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This article presents the results of a multifaceted study of a Palaeolithic hammer made of antler, found in Biśnik Cave in southern Poland. It is the only tool of this type known from this period in Polish prehistory. The results of the 14C dating on the object verifies previous assumptions relating to its chronology and cultural affiliation. The results of Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) analysis allow us to provide further details in relation to the raw material used in the production of the artefact. This article also presents the results of a detailed traceological study which allow us to interpret the production and function of the tool. This analysis was conducted using Micro CT, alongside varying types of microscopy. The results of all these analyses are then compared and contrasted according to the current knowledge regarding these tool types to provide a broader context for the interpretation of this important artefact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to analyse the problem of the beginnings of the Levallois method at the northern foreland of the Carpathians, referring to the oldest cultural levels (layers 19bcd, 19a and 19) at the Biśnik Cave and several other sites. A proto-Levallois method has been distinguished, which evolved into the method of recurrent type with centripetal preparation and parallel, bidirectional and unidirectional core reduction. The process began during MIS 10/9, was developed in MIS 8 and disseminated in MIS 7. Simultaneously, a method of a polyhedral core for flakes with no preparation was used, as well as the microlithic-flake method. As a result of the absence of bifacial forms in the assemblages in question, which would be identifiable with the Acheulean tradition, and a considerable number of microlithic forms, a hypothesis was made that the technology of the Lower Palaeolithic flake microlith had a significant impact on the development of the local Mousterian tradition with the dominant Levallois method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Biśnik Cave is situated in the limestone rock, 6 m above the bottom of the currently dry Wodąca valley. It is located in the Smoleń–Niegowonice Range, in the southern part of the Częstochowa Upland (Poland). The stratigraphic sequence, which encompasses middle and upper Pleistocene sediments, is unique in Central Europe. It enabled the reconstruction of changes occurring in the Middle Palaeolithic in the Polish Jura. Middle Palaeolithic cultural levels at the Biśnik Cave are discussed in the context of spatial analysis of the site's utility zones, with regard to hearths in particular phases of cave inhabitation. The results were linked with typological and use wear analysis of separate assemblages of artefacts. Microstratigraphic analysis revealed a far more complex character of settlement processes, especially with reference to older cultural horizons (A6-A5). Several sub-levels have been distinguished, phases of inhabitation in each layer. It was possible to indicate tendencies in the location of hearths in “cool” and “warm” layers, as well as point to a steady tendency of the shift of the site's utility space towards the entrance of the cave. The functions of particular zones of the site have been determined whenever possible, with the help of the results of traseological analysis. It was possible to characterise the technology and typology of assemblages found in particular layers and provide the description of their cultural character against the background of other Middle Palaeolithic sites in central-eastern Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Biśnik Cave is situated in the limestone rock, 7m above the bottom of the presently dry Wodąca valley. It is located in the Smoleń–Niegowonice Range in the southern part of the Częstochowa Upland. To date, an area of 260m2 has been explored, to the depth of 150–850cm. The results of sedimentological, geomorphological, palaeozoological and archaeological investigations provided the basis for the reconstruction of the history of habitation at the Biśnik Cave, in the background of palaeoenvironmenal transformations. Throughout about 300,000 years of occupation, the cave was surrounded by a changing and widely diversified natural environment, with steppe, tundra and forest ecosystems, and marshland and aquatic biotopes. This, combined with the opportunity to exploit varied ecological niches, made the cave a particularly attractive habitation site. As a result, the cave has remnants of a number of habitation phases: ten in the Middle Palaeolithic, one in the Upper Palaeolithic and at least five in the period between the Neolithic and the Middle Ages. The importance of the Biśnik Cave stems from the fact that it has the longest sequence of cave sediments in Poland, seventeen cultural levels including remnants of the oldest Palaeolithic in this part of Europe and the oldest dwelling structures ever discovered in Poland. The history of environment changes was reconstructed based on sedimentological and palaeozoological data. The multiproxy palaeoecology and climatology data are extremely significant for the reconstruction of palaeogeography of Central Europe in the Middle and Upper Pleistocene as well as human occupation history. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]