MUSAICA ARCHAEOLOGICA 2/2018 7-13 7

ŠTÚDIE / STUDIES • • •

PALAEOLITHIC LEAFPOINT FROM AREA

Roman Vávra1 2 ______

1 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in , 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 . 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 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, cadas- tral 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 , 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, to- wards 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 ar- chaeological 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 mid- dle 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 leaf- points was recently conducted by Moravian researchers (Nerudová – Neruda – Sadovský 2011). By analysing of digitised artefacts they aimed for an exact definition of leafpoint pa- rameters typical for individual technocom- plexes. The calculated values such as the size of the proximal and distal angles the leaf- point 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 with- in 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 (me- dian 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 respective- ly). 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.

6. Wider cultural and geographical context

In the cadastre of Malacky and its near surroundings there are no other known Palaeolithic finds. The closest site is the Dzeravá skala cave near Plavecký Mikuláš, from which several finds formerly attributed to Szeletian are known (Prošek 1951a, 1951b, 1953). Recently these have been reconsidered as Micoquian (Kaminská – Kozłowski – Svoboda 2004, 2005a, 2005b; Kaminská 2014, 42, 90–95). Micoquian finds are concentrated also in the Myjava Hills, where multiple field surveys and probing excavation took place Bárta( 1980, 31–32; 1984; 1986, 279–291). This enclave possibly presents an expansion from the region of Moravian (Kaminská 2014, 117). On the other side of Little Carpathians, or more precisely the Myjava Hills, there are survey finds belonging to Micoquian or Szeletian from Prašník. One of these is a damaged leafpoint repurposed as a scraper (Michalík 2017, 7–9, obr. 3, 4). From site Prekážka on the border of Trstín and Horná Krupá cadastres there is known a core, dated similarly (Michalík 2017, 10, obr. 5). There are further finds from Boleráz, site Šarkan – leafpoints (Bárta 1965, 112, tab. XV: 4; Hromada – Babirát 2000, obr. 52: 1) and a disc-shaped core (Kaminská 2016, obr. 72). From Ivanovce there are finds probably of early Szeletian Kaminská( 2014, 126–127). An important later Szeletian enclave is located near Moravany nad Váhom (Kaminská 2014, 139). The well-known site Dlhá (cf. Nemergut 2010) represents one of the most prominent sites of Szeletian in Slovakia with the typical leafpoints with a wider round base, known as the Moravany-Dlhá type. More Szeletian artefacts were obtained from a clay pit in Vlčkovce, located further south (Ka- minská 2014, 133–137). There are traces of both Micoquian and Szeletian presence in the Trenčín Basin. The first Micoquian finds from Slovakia, originally thought to be Szeletian, were discovered in Zamarovce (Bárta 1961; Kaminská et al. 2008, 216– 217); more finds are known from Trenčianska Turná Kaminská( et al. 2008, 181–208) and Mníchova Lehota (Kaminská et al. 2008, 214–216). Finds without closer specification from the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition were found in Trenčianske Stankovce (Michalík 2003; Kaminská et al. 2008, 208–214). Outside the Trenčín Basin but nearby nev- ertheless is another important site with Szeletian finds – Trenčianske Teplice-Pliešky (Kaminská 2015) – in older lit- erature stated as Veľký Kolačín (Bárta 1974, 16).

More distant are the Micoquian finds from Bojnice Neruda( – Kaminská 2013). The Čertova pec cave near Radoši- na was formerly considered to be a Szeletian cave site. Today the researchers incline towards Micoquian as well (Kaminská – Kozłowski – Škrdla 2011).

We can therefore presume that the leafpoint from Malacky is related to the Micoquian presence in the Myjava Hills area and its borders, together with the settlement of the Dzeravá skala cave. At the same time it might be a trace of the Szeletian onset, which is known from open sites at lower altitudes. A basic archaeological research at the find site would be the very least prerequisite for any refinement.

7. Discussion

Leafpoints are traditionally assigned to Szeletian; this type of artefact however comes up in assemblages from different technocomplexes of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, as can be seen in newer general works by various au- thors (Svoboda a kol. 2002, 152; Vencl 2007, 61; Kaminská 2014, 137). Nowadays we tread more carefully when assign- ing cultural or chronological characteristics to finds. The point in question shows features that enable us to assign MUSAICA ARCHAEOLOGICA 2/2018 7-13 11

