Mousterian industries in Hungary – 15 years later

IHCTHTYT APXEOJlOnT HAUJOHAJlbHOT AKAflEMU HAYK YKPAfHM INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF UKRAINE GBPOriEMCbKMM CEPEflHIM nAJlEOJlIT THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC mCTHTYT APXEOJIOrn HAHJOHAJILHOI AKAflEMII HAYK YKPAIHH INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF UKRAINE GBPOnEHCbKHH CEPE^HIH IIAJIEOJlIT THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC PeziaKTOp JI.B.KyjiaKOBCtKa Editor L. V.Kulakovska Khi'b IUji»x-2006 Z. MESTER MOUSTERIAN INDUSTRIES IN HUNGARY - 15 YEARS LATER Abstract I he monograph on the Mousierian cultures nf the Carpathian Basin, by Ixirissa Koulakovskaya. came out in I'JMV In this work, she reviewed the most important Hungarian sites (Ky:iaKoecKan. t989, <HI 'J 11 Thanks ii' ffflg Hungarian and foreign researchers, many new records became known from the beginning qfI9$0i I his new knowledge, which is based on the revision of the old sites and their assemblages and of course Uit new exploration*, changed our general view of the Hungarian Middle Palaeolithic Here I am going 10 summarize these new records and review the research conditions of the Mousierian in Hungary. 15 years ago In Miklbs Gabon's monograph on the Middle Palaeolithic in Central and Eastern Europe, there have been no sites of Transcarpathian territory mentioned in the Ukraine yet [Gabori. !976. Fig. 16]. A new era opened in the exploration of this area when a systematic investigation started in the scope of the Transcarpathian Palaeolithic Expedition of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, lead by V. N. Ciladilin. The discovery of a multilayer site at Korolevo in 1974 has a special role regarding the change of eras [Kv.iaKOBCKaa. 1989. 3]. The layers of lliis open-air site entombed the finds of different Middle Palaeolithic industries. In connection with the study of the. assemblage of Korolevo. Larissa Koulakovskaya reviewed the Mousterian cultures of the Carpathian Basin [KynaKOBCKaa, 1989]. Her monograph, which was published in Russian, is Standard work for Eastern European researchers interested in the Mousterian. She marked eight sites on a map of Hungary [Phc 67). and six of the eight sites - Tata (TaTaj. Szelim Cave (Ccihm), Kiskevely Cave (KHUJKeBcni. Frd (3pj.). Suba-Iyuk Cave (LLlyoaiOK). Soiyomkut Rock-shelter iIUohomkvt) - were represented in detail. Besides these, she mentioned some other sites as well. She studied the industries building upon the Bordes' method. In addition, she took up the questions of chronology and classification. 15 years later Our view of the Hungarian Middle Palaeolithic has undergone radical changes. This is due to the Stall of a new era in Hungarian Palaeolithic research, which began in the 1980s. What were the causes of these changes'.' First, the evolution of international research (new approaches to problems and notable results) necessitated the rethinking of several questions. Second, a younger generation of researchers, filled with new ambitions and energy. began their careers. Third, the interest of Western European prehistorians shifted towards the assemblages of Central and Eastern European sites. The following things assisted in altering our knowledge of the Hungarian Middle Palaeolithic: - the review of the archaeological and paleontological finds of older excavations; - the review of the stratigraphical and chronological interpretations concerning well-known sites; analyses of industries within new approaches; - new excavations at "classical" sites. - discovery of new sites. In this article. I am going to review the latest results and the conditions of Middle Palaeolithic research in Hungary. Meanwhile. 1 will present the sites and cultures from west to east. Due to the limitations on the size of the text. I will be unable to cover all the issues, but interested readers can find further details in the books and studies mentioned in the bibliography. Tata, open-air site Hitherto, this is the first excavated and westernmost Middle Palaeolithic site in Hungary. Tivadar Kormos did the initial excavation in 1909- 1910 [Kormos, 1912]. Later, in 1958-1959. Ldszlo Ve'rtes undertook a great project [Ve'rtes. 196-1]. The site provided a rather great assemblage: 2318 stone tools and 150 kg blank flakes. Among the tools the sidescrapers are dominant (527c). Most of them were made on pebbles (58.6%). The proportion ol the pieces, with a 20 and 40 mm length is very high (82.7%). 