Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Technological Changes and Population Movements in the Late Lower and Early Middle Paleolithic of the Central Balkans

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

Abstract

Recent archaeological investigations have enabled preliminary insight into the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Central Balkans. Industries containing tools made from pebbles and flakes, within which Levallois artifacts were present to a lesser (Kosovska Kosa) or greater (Samaila) extent, have been encountered at the sites in the Zapadna Morava valley. The Charentian, likely dating to the Middle Pleistocene (possibly MIS 7) on the basis of microfaunal remains, has been reported in Velika and Mala Balanica in Sićevo. With regard to later (MIS 5–4) industries, assemblages of Typical Mousterian (Crvena Stijena, Hadži Prodanova cave), Charentian (Pešturina) and assemblages where Taubachian–Charentian component, Charentian elements, and backed bifaces are combined (Petrovaradin fortress) are encountered in the Central Balkans. After examining all available data, we propose the hypothesis that in addition to climatic, ecological, and behavioral factors, demographic factors also probably had considerable impact on the variability of lithic assemblages. Migrations and cultural transmission could have resulted in the appearance of Near Eastern elements in the Central Balkans as well as Balkan elements in the Near East. The homogeneity and/or variability of industries could be considerably influenced by the degree of isolation of human groups living in this region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alex, B., & Boaretto, E. (2014). Radiocarbon chronology of Pešturina Cave. In D. Mihailović (Ed.), Paleolithic and Mesolithic research in the Central Balkans (pp. 39–47). Belgrade: Serbian Archaeological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, G., Papakonstantinou, V., & Sturdy, D. (1992). Asprochaliko and Kokkinopilos: TL dating and reinterpretation of Middle Paleolithic sites in Epirus, north-west Greece. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2, 136–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basler, Đ. (1975). Stariji litički periodi u Crvenoj stijeni. In Đ. Basler (Ed.), Crvena stijena—zbornik radova (pp. 11–120). Nikšić: Zajednica kulturnih ustanova.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumler, M.F. (1987). Core reduction sequences, an analysis of blank production in the Middle Paleolithic of Northern Bosnia (Yugoslavia). Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Arizona. Tucson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackwell, B., Chu, S., Chaity, I., Huang, Y. E. W., Mihailović, D., Roksandic, M., et al. (2014). ESR dating ungulate tooth enamel from the Mousterian Layers at Pešturina, Serbia. In D. Mihailović (Ed.), Paleolithic and Mesolithic research in the Central Balkans (pp. 21–38). Belgrade: Serbian Archaeological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bordes, F. (1953). Essai de classification des industries “moustériennes”. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française, 7–8, 457–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosinski, G. (1967). Die Mittelpaläolithischen Funde im Westlichen Mitteleuropa. Köln: Böhlau Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourguignon, L. (1997). Le Moustérien de type Quina: Nouvelle définition d'une entité technique. Ph.D. dissertation, Université de Paris X, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howell, F. C., Arsebük, G., Kuhn, S. L., Özbaşaran, M., & Stiner, M. C. (Eds.). (2010). Culture and biology at a crossroads: The Middle Pleistocene record of Yarımburgaz Cave (Thrace, Turkey). Istanbul: Zero Books/Ege Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennell, R. W., Martinon-Torres, M., & Bermudez de Castro, J. M. (2010). Out of Asia: The initial colonisation of Europe in the Early and Middle Pleistocene. Quaternary International, 223–224, 439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennell, R. W., Martinón-Torres, M., & Bermúdez de Castro, J. M. (2011). Hominin variability, climatic instability and population demography in Middle Pleistocene Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30, 1511–1524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimitrijević, V. (1997). Upper Pleistocene mammals from cave deposits of Serbia. Geološki anali Balkanskog poluostrva, 61(2), 179–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doronichev, V. (2008). The Lower Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus: A reappraisal of the data and new approaches. PaleoAnthropology, 2008, 107–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doronichev, V., & Golovanova, L. (2010). Beyond the Acheulean: A view on the Lower Paleolithic occupation of Western Eurasia. Quaternary International, 223–224, 327–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gábori, M. (1976). Les civilisations du Paléolithique moyen entre les Alpes et l’Oural. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galanidou, N., Cole, J., Iliopoulos, G., & McNabb, J. (2013). East meets West: The Middle Pleistocene site of Rodafnidia on Lesvos, Greece. Antiquity, 87, 336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galanidou, N., Athanassas, C., Cole, J., Iliopoulos, G., Katerinopoulos, A., Magganas, A., McNabb, J. (2016). The Acheulean site at Rodafnidia, Lisvori on Lesbos, Greece: Part I. In K. Harvati, & M. Roksandic (Eds.), Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human evolution and its context. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geneste, J.