Exploitation of radiolarites at the Milovice I Gravettian site

The lithic assemblage from the Gravettian site at Milovice I was predominantly composed of radiolarite. To reconstruct the mobility patterns of the Gravettian population, we addressed the question of whether the radiolarites were imported from the Pieniny Klippen Belt (PKB) of the Western Carpathians or elsewhere. Another plausible source was the gravels from under the Pavlovské vrchy Hills. These are known to have been exploited in the Upper Palaeolithic, most notably at the Milovice I site during the Aurignacian. Our research revealed that local gravels were not the primary source of the Gravettian radiolarite artefacts, as the two differ macroscopically. Some flakes, and possibly microgravettes, are an exception, as their material is sometimes similar to gravel radiolarites. The occasional exploitation of local gravels, along with the small dimensions of the Gravettian industry, possibly reflects a shortage of material at a certain point of the site’s occupation and the necessity to adopt curated lithic technology when trips for new material were unfeasible. Moreover, the curated lithic technology observed in the Milovice I assemblage is dissimilar to other large Pavlovian sites, suggesting more economic behