Stratigraphy
The remnants of Pleistocene deposits still in place on the uplands and terraces of Northern Bosnia are series of loams derived from re-deposited and weathered loess. At Kadar the Paleolithic artifacts were contained in the top 60/70 cm of the deposits.
The top level (2 on the profile drawing), 30cm to 40 cm thick, was a loam with numerous ferricrete concretions; it contained in its upper part clusters of stone artifacts which constituted archaeological layers. The top most 15 cm (plow-zone, 1 on the profile drawing) was humified and disturbed by plowing.
An erosion surface ( 3 on the profile drawing) separate the topmost loam from the underlying level (4 on the profile drawing). Five or six artifacts showing the distinctive characteristics of Levallois technology were recovered in level 4, in the Kadar I West area. They probably derived from a concentration located nearby. Mousterian artifacts were found in the plowzone of neighboring fields but no layer could be identified in the area we excavated.
The lower beds (below level 4 on the profile drawing) showed more intense weathering and evidence of solifluxion and partially formed polygonal soils. No traces of human presence were recovered in these lower levels.
At Kadar I the artifacts formed a well marked 10cm to 12 cm band in the upper section of level 2. Artifact scattered above the band may (a) have been the remains of an upper layer disturbed by plowing or (b) displaced from the main layer by percolation and other natural phenomena.
I West - profile of the west wall of excavation unit IV (drawn by H. Laville) |
1- plow-zone 2- loam (Epigravettian layer) 3- erosion surface 4- loam (Mousterian layer)
|
 |
plow zone
epigravettian layer
erosion surface mousterain layer |
The Kadar II profile presented the same sequence as Kadar I. The loam beds were shallower and, more importantly, plowings had not affected the top of the archaeological layers. Two, even three successive layers, all attributed to the Epigravettian could be clearly identified at least in unit B.
KadarII profile
drawing. The
Epigravettian layers occupied the
loam layer beneath the plow zone.
Artifact
distribution projected on the west wall of
Kadar II,
Unit B. Two layers are clear visible, separated by several
centimeters of
sterile loam.
Artifact distribution
projected on the west wall of
KII, Unit
A (adjacent to B). There, alterations posterior to the formation
of the
layer have blurred the stratigraphic sequence.
The absence of bones made it impossible to obtain C14 dates. However, it was possible to get dates by thermoluminescence using burnt pieces of flint. The analysis was conducted at the University of Missouri. The TL dates ranging around 17 000 years ago are in good agreement with C14 dates from other Epigravettian sites of the region. The Kadar occupants were part of a cultural tradition that extended into Croatia, Slovenia and to the Adriatic during a time period marked by milder conditions that allowed animal and human populations to cross from the Adriatic Plain into the Sava Valley.