Luan Përzhita, Ilir Gjipali, Gëzim Hoxha, Belisa Muka (ed.), Proceedings of the International Congress of Albanian Archaeological Studies, Tiranë 2014, 65–82., 2014
Palaeolithic research in Albania is still in its infancy. Palaeolithic artefacts having been foun... more Palaeolithic research in Albania is still in its infancy. Palaeolithic artefacts having been found mostly incidentally and sporadically, a demand for more systematic research has recently lead us to establish a joint Albanian-German research project. Our first excavations to be presented here were carried out in southern Albania (Butrint region), central Albania (Vlora region) and in the northern Albanian highlands (Mati region). So far, Palaeolithic remnants were recovered representing two time slices: First, evidence for the presence of early Upper Palaeolithic humans is given by a series of radiocarbon dates
in the lower part of the Blazi Cave sequence and by an excavated Aurignacian lithic assemblage from the open-air site of Shën Mitri near Butrint. Second, some caves inspected have also revealed traces of hunter-gatherers who used these shelters shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): Two Epigravettian sites, Blazi Cave (Mati) and Kanali (Vlora), date to around 18,000 years cal.B.P. or slightly younger. The new Albanian data fill a gap in the eastern Adriatic archaeological record. Comparing the Epigravettian sites with similar occurrences in NW Greece and adding recent data about the Late Pleistocene landscape evolution of Albania, it is possible to place the archaeological data into their proper cultural and environmental context.
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Papers by Thomas Hauck
project (GAP) examines two open-air and three cave
sites in different parts of Albania. The data obtained
allow a first assessment of the potentials as well as
challenges posed by these archives. While evidence
for human occupation in the postglacial period and
subsequent Holocene is plentiful, older traces are
still scanty. Multiple factors are responsible for this
bias of which to mention above all is climatic impact
and postglacial landscape modification. Two cave
sequences in the northern part of Albania show a
reworking or erosion of MIS 3 and older deposits.
Disturbance of open-air sites in the coastal lowlands
is principally caused by weathering and sediment aggradation.
While such observations are important
for future research strategies, the preserved Palaeolithic
sequences already provide the basis for a robust
Palaeolithic database. It bears a rich and well-preserved
record of Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic
occupations. Our investigations give a first
insight into human land-use shortly after the Last
Glacial Maximum. We thereby add important data
to the growing record of Epigravettian and Mesolithic
sites in the wider scope of the Eastern Adriatic.
excavations by A. Rust in Syria, the site’s Levantine
Mousterian and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological sequence does not have yet a unanimous archaeological interpretation. The present paper tries
to propose new understanding for the sequence and,
as a result, it appears to be of a “dotted line” character with no continuity at all except the layer 5-2 Levantine Aurignacian A / Phase 3 industry sequence.
The latter industry is suggested to have its origin in a
specifc facies of Southern Levantine Early Ahmarian
and being then transformed into Levantine Aurignacian B / Phase 4 industry, a possible “industrial starting point” for European Proto-Aurignacian.
Also, Classic Levantine Aurignacian is proposed to be considered now as comparable to European Aurignacian II / Middle Aurignacian, instead of the previously stated comparison to European Aurignacian I / Early Aurignacian. etc...
in the lower part of the Blazi Cave sequence and by an excavated Aurignacian lithic assemblage from the open-air site of Shën Mitri near Butrint. Second, some caves inspected have also revealed traces of hunter-gatherers who used these shelters shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): Two Epigravettian sites, Blazi Cave (Mati) and Kanali (Vlora), date to around 18,000 years cal.B.P. or slightly younger. The new Albanian data fill a gap in the eastern Adriatic archaeological record. Comparing the Epigravettian sites with similar occurrences in NW Greece and adding recent data about the Late Pleistocene landscape evolution of Albania, it is possible to place the archaeological data into their proper cultural and environmental context.
project (GAP) examines two open-air and three cave
sites in different parts of Albania. The data obtained
allow a first assessment of the potentials as well as
challenges posed by these archives. While evidence
for human occupation in the postglacial period and
subsequent Holocene is plentiful, older traces are
still scanty. Multiple factors are responsible for this
bias of which to mention above all is climatic impact
and postglacial landscape modification. Two cave
sequences in the northern part of Albania show a
reworking or erosion of MIS 3 and older deposits.
Disturbance of open-air sites in the coastal lowlands
is principally caused by weathering and sediment aggradation.
While such observations are important
for future research strategies, the preserved Palaeolithic
sequences already provide the basis for a robust
Palaeolithic database. It bears a rich and well-preserved
record of Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic
occupations. Our investigations give a first
insight into human land-use shortly after the Last
Glacial Maximum. We thereby add important data
to the growing record of Epigravettian and Mesolithic
sites in the wider scope of the Eastern Adriatic.
excavations by A. Rust in Syria, the site’s Levantine
Mousterian and Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological sequence does not have yet a unanimous archaeological interpretation. The present paper tries
to propose new understanding for the sequence and,
as a result, it appears to be of a “dotted line” character with no continuity at all except the layer 5-2 Levantine Aurignacian A / Phase 3 industry sequence.
The latter industry is suggested to have its origin in a
specifc facies of Southern Levantine Early Ahmarian
and being then transformed into Levantine Aurignacian B / Phase 4 industry, a possible “industrial starting point” for European Proto-Aurignacian.
Also, Classic Levantine Aurignacian is proposed to be considered now as comparable to European Aurignacian II / Middle Aurignacian, instead of the previously stated comparison to European Aurignacian I / Early Aurignacian. etc...
in the lower part of the Blazi Cave sequence and by an excavated Aurignacian lithic assemblage from the open-air site of Shën Mitri near Butrint. Second, some caves inspected have also revealed traces of hunter-gatherers who used these shelters shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): Two Epigravettian sites, Blazi Cave (Mati) and Kanali (Vlora), date to around 18,000 years cal.B.P. or slightly younger. The new Albanian data fill a gap in the eastern Adriatic archaeological record. Comparing the Epigravettian sites with similar occurrences in NW Greece and adding recent data about the Late Pleistocene landscape evolution of Albania, it is possible to place the archaeological data into their proper cultural and environmental context.
layers. In a small test trench within the entrance area of one of the sites, called Blaz Cave, we discovered Epi-Gravettian remains. Similar artifacts were excavated 170km to the south in a collapsed cave near Orikum. Together with high-density Mesolithic levels discovered in the site of Shën Mitri (Butrint basin), the CRC806 investigations testified the high potential for future Palaeolithic research in these areas.