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Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location
Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e7
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Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location Maria qanczont a, Teresa Madeyska b, Przemys1aw Mroczek a, *, Beata Ho1ub a, c _ , Andryi Bogucki d Bogdan Zoga1a Department of Geoecology and Palaeogeography, Maria CurieeSkłodowska University, Lublin, al. Krasnicka 2cd, 20-718 Lublin, Poland Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland c Department of Applied Geophysics, University of Silesia, ul. Be˛ dzinska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland d Department of Geomorphology and Palaeogeography, Ivan Franko National University, Doroshenka 41, 79000 Lviv, Ukraine a
b
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Available online xxx
The main research task was to explain the location of the Kraków Spadzista Gravettian site, based on the analyses of land relief and deposit lithology in the surroundings. Field geological (drilling and pit) investigations, geoelectric recognition, tachimetric geomorphological measurements, and geospatial analysis (GIS) were carried out in the site and its immediate vicinity. These investigations were supplemented with the IRSL dating of the cultural layer deposits, palaeosols, and loess. The obtained results indicate that the site was located in a depression of the karstified substratum (Jurassic limestones) filled with clay (Miocene) and loess (Pleistocene). Based on the results of geological and geophysical investigations, we reconstructed the palaeoform parameters, characterized its infilling, and documented spatial lithological variability of the deposits and the cultural layer. Gravettian material was discovered in two partially destroyed palaeosols. The lower one is a denuded initial interstadial soil, and the upper one is a complex solifluction cover composed of redeposited material, probably from a younger interstadial soil. Both units represent the younger part of the Interpleniglacial. The upper soil is buried by the continuous youngest loess layer, which covers the area of the archaeological site, completely covering the older relief. The eastern part of the Sowiniec horst, where the site’s complex is situated, had a number of features useful for Palaeolithic settlement. It is a clearly distinguishable promontory, difficult to access almost from all sides. At the same time, it provided a good view for hunters, especially towards the Rudawa River valley. Features of mesoclimate, conditioned by relief, favoured the settlement. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Gravettian landscape Loessesoil sequence Geoelectric recognition Geoarchaeology DEM IRSL dating
1. Introduction The decision to study in detail the age, lithology, and palaeoenvironmental history of the loess sequence in the Kraków Spadzista site was taken in close cooperation with the archaeologists (Prof. K. Sobczyk, Jagiellonian University Institute of Archae ski, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of ology and Dr J. Wilczyn Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences) who have explored the Palaeolithic site in this place for years. Earlier detailed lithologicale pedological research was conducted in the 1970s. Our aims are to revise and verify those former results using new analytical
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (P. Mroczek).
methods. These investigations (qanczont et al., 2013b) are in the nature of interdisciplinary studies and fall within the scope of lately developing geoarchaeological research on the Palaeolithic ecumene of Central and Eastern Europe (e.g. Sedov et al., 2010; Bobak et al., 2013; qanczont et al., 2013a, c; Rodzik et al., 2014). The conclusions drawn are a complement to the results of typical archaeological analyses (vide the literature in the above-mentioned papers). In this paper we report the analysis of geomorphological-geological conditions of the site location. 2. Area, subject of studies and history of investigation The Kraków Spadzista sites’ complex (50 30 23.9200 N; 19 530 50.4700 E) is located on the northern slopes of a tectonic ridge, the Sowiniec horst, which is the interfluve between the Vistula River and its left-bank tributary, the Rudawa River (Fig. 1B, C). The
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045 1040-6182/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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Fig. 1. Location of the site Kraków Spadzista in: map of Europe with the maximum extent of Weichselian glaciation (LGM) and distribution of loess cover (A); digital elevation model ska (1968) and Rutkowski (1993) with changes. Legend: 1 e Holocene plain with river channel and palaeomeanders; of the Sowiniec horst (B); geomorphic map (C) based on Tyczyn 2 e Pleistocene terrace; 3 e Pleistocene terrace with loess cover; 4 e peaty plain; 5 e alluvial fan; 6 e smaller river valley; 7 e dry valley; 8 e gullies; 9 e erosional scarp; 10 e tectonic edge; 11 e planation level; 12 e erosionedenudation monadnock.
Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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structure of the loess cover in the eastern part of the Sowiniec horst was recognized in drilling carried out by Kalicki et al. (2001) along two profiles through the Mount Saint Bronis1awa. They found a loess layer, from 5 m to about 12 m thick, in the transverse profile in the section nearest the archaeological site. The age of the underlying till residuum, up to 2 m thick with Scandinavian material, was not determined. After Rutkowski (1989b,c) it corresponds to the Cracowian glaciation. Miocene marine clays were found under loess in several cores. Loesses occur as sandy silt, silt, and clayey silt. According to Kalicki et al. (2001), they are bipartite. The older (Wartanian) loess forms the lower, thinner layer (1e2.5 m). It is separated by an interglacial palaeosol represented by an illuvial horizon (0.5e1.0 m) from the younger loesses (Weichselian glaciation). The latter are stratigraphically differentiated due to the occurrence in places of an interstadial palaeosol (with numerous flint artefacts and bones) at a depth of about 4.5 m. Siltyesandy loess forms the upper part of the cover. The detailed litho- and pedological features and stratigraphy of loess deposits in the sites B and C (names according to Sobczyk, 1995) were presented by van Vliet (1975), based on the profiles exposed to a depth of 4.5e5 m in 1971 and 1972. She distinguished up to eight palaeosols of different types, development degrees, and states of preservation. A stratigraphic key horizon (layer 10) was probably the interglacial palaeosol described as a brown soil of lessivé type (Luvisol) with “root pseudomorphs”. It occurs below a depth of 4.1 m in pit III (in the trench B). Layers 9e8 (together with the 8’a, 8’b) are the sequence of soil remains (of brown earth and tundra-gley soils developed in temperate cold and cold climates) without determined chronostratigraphic position (charcoals from the layer 8b in the trench C2 were 14C dated at more than 42 ka (van Vliet, 1975)). Layers 6, 5a, and 4 also partially have the features of initial palaeosols. They are characterized by a complex internal structure and contain redeposited soil packages. An important element observed in the trench C2 was an ice wedge cast. It was over 1.5 m wide in its upper part, over 2 m deep, with secondary mineral infilling, and occurred under the youngest loess (Kramarz, 1975; van Vliet, 1975; Sobczyk, 1995). This structure is probably related to the horizon of the youngest periglacial ice wedges, wellknown in the Polish loesses. Its small vertical size suggests it was formed in discontinuous or insular permafrost (Maruszczak, 1990) in the LGM (younger part of MIS 2). As it appears from the above review, the stratigraphic situation of the higher-rank soil occurring in the middle part of the loess cover, as well as that of the other weakly developed soils, is rather unclear. Moreover, some researchers had doubts about the palaeopedological interpretation published by van Vliet, i.e., the number and primary nature of the distinguished soils (KoneckaeBetley and Madeyska, 1985; KoneckaeBetley, 1987; Kalicki et al., 2007). The next investigations were carried out by KoneckaeBetley (1987) near trench C2. She distinguished, from bottom to top, the following soils: a weakly developed soil (layer 11), which corresponds to one of the Early Weichselian interstadials according to Koz1owski and Sobczyk (1987), a brown gley arctic soil with periglacial disturbances and solifluction traces (layer 7; Aurignacian cultural layer), pseudogley arctic soils (layer 6, Gravettian cultural layers), and an initial soil, equivalent of Lascaux or Laugerie (layer 5, the youngest Gravettian cultural layer). Completely different results were obtained by Pawlikowski (1987), who carried out mineralogical and sedimentological analyses of samples taken in trench B in 1985. He distinguished two stages of aeolian accumulation as well as three stages of aeolianaquatic deposition with traces of the initial soil in the middle one. The research presented here is the result of the scientific project carried out with PolisheUkrainian cooperation. New examination
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of the loessesoil sequence was conducted as part of this project, with the use of methods applied in other sites in SE Poland and western Ukraine (qanczont and Madeyska, 2013). The problem of the age and palaeoenvironmental history of loess cover in the Spadzista site was published elsewhere (qanczont et al., 2013b). 3. Methods Two main profiles were selected in trenches C2 and E1, which were enlarged in 2012. In excavation E1, an additional pit was deeper, and almost the whole profile of a well-developed palaeosol underlying the loess deposits was exposed. Additionally, four geological drillings were carried out to a depth of 6 m using the Eijkelkamp percussion drill. The selection of the profiles was preceded by the following field work: topographic vertical scanning of the whole site of KrakóweSpadzista with the use of Leica laser tachimeter and electrical resistivity imaging along two profiles cutting across the area under study. Litho-pedological description of deposits was done for the exposed profiles of all archaeological excavations from 2012 (trenches C2, E1, B and D) and in drill cores. Loessesoil deposits were sampled for IRSL dating and other analyses, the results of which were published separately (qanczont et al., 2013b). A detailed description of the preparation and the equipment used in the dating is contained in Terpi1owski et al. (2014). The Lund Imaging System was applied for electrical resistivity _ imaging (Zoga1a, 2013). Measurements were made along two 60 and 80 m long traverses at right angles to each other. The depth of imaging reached w12 and 16 m. An additional element of our study was the digital elevation model (DEM) created through manual digitalization of relief (topographic maps at a scale of 1:10,000). Based on the DEM, further analysis of relief was carried out. 4. Geomorphological and geological settings of site location The Spadzista site complex, investigated for 45 years, is situated in the eastern slope of latitudinally elongated ridge (250e257 m a.s.l.), up to 150 m above surrounding valleys (Fig. 1B,C). It is a tectonic structure, called the Sowiniec horst (Rutkowski, 1989b, 1993), which is bordered on all sides by a system of step faults. To the west and north it adjoins the Cholerzyn graben with relative heights reaching 100 m, and in the southern part touches upon the slightly deeper graben occupied by the Vistula River valley. The faults are of different ages, formed mostly in the Palaeogene and Neogene (Badenian); some were synsedimentary with the Miocene deposits (Rutkowski, 1989b,c). The horst structure is composed of Oxfordian limestones, which were covered with Cretaceous and Miocene marine deposits that were almost completely eroded after uplift. The surface of the Jurassic limestones is karstified and covered with a thin clayey residuum, over which patches of the Miocene (Badenian) clays occur. The overlying loess deposits are separated from older ones by a large hiatus. Fluvioglacial sands of older Pleistocene age occur only in the south-western part of the Sowiniec horst (Rutkowski, 1989a,b). The relief of the Sowiniec horst is diversified, caused by a dense net of faults, which not only surround but also cut across the whole horst structure, and by a varying thickness of loess cover (Fig. 1B,C). The north-eastern and southern slopes of the whole form are steep; they descend to the Rudawa and Vistula river valleys, which are filled with Holocene fluvial deposits with thicknesses of 10 and 15 m, respectively (Rutkowski, 1989c). The western and southwestern slopes are considerably more gentle and partially covered with glaciofluvial and fluvial sands and gravels deposited by the Vistula River, which flowed across the Cholerzyn graben and
Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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surrounded the Sowiniec horst from the west and north in the middle Pleistocene. Numerous small valleys cutting the Sowiniec horst follow tectonic faults. In their upper reaches they are deep (up to 60e70 m) and have steep sides cut into the Jurassic limestones or loess. In their lowermost parts the sides are less steep and covered ska, 1968; Rutkowski, 1993). with Quaternary deposits (Tyczyn 4.1. Morphometric description in various scale: from macro (Sowiniec horst) to micro (excavation area) The Sowiniec horst is bipartite in respect of relief as visible in the DEM: the western and eastern parts have somewhat different orographicalephysiognomical features and are separated by the 0.25e0.3 km wide depression zone, which was developed along the latitudinally oriented fault (Rutkowski, 1989b). The western part of the horst is larger and higher. It consists of several separate flat levels at 360 m a.s.l., 350 m a.s.l., and 310 m a.s.l., and with relative height of w180 m, which are separated by small valleys following the tectonic faults (Fig. 1B, C). The eastern part of the horst is considerably lower and forms a ridge called the Mount Saint Bronis1awa (Fig. 1B). The sites’ complex is situated on a gently inclined promontory, which is triangular (Sobczyk, 1995). In the west, the promontory borders on a rather shallow gully, and in the SE on a deep dry valley. In the north, the promontory ends in the steep (slope >23 ) rocky wall, composed of Jurassic limestone, which descends to the Rudawa River valley (Fig. 1B, C). The site is situated 50 m above the valley bottom. In the southwest, the site area borders on a coneeshaped culmination on which the Kosciuszko Mound is situated. Therefore, access to the promontory was difficult, except from the WNW. Natural morphology of the promontory has been destroyed by the trenches and earth embankments of a 19th century fort. The archaeological excavations and geological drillings were located within this object, and in its direct vicinity were two geophysical profiles with the approximate orientation NeS and WeE (Fig. 2A). Koz1owski et al. (1974, 1975) and Drobniewicz et al. (1976) described the relief of the site area dating back to the settlement, i.e., before the last episode of loess accumulation, which covered this primary relief. Kramarz (1975), presenting a block diagram the palaeosurfaces of the successive layers distinguished in trenches B and C by van Vliet (1975), indicates the existence of some forms of microrelief. However, it is difficult to correlate our model with those forms because Kramarz did not publish the topographic plan of the drillings. 4.2. Results of geoelectric investigations The location of two geoelectric profiles is presented in Fig. 2A. The length of the profiles was limited by the morphology of the area under study; the a, b profile was outlined along the promontory, and the c, d profile along the edge of the rocky wall. These 90 lines intersect near their outermost points (a and c; Fig. 2B). The a, b and c, d profiles (Fig. 2B) reveal the occurrence of two depositional layers with low and very low electrical resistivity. In both profiles, the upper layer, with a thickness of about 3e4 m, is characterized by electrical resistivity values from 30 to 100 Um, which correspond to the loess bed. In the a, b profile the loess bed is directly underlain by calcareous rocks. Their electrical resistivity values (100 to over 1000 Um) indicate that the limestones are fissured and waterlogged, and in their top part weathered. In the c,
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d profile, the loess bed is underlain by a deposit layer which is up to 11 m thick and characterized by considerably lower electrical resistivity (8e50 Um). Such low values suggest that this layer is clayey and strongly waterlogged. It may be a clayey loess underlain by Miocene sediment (Miocene clay was found by drilling e see Kalicki et al., 2001). These clays cover Jurassic limestones with electrical resistivity from 100 to over 1000 Um, the same rocks which occur at a depth of 3e4 m in the a, b profile. The rocky substratum dips southwards, and the thickness of loess cover increases in the same direction, so the ground surface is rather flat.