39% of the tools are bifacial. Based on the above. Vertes determined this industry as a specialized and standardized Mousterian |Ve'rtes. 1964. 210]. Mikl6s Gdbori emphasized that tin- industry of Tata was a local fades, or in other words, it was a Mousterian which used pebbles and the Pontinian technique. In his opinion, this industry 170 did not develop further from this point [Gdbori. 1976. 73]. Recently, due to the microliths. it has been reclassified as a Taubachian industry [Dobosi. 2000a. 54]. a determination that meets the new absolute chronological data of the site. The samples, which came, from die travertines situated above and below the cultural layer, were tested with the -?0Th/"2Th method. From the new data, the age of the Palaeolithic settlement of Tata is placed between 116*5 kyr and 78±5 kyr [Schwarz and Skoflek. 19821. id est the site is part of OIS 5. Recently. Marie-Helene Moncel studied the lithic artefacts of Tata in the scope of analysing Central European microlithic industries [Moncel. 2003a; 2003b; 2003c|. She demonstrated with an explicit technological analysis that die knappers followed only one mental scheme during the knapping work. However, this scheme permitted them to produce different (thin, thick, short or elongated) flakes. The varied products belong to different stages of debitage. The assemblages of Tata and odier Central European sites show that this technological method lived on in a large geographical region for a long time. In die history of research, the latest excavations were carried out between 1995 and 2001 by the Kuny Domokos Museum of Tata. During these six years. Julianna Kisne Cseh and Viola T. Dobosi discovered the layers which remained after V£rtes's excavation, and they collected numerous lithic artefacts and animal bones. Their first results were reported at an international conference held at Tata in 2003 [Kisne Cseh. in press). Szelim and Kiskevely caves The industries of these caves are comparable to Tata, but the assemblages, which have already been published, are rather small. Both of the caves were excavated before World War II. The chronological and archaeological interpretations of the finds were reviewed in die 1980s and 1990s. The revision of Szelim Cave (Fig. 1. 2i was earned out within the framework of defining the Jankovichian isee below) by Veronika Gabori-Csank [Gabori-Csank. 1983; 1993]. The Mousterian finds were found in the bottom layer (E) of the 12.5 m sequence. This layer, which had been further divided into five levels (Ei-Es). originates from the end of the last interglacial in Gdbori-CsSnk's opinion. The stone tools lay in the E, and Ej levels. A part of them corresponds to the industry of Tata, and another part of them is similar to the finds discovered at Erd. She agreed with Luszlo Vertes. who said that two industries were present in both of the levels [Gabori-Csank, 1993, 41-46], In the scope of die same work. Gabori-Csank studied the problem of Kiskevely Cave (Fig. I. 51. Building upon Jeno Hillebrand's opinion, she emphasized that the Mousterian-type tools belonged to the hearth of a brown layer (4). She determined die age of this layer to the Early Wiirm. based upon faunal evidence [Gabori-Csank. 1983. 281: 1993. 31-36]. The chronological and archaeological review of Kiskevely Cave was done by Viola T. Dobosi and Istvan Vbrds [Dobosi and Voros. 1994]. They synthesized the stratigraphical observations, which were known from publications and excavating reports [Dobosi and Voros. 1994. Fig. 7|. They explored five Pleistocene layers in the cave, and separated die bones of the fauna [Dobosi and Voros. 