Ecology and Environment in the Early Gravettian

Krems-Wachtberg is an important Upper Palaeolithic open air site with numerous well-preserved finds and structures and also provides great potential for the chronological and climatic stratification of the Late Pleistocene in the Middle Danube Region. Since 2005, the Prehistoric Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has conducted archaeological excavations and supplementary investigations with the financial support of the Austrian Science Fund and the State of Lower Austria. The information obtained so far enables first conclusions on the spatial organization of the camp site. Next to a central activity zone around a multi-phased hearth with adjacent pits, two graves with infant burials have been documented. The investigation of the living floor`s periphery, which has been intensified since 2008, permits more detailed insights into the syn- and post-sedimentary relocation processes with their underlying slope effects and periglacial events. The find inventory indicates close relationships to contemporaneous sites of southern Moravia where comparable typological, technical, and economical criteria apply. The site can therefore be assigned to the Pavlovian culture. Due to intensive investigations accompanying recent archaeological research, Krems-Wachtberg has become a key-site for the regional Late Pleistocene chrono-stratigraphy. So far, the results of different disciplines indicate the site`s great potential, painting the picture of a highly dynamic glacial habitat with oscillating ecological parameters shortly before the last glacial maximum (LGM). In the course of extensive field work, numerous basic data has been collected. This substantial data collection forms the base for further research in different fields. The continuation of excavations is projected by specifically extending the investigated area according to research requirements. Besides supplementing and synthesizing previous results it is planned to render a more detailed chronology of the Gravettian occupation and to increase the resolution of the climate data. New research approaches are to be developed chiefly from xylotomic and dendro-chronological investigations of the charcoals, lithic raw material analysis, and the interpretation of the faunal data. The results of the different fields of research provide the opportunity to generate a high-resolution representation of the environment and a dynamic model of the underlying ecological processes for the Middle Upper Palaeolithic. This can only be achieved in an interdisciplinary research project which is embedded in a network of international co-operations.

The FWF-funded research project Ecology and Environmental History in the Early Gravettian at the Wachtberg of Krems was conducted by the Institute of Oriental and European Archaeology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences between 01.07.2011 and 30.06.2016. Aim was a detailed reconstruction of the environmental and living conditions in the Middle Danube Region 30,000 years ago. Long-term fieldwork at the Palaeolithic open air site Krems-Wachtberg provided an extensive database for interdisciplinary investigations in cooperation with national and international research partners.The site gained international recognition by the discovery of two infant graves. A range of other evident structures connected to the same occupation surface like two hearths provide evidence for the exceptional conditions of preservation. Interdisciplinary high-resolution investigations of the 9 m loess sequence established Krems-Wachtberg as key-site for the reconstruction of the ice-age climate and environmental history in the time span between 40,000 and 22,000 years ago. A range of physical and geo-physical dating methods provided the absolute time-frame, while geo-sciences explored the loess sequences genesis. The interdisciplinary approach allowed for a precise reconstruction of the main find horizons formation. The excellent preservation of an Early Gravettian living floor with evident anthropogenic structures is due to rapid loess accumulation by both aeolian sedimentation and slope processes. At the same time the latter caused relocation of parts of the occupation layer.Important results were also provided by analyses of the archaeological material. Tree ring synchronization enabled by high quantities of well-preserved charcoals confirms contemporaneity of the two hearths and the living floor. Variability of tree ring widths illustrates variable growth conditions and points at short-term oscillations of temperature and precipitation. The faunal remains reflect various exploitation strategies like marrow and fat extraction from mammoth and ungulate bones near the hearth. The exact determination of the raw material used for the production of stone tools captures the ice-age hunter-gatherers mobility, and is important for identifying specific activity zones on the living floor. The results allow for the reconstruction of a dynamic ice-age habitat with considerable variations of the environmental conditions. Investigation of the economic, technical and social responses of a Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer society further contributes to the current discussion on climate change and its potential impacts.The project results have been published in numerous scientific publications and presented at a wide range of international conferences. Project members participated in public events like Young Science and Lange Nacht der Forschung. Furthermore, the Krems-Wachtberg site is represented in the new permanent archaeological exhibitions of the Natural History Museum Vienna and MAMUZ Schloss Asparn/Zaya.