4.3. Litho- and pedostratigraphic position of the Gravettian layer in the loessepalaeosol sequence The investigated profiles (walls of archaeological pits and drillings, Fig. 2C) reveal the existence of a buried cultural layer, mostly in the intraloess position. This layer is characterized by varying depth of occurrence, thickness, lithology and pedological features. In all profiles it is overlain by loess and underlain by loess or older, pre-Quaternary (Miocene and/or Jurassic) deposits. The cultural layer occurs at a depth from about 0.4 m to almost 3.0 m below the present surface, covered by the youngest loess (dated at 28.1 ka, drilling I). The top of this layer occurs at the minimum depths in the outermost positions, near the scarp descending to the Rudawa River valley (trench B) and in the opposite, southern part of the sites’ complex (trench D). The two profiles have completely different pedological features. In profile D (i.e. in the highest hypsometric position in the sites’ area), the layer rich in artefacts is generally the interstadial soil. Its small thickness and distinct erosional surface in its top indicate that the soil has been strongly denuded. This horizon is directly overlain by the youngest loess deposits. In profile B, the cultural layer rich in bones ski et al., 2012) occurs entirely in redeposited grey sandye (Wilczyn silty deposits (w1.5 m thick), which overlie the weathered red series composed of Miocene clay and weathered Jurassic blocks. The cultural layer is covered with a loess-like deposit with a thickness of several dozen centimeters. In other profiles (Fig. 2C), the cultural layer has uniform morphology. Its thickness ranges from 0.5 to 1.1 m. The minimum values are found in the outermost parts of the sites’ complex and the maximum ones in its central part (i.e. in trenches C2 and E1). In each profile the layer is distinctly bipartite. Its lower unit is the weakly developed soil resembling subarctic interstadial soils (brown earth and tundra-gley soils developed in temperate cold and cold climate). It is similarly classified by van Vliet (1975) and KoneckaeBetley (1987). Its thickness clearly increases toward the central part of the site, reaching w0.3 m in the profile II and w0.4 m in trench E1. The erosional surface separates it from the upper unit. This unit is considerably thicker and composed of redeposited soil material. It resembles a solifluction lobe (van Vliet, 1975). In the light of IRSL dating, the age of the cultural layer is within a rather narrow range, from 38.4 to 28.1 ka. The dating results are in chronological order. The only exception is the result (65.4 ka) obtained for the bottom of the solifluction layer in trench E1. Except in trench B, the cultural layer is underlain by loess deposits, which may be classified as primary loess. Generally these are carbonate loesses, structureless or laminated. Their thickness is rather small (Fig. 2C). Due to their lithology and lack of artefacts, they can be regarded as a clear key horizon in the complex.
Fig. 2. Kraków Spadzista archaeological sites’ complex: A e hypsometric models and map of slope inclination with main archaeological excavations, geological drillings and geophysical profiles; B e electrical resistivity profiles (a, b and c, d); and C e set of the geological profiles with litho- and pedological characteristics, the results of IRSL dating, core Sp1 is based on Kalicki et al. (2001).
Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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In the investigated profiles (IV, C2, E1, II, D), the lowest unit of the loessesoil sequence is interglacial palaeosol developed on silt deposits. It has a well-developed profile with preserved eluvial and illuvial horizons. Morphologically they resemble typical horizons of a Luvisol from the last interglacial (Eemian), which is commonly found in the Ma1opolska Upland belt (Jersak et al., 1992). In the nearby site of Zwierzyniec (Fig. 1B), a similar palaeosol with interglacial features was recognized as the Eemian soil (Chmielewski et al., 1977; KoneckaeBetley and Madeyska, 1985; Kalicki et al., 2001, 2007). However, the age estimates for the soil under study (eluvial horizon e 204 ka, and illuvial horizon e 214, 223 ka) indicate that it is older by one glacialeinterglacial cycle. This is confirmed by the results (150 and 175 ka) obtained for the overlying loess in profile E1. In the near-scarp profiles (trench B and drilling III) the Jurassic limestones occur under the Pleistocene deposits. In drilling I, located in the central part of the site, the Miocene sands occur at the bottom (Fig. 2). 5. Conclusions Based on the results of our investigations, we reconstructed the palaeorelief of the northern slopes of the Sowiniec horst, and then we tried to explain the location of the Gravettian camp. As Sobczyk (1995, p. 9) remarked, ”geomorphological conditions played very important part in location . of Palaeolithic camps” in the Krakówe Spadzista site. Based on the analysis of relief features, we found that this morphological attraction could have resulted from the following circumstances, listed here from subregional to local ones: a. the eastern part of the Sowiniec horst was characterized by excellent morphological isolation, hence difficult accessibility, b. the promontory with the site itself was also a well isolated element of relief, c. the promontory was a good observation point, especially over the Rudawa River valley. The view was undoubtedly much broader from the adjacent high cone-shape hill, where the Kosciuszko Mound is at present. The favorable climatic conditions of this place were also a consequence of its situation relative to the relief elements: a. it is situated on the leeward side, and was sheltered by the western, higher part of the Sowiniec horst from westerly winds, which predominate at present and were also frequent in the younger part of the Last Glacial, b. in respect to air temperatures along the profile from the valley bottom to the heights, the situation of the site was also favourable due to temperature inversion (as at present when several elements of the thermal regime reach lower values in the valley bottoms than on slopes and top of the hills (Hess, 1968)), c. it is situated above the ceiling of the densest and most frequent radiation fogs (at present, the number of days with fog is three times lower at 40 m above the bottom of the Vistula River valley than in the valley bottom (Hess, 1968)). The sub-Quaternary relief of the area under study is concealed by the Pleistocene loess mantle. Loess deposits covered the Sowiniec horst slopes, filling completely older depressions that in places led to relief inversion. Geophysical analyses, supplemented with the litho- and pedological investigations, indicate that the site is located within a buried karst depression, at present filled with the MioceneePleistocene deposits near the scarp descending to the Rudawa River valley. In the outermost parts of the
