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Abstract A short research history and current interpretations of evidence from Middle Paleolithic sites in Croatia are presented. Sites are situated in two main geographic regions, continental and Adriatic, divided by the Dinaric Mountains, providing two different landscapes for the adaptation of Mousterian people and their settlement system. Fossil human remains are discussed from both paleoanthropological and genetic perspectives within their archaeological framework. Interpretations of sites were based on analyses of both old and new archaeological collections (material recovered by recent excavations). Mousterian lithic material originated from three different types of sites: cave sites, open air sites and an underwater site. Research results are presented from various perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers lithic raw material procurement of Epigravettian hunter-gatherers from Kopačina Cave on the island of Brač (Dalmatia, Croatia). The most significant group among the determined petrographic categories are different cherts, and a significantly smaller group of radiolarites. Cherts are both locally and regionally available, while radiolarites originate from more distant areas. Use of raw material that could have been procured within 20 km radius (local) and in the range of 20–50 km (regional) is predominant and very similar in all phases. Raw material that could have been procured from distances ranging from 20 to 50 km shows a gradual trend of increase in frequency from the earliest to the latest phase, while the raw material procured from distances greater than 50 km (extra-regional) has an obvious drop in frequency from the eldest to the youngest phase. Temporal trends in lithic raw material use suggest certain continuity during the whole Epigravettian sequence as well as change which shows itself in larger exploitation areas or more intensive long-distance contacts in earlier Epigravettian phases in Kopačina than in the later ones, and possibly a higher degree of hunter-gatherers’ mobility. Presence of radiolarites in Kopačina's Late Upper Paleolithic layers, as well as their potential outcrops suggest movements of hunter-gatherers deeper in east Adriatic continental hinterland where for now only a few traces of human settlements from Late Glacial have been found. Raw material of several found artifacts indicates possible contacts with the west Adriatic coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Perforated shells figure prominently in discussions of exchange systems and body ornamentation during the Mesolithic in Europe. This paper discusses assemblages of perforated marine (Columbella rustica) and freshwater (Lithoglyphus naticoides) snail shells recovered from recent excavations of Mesolithic sites in Croatia. Numerous finds occur in several sites in Istria on the Adriatic coast and at Zala cave in the inland region of Lika, suggesting the possible existence of an exchange or trading system. Several other Mesolithic sites with perforated marine and freshwater snail shells are omitted from this discussion because these sites are located on the Adriatic coast, therefore suggesting local production of perforated snail shells. The probable existence of a Mesolithic regional exchange system between coastal and inland areas is supported by the presence of exotic shells, both on the coast and inland. Comparison of metric attributes (shell size and size of perforation) and the morphology of perforations in each group suggest similar treatment of snail shells found in Istria and in Lika. Mesolithic specimens were compared only with modern examples of C. rustica because modern populations of L. naticoides have not yet been found. This comparison suggests either strong selectivity during the Mesolithic in favour of larger specimens, or changed environmental circumstances. Future research should explore if Lithoglyphus naticoides, found in Mesolithic, still exists today. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents the first attempt to establish a Mid and Late Upper Palaeolithic absolute chronology of the Adriatic basin, including both eastern and western Adriatic coasts and their hinterlands. The proposed chronology for Gravettian, Early and Late Epigravettian techno-complexes is based on statistical analysis of 278 14C dates from 66 archaeological sites. Our analyses are directed towards 1) identifying whether major climatic episodes and corresponding transformations in the local environments are correlated with long-term demographic trends, and potential changes in spatial patterning of human occupation, and 2) identifying robust absolute chronological estimates of techno-complexes to establish the timing of their succession, including their possible overlaps. Results show that the Gravettian appears in the Adriatic area at c. 35-34ka cal BP and ends at c. 26-25ka cal BP. Early and Late Epigravettian timespans are between c. 26-25ka and 18.1–17.6ka cal BP and 17.6–17.1 ka and 11.9–11.6 ka cal BP respectively. The Early-Late Epigravettian transition in the Great Adriatic-Po Region coincides with the transition between GS-2.2 and GI-2.1 and is also associated with apparent transformations in settlement pattern as new biotopes appear to be occupied, particularly in the mountainous areas such as Alps and Dinaric Alps. According to our results, the timespan of Early Epigravettian covers the Badegoulian, Solutrean and even Lower Magdalenian periods in western Europe, hence challenging the earlier interpretations on Early Epigravettian and Solutrean contemporaneity. This suggests an independent cultural evolutionary path for territories that previously (during the Gravettian) showed a high degree of technological affinity. • First systematic collection and analysis of radiocarbon data for the Gravettian and Epigravettian of the Adriatic basin. • Bayesian modelling of 14C data points to synchronicity of local techno-complexes with the rest of Europe. • Gradual increase of the population since the LGM with associated shift in settlement patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 30 to 16.5 ka ago), the Great Adriatic-Po Region (GAPR) was deeply affected by the spread of glaciers from the Alps to the southern foreland and by the dropping of the sea level to ~ -120 m amsl. The combination of these two events triggered the aggradation of the Great Po Plain (GPP), a vast flat area between the Alpine chain, the Italian Peninsula and the north-western Balkan Peninsula, physically and ecologically featured through a range of palaeogeographic and palaeoecological conditions. The low-elevated Prealpine sectors and the Alpine foothills supported more extensive forest stands, due to increased orographic rainfall. These were open boreal forests which persisted throughout the LGM, while open woodlands, steppes, semideserts and wetlands occupied the lowlands. A complex ecogradient, including both an Alpine and a continental timberline, is documented by the fossil records at the NE Alpine border, with a larch-pine forest-steppe belt, in contact with steppes and loess areas extending in the plain, on the dry extreme of the gradient. Still, edaphic wetlands occupied the waterlogged silty soils in the lowlands. Other areas, marked by active geodynamic processes, supported semideserts, i.e. grooves of xerophytic herbs and shrubs. Enhanced aridity and the development of deflation areas, prompted the accretion of loess cover at the northern and southern margins of the GPP. Fauna recorded the gradual disappearance of mammoth, woolly rhino and giant deer, together with cave bear. Gravettian and Epigravettian hunter-gatherer groups inhabited the GPP, although their presence and settlement dynamics at the margins and across this region has long been questioned. As a matter of fact, a handful of archaeological sites composes a patchy record of the peopling of the plain itself. At the northern rim of the GAPR, characterized by a well-developed karst region, several caves and rock shelters record the presence of hunters of bisons and horses at the margins of the GPP and ibexes and cave bears in some hilly landscapes. Nonetheless, evidence of contacts across this area is provided by the exploitation of chert sources and by stylistic and technical similarities in the lithic industries. The work resumes the currently available multidisciplinary data and adds new petroarchaeological evidence for reconstructing the settlement dynamics of the Gravettian - Epigravettian hunter-gatherers in this vast region up to the early Late Glacial, when the Prealpine and the Apennine foothills, along with the Dinarids, were persistently settled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]