Palaeolithic Leafpoint from Malacky Area

MUSAICA ARCHAEOLOGICA 2/2018 7-13 7 ŠTÚDIE / STUDIES • • • PALAEOLITHIC LEAFPOINT FROM MALACKY AREA Roman Vávra1 2 ________________ 1 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, Gondova 2, 814 99 Bratislava, [email protected] 2 Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute – SAHI, o. z., Vajnorská 8/A, 831 04 Bratislava, [email protected] Abstract: The subject of this study is the presentation of the find of a Palaeolithic leafpoint from the vicinity of Malacky in Western Slovakia. A general description and morphological analysis of the find is complemented by an over- view of the wider geographical and cultural context. Furthermore a short description of the find area and its history is provided. Some further research possibilities are discussed in the final part of the study. The artefact seems to be a transi- tional type from the LMP/EUP transition with possible connections to the Micoquian presence in the Myjava Hills and Little Carpathians (Dzeravá skala). Key words: Late Middle Palaeolithic, Early Upper Palaeolithic, Micoquian, Szeletian, Záhorie region, leafpoint Abstrakt: Paleolitický listovitý hrot z okolia Malaciek. V štúdii je prezentovaný nález paleolitického listovitého hrotu z okolia Malaciek na západe Slovenska. Všeobecný opis a morfologická analýza nálezu je doplnená prehľadom širšie- ho geografického a kultúrneho kontextu. V krátkosti tiež zhŕňam históriu náleziska a jeho podobu. V záverečnej časti príspevku sa vyjadrujem aj k možnostiam ďalšieho výskumu. Artefakt sa javí ako prechodný typ z obdobia prechodu LMP/EUP a môže súvisieť s micoquienskou prítomnosťou v Myjavskej pahorkatine a Malých Karpatoch (Dzeravá skala). Kľúčové slová: mladšia fáza stredného paleolitu, staršia fáza mladého paleolitu, micoquien, szeletien, Záhorie, listovitý hrot 1. Introduction In December 2015 the Comenius University Department of Archaeology has obtained a stone leafpoint. The item was supposedly found around year 2000 in the woods near Malacky, inside of the Záhorie military training area, cadastral area Bažantnica. In the study I will refer to the find as “from Malacky” for simplicity, although it comes from an- other cadastre. A short description and analysis of the find is presented, as well as its place in broader context. Due to the fact that the leafpoint in question is the first Palaeolithic find from the surroundings of Malacky and at the same time the only known archaeological find from the site Rakáreň, I also describe the site’s history and potential for further archaeological finds. The find is currently in the collection of the Slovak National Museum – Museum of Archaeology. 2. Find circumstances The item was found by chance during a hide-and-seek session near Fish pond no. 3, known as Rakáreň (“crayfish pond”), in the Bažantnica cadastral area near Malacky. The stone point supposedly lay on the sand under small trees of a forest nursery on the edge of the fish pond. The finder took the artefact without further search of the area. No 8 Roman Vávra Palaeolithic leafpoint from Malacky area further finds from the area are known so far. The exact place where the item was found is im- possible to determine, due to the way it was found and the time since then. At best an area esti- mate can be drawn (Fig. 1). Addi- tional survey was not conducted on the site because of the forest nursery presence. Fig. 1 – Find area on the site Rakáreň near Malacky. Map data from www.geoportal.sk. Obr. 1 – Oblasť nálezu na lokalite Rakáreň neďaleko Malaciek. Mapové dáta z www.geoportal.sk. 3. Geological and geographical description of the site The town of Malacky is situated in the Záhorie Lowland, which is a part of the Vienna Basin, and is divided into the Bor Lowland and Chvojnica Hills. Both the town and the site lie in the Bor Lowland, but while Malacky lies in the area of Záhorské pláňavy, the site is part of the Bor area east of the town (Atlas 2002, 88). The Záhorie Lowland is almost entire- ly located on a Neogenic sedimentary basin. The site Rakáreň lies on the border of two geological units – in the west, towards the town, is the Záhorie sedimentary complex of Miocene age; the eastern part is a little more recent, dating to Pliocene. In both cases the geological profile consists mainly of loam, silt, sand and gravel (Biely – Bezák – Elečko et al. 2002, 74–76). The surface layer of the site is composed of fluvial quaternary sediment, while to the north there are the Aeolian sands typical for Záhorie (Maglay – Pristaš 2002, 84). The altitude of the site is around 182 metres above sea level. The forest nursery where the artefact in question was found belongs to the Military Forests and Estates of the Slovak Republic, SOE, branch office Malacky. The surroundings consist mainly of farmed pines and the Rakáreňská fish pond system. 