Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Research Centre in Kraków, Senacka 1, 31-002, Kraków, Poland.
Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 25;10(1):10386. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67017-2.
Mobility of people and goods during the Upper Paleolithic has proven difficult to reconstruct given the relative rareness of remains. Nevertheless, archaeological contexts like the Late Pleistocene horizon of Borsuka Cave (Southern Poland) represent a unique opportunity to explore patterns of objects' transportation across Central Europe. We investigated the origin of four ornaments made of European elk (Alces alces L.) incisors recovered at Borsuka Cave - the oldest known burial site in Poland, possibly a child grave. Laser-ablation plasma source mass spectrometric analyses of trace elements and Sr isotopic compositions revealed that one elk was roaming within a geologically uniform area while the others changed their pastures during their lifetimes. The non-local origin of the elk teeth is inferred from their exotic Sr isotopic compositions and the lack of evidence for the presence of elk in this territory during the Pleistocene. Instead, the elks' Sr isotopic composition show good agreement with sites near the Austria-Slovakia border region and northern Hungary, ~250 km away from the study site. We argue that the artefacts were most likely brought to Borsuka Cave by humans or by a network of exchange, so far never reported in the time range 32.5-28.8 ka cal BP for Southern Poland.
鉴于遗骸相对较少，在上旧石器时代，很难重建人员和货物的流动性。然而，像波兰南部博尔苏卡洞穴（Borsuka Cave）晚更新世时期的考古背景，为探索整个中欧物体运输模式提供了一个独特的机会。我们研究了在博尔苏卡洞穴（Borsuka Cave）发现的四颗由欧洲麋鹿（Alces alces L.）门齿制成的饰品的起源——这是波兰已知的最古老的埋葬地点，可能是一个儿童墓穴。微量元素和 Sr 同位素组成的激光烧蚀等离子体质谱分析表明，其中一只麋鹿在地质均匀的区域内漫游，而其他麋鹿在其一生中改变了牧场。麋鹿牙齿的非本地起源是根据它们的外来 Sr 同位素组成以及在更新世时期该地区没有麋鹿存在的证据推断出来的。相反，麋鹿的 Sr 同位素组成与奥地利-斯洛伐克边境地区和匈牙利北部的地点非常吻合，距离研究地点约 250 公里。我们认为这些人工制品很可能是由人类或交换网络带到博尔苏卡洞穴的，在 32.5-28.8 千年前波兰南部的时间范围内，从未有过这样的报道。
