Absence of Evidence or Evidence of Absence? Assessing the Intensity of Early Upper Paleolithic Occupations in Serbia and the Central Balkans

Abstract

The migrations of Homo sapiens from the Levant to Europe during the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP), and the routes they took have been the focus of archaeological and paleoanthropological research in Europe for over a century. Paleoanthropological, genetic and archaeological data confirm that the Balkans served as an important transit zone for humans. It is thought that H. sapiens used two major routes that run through the Balkans to move into Central and Western Europe: a coastal route along the Mediterranean Sea and an interior route along the Danube. Interestingly, much of the evidence for the presence of people along these migration routes, particularly along the Danube Corridor in the Central Balkans and the Republic of Serbia consists of short-term, low density occupations. The lack of dense EUP sites in Serbia and the Central Balkans also runs counter to the hypothesis that the Balkans would be a preferred settlement location for humans due to its role as a refugium for plant and animal species during glacial episodes, and research describing it as a biodiversity hotspot.This dissertation explores settlement dynamics during the EUP in the Central Balkans, particularly Serbia. Using results from surface surveys conducted in the Western Morava River Valley (WMV) in the central part of the country, I examine whether the surface record provides additional evidence for the presence of EUP groups in Serbia. The presence of EUP material found on the surface in the WMV would indicate that the limited evidence for EUP settlement in Serbia may stem from research biases which emphasize excavating cave sites over open-air settings. The surface surveys in the WMV recovered Paleolithic artifacts, especially from the Middle Paleolithic, but failed to find any EUP type fossils. These results show the sparsity of EUP sites in Serbia is not explained by a lack of Paleolithic research in open-air settings. I then use previously published lithic density data from Paleolithic archaeological layers as a proxy for occupational intensity to determine how sparsely occupied the Central Balkans was during the EUP compared to sites in other parts of Eurasia. Lithic density data from the Central Balkans (Serbia and western Romania) was compared to data from Paleolithic sites from the Mediterranean (Italy and Turkey), Western Balkans (Montenegro), Eastern Balkans (Bulgaria and eastern Romania), and the Atlantic Coast of Spain. Results show that lithic density data from the Central Balkans is markedly and significantly lower than the Mediterranean or Atlantic regions, suggesting only a limited human presence in the Central Balkans during the EUP. Finally, the dissertation presents results from a method that evaluates whether lithic material analyzed from the surface surveys was created by hominins or was the result of natural processes. The presence of naturally fractured stone in the WMV which superficially resembles stone tools produced by hominins necessitated using a method to confirm the artifactual nature of lithic material collected during the surveys. The lack of EUP material recovered from the surveys combined with low lithic densities from sites in the Central Balkans compared to other regions points to limited occupation of the Central Balkans particularly in regions of Serbia south of the Danube during the EUP. This suggests that the region, perhaps due to topography, did not support large human populations.