Temnata Cave. Excavations in Karlukovo Karst Area, Bulgaria. 2.1.

Abstract

The excavations conducted by the Bulgarian-Polish-French team in the Temnata Cave, in the karstic microregion near Karlukovo, northern Bulgaria, have revealed a unique geological and archaeological sequence. This sequence is of the vital significance for the prehistory of south-eastern Europe. It records the climatic and environmental evolution spanning over a period from 120 kyrs to 13 kyrs BP. It also bears witness to 20 levels of human occupation of the cave during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. Of exceptional interest are the earliest in Europe traces of the "transitional" Middle/Upper Palaeolithic industry stemmed from Levallois technological tradition dated about 50 kyrs BP and the earliest Upper Palaeolithic culture dated to over 40 Kyrs BP. These together with the discoveries in the Bacho Kiro Cave in eastern Bulgaria, document the earliest appearance of this culture ancestral to the Aurignacian in south-eastern Europe, the culture identified with Modern Humans. The Gravettian sequence in the Temnata Cave points to the early appearance of this culture in the Balkans (about 20 Kyrs BP) and to close links of Gravettian settlement in the Northern Balkans with the Middle Danube Basin.

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