palaeodepression, the thickness of the Pleistocene deposits is small, and the cultural layer occurs relatively near the surface. The cultural layer in these positions occurs in lithologically different deposits, which additionally indicates that material was transported along the slope toward the depression centre. The near-scarp area (trench B) was the accumulation zone of redeposited sediments and ski mammoth bones (“the dumping area” according to Wilczyn et al., 2012), and the southern part of the site (trench D) was the zone of erosion only. In the central part of the depression the thickness of the Cenozoic deposits increases (the Miocene is found at a depth of 5 m), and the relatively old loess underlying the cultural layer was accumulated in the earlier loess-forming cycles with numerous and long hiatuses. In the central part of the depression, the cultural layer is also the thickest. Its bottom unit is denuded interstadial soil occurring in situ, and the upper unit is a complex of solifluction lobes. Our investigations indicate that the camp was located in the depression, which was the element of undulating terrain, probably conditioned by older relief and varying thickness of loess deposits. Therefore, we confirm the earlier conclusions (among others Kalicki ski et al., 2012) about the camp location in the et al., 2007; Wilczyn area with much diversified relief. Acknowledgements This study was partly supported by the projects decision no 691eN/2010/0 from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. We are very grateful to Prof. K. Sobczyk and Dr Jaros1aw ski for their kind invitation to cooperate with them on the Wilczyn Kraków Spadzista site. Many thanks to Prof. R. Dobrowolski, Dr P. ski and Dr Z. Cierech from the Department of Geoecology and Zielin Palaeogeography, Maria CurieeSk1odowska University, who helped us with accomplishing this task. Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045. References Bobak, D., P1onka, T., Po1towiczeBobak, M., Wisniewski, A., 2013. New chronological data for Weichselian sites from Poland and their implications for Palaeolithic. Quaternary International 296, 23e36. Chmielewski, W., KoneckaeBetley, K., Madeyska, T., 1977. Palaeolithic site Kraków e Zwierzyniec I in the light of investigations in 1972e1974. In: Biuletyn Instytutu Geologicznego 305, Warszawa, pp. 13e30. Drobniewicz, B., Koz1owski, J.K., SachseeKoz1owska, E., 1976. Materia1y archeologiczne (Archaeological materials). Górnopaleolityczne stanowisko e Kraków, ul. Spadzista C (Badania w latach 1970e1973). Folia Quaternaria 45, 56e66. Hess, M., 1968. Klimat terytorium Krakowa (The climate of Cracow). Srodowisko geograficzne terytorium Krakowa. Folia Geographica, Series GeographicaPhysica I, 35e98. ska ewolucja wyzyn _ Jersak, J., Sendobry, K., Snieszko, Z., 1992. Postwarcian lessowych w Polsce (Evolutions of loess uplands in Poland during the posteWarta ˛ skiego 1227, Katowice. period). In: Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Sla geoKalicki, T., Budek, A., Escutenaire, C., 2001. Dokumentacja badan archeologicznych wykonanych na wzgórzu Sw. Bronis1awy w Krakowie Bronis1awa Hill in (Documentation of the geoarchaeological study made on Sw. Cracow). In: Kadrow, S. (Ed.), Przyroda i cz1owiek, materia1y do studiów. Kra Autostrad, Kraków, pp. 47e64. kowski Zespó1 do Badan ska, A., Sobczyk, K., Wojtal, P., 2007. The forKalicki, T., Koz1owski, J.K., Krzemin mation of mammoth bone accumulation at the Gravettian site KrakóweSpadzista BþB1. Folia Quaternaria 77, 5e30. KoneckaeBetley, K., 1987. Fossil soils in the archaeological site KrakóweSpadzista street C2. In: Koz1owski, J.K., Sobczyk, K. (Eds.), The Upper Palaeolithic Site KrakóweSpadzista street C2, Excavations 1980. UJ, PWN, WarszawaeKraków, pp. 80e86. KoneckaeBetley, K., Madeyska, T., 1985. Loess section at KrakóweZwierzyniec. In: Guideebook of the International Symposium Problems of the Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography of Loesses. Maria Surie-Sk1odowska University Press, Lublin, pp. 175e178.
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M. Łanczont et al. / Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e7 Koz1owski, J.K., Van Vliet, B., Kramarz, K., Drobniewicz, B., SachseeKoz1owska, E., Kubiak, H., 1975. Górnopaleolityczne stanowisko Kraków, ul. Spadzista C (badania w latach 1970e1973) (Upper Paleolithic site Cracow e Spadzista str. C (Investigation in 1970e1973)). Folia Quaternaria 45, 43e71. Koz1owski, J.K., van Vliet, B., SachseeKoz1owska, E., Kubiak, H., Zakrzewska, G., 1974. Upper Palaeolithic site with dwellings of mammoth bones e Cracow, Spadzista street B. Folia Quaternaria 44, 1e110. Koz1owski, J.K., Sobczyk, K., 1987. The upper paleolithic site KrakóweSpadzista street C2. In: Excavations 1980. Prace Archeologiczne, vol. 42. Kraków, pp. 7e68. Kramarz, K., 1975. Badania paleogeomorfologiczne (Paleogeomorphological studies) Górnopaleolityczne stanowisko e Kraków, ul. Spadzista C (Badania w latach 1970e1973) (Upper Palaeolithic site Cracow e Spadzista str. C (Investigation in 1970e1973)). Folia Quaternaria 45. Kraków, pp. 52e56. qanczont, M., Madeyska, T., 2013. Transdisciplinary study as a source of information about the Palaeolithic oecumene in the peri- and metaeCarpathian zone of Poland and Ukraine. Archaeologia Polona 50, 7e31. qanczont, M., Madeyska, T., Bogucki, A., Sytnyk, O., Komar, M., Nawrocki, J., _ Kusiak, J., Frankowski, Z., Zoga1a, B., 2013a. About the stratigraphical position and natural environment of the oldest Middle Palaeolithic in the central part of Podolia: new data from the Velykyi Glybochok site. Quaternary International. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.08.045. qanczont, M., Madeyska, T., Mroczek, P., Ho1ub, B., Komar, M., Kusiak, J., qa˛ cka, B., _ Zoga1a, B., Bogucki, A., 2013b. Age and palaeoenvironmental history of loess cover in the area of the KrakóweSpadzista Street archaeological site (southern Poland). In: Wojtal, P. (Ed.), International Conference World of Gravettian Hunters, Abstracts & Guide Book. Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, pp. 119e137. qanczont, M., Sytnyk, O., Bogucki, A., Madeyska, T., Krajcarz, M., Krajcarz, M.T., _ Koropeckyj, R., Zoga1a, B., Tomek, T., Kusiak, J., 2013c. Character and chronology of natural events modifying the Palaeolithic settlement records in the Ihrovytsia site (Podolia, the Ukraine). Quaternary International. http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.quaint.2013.09.027. kriogenicznych w Maruszczak, H., 1990. Paleogeograficzny kontekst zaburzen lessach euopejskich (Palaeographical context of investigations on cryogenic disturbances in European loesses). Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis 1056, 17e39. Pawlikowski, M., 1987. Mineralogical and sedimentological analyses of the loess profile of the Palaeolithic site at KrakóweSpadzista street. In: Koz1owski, J.K.,