1994. Fig. I]. The fauna substages. which correlate with the chronostratigraphical units, are parts of the Utrechtian stage: Layer s Alpine system Faunal substages OIS 2 WUrm 3 Pilisszantdian 2 3 Wiirm 2/3 (Stillfried B) Istalldskoian 3 4/3 Late WUrm 1 Late Subalyukian 4 4 Early Wtlrm 1 Early Subalyukian 5b-a 5 End of Riss/Wiirm-Pre-WUnn Varboian 5c The Jankovichian The stone tools which were found in the B2 layer of Szelim Cave and in the level above the hearth of the brown layer ;4) of Kiskevely Cave were dated to the Upper Palaeolithic, as the Transdanubian group of the Szeletian, by Hungarian researchers. Veronika Gabori-Csdnk excavated a similar lithic assemblage from Remete-Felsd Cave (Fie, 1. 8) in 1969-1970 [Gabori-Csank, 1983]. However, in the latter site, the chronostratigraphical context placed the artefacts before the cold maximum of WUrm 1. Since teeth o1' Neanderthal Man have turned up from the same layer. Veronika Gabori-Csank decided to review die odier sites of the Transdanubian Szeletian (Jankovich Cave, Kiskevely Cave, Szelim Cave. Dzerava skala and Bivak Cave. Pilisszanto II and CsSkvar rock-shelters and Lovas - Fig. I (, She 171 demonstrated that the industry at issue was in such a chronological situation everywhere, which proved I hut the assemblages could not have originated after Wiirm 1. This meant that they belonged to the Middle Palaeolithic. For this very reason. Veronika Gabori-Csank nominated this industry as the Junkovichian after Jankovich Cave (Fig. 1, 3). because this site provided the most artefacts. This culture shows connections with the Micoquian of South Germany and Moravia, and sporadic finds were discovered in Northeast Hungary (Haromkut Cave) |Gabori-Csank. 1993]. In the past decade, the presence of Jankovichian- type tools have been detected in several assemblages. A part of the finds of former excavations had been connected to this culture in the case of Szeleta [Ringer and Mester. 2000, 267-268] and Kecskesgalya Cave [Mester, 2000a], (Both of the sites are in the Biikk Mountains, Northeast Hungary.) Such finds turned up from die Cserhat Mountains, which are situated between Transdanubia and the BUkk Mountains. The leaf- scraper from Galgahevi'z was secondary positioned IMarko and Pentek. 2003]. A fragment of a bifacial tool in the assemblage of Galgagyork-Majoka 3 also relates to the Jankovichian [Mark6 et a],, 2002, 256}. The results of the latest researches show that the problem of the Jankovichian cannot be considered as closed, and we can expect further interesting questions to arise in the near future. The paint mine of Lovas (Fig. 1. 11) can be placed in the Late Glacial instead of the Middle Palaeolithic by new |JC data (11,740 B.P.) [Dobosi. 2000b." 156]. However, it must be mentioned that the taphonomic and archaeozoologic analyses of bone tools has raised the possibility of the mine being in use in different stages of the Prehistory [Patou-Mathis, 20021. The palaeoanthropological analysis of human remains (right lower incisors and a canine) from Remete-Felso Cave showed that no specific metric or morphological features differentiate them from cither Neanderthal or Upper Palaeolithic modern teeth [Tillicrct al.. in press]. 6rd, open-air site 'Hie site (Fig. 1, 10), which is situated near Budapest, was excavated in 1963-1964 by Veronika Gabori-Csank. Thanks to the complex and detailed monograph on Erd [Gabori-Csank, 1968], it became our most famous Middle Palaeolithic site. Six settlement levels were discovered from the well- structured deposition. Building upon the geological, palacobotanical and palaeontological examinations, all of them were dated before the first cold maximum of the Wurm. The 1JC data, in comparison with the above, seem to be too young: 44.300+1400 and 35,300+900 B.P. The rich assemblage has two special features: 1 ) the dominating presence of quartzite (787c among the raw materials, and 2) the high percentage of cave bear bones (between 69.2$ and 96.5% depending on levels) among the faunal remains. The former was ascribed to the technical tradition, and the latter was thought to be the result of specialized limiting. Tin's was the first collection in Hungary by which palaeontological analysis could have been carried out from the point of view of hunting |V. Gabori-Csank and M. Kretzoi in Gabori-Csank. 1968. 