Seasonality of Gravettian sites in the Middle Danube Region and adjoining areas of Central Europe

Seasonal or perennial occupancy of the prominent Central European Gravettian localities were studied using the animals’ dental cement microstructures. This method enables assessment of the accurate age and season of the animals’ death and provides additional data on the palaeoecological conditions, but also addresses the economical-social relationships of the hunter-gatherer cultures. Hunting and settlement strategies, i.e. when and why the specific site was settled, can also be traced using the known animal death season. Krems-Wachtberg and Hundssteig, Dolní Věstonice, Přerov-Předmostí and Moravany-Lopata II Gravettian sites were settled year round on the basis of the hunted animals’ teeth microstructures. Jarošov, Boršice, Spytihněv, Lubná I, Trenčianske Bohuslavice and Krakow-Spadzista were occupied only seasonally (spring-autumn). Polish cave sites (Deszczowa and Mamutowa caves) seem to have been inhabited all year round. However, as the caves could have also been inhabited by predators it is necessary to study more material to draw final conclusions.