Micromorphology and Site Formation at Hohle Fels Cave, Schwabian Jura, Germany

Abstract

Hohle Fels Cave near Schelklingen in the Swabian Jura area of southwestern Germany, contains an occupational and sedimentological record that spans at least the last 36,000 yeats and includes Aurignacian, Gravettian, and Magdalenian prehistoric occupations. The sediments were subjecred to detailed micromorphological analysis coupled with microanalytical data using electron microprobe and FTIR techniques. The results show that much of the sediment has been derived from the interior of the cave where the finer matrix was partially phosphatized, likely derived from bear habitation. Moreover, the sediment has been subjected to cryoturbation and ice lensing under cold and damp conditions. These cold-related features become increasingly well developed in the Gravettian and Magdalenian layers reflecting more marked cooling during these periods. There is no evidence for the occupation of the cave by humans or cave bears during the Last Glacial Maximum. These geoarchaeological observations can be used test hypotheses about paleoclimate and human behavior developed using independent lines of evidence provided from botanical, faunal and archaeological materials. Some of the methods employed in this research have not previously been used to study the caves of the Swabian Jura and provide key new insights into the archaeological and natural history of the region.