223-244; Gabori and Gabori- Csank, 1978], Since the publication of the Erd monograph, our knowledge of technology, archaeozoology and methodology has greatly increased. Thus, the review of artefacts coming from Erd is timely indeed, Although the analyses which were taken up in the last years by French and Hungarian researchers have not finished yet. many new discoveries have been made. The theme of Eva Daschek's dissertation is the archaeozooloaical examination of the animal bones (IPH. Paris). She analysed the remains of the mammoths, the woolly rhinoceroses, the horses and (lie Bovidae which were excavated from the upper levels of the larger hollow. Building upon the results of the taxonomical. taphonomical and palaeontological researches, she got an entirely new picture of the site [Daschek. 2003]. The horse bones belonged to species (E. cf. steinheimensis or E, cf. chosaricus) living before the Wtirm. This implied that the age of the site could be identical with the end of the Puss (OIS 6). The condition of the surfaces of the bones and the traces on their surfaces indicated that the hollow functioned as a natural trap, and both hyenas and man visited this trap alternately and intermittently. Man utilized the perished animals as meat. Of course, this hypothesis might have to be revised if the remains of the other species — especially regarding the cave bear - will be analysed. Veronika Gabori-Csank determined the lithic industry as South-Eastern European Charentian. The use of the 6-8 cm length pebbles, which were collected at a distance of 500 m from the settlement, characterises mis culture. The raw materials were chopped with a special technique [Gabori-Csank, 1968. 115. 182], The technological analysis of the lithic artefacts is in progress, but we already have some new results [Mester, in press a; Mester and Moncel. 2004] We found such raw materials among the others, which originated from a 10-40 km distance. These ones got into the settlement as debitage products. Among the finds, some were non- 172 oval and larger than 6-8 cm. When these tools were made, the knappers often applied the discoid and Quina debitage. The products are very standardized. The morphology of the Hakes aligned with the function. From this fact it ensues that the retouch modified the angles of the rough cutting edges marginally. Regarding the results of the archaeozoologicai analyses, we can say that the interpretation of this production method can be sought after in the function of the site. Budapest-Farkasret, flint mine Veronika Gabori-Csank discovered a Palaeolithic flint mine near Farkasret cemetery in Budapest between 1084 and 1987. Hitherto, just a short essay was published from this site [Gabori-Csank. 1988] - the detailed study remained unpublished because the authors passed away [Gabori-Csank and Gabon. 1996|. Today the mine is a small hollow. Prehistoric men dug the homstone cobs from its walls. The artefacts -big quartzite hammer-stones, vast number of homstone flakes and 176 cutter tools made bf antler- were situated in three levels. All the antlers were cast by hiuds. There were a few processed pieces among the lithic finds. One of them, a big sidescraper is the most important. It was determined as a Mousterian tool by the excavators. They dated the mine to the Middle Palaeolithic, although the obtained two l-C data are very different from each other: 3.470±80 B.P. (antler) and 40.350±950 (charcoal). Istvan Voros studied the antlers. Based on palaeontological arguments, he claims that the mine was in use in the Late Copper Age or the Early Bronze Age [Voros. 1998-1999]. Hornstones have already been found in other Copper Age and Bronze Age sites [Bird, 2002] and in the Middle Palaeolithic site of Erd [Mester. in press a]. It is imaginable that flint was quarried in different periods here - similarly to the paint mine in Lovas. The site demands further analyses. New open-air sites in the Cserhdt Mountains In the eastern part of Hungary, the Biikk Mountains are the richest in Middle Palaeolithic sites. The geographical region between the above, mentioned Transdanubian sites and the Biikk seemed to be unoccupied during the Palaeolithic for a long time. Miklos Gabon and Veronika Gabori- Csank excavated near Hont (Fig. 2. 