this find either to Szeletian or to Late Micoquian. In case of a single surface find this means that closer specification is almost impossible. It is more appropriate then to use broader terms and date the find to a span from Late Middle Palaeolithic (LMP) to Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) (cf. Michalík 2017, 11). The find circumstances of the leafpoint from Malacky prevent statements of any considerable precision con- cerning the position of this site in the LMP/UEP period. The site is located in an area not typically used for settle- ment by the cultures of this period. It was mainly the higher areas or caves that were settled (Michalík 2017, 11). Given this inclination, as well as the absence of any other Palaeolithic finds from the vicinity, I consider this artefact to be a stray find. We need to take into account however also the fact that some Szeletian sites are being found in less broken terrain close to the rivers (Kaminská 2014, 139). It could therefore be the case of a station similar to those of Szeletian. To confirm or deny these options a survey, ideally complemented by probing excavation, would be necessary. As I men- tioned earlier, this is made difficult by the presence of a forest nursery with young trees. Excavation is therefore impossible and survey hard to carry out. When the trees are a little older and thinned out it might be interesting to try a small-scale excavation after making arrangements with the owner.

8. Conclusions

The leafpoint from Malacky represents the first find of a Palaeolithic artefact from the area of Malacky and Bor Lowland. Because it is an unstratified surface find and no archaeological survey took place on the site yet, it is im- possible to tell whether it is a stray find or a proof of settlement or other activity. The find circumstances moreover do not rule out the possibility of the find being in a tertiary position. From the point of dating the artefact is prob- ably from the Late Middle to Early Upper Palaeolithic. The morphological and metrical parameters of the point show that it is more or less consistent with other leafpoints in the Central European LMP/EUP space. Closer tech- nocomplex determination is not possible because of the lack of accompanying finds and the nature of the find itself. The point from Malacky seems however to be a transient shape between Micoquian and Szeletian industry. Its presence could be related to the Micoquian enclave in Myjava Hills and the Dzeravá skala cave site. Szeletian finds are known from sites further away in Lower Váh Basin and Trenčín Basin. The solution to the question of age and cultural affiliation could be the execution of basic survey or probing excavation at the site, which is however due to the forest nursery difficult at the time.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the finder, K. Ftáčnik Jr., for the handover of the find, thus enabling its academic processing. My thanks also go to Ľ. Kaminská and M. Gregor for consultation and valuable advice. The study is supported by Slovak Research and Development Agency (SRDA/APVV) using financial support no. APVV-14-0550.

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Zhrnutie

Štúdia sa zaoberá náhodným nálezom paleolitického listovitého hrotu nájdeného okolo roku 2000, odovzdaného na spracovanie v roku 2015. Nález (Obr. 2) predstavuje prvý paleolitický artefakt z blízkeho okolia Malaciek ako aj Borskej nížiny celkovo. Hrot bol nájdený náhodou počas hry v lese neďaleko chovného rybníku č. 3 (Rakáreň) v katastrálnom území Bažantnica. Presné miesto nálezu nie je známe, hrot ležal na piesku uprostred mladých stromče- kov lesnej škôlky (Obr. 1). Keďže ide o nestratifikovaný povrchový nález, navyše bez sprievodného materiálu, nie je možné určiť, či ide o ojedinelý nález, alebo známku sídelných či iných aktivít v priestore. Je tiež možné, že sa predmet nachádza v terciárnej polohe. Okolie náleziska bolo ešte v nedávnej minulosti hospodársky využívané (nachádzali sa tu dve píly a tehelňa), mohlo teda dôjsť k presunu artefaktu pri zemných či stavebných prácach. Tvarovo a rozmerovo je hrot podobný ostatným viac-menej súčasným listovitým hrotom zo strednej Európy (cf. Nerudová – Neruda – Sadovský 2011). Môžeme ho datovať pravdepodobne do obdobia prechodu medzi stredným a mladým paleolitom. Javí sa ako prechodový tvar medzi micoquienskou a szeletienskou industriou, ku konkrétnemu technokomplexu sa však nie je možné pri takomto type nálezu vyjadriť, keďže sa zaradenie nemôže oprieť o stratigrafiu ani iné nálezy. Jednou z možností je, že artefakt súvisí s micoquienskou enklávou v Myjavskej pahorka- tine a s osídlením jaskyne Dzeravá skala v Malých Karpatoch. Szeletienske nálezy poznáme až z vzdialenejších loka- lít na Dolnom Považí či v Trenčianskej kotline. Odpoveď na otázku chronologického a kultúrneho zaradenia nálezu by mohol poskytnúť odborný archeologický prieskum na lokalite, prípadne doplnený sondážou. V súčasnosti sú ale možnosti skúmania lokality obmedzené kvô- li prítomnosti mladých stromčekov lesnej škôlky. Vznik tejto štúdie bol podporený Agentúrou pre podporu výskumu a vývoja na základe zmluvy č. APVV-14-0550.