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Sobczyk, K. (Eds.), The Upper Palaeolithic site KrakóweSpadzista street C2, Excavations 1980. UJ, PWN, WarszawaeKraków, pp. 69e74. Rodzik, J., Mroczek, P., Wisniewski, T., 2014. Pedological analysis as a key for reconstructing primary loess relief e a case study from the Magdalenian site in Klementowice (eastern Poland). CATENA 117, 50e59. Rutkowski, J., 1989a. Szczegó1owa Mapa Geologiczna Polski, 1:50000, Arkusz Kraków. Warszawa. Rutkowski, J., 1989b. Budowa geologiczna regionu Krakowa (Geology of Cracow Region). Przegla˛ d Geologiczny 6, 304e308. Rutkowski, J., 1989c. Osady czwartorze˛ dowe centrum Krakowa. Przewodnik LX Zjazdu Polskiego Towarzystwa Geologicznego. University of Science and Technology Press, Kraków, pp. 196e200. Rutkowski, J., 1993. Objasnienia do Szczegó1owej Mapy Geologicznej Polski 1: 50000, Arkusz Kraków, Warszawa. Sedov, S., Khoklova, O., Sinitsen, A., Korkka, M.A., Rusakov, A.V., Ortega, B., Solleiroe Rebolledo, E., Rosanob, M.S., Kuznetzova, A.M., Kazdim, A.A., 2010. Late Pleistocene paleosol sequences as an instrument for the local paleographic reconstruction of the Kostenki 14 key section (Voronezh Oblast) as an example. Eurasian Soil Sciences 43, 876e892. Sobczyk, K., 1995. Osadnictwo wschodniograweckie w dolinie Wis1y pod Krakowem (The eastern Gravettian settlement in the Vistula valley near Krakow). In: Rozprawy habilitacyjne. UJ, Kraków. ski, T., Kusiak, J., Pidek, I.A., Czubla, P., Hrynowiecka, A., Terpi1owski, S., Zielin ski, P., Ma1ek, M., 2014. How to resolve Pleistocene stratGodlewska, A., Zielin igraphic problems by different methods? A case study from eastern Poland. Geological Quarterly (in press). ISSN 1641-7291. ska, M., 1968. Rozwój geomorfologiczny terytorium miasta Krakowa (Relief Tyczyn and geological structure of the site of Cracow). In: Zeszyty Naukowe Uni skiego 173, Prace Geograficzne 17. wersytetu Jagiellon van Vliet, B., 1975. Stratygrafia i pedologia (Stratygraphy and pedology). Górnopaleolityczne stanowisko e Kraków, ul. Spadzista C (badania w latach 1970e1973) Bronis1awa Hill in (Documentation of the geoarchaeological study made on Sw. Cracow). Folia Quaternaria 45, 47e52. ski, J., Wojtal, P., Sobczyk, K., 2012. Spatial organization of the Gravettian Wilczyn mammoth hunters’ site at KrakóweSpadzista (southern Poland). Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 3627e3642. _ Zoga1a, B., 2013. Geoelectrical Methods in the Research of Soils Contaminated With ˛ skiego, Katowice. Petroleum Products. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Sla
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Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location Maria qanczont a, Teresa Madeyska b, Przemys1aw Mroczek a, *, Beata Ho1ub a, c _ , Andryi Bogucki d Bogdan Zoga1a Department of Geoecology and Palaeogeography, Maria CurieeSkłodowska University, Lublin, al. Krasnicka 2cd, 20-718 Lublin, Poland Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland c Department of Applied Geophysics, University of Silesia, ul. Be˛ dzinska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland d Department of Geomorphology and Palaeogeography, Ivan Franko National University, Doroshenka 41, 79000 Lviv, Ukraine a
b
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Available online xxx
The main research task was to explain the location of the Kraków Spadzista Gravettian site, based on the analyses of land relief and deposit lithology in the surroundings. Field geological (drilling and pit) investigations, geoelectric recognition, tachimetric geomorphological measurements, and geospatial analysis (GIS) were carried out in the site and its immediate vicinity. These investigations were supplemented with the IRSL dating of the cultural layer deposits, palaeosols, and loess. The obtained results indicate that the site was located in a depression of the karstified substratum (Jurassic limestones) filled with clay (Miocene) and loess (Pleistocene). Based on the results of geological and geophysical investigations, we reconstructed the palaeoform parameters, characterized its infilling, and documented spatial lithological variability of the deposits and the cultural layer. Gravettian material was discovered in two partially destroyed palaeosols. The lower one is a denuded initial interstadial soil, and the upper one is a complex solifluction cover composed of redeposited material, probably from a younger interstadial soil. Both units represent the younger part of the Interpleniglacial. The upper soil is buried by the continuous youngest loess layer, which covers the area of the archaeological site, completely covering the older relief. The eastern part of the Sowiniec horst, where the site’s complex is situated, had a number of features useful for Palaeolithic settlement. It is a clearly distinguishable promontory, difficult to access almost from all sides. At the same time, it provided a good view for hunters, especially towards the Rudawa River valley. Features of mesoclimate, conditioned by relief, favoured the settlement. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Gravettian landscape Loessesoil sequence Geoelectric recognition Geoarchaeology DEM IRSL dating
1. Introduction The decision to study in detail the age, lithology, and palaeoenvironmental history of the loess sequence in the Kraków Spadzista site was taken in close cooperation with the archaeologists (Prof. K. Sobczyk, Jagiellonian University Institute of Archae ski, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of ology and Dr J. Wilczyn Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences) who have explored the Palaeolithic site in this place for years. Earlier detailed lithologicale pedological research was conducted in the 1970s. Our aims are to revise and verify those former results using new analytical
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (P. Mroczek).
methods. These investigations (qanczont et al., 2013b) are in the nature of interdisciplinary studies and fall within the scope of lately developing geoarchaeological research on the Palaeolithic ecumene of Central and Eastern Europe (e.g. Sedov et al., 2010; Bobak et al., 2013; qanczont et al., 2013a, c; Rodzik et al., 2014). The conclusions drawn are a complement to the results of typical archaeological analyses (vide the literature in the above-mentioned papers). In this paper we report the analysis of geomorphological-geological conditions of the site location. 2. Area, subject of studies and history of investigation The Kraków Spadzista sites’ complex (50 30 23.9200 N; 19 530 50.4700 E) is located on the northern slopes of a tectonic ridge, the Sowiniec horst, which is the interfluve between the Vistula River and its left-bank tributary, the Rudawa River (Fig. 1B, C). The
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045 1040-6182/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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Fig. 1. Location of the site Kraków Spadzista in: map of Europe with the maximum extent of Weichselian glaciation (LGM) and distribution of loess cover (A); digital elevation model ska (1968) and Rutkowski (1993) with changes. Legend: 1 e Holocene plain with river channel and palaeomeanders; of the Sowiniec horst (B); geomorphic map (C) based on Tyczyn 2 e Pleistocene terrace; 3 e Pleistocene terrace with loess cover; 4 e peaty plain; 5 e alluvial fan; 6 e smaller river valley; 7 e dry valley; 8 e gullies; 9 e erosional scarp; 10 e tectonic edge; 11 e planation level; 12 e erosionedenudation monadnock.