1). in the valley of the I poly river in the 1960s. Here they found the bifacial finds of an unidentified Middle Palaeolithic industry [Gabon. 1976. 80-81). Unfortunately, the archaeologists did not publish the assemblage of the site in detail. Attila Pentek and Andras Marko have made systematic field surveys in the Cscrhat Mountains for years. So far, they have discovered hundreds of Palaeolithic sites. They also collected Middle Palaeolithic artefacts and identified the same site of Hont. They have started to publish their new discoveries with the site at Legend (Fig. 2. 3' [Markd and Pentek. in press]. The industry of the site of Vanyarc. where Marko and Pentek have already excavated, is connected with the region of the Biikk Mountains. The high proportion of the felsitic porphyry, which is a characteristic raw material in the Szeletian (in the Btlkk Mountains), is also an indication. Their preliminary publication will be published in the Communicationes Archacologicae Hungariae i Budapest i [Andras Marko. personal communication!. Suba-Iyuk Cave The cave, which was discovered in 1932. is the most significant Middle Palaeolithic site in the Biikk Mountains (Fig. 3. 1). The deposition was made up of 18 layers, from which a very rich assemblage was discovered. The most illustrious specialists of the era published the results of their geological, palaeontological, anthracotomical. anthropological and archaeological researches in a monograph [Bartucz et al., 1940|. The human remains were determined to belong to a Neanderthal woman (40- 45 years old) and a Neanderthal child (7 years old). The lithic industry, of which finds were found in layers 1-14, was divided into a lower (Developed Mousterian) and an upper (Late Mousterian) culture Vertes thought that the Szeletian in the Biikk Mountains developed from the latter one |Vertes 1956, 327,3381. The human bones were reanalysed in the 1990s Based on the new results, the woman was 25-35 years old and the child was about 3 when they died They can be classified into the Central European group of the Homo sapiens neandenludensh (Krapina. Vindija) [Pap et at, 1996]. The archaeological context shows that the child was buried, but the body of the woman decomposed on the former surface [Mester. in press b]. During the review of the assemblage, we were able to establish two long-tenn settlements in layers 3 and 11. Their finds were well separable. Considering everything, there were two Mousterian facies in the cave: one of them was a Typical Mousterian rich in sidescrapers, and the other one was a Quina-type Mousterian. which did not link up 173 with die Szeletian genetically [Mester, 1989, 1990}. The technological behaviour of the two fades was different, too [Mester. 2004]. The sediment of the cave represents Lhe Upper Pleistocene. The revision of the deposition is the work of Arpad Ringer. He gave a new chronological interpretation correlating the layers with the oxygen isotopic stadiums [Ringer. 1993, 107-114; 2002a; Mester. 2004, Fig. 2]. Accordingly, die Typical Mousterian belonged to the OlS 5e. while the Quina- type Mousterian settled in the cave during the OIS 4. Revised sites in the Biikk Mountains Due to the new interpretation of the Palaeolithic industries of Suba-lyuk Cave, a review had to be carried out of those of the Bukk Moulnains which were considered as Mousterian previously. Vertes thought that the assemblage of Biidbs-pest Cave (Fig. 3. 5) provided the evidence for the transformation from a regional Mousterian into Szeletian |Vertes, 1965, 131-134]. On the contrary, the revision showed thai both of the above mentioned Mousterian fades are present in the cave and the bifacial tools belong to the Babonyian [Mester. 1990; 1995]. We separated three groups of the industry at Kecskesgalya Cave ( Fig. 3. 2) during the review. One of them can be classified as Aurignadan. while another one belongs probably to the Jankovichian and the third one represent a Mousterian sensu law [Mester. 