-M., Jaubert, J., Lenoir, M., Meignen, L., & Turq, A. (1997). Approche technologique des Moustériens charentiens du sud-ouest de la France et du Languedoc oriental. Paléo, 9, 101–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goren-Inbar, N., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (2002). The technological abilities of the Levantine Mousterians: Cultural and mental capacities. In T. Akazawa, K. Aoki, & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Neanderthals and modern humans in West (pp. 205–221). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Guadelli, J.-L., Sirakov, N., Ivanova, S., Sirakova, S., Anastassova, E., Courtaud, P., et al. (2005). Une séquence du Paléolithique inférieur au Paléolithique récent dans les Balkans: La grotte Kozarnika à Orechets (Nord-Ouest de la Bulgarie). In N. Molines, M.-H. Moncel, & J.-L. Monnier (Eds.), Données récentes sur les modalités de peuplement et sur le cadre chronostratigraphique des industries du Paléolithique inférieur et moyen en Europe (BAR International Series, Vol. 1364, pp. 87–104). Oxford: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiscock, P., Turq, A., Faivre, J.-P., & Bourguignon, L. (2009). Quina procurement and tools production. In B. Adams & B. S. Blades (Eds.), Lithic materials and Paleolithic societies (pp. 232–246). Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hublin, J.-J. (2002). Climatic changes, paleogeography, and the evolution of the Neandertals. In T. Akazawa, K. Aoki, & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Neanderthals and modern humans in Western Asia (pp. 295–310). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Iovita, R., Fitzsimmons, K. E., Dobos, A., Hambach, U., Hilgers, A., & Zander, A. (2012). Dealul Guran: Evidence for Lower Paleolithic (MIS 11) occupation of the Lower Danube loess steppe. Antiquity, 86, 973–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaluđerović, Z. (1996). Kremenac kod Niša—Paleolitsko nalazište. Starinar, XLVII, 289–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kowalski, K. (2001). Pleistocene rodents of Europe. Folia Quaternaria, 72, 1–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozłowski, J. K. (1992). The Balkans in the Middle and Upper Paleolithic: The gate to Europe or a cul-de-sac? Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 58, 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozłowski, J. K. (2002). The Middle and the Early Upper Paleolithic around the Black Sea. In T. Akazawa, K. Aoki, & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Neanderthals and modern humans in Western Asia (pp. 461–482). New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kretzoi, M., & Dobosi, V. T. (1990). Vértesszőlős: Site, man and culture. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, S. L., & Stiner, M. C. (2010). Culture and biology in transition: Summary of findings and conclusion. In F. C. Howell, G. Arsebük, S. L. Kuhn, M. Özbaşaran, & M. C. Stiner (Eds.), Culture and biology at a crossroads: the Middle Pleistocene record of Yarımburgaz Cave (Thrace, Turkey) (pp. 301–319). Istanbul: Zero Books/Ege Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kukla, G. J. (1987). Loess stratigraphy in Central China. Quaternary Science Reviews, 6, 191–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Valladas, G., Reyss, J. L., Jelinek, A., Meignen, L., & Joron, J. L. (1995). TL dates of burnt flints from Jelinek’s excavations at Tabun and their implications. Journal of Archaeological Science, 22, 495–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marković, S. B., Mihailović, D., Oches, E. A., Jovanović, M., & Gaudenyi, T. (2004). The Last Glacial climate, environment and the evidence of Paleolithic occupation in Vojvodina province, Serbia: An overview. Antaeus, 27, 147–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D. (2008a). Istraživanja paleolita na području Niške kotline između 2004. i 2006. godine. Zbornik radova Odbora za kras i speleologiju, IX, 105–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D. (2008b). New data about the Middle Paleolithic of Serbia. In A. Darlas & D. Mihailović (Eds.), The Paleolithic of the Balkans (BAR International Series, Vol. 1819, pp. 93–100). Oxford: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D. (2009a). Pećinski kompleks Balanica i paleolit Niške kotline u regionalnom kontekstu. Arhaika, 2, 3–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D. (2009b). Middle Paleolithic settlement at Petrovaradin Fortress. Petrovaradin edition, Vol. II, Novi Sad: The City Museum of Novi Sad.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D., & Bogosavljević-Petrović, V. (2010). Samaila—Vlaška glava, paleolitsko nalazište na otvorenom prostoru. Naša prošlost, 10, 21–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D., & Mihailović, B. (2006). Paleolitsko nalazište Hadži Prodanova pećina kod Ivanjice. Arheološki pregled Srpskog arheološkog društva, 1(2003), 13–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D., Mihailović, B., Milošević, S., & Lopičić, M. (2011). Tehnološka varijabilnost u ranom srednjem paleolitu centralnog Balkana. Glasnik Srpskog arheološkog društva, 25, 7–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D., & Milošević, S. (2012). Istraživanja paleolitskog nalazišta Pešturina kod Niša. Glasnik Srpskog arheološkog društva, 28, 87–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihailović, D., Milošević, S., & Radović, P. (2014). New data about the Lower and Middle Paleolithic in the Western Morava valley. In D. Mihailović (Ed.), Paleolithic and Mesolithic research in the Central Balkans (pp. 57–67). Belgrade: Serbian Archaeological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milošević, S. (2010). Reading of human on-site activities on the basis of faunal taphonomy at the Paleolithic site of Hadži Prodanova cave (Serbia). Bone Commons, 1390. Retrieved January 20, 2013 from http://alexandriaarchive.org/bonecommons/items/show/1390.

