmental contexts of Upper Paleolithic sites excavated during the 1980s - Stránská skála, Dolní Věstonice, Barová Cave.

History of research at an important Paleolithic site of central Europe. Excavation at sub-site Předmostí II in 1989-1992. Discovery of Middle Paleolithic layers below the Gravettian. Chronological and environmental contexts.

interdisciplinary review of two Middle Pleistocene sites in Central Bohemia with small-sized lithic industries.

Comparative overview of Early Upper Paleolithic technologies in Central and Eastern Europe and Northern Asia (with emphasis on spread of the Levallois-leptolithic industries).

Lower Paleolithic record in the Mělník Basin, central Bohemia. The paper addresses the relationship between isolated artefacts and river terraces.

Analysis of north Bohemian lithic industries demonstrates diversification between small-dimensional industries (Mlazice) and Evolved Acheulean (Stvolínky).

Whereas Africa clearly represents the core area of the Acheulean, Eurasia was occupied by this technocomplex only partly. In present-day Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland the Acheulean creates a kind of eastern-exposed "peninsula" of the southwest European centers. Within the loess stratigraphies, patterns of prepared core technology first occure...

Upper Paleolithic female figurines are mostly anonymous. The chapter examines general body shape, the meaning of separate body fragments, and (ritual?) actions.

This paper aims to apply an ethnoarchaeological approach to questions of site structure, site formation processes, mobility, seasonality and the usage of landscape.

Lithic materials and their preferential use; Analysis of the flint/radiolarite industry and its typological meaning; Coarser materials - the heavy duty industries; Lithic typology and spatial units.

Home in Africa, 200 ky; Expansion - southern route, 90-60 ky; northern route, 50-40 ky; Human revolution, 40 ky; The Gravettian mosaic, 30 ky; LGM and formation of the Magdalenian, 20-12 ky.

Hunter-gatherer variability; Hunter-gatherer complexity; The Pavlovian of Moravia; Scenario of a collapse

The two Upper Paleolithi c (Pavlovia n) occupations at Dolni Vestonice, Sites I and II , located on the northern slopes of the Pavlov hills, fo rm a part of the 8 km long settlement chain extending between the vi ll ages of Dolni Vestonice and Bulhary. Site I became internationally famou s for the richness of its li thic a nd bone industries, ela b...

Předmostí Ib: Situation and Excavation Methods; Stratigraphy; Formative processes; Biostratigraphy; Planigraphy and archaeological features; Předmostí III; Implications for the Předmostí settlement concentration; Implications for the Předmostí burial area.

Location of Předmostí; Summary excavation history 1882-2006; Spatial structure of the Předmostí area; Microstratigraphy and overall stratigraphy.

The georelief of southern Bahariya, shaped from the soft Tertiary sediments interlain by harder rocks, is structured into distinct "floors" and thus offers good potentials for study of Middle Paleolithic settlement strategies. Three aspects are important for location of the sites: secure water resources, lithic raw material outcrops, and positions...

Summary of interdisciplinary evidence concerning the Upper Paleolithic site complex at Dolni Vestonice-Pavlov as a part of a UNESCO Programme.

Large-scale excavations of complete Gravettian living-floors at Dolní Věstonice I were primarily realised between 1924–1952 whereas later fieldwork had rather a character of separate trenches. Here we report the results of last excavation organized at this site in 1990 and 1993. A series of trenches along the western and southern boundary brought a...

Taphonomic, paleopathological, and paleodemographic analyses of human remains from the Mid Upper Paleolithic of western Eurasia are increasingly documenting a diversity of mortuary behaviors among these successful Late Pleistocene foragers. These considerations are joined by three associated pairs of otherwise isolated appendicular remains from the...

Geographic characteristics, History of research, Mesolithic concepts, Environmental change, Chronology, Resources, Economy, Subsistence, Open-air settlements, Caves, Rockshelters, Technology, Symbolism, Burials, Other human remains.

Territorial types A - D

The Vyškov Gate is one of the three narrow passes connecting the lowlands of Moravia. Regional survey yielded evidence of Early Upper Paleolithic (Szeletian) and Late Upper Paleolithic (Epigravettian) occupations.

Landscapes, Humans, and Architecture in Anthropological Perspective.

Essai de synthése.

Chronostratigraphy and Lower Paleolithic occupation of central Europe.

Current evidence on the Dolní Věstonice-Pavlov Upper Paleolithic sites.

Methods, Analogies, Interpretations - African Origins - Archaic Humans - Expansion of Modern Humans - Complex Hunters-Gatherers - Magdalenian Expansion - The Last Hunters.

Lithic analysis

Magdalenian site in the Moravian Karst

Identification of the technological variability observed during the Upper Pleistocene with either late archaic or early modern human faces several theoretical problem. Here we discuss critically the complex relationships between human forms and projectile types from caves in Danubian Europe.

Large-scale excavations of complete Gravettian living-floors at Dolní Věstonice I were primarily realised between 1924-1952 whereas later fieldwork had rather a character of separate trenches. Here we report the results of last excavation organized at this site in 1990 and 1993. A series of trenches along the western and southern boundary brought a...

Our archaeozoological studies concerns animal remains discovered during fieldworks led by B. Klíma in 1966 – 1967. The study does not include a few bone tools and personal ornaments made from animal teeth. There were analysed 968 remains of different animal species. Among the mammals, the most numerous are bones and teeth of mammoth, horse, wolf, a...

Our archaeozoological studies concerns animal remains discovered during fieldworks led by B. Klíma in 1966 – 1967. The study does not include a few bone tools and personal ornaments made from animal teeth. There were analysed 968 remains of different animal species. Among the mammals, the most numerous are bones and teeth of mammoth, horse, wolf, a...

Complex Gravettian engravings explained as maps or hunting plans

In 1956-1958, excavations of Pod Hradem Cave in Moravia (eastern Czech Republic) revealed evidence for human activity during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition. This spanned 25,050-44,800 cal BP and contained artefacts attributed to the Aurignacian and Szeletian cultures, including those made from porcelanite (rarely used at Moravian Paleolith...