Archaeologists have discovered traces left by a group of prehistoric hunters in the Hučivá cave, located in the Belianske Tatras mountains in Slovakia.
A team of archaeologists, paleozoologists and geologists from the Institute of Archeology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Slovakia, found hundreds of blades made from either radiolarite, flint or limnosilicite, in addition to bone needles and bones from many animals, in the remains of a large hearth or fire inside the Hučivá cave, located in the Belianske Tatras mountains in Slovakia.
There, the team of archaeologists also found faunal and archaeobotanical remains, as well as bones from several animal species, including deer, deer and wild horse.
Also, upon analysis, they noted that more than a dozen bones showed signs of cutting, cracking to extract the marrow, and smoothing with stone tools, they write Heritage Daily.
Evidence of prehistoric settlements in the Alpine region of the Carpathians, non-existent
A study outlining the findings, published in the journal Antiquityalso suggests that the group that made these tools specialized in hunting alpine ibex, a species of wild goat that lives in rough terrain near the snow line of the mountains.
In addition, it was established that most of the finds date back to the Paleolithic period and indicate that the group in question was part of the Magdalenian culture, named after the Abri de la Madeleine type site. The latter is a rock shelter located in southwestern France.
When did the Magdalenes live and what is their story?
Thus, the Magdalenians lived in Europe between 23,000 and 14,000 years ago. Specifically, towards the end of the last ice age (which geologists also call the Pleistocene epoch).
Until now, evidence of prehistoric settlements in the Carpathian Alpine region was almost non-existent.