4. Site history The main feature of the site surroundings is the fish pond called Rakáreň (Fish pond no. 3). Together with other fish ponds in the system it can be found already on a map of the Bratislava county by Samuel Mikovíny from 1735 (Mikovíny 1735). We can presume that the ponds existed for some time already, although we don’t know the precise date of their construction. In the 15th and 16th centuries there was an expansion of pond construction in the King- dom of Hungary. This boom however declines due to the turbulent events of the 17th century (Neumann 2016, 186–187). In the first half of the 17th century the Plavecký castle estate, which contained the town of Malacky as well, came into the possession of the House Pálffy. They were known for the construction of fish ponds (Neumann 2016, 187); the ponds around Malacky could have therefore been built in the second half of the 17th or in the early 18th century. Towards the end of the 19th century the ponds were rebuilt in a fashion that persists virtually unchanged into the present day. In the close vicinity of Rakáreň a farmstead, two sawmills (later rebuilt into gamekeeper cabins), and a brickyard could be found until recently (Macejka 2013, 185). The sporadic finds of modern period pottery in the area is probably the evidence left of the former activity. Presently there are no standing buildings nearby and the location is used (aside from pond culture) mainly for recreation. MUSAICA ARCHAEOLOGICA 2/2018 7-13 9 From the archaeological point of view there was never any interest in the site. There are no known finds of archaeological nature, aside from the few modern period potsherds. The site is located within a military training area, so there was no development; moreover the area is mostly consisting of Aeolic sands, hardly ideal for agriculturally based settlements. No significant prehistoric or medieval settlement is therefore expected. 5. Find analysis The leafpoint (Fig. 2) is made of a red- dish brown radiolarite. Considering the co- louration of the material, it seems to be made of the Szentgál type radiolarite from Hunga- ry. No patina is present on the artefact. The total length of the leafpoint is 54 mm, with maximum width of 26 mm at the border of lower two thirds. The maximum thickness of the item is ca. 9 mm in the middle part. The point has a laurel-leaf shape with rounded base. Flat surface retouch is utilized on both sides of the artefact. A complex evaluation of metrical, tech- nological and typological parameters of leafpoints was recently conducted by Moravian researchers (Nerudová – Neruda – Sadovský 2011). By analysing of digitised artefacts they aimed for an exact definition of leafpoint parameters typical for individual technocom- plexes. The calculated values such as the size of the proximal and distal angles the leafpoint from Malacky can be compared to oth- ers from different sites (cf. Nerudová – Neru- da – Sadovský 2011, graphs 7–9). The size of the proximal angle falls within the scope of angles measured on points from the sites Dzeravá skala, Miskolc, Mauer, Okienik, Mamutowa, Kraków – Zwierzyniec, and Jerzmanowice – Nietopierzowa; as well as those from Moravian Aurignacian points. The distal angle size is comparable with the size range of points from Dzeravá sala, Vin- dija, Mauer, Mamutowa, and Jerzmanowice. We can see a match of both values in four Fig. 2 – Drawn and photographic documentation of the find. Scale 1:1. sites – Dzeravá skala, Mauer, Mamutowa, Obr. 2 – Kresbová a fotografická dokumentácia nálezu. Mierka 1:1. and Jerzmanowice – Nietopierzowa. From a metrical point of view the basic parameters of the point from Malacky are not too removed from other Central European leafpoints (ibid. 33–35). With a length of 54 mm the point is similar lengthwise to median values of Szeletian (54 mm), Gravettian or Bohunician (both groups 55 mm) leafpoints, though it is a little narrower (median values of 31, 35 a 29 mm respectively). Its width comes close to the median width value of the points from 10 Roman Vávra Palaeolithic leafpoint from Malacky area Veľký Kolačín (26 mm) and Zeitlarn (25 mm), which are however shorter (median values of 41 a 43 mm respectively). The length/width ratio of the leafpoint from Malacky is approximately 2. 07. The closest to this value are the Gravettian points from Trenčianske Bohuslavice (2.10 at median values 61 and 29 mm). A relatively close ratio can be seen in the points from Mauer (2.16 at median values 67.85 a 31.4 mm). Naturally the point from Malacky differs from the Gravettian points in its technology. The important thing is, however, that the leafpoint in question fits with the standard sizes of nearby Micoquian and Szeletian finds.

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