2000a], The straugraphical situation of the four tools, which were found in the Solyomkut rock-shelter (Fig. 3, 4) is doubtful because of the absence of documentation. Thus, the problem of cultural determination of two artefacts made of polish 3wieciech6w flint is also unsolved. Building upon the archaeological context of this raw material, the site may be classified as Babonyian or Aurignacian |Mester. 2000b]. lhe identification of the Babonyian (see below i called for the revision of the assemblages referring to the Eger culture, or in other words to the "Mesolidiic with rough tools". The eponymous site of this culture is Eger-Koporos (Fig. 3, 3). In the industry of the open-air site there are Middle Palaeolithic-type tools with Upper Palaeolithic- types Accordingly. Viola T. Dobosi considered it as a transitional industry [Dobosi. 1995]. I rather think that the collection represents several different settlements because of the vast extent of the site I about 1500 By) and uncertainty concerning the position of the finds [Mester. 2000b. 89]. Arpad Ringer lead a new excavation in Diosgyor- Tapolca Cave (Fig. 3, 9) in 1988. In the light of the results, he reinterpreted the chronostratigraphy of the artefacts and dated them to the OIS 5c period [Ringer. 1993]. Marie-Helene Moncel studied the Hfhtc artefacts in the view of technology a few years ago. The production of small flakes is dominant in this industry, which has more features in common with the Taubachian [Ringer and Moncel. 2002]. An emblematic site of Hungarian Palaeolithic research is Szeleta Cave (Fig. 3. 6;. The fust evidence of the presence of prehistoric man was found here in 1907. Szeleta Cave has been the eponymous site of the Szeletian, a culture of the Central European Upper Palaeolithic with bifacial leaf-points, since 1953. Although a great part of deposition was removed during the excavations of about one hundred years of research, based on the documentations, the original position of the litliic artefacts can be reconstructed more or less [Ringer and Mester, 2000; Mester. 2002]. Arpad Ringer established the presence of several cultures beside the Szeletian, while he was revising the finds originating from the former excavations. These Middle Palaeolithic cultures are the following: the Babonyian, the Mousterian I (which preferred the red porphyrite) and the Mousterian II (which can be characterized with the use of hydroquartzite from Avas Hill in Miskolc, Hungary). Babonyian-type tools occurred only in the lower layers, but Mousterian 1 and II and Jankovichian-type finds were present ir all of the cultural layers. This means that die latter three industries survived up to the Tursac interstadial [Ringer and Mester. 2000. 267; Ringer. 2002b. Fig. 2]. A new project of researching the Szeleta Cave has begun in 1999. Within its scope, Arpad Ringer lead several new excavations in die cave, which resulted in numerous novel results. The Babonyian Arpad Ringer discovered some open-air sites by field surveys near Miskolc in the 1970s and 1980s. The assemblages of diese sites belong to a culture, which was formerly unknown. The new Middle Palaeolithic industry, which had been characterized with special bifacial tools, was nominated as the Babonyian [Ringer, 1983]. Larissa Koulakovskaya also mentioned it as a new discovery [DDDDOODDDOQ. 1989. 90-91], The eponymous site is Sajobabony- Mehesz-teto (Fig. 3. 8), where the first excavation was in 1974. At the time, the excavator Viola T. Dobosi, identified the finds as those of the Mesolithic Eger culture. In the 1980-1990s, Ringer made some excavations on the site. Among the artefacts of tliis Micoquian-featured culture, there are many leaf-shaped tools. Keilmessers with asymmetrical cross-sections are representative tools. The favourite raw material of the Babonyian was the felsitic porphyry, which can be found in the eastern 174 part Of the Bukk Mountains and is prevalent in the Szeletian as the raw materia] of the leaf-points. Arpad Ringer proved with typological, technological and chronological arguments that the Szeletian in the Bilkk Mountains derived from the Babonyian [Ringer. 