  • Moncel, M.-H. (2011). Technological behavior and mobility of human groups deduced from lithic assemblages in the late middle and early late Pleistocene of the middle Rhône Valley (France). In N. Conard & J. Richter (Eds.), Neanderthal lifeways, subsistence and technology (pp. 261–287). Dodrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Morley, M. (2007). Mediterranean Quaternary rockshelter sediment records: A multi-proxy approach to environmental reconstruction. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte, M., Yalcinkaya, I., Kozłowski, J. K., Bar-Yosef, O., Lopez Bayon, I., & Taskiran, H. (1998). Long-term technical evolution and human remains in the Anatolian Paleolithic. Journal of Human Evolution, 34, 413–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Premo, L. S., & Kuhn, S. L. (2010). Modeling effects of local extinctions on culture change and diversity in the Paleolithic. PLoS One, 5(12), e15582. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rink, W. J., Schwarcz, H. P., Ronen, A., & Tsatskin, A. (2004). Confirming a near 400 ka age for the Yabrudian industry of Tabun Cave, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 31, 15–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rink, W. J., Mercier, N., Mihailović, D., Morley, M. W., Thompson, J. W., & Roksandic, M. (2013). New radiometric ages For the BH-1 hominin from Balanica (Serbia): Implications for understanding the role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene human evolution. PLoS One, 8(2), e54608. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roksandic, M., Mihailović, D., Mercier, N., Dimitrijević, V., Morley, M. W., Rakočević, Z., Mihailović, B., Guibert, P., & Babb, J. (2011). A human mandible (BH-1) from the Pleistocene deposits of the Mala Balanica cave (Sićevo Gorge, Niš, Serbia). Journal of Human Evolution, 61, 186–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roksandic, M. (2016). The role of the Central Balkans in the peopling of Europe: Paleoanthropological evidence. In K. Harvati, & M. Roksandic (Eds.), Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human evolution and its context (pp. 15–33). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shea, J. (2013). Stone tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic near East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Simek, J. F., & Smith, F. H. (1997). Chronological changes in stone tool Assemblages from Krapina (Croatia). Journal of Human Evolution, 32, 561–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirakov, N., Guadelli, J. L., Ivanova, S., Sirakova, S., Boudadi-Maligne, M., Dimitrova, I., et al. (2010). An ancient continuous human presence in the Balkans and the beginnings of human settlement in western Eurasia: A Lower Pleistocene example of the Lower Paleolithic levels in Kozarnika Cave (North-western Bulgaria). Quaternary International, 223–224, 94–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Šarić, J. (2011). Lower Paleolithic site Kremenac near the village Rujnik (Serbia). Starinar, LXI, 7–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tourloukis, V. (2010). The Early and Middle Pleistocene archaeological record of Greece—Current status and future prospects. Leiden: Leiden University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tourloukis, V., Karkanas, P., & Wallinga, J. (2015). Revisiting Kokkinopilos: Middle Pleistocene radiometric dates for stratified archaeological material in Greece. Journal of Archaeological Science, 57, 355–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turq, A. (1989). Approche technologique et économique du faciès Moustérien de type Quina: étude préliminaire. Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 86(8), 244–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia, projects no. 177023 and 176015. We thank the Editors and anonymous reviewers for their comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Čika Ljubina 18-20, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Dušan Mihailović

  2. Department of Paleontology, Faculty of Mining and Geology, University of Belgrade, Kamenička 6, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Katarina Bogićević

Authors
  1. Dušan Mihailović
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katarina Bogićević
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dušan Mihailović .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Paleoanthropology, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Katerina Harvati

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Mirjana Roksandic

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mihailović, D., Bogićević, K. (2016). Technological Changes and Population Movements in the Late Lower and Early Middle Paleolithic of the Central Balkans. In: Harvati, K., Roksandic, M. (eds) Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0874-4_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation