Kozarnika cave
Encyclopedia
Kozarnika is a cave in northwestern Bulgaria
that was used as a hunters’ shelter as early as the Lower Paleolithic
(1,6 million BP
). It marks an older route of early humans’ from Africa
to Europe
via the Balkans
, prior to the currently suggested route across Gibraltar
, and probably keeps the earliest evidence of human symbolic behaviour ever found. Here have been found the earliest European Gravette flint
assemblages.
Kozarnika cave is located 6 km from the town of Belogradchik
in northwestern Bulgaria, on the northern slopes of the Balkan mountain, close to the Lower Danubian plain. It is opened to the south, at 85 m above the valley. With its length of 210 m, the cave is among the small-sized in the Belogradchick karst region but studies in the last two decades uncovered 21 geological layers there, containing (moving upwards) archaeological complexes of Early Lower Paleolithic
(layers 13 - 11a), Middle Paleolithic
(layers 10b - 9a), Early Upper Paleolithic
(layer 6/7), a sequence of an original Paleolithic bladelets industry with backed pieces that scholars called Kozarnikian (layers 5c - 3a), Early Neolithic, Late Copper age
, Late Bronze Age
, Medieval and Late medieval periods.
The Kozarnika cave project started in 1984. Since 1996 it has been headed by Dr. Prof. Nikolay Sirakov (Archaeological Institute and Museum of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria) and Dr. Jean-Luc Guadelli (IPGQ-UMR5199 of French National Center for Scientific Research, Bordeaux-France).
In the ground layers, dated to 1,4-1,6 million BP (using palaeomagnetism, which determines age using past patterns of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field and analyses of both the microfauna
and the macrofauna) archaeologists have discovered a human molar tooth (considered to be the earliest human (Homo erectus
/Homo ergaster
) traces discovered in Europe outside Caucasian region), lower palaeolithic assemblages that belong to a core-and-flake non-Acheulian industry and incised bones that may be the earliest example of human symbolic behaviour.
The findings from Middle Paleolithic layers (East Balkan Levallois
cores and side-scrapers as well as East Balkan Levallois and Le Moustier
points, rather bifacial points, dating from 300 000 - 50 000 BP prove presence of hunters’ groups of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Upper Paleolithic layers consist flint assemblages from the earliest European Gravette complex dating from 43 000 up to 39 000 B.P. belonging to Homo sapiens sapiens.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
that was used as a hunters’ shelter as early as the Lower Paleolithic
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
(1,6 million BP
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
). It marks an older route of early humans’ from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
via the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, prior to the currently suggested route across Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, and probably keeps the earliest evidence of human symbolic behaviour ever found. Here have been found the earliest European Gravette flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
assemblages.
Kozarnika cave is located 6 km from the town of Belogradchik
Belogradchik
Belogradchik is a town in Vidin Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of the homonymous Belogradchik Municipality. The town, whose name literally means "small white town," is situated in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains just east of the Serbian border and about 50 km...
in northwestern Bulgaria, on the northern slopes of the Balkan mountain, close to the Lower Danubian plain. It is opened to the south, at 85 m above the valley. With its length of 210 m, the cave is among the small-sized in the Belogradchick karst region but studies in the last two decades uncovered 21 geological layers there, containing (moving upwards) archaeological complexes of Early Lower Paleolithic
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
(layers 13 - 11a), Middle Paleolithic
Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age...
(layers 10b - 9a), Early Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
(layer 6/7), a sequence of an original Paleolithic bladelets industry with backed pieces that scholars called Kozarnikian (layers 5c - 3a), Early Neolithic, Late Copper age
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
, Late Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, Medieval and Late medieval periods.
The Kozarnika cave project started in 1984. Since 1996 it has been headed by Dr. Prof. Nikolay Sirakov (Archaeological Institute and Museum of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria) and Dr. Jean-Luc Guadelli (IPGQ-UMR5199 of French National Center for Scientific Research, Bordeaux-France).
In the ground layers, dated to 1,4-1,6 million BP (using palaeomagnetism, which determines age using past patterns of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field and analyses of both the microfauna
Microfauna
Microfauna refers to microscopic organisms that exhibit animal-like qualities. Microfauna are represented in the animal kingdom and the protist kingdom...
and the macrofauna) archaeologists have discovered a human molar tooth (considered to be the earliest human (Homo erectus
Homo erectus
Homo erectus is an extinct species of hominid that lived from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about . The species originated in Africa and spread as far as India, China and Java. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
/Homo ergaster
Homo ergaster
Homo ergaster is an extinct chronospecies of Homo that lived in eastern and southern Africa during the early Pleistocene, about 2.5–1.7 million years ago.There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
) traces discovered in Europe outside Caucasian region), lower palaeolithic assemblages that belong to a core-and-flake non-Acheulian industry and incised bones that may be the earliest example of human symbolic behaviour.
The findings from Middle Paleolithic layers (East Balkan Levallois
Levallois
Levallois may refer to:*Levallois-Perret, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France.*Levallois technique *Nicolas-Eugène Levallois*Levallois SC, a current French football club...
cores and side-scrapers as well as East Balkan Levallois and Le Moustier
Le Moustier
Le Moustier is an archeological site consisting of two rock shelters in Peyzac-le-Moustier, Dordogne, France. It is known for a fossilized skull of the species Homo neanderthalensis that was discovered in 1909...
points, rather bifacial points, dating from 300 000 - 50 000 BP prove presence of hunters’ groups of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Upper Paleolithic layers consist flint assemblages from the earliest European Gravette complex dating from 43 000 up to 39 000 B.P. belonging to Homo sapiens sapiens.