1989). The two cultures make up a techno- typological complex, which was frequent in the highland region of Northern Hungary. The sites can be found mainly on the hill-tops, but their remains turned up from several caves (Balla. Diosgyor- Tapolca and Szeleta caves - Fig. 3. 7. 9, 6). The duration of the techno-typological complex began with the appearance of the Babonyian and finished with the Evolved Szeletian. The former is about 160 Ky based on the TL-dating of die Malyi open-air site I Fig. 3. II). and the latter is about 20 Ky. which was measured with l-1C method from the Szeleta Cave |Ringer. 2001; 2002b]. When the excavated sites and their assemblages are published in detail, we will probably have more exact data from this transition period. Thus, we will be able to analyse the correlation between the Babonyian and other Central European cultures which can be characterised with leaf-shaped tools. Miskolc-Avas, flint mines On Avas Hill, within of the city of Miskolc, there are hydroquartzite rocks which solidified due to tertiary volcanic activity. Prehistoric men of the region used the rocks as raw material for knapped tools. Between 1928 and 1935. mine holes were excavated in Pergola, which is a part of the Avas. Probably, these were in use in the Neolithic. The traces of a flint quarry were discovered on another part of the hill (Tuzkoves.) in 1988. Arpad Ringer, who excavated there several times, established the presence of the Levalloiso-Mousterian and the Denticulated Mousterian by the stone tools. The prehistoric miners adopted a new procedure to obtain the silex: heat treatment [Ringer. 2003J. The preferred raw material of the Mousterian II of Szeleta Cave also originated from Avas Hill [Ringer and Mester. 2000, 267] In 2004. new excavations have started between Tuzkoves and Pergola. Since these works are being carried out before road construction begins, there is an opportunity to discover the tlint quarries and the processing workshops on a ca. 150 x 14 nr area |Arpad Ringer, personal communication!. Conclusion Thanks to its unique geographical position, the Carpathian Basin has always been the meeting-point of natural and cultural influences and movement coming from every direction of the compass. Probably, that is the reason why the Hungarian Middle Palaeolithic is so varied. Our sites provide many important and interesting additions about the European prehistoric processes. Intensive research in the last twenty years reshaped Prehistory studies. These explorations functionally connect with the actual problems and trends of international research. This paper aimed to introduce Hungarian results to the wider audience of European archaeology. In addition, we would like to continue a tradition that is represented by illustrious predecessors, such as Laszl6 Vertes. Mikl6s Gabori and Veroiuka Gabon- Csank. A cknowkdgements Above all, I am grateful to my Hungarian colleagues who have permitted me to use their unpublished results in this paper. I thank Larissa Koulakovskaya for inviting me to the conference, where 1 was able to present these novel results. Finally, I express my thanks to my young colleague. Peter Szolyak, for the English translation of this text. This study was supported by the Janos Bolyai Research Fellowship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 7> B1BLIOGRAPHIE Bartucz, Lajos, Dancza, Janos. Hollendonner, Ferenc. Kadic. OttokaY. Mottl, Mdria, Pataki. Vidor. Palosi. Ervin, Szabo. Jozsef and Vendl. Aladar. 1940. Die Mussolini-Hbhle (Subalyuk) bei Cserepfalu. Geologica Hungarica Series Palaeontologica 14. 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Fig. I, Middle Palaeolithic sites in Western Hungary (Transdanubia). 1: Tata: 2: Szelim Cave; 3: Jankovich Cave; 4: Pilisszanto II Rock-shelter; 5: Kiskevely Cave: 6: Bivak Cave; 7: Csakvar Rock-shelter: 8: Remete-Felso Cave; 9: Budapest-Farkasret; 10: Erd: 11: Lovas; 12: Dzerava skdla in Western Slovakia. 178 Fig. 3. Middle Palaeolithic sites in Northeast Hungary (BilkJc Mountains). lj Suba-lyuk Cave; 2: Kecske'sgalya Cave: 3: Eger-K6poros; 4: Solyomkut Rock-shelter; 5: Budos-pest Cave; 6: Szeleta Cave; 7: Balla Cave; 8: Sajobabony-Mehesz-teto; 9: DiosgySr-Tapolca Cave; 10: Miskolc- Avas hill; 11: Malyi. 179