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structure of the loess cover in the eastern part of the Sowiniec horst was recognized in drilling carried out by Kalicki et al. (2001) along two profiles through the Mount Saint Bronis1awa. They found a loess layer, from 5 m to about 12 m thick, in the transverse profile in the section nearest the archaeological site. The age of the underlying till residuum, up to 2 m thick with Scandinavian material, was not determined. After Rutkowski (1989b,c) it corresponds to the Cracowian glaciation. Miocene marine clays were found under loess in several cores. Loesses occur as sandy silt, silt, and clayey silt. According to Kalicki et al. (2001), they are bipartite. The older (Wartanian) loess forms the lower, thinner layer (1e2.5 m). It is separated by an interglacial palaeosol represented by an illuvial horizon (0.5e1.0 m) from the younger loesses (Weichselian glaciation). The latter are stratigraphically differentiated due to the occurrence in places of an interstadial palaeosol (with numerous flint artefacts and bones) at a depth of about 4.5 m. Siltyesandy loess forms the upper part of the cover. The detailed litho- and pedological features and stratigraphy of loess deposits in the sites B and C (names according to Sobczyk, 1995) were presented by van Vliet (1975), based on the profiles exposed to a depth of 4.5e5 m in 1971 and 1972. She distinguished up to eight palaeosols of different types, development degrees, and states of preservation. A stratigraphic key horizon (layer 10) was probably the interglacial palaeosol described as a brown soil of lessivé type (Luvisol) with “root pseudomorphs”. It occurs below a depth of 4.1 m in pit III (in the trench B). Layers 9e8 (together with the 8’a, 8’b) are the sequence of soil remains (of brown earth and tundra-gley soils developed in temperate cold and cold climates) without determined chronostratigraphic position (charcoals from the layer 8b in the trench C2 were 14C dated at more than 42 ka (van Vliet, 1975)). Layers 6, 5a, and 4 also partially have the features of initial palaeosols. They are characterized by a complex internal structure and contain redeposited soil packages. An important element observed in the trench C2 was an ice wedge cast. It was over 1.5 m wide in its upper part, over 2 m deep, with secondary mineral infilling, and occurred under the youngest loess (Kramarz, 1975; van Vliet, 1975; Sobczyk, 1995). This structure is probably related to the horizon of the youngest periglacial ice wedges, wellknown in the Polish loesses. Its small vertical size suggests it was formed in discontinuous or insular permafrost (Maruszczak, 1990) in the LGM (younger part of MIS 2). As it appears from the above review, the stratigraphic situation of the higher-rank soil occurring in the middle part of the loess cover, as well as that of the other weakly developed soils, is rather unclear. Moreover, some researchers had doubts about the palaeopedological interpretation published by van Vliet, i.e., the number and primary nature of the distinguished soils (KoneckaeBetley and Madeyska, 1985; KoneckaeBetley, 1987; Kalicki et al., 2007). The next investigations were carried out by KoneckaeBetley (1987) near trench C2. She distinguished, from bottom to top, the following soils: a weakly developed soil (layer 11), which corresponds to one of the Early Weichselian interstadials according to Koz1owski and Sobczyk (1987), a brown gley arctic soil with periglacial disturbances and solifluction traces (layer 7; Aurignacian cultural layer), pseudogley arctic soils (layer 6, Gravettian cultural layers), and an initial soil, equivalent of Lascaux or Laugerie (layer 5, the youngest Gravettian cultural layer). Completely different results were obtained by Pawlikowski (1987), who carried out mineralogical and sedimentological analyses of samples taken in trench B in 1985. He distinguished two stages of aeolian accumulation as well as three stages of aeolianaquatic deposition with traces of the initial soil in the middle one. The research presented here is the result of the scientific project carried out with PolisheUkrainian cooperation. New examination
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of the loessesoil sequence was conducted as part of this project, with the use of methods applied in other sites in SE Poland and western Ukraine (qanczont and Madeyska, 2013). The problem of the age and palaeoenvironmental history of loess cover in the Spadzista site was published elsewhere (qanczont et al., 2013b). 3. Methods Two main profiles were selected in trenches C2 and E1, which were enlarged in 2012. In excavation E1, an additional pit was deeper, and almost the whole profile of a well-developed palaeosol underlying the loess deposits was exposed. Additionally, four geological drillings were carried out to a depth of 6 m using the Eijkelkamp percussion drill. The selection of the profiles was preceded by the following field work: topographic vertical scanning of the whole site of KrakóweSpadzista with the use of Leica laser tachimeter and electrical resistivity imaging along two profiles cutting across the area under study. Litho-pedological description of deposits was done for the exposed profiles of all archaeological excavations from 2012 (trenches C2, E1, B and D) and in drill cores. Loessesoil deposits were sampled for IRSL dating and other analyses, the results of which were published separately (qanczont et al., 2013b). A detailed description of the preparation and the equipment used in the dating is contained in Terpi1owski et al. (2014). The Lund Imaging System was applied for electrical resistivity _ imaging (Zoga1a, 2013). Measurements were made along two 60 and 80 m long traverses at right angles to each other. The depth of imaging reached w12 and 16 m. An additional element of our study was the digital elevation model (DEM) created through manual digitalization of relief (topographic maps at a scale of 1:10,000). Based on the DEM, further analysis of relief was carried out. 4. Geomorphological and geological settings of site location The Spadzista site complex, investigated for 45 years, is situated in the eastern slope of latitudinally elongated ridge (250e257 m a.s.l.), up to 150 m above surrounding valleys (Fig. 1B,C). It is a tectonic structure, called the Sowiniec horst (Rutkowski, 1989b, 1993), which is bordered on all sides by a system of step faults. To the west and north it adjoins the Cholerzyn graben with relative heights reaching 100 m, and in the southern part touches upon the slightly deeper graben occupied by the Vistula River valley. The faults are of different ages, formed mostly in the Palaeogene and Neogene (Badenian); some were synsedimentary with the Miocene deposits (Rutkowski, 1989b,c). The horst structure is composed of Oxfordian limestones, which were covered with Cretaceous and Miocene marine deposits that were almost completely eroded after uplift. The surface of the Jurassic limestones is karstified and covered with a thin clayey residuum, over which patches of the Miocene (Badenian) clays occur. The overlying loess deposits are separated from older ones by a large hiatus. Fluvioglacial sands of older Pleistocene age occur only in the south-western part of the Sowiniec horst (Rutkowski, 1989a,b). The relief of the Sowiniec horst is diversified, caused by a dense net of faults, which not only surround but also cut across the whole horst structure, and by a varying thickness of loess cover (Fig. 1B,C). The north-eastern and southern slopes of the whole form are steep; they descend to the Rudawa and Vistula river valleys, which are filled with Holocene fluvial deposits with thicknesses of 10 and 15 m, respectively (Rutkowski, 1989c). The western and southwestern slopes are considerably more gentle and partially covered with glaciofluvial and fluvial sands and gravels deposited by the Vistula River, which flowed across the Cholerzyn graben and
Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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surrounded the Sowiniec horst from the west and north in the middle Pleistocene. Numerous small valleys cutting the Sowiniec horst follow tectonic faults. In their upper reaches they are deep (up to 60e70 m) and have steep sides cut into the Jurassic limestones or loess. In their lowermost parts the sides are less steep and covered ska, 1968; Rutkowski, 1993). with Quaternary deposits (Tyczyn 4.1. Morphometric description in various scale: from macro (Sowiniec horst) to micro (excavation area) The Sowiniec horst is bipartite in respect of relief as visible in the DEM: the western and eastern parts have somewhat different orographicalephysiognomical features and are separated by the 0.25e0.3 km wide depression zone, which was developed along the latitudinally oriented fault (Rutkowski, 1989b). The western part of the horst is larger and higher. It consists of several separate flat levels at 360 m a.s.l., 350 m a.s.l., and 310 m a.s.l., and with relative height of w180 m, which are separated by small valleys following the tectonic faults (Fig. 1B, C). The eastern part of the horst is considerably lower and forms a ridge called the Mount Saint Bronis1awa (Fig. 1B). The sites’ complex is situated on a gently inclined promontory, which is triangular (Sobczyk, 1995). In the west, the promontory borders on a rather shallow gully, and in the SE on a deep dry valley. In the north, the promontory ends in the steep (slope >23 ) rocky wall, composed of Jurassic limestone, which descends to the Rudawa River valley (Fig. 1B, C). The site is situated 50 m above the valley bottom. In the southwest, the site area borders on a coneeshaped culmination on which the Kosciuszko Mound is situated. Therefore, access to the promontory was difficult, except from the WNW. Natural morphology of the promontory has been destroyed by the trenches and earth embankments of a 19th century fort. The archaeological excavations and geological drillings were located within this object, and in its direct vicinity were two geophysical profiles with the approximate orientation NeS and WeE (Fig. 2A). Koz1owski et al. (1974, 1975) and Drobniewicz et al. (1976) described the relief of the site area dating back to the settlement, i.e., before the last episode of loess accumulation, which covered this primary relief. Kramarz (1975), presenting a block diagram the palaeosurfaces of the successive layers distinguished in trenches B and C by van Vliet (1975), indicates the existence of some forms of microrelief. However, it is difficult to correlate our model with those forms because Kramarz did not publish the topographic plan of the drillings. 4.2. Results of geoelectric investigations The location of two geoelectric profiles is presented in Fig. 2A. The length of the profiles was limited by the morphology of the area under study; the a, b profile was outlined along the promontory, and the c, d profile along the edge of the rocky wall. These 90 lines intersect near their outermost points (a and c; Fig. 2B). The a, b and c, d profiles (Fig. 2B) reveal the occurrence of two depositional layers with low and very low electrical resistivity. In both profiles, the upper layer, with a thickness of about 3e4 m, is characterized by electrical resistivity values from 30 to 100 Um, which correspond to the loess bed. In the a, b profile the loess bed is directly underlain by calcareous rocks. Their electrical resistivity values (100 to over 1000 Um) indicate that the limestones are fissured and waterlogged, and in their top part weathered. In the c,
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d profile, the loess bed is underlain by a deposit layer which is up to 11 m thick and characterized by considerably lower electrical resistivity (8e50 Um). Such low values suggest that this layer is clayey and strongly waterlogged. It may be a clayey loess underlain by Miocene sediment (Miocene clay was found by drilling e see Kalicki et al., 2001). These clays cover Jurassic limestones with electrical resistivity from 100 to over 1000 Um, the same rocks which occur at a depth of 3e4 m in the a, b profile. The rocky substratum dips southwards, and the thickness of loess cover increases in the same direction, so the ground surface is rather flat.
4.3. Litho- and pedostratigraphic position of the Gravettian layer in the loessepalaeosol sequence The investigated profiles (walls of archaeological pits and drillings, Fig. 2C) reveal the existence of a buried cultural layer, mostly in the intraloess position. This layer is characterized by varying depth of occurrence, thickness, lithology and pedological features. In all profiles it is overlain by loess and underlain by loess or older, pre-Quaternary (Miocene and/or Jurassic) deposits. The cultural layer occurs at a depth from about 0.4 m to almost 3.0 m below the present surface, covered by the youngest loess (dated at 28.1 ka, drilling I). The top of this layer occurs at the minimum depths in the outermost positions, near the scarp descending to the Rudawa River valley (trench B) and in the opposite, southern part of the sites’ complex (trench D). The two profiles have completely different pedological features. In profile D (i.e. in the highest hypsometric position in the sites’ area), the layer rich in artefacts is generally the interstadial soil. Its small thickness and distinct erosional surface in its top indicate that the soil has been strongly denuded. This horizon is directly overlain by the youngest loess deposits. In profile B, the cultural layer rich in bones ski et al., 2012) occurs entirely in redeposited grey sandye (Wilczyn silty deposits (w1.5 m thick), which overlie the weathered red series composed of Miocene clay and weathered Jurassic blocks. The cultural layer is covered with a loess-like deposit with a thickness of several dozen centimeters. In other profiles (Fig. 2C), the cultural layer has uniform morphology. Its thickness ranges from 0.5 to 1.1 m. The minimum values are found in the outermost parts of the sites’ complex and the maximum ones in its central part (i.e. in trenches C2 and E1). In each profile the layer is distinctly bipartite. Its lower unit is the weakly developed soil resembling subarctic interstadial soils (brown earth and tundra-gley soils developed in temperate cold and cold climate). It is similarly classified by van Vliet (1975) and KoneckaeBetley (1987). Its thickness clearly increases toward the central part of the site, reaching w0.3 m in the profile II and w0.4 m in trench E1. The erosional surface separates it from the upper unit. This unit is considerably thicker and composed of redeposited soil material. It resembles a solifluction lobe (van Vliet, 1975). In the light of IRSL dating, the age of the cultural layer is within a rather narrow range, from 38.4 to 28.1 ka. The dating results are in chronological order. The only exception is the result (65.4 ka) obtained for the bottom of the solifluction layer in trench E1. Except in trench B, the cultural layer is underlain by loess deposits, which may be classified as primary loess. Generally these are carbonate loesses, structureless or laminated. Their thickness is rather small (Fig. 2C). Due to their lithology and lack of artefacts, they can be regarded as a clear key horizon in the complex.
Fig. 2. Kraków Spadzista archaeological sites’ complex: A e hypsometric models and map of slope inclination with main archaeological excavations, geological drillings and geophysical profiles; B e electrical resistivity profiles (a, b and c, d); and C e set of the geological profiles with litho- and pedological characteristics, the results of IRSL dating, core Sp1 is based on Kalicki et al. (2001).
Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045
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In the investigated profiles (IV, C2, E1, II, D), the lowest unit of the loessesoil sequence is interglacial palaeosol developed on silt deposits. It has a well-developed profile with preserved eluvial and illuvial horizons. Morphologically they resemble typical horizons of a Luvisol from the last interglacial (Eemian), which is commonly found in the Ma1opolska Upland belt (Jersak et al., 1992). In the nearby site of Zwierzyniec (Fig. 1B), a similar palaeosol with interglacial features was recognized as the Eemian soil (Chmielewski et al., 1977; KoneckaeBetley and Madeyska, 1985; Kalicki et al., 2001, 2007). However, the age estimates for the soil under study (eluvial horizon e 204 ka, and illuvial horizon e 214, 223 ka) indicate that it is older by one glacialeinterglacial cycle. This is confirmed by the results (150 and 175 ka) obtained for the overlying loess in profile E1. In the near-scarp profiles (trench B and drilling III) the Jurassic limestones occur under the Pleistocene deposits. In drilling I, located in the central part of the site, the Miocene sands occur at the bottom (Fig. 2). 5. Conclusions Based on the results of our investigations, we reconstructed the palaeorelief of the northern slopes of the Sowiniec horst, and then we tried to explain the location of the Gravettian camp. As Sobczyk (1995, p. 9) remarked, ”geomorphological conditions played very important part in location . of Palaeolithic camps” in the Krakówe Spadzista site. Based on the analysis of relief features, we found that this morphological attraction could have resulted from the following circumstances, listed here from subregional to local ones: a. the eastern part of the Sowiniec horst was characterized by excellent morphological isolation, hence difficult accessibility, b. the promontory with the site itself was also a well isolated element of relief, c. the promontory was a good observation point, especially over the Rudawa River valley. The view was undoubtedly much broader from the adjacent high cone-shape hill, where the Kosciuszko Mound is at present. The favorable climatic conditions of this place were also a consequence of its situation relative to the relief elements: a. it is situated on the leeward side, and was sheltered by the western, higher part of the Sowiniec horst from westerly winds, which predominate at present and were also frequent in the younger part of the Last Glacial, b. in respect to air temperatures along the profile from the valley bottom to the heights, the situation of the site was also favourable due to temperature inversion (as at present when several elements of the thermal regime reach lower values in the valley bottoms than on slopes and top of the hills (Hess, 1968)), c. it is situated above the ceiling of the densest and most frequent radiation fogs (at present, the number of days with fog is three times lower at 40 m above the bottom of the Vistula River valley than in the valley bottom (Hess, 1968)). The sub-Quaternary relief of the area under study is concealed by the Pleistocene loess mantle. Loess deposits covered the Sowiniec horst slopes, filling completely older depressions that in places led to relief inversion. Geophysical analyses, supplemented with the litho- and pedological investigations, indicate that the site is located within a buried karst depression, at present filled with the MioceneePleistocene deposits near the scarp descending to the Rudawa River valley. In the outermost parts of the
palaeodepression, the thickness of the Pleistocene deposits is small, and the cultural layer occurs relatively near the surface. The cultural layer in these positions occurs in lithologically different deposits, which additionally indicates that material was transported along the slope toward the depression centre. The near-scarp area (trench B) was the accumulation zone of redeposited sediments and ski mammoth bones (“the dumping area” according to Wilczyn et al., 2012), and the southern part of the site (trench D) was the zone of erosion only. In the central part of the depression the thickness of the Cenozoic deposits increases (the Miocene is found at a depth of 5 m), and the relatively old loess underlying the cultural layer was accumulated in the earlier loess-forming cycles with numerous and long hiatuses. In the central part of the depression, the cultural layer is also the thickest. Its bottom unit is denuded interstadial soil occurring in situ, and the upper unit is a complex of solifluction lobes. Our investigations indicate that the camp was located in the depression, which was the element of undulating terrain, probably conditioned by older relief and varying thickness of loess deposits. Therefore, we confirm the earlier conclusions (among others Kalicki ski et al., 2012) about the camp location in the et al., 2007; Wilczyn area with much diversified relief. Acknowledgements This study was partly supported by the projects decision no 691eN/2010/0 from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. We are very grateful to Prof. K. Sobczyk and Dr Jaros1aw ski for their kind invitation to cooperate with them on the Wilczyn Kraków Spadzista site. Many thanks to Prof. R. Dobrowolski, Dr P. ski and Dr Z. Cierech from the Department of Geoecology and Zielin Palaeogeography, Maria CurieeSk1odowska University, who helped us with accomplishing this task. Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045. References Bobak, D., P1onka, T., Po1towiczeBobak, M., Wisniewski, A., 2013. New chronological data for Weichselian sites from Poland and their implications for Palaeolithic. Quaternary International 296, 23e36. Chmielewski, W., KoneckaeBetley, K., Madeyska, T., 1977. Palaeolithic site Kraków e Zwierzyniec I in the light of investigations in 1972e1974. In: Biuletyn Instytutu Geologicznego 305, Warszawa, pp. 13e30. Drobniewicz, B., Koz1owski, J.K., SachseeKoz1owska, E., 1976. Materia1y archeologiczne (Archaeological materials). Górnopaleolityczne stanowisko e Kraków, ul. Spadzista C (Badania w latach 1970e1973). Folia Quaternaria 45, 56e66. Hess, M., 1968. Klimat terytorium Krakowa (The climate of Cracow). Srodowisko geograficzne terytorium Krakowa. Folia Geographica, Series GeographicaPhysica I, 35e98. ska ewolucja wyzyn _ Jersak, J., Sendobry, K., Snieszko, Z., 1992. Postwarcian lessowych w Polsce (Evolutions of loess uplands in Poland during the posteWarta ˛ skiego 1227, Katowice. period). In: Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Sla geoKalicki, T., Budek, A., Escutenaire, C., 2001. Dokumentacja badan archeologicznych wykonanych na wzgórzu Sw. Bronis1awy w Krakowie Bronis1awa Hill in (Documentation of the geoarchaeological study made on Sw. Cracow). In: Kadrow, S. (Ed.), Przyroda i cz1owiek, materia1y do studiów. Kra Autostrad, Kraków, pp. 47e64. kowski Zespó1 do Badan ska, A., Sobczyk, K., Wojtal, P., 2007. The forKalicki, T., Koz1owski, J.K., Krzemin mation of mammoth bone accumulation at the Gravettian site KrakóweSpadzista BþB1. Folia Quaternaria 77, 5e30. KoneckaeBetley, K., 1987. Fossil soils in the archaeological site KrakóweSpadzista street C2. In: Koz1owski, J.K., Sobczyk, K. (Eds.), The Upper Palaeolithic Site KrakóweSpadzista street C2, Excavations 1980. UJ, PWN, WarszawaeKraków, pp. 80e86. KoneckaeBetley, K., Madeyska, T., 1985. Loess section at KrakóweZwierzyniec. In: Guideebook of the International Symposium Problems of the Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography of Loesses. Maria Surie-Sk1odowska University Press, Lublin, pp. 175e178.
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Please cite this article in press as: qanczont, M., et al., Relief and palaeorelief analyses of the Kraków Spadzista Palaeolithic site as the tools used for explanation of the site location, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.045