The Upper Palaeolithic at Trencianske Bohuslavice, Western Carpathians, Slovakia

Trencianske Bohuslavice Gravettian site has been known since the early 1980s, with possibly the longest sequence of Upper Palaeolithic human occupation in the region, including a peculiar assemblage of lithic tools composed of bifacial leaf points. This paper presents the results of the 2017 excavation season that produced new data on the absolute chronology, stratigraphy, paleobotany, archaeology, and archaeozoology of the site. We found that the earliest occupation most probably belongs to the Aurignacian. This is followed by two Late Gravettian layers and the layer that yielded the bifacial leaf points. An Early Epigravettian layer dated to 26 kya seals the sequence. The succession of biological remains and geological evidence enabled the reconstruction of a cooling climate and disappearing boreal forest, which corresponded well with the development of the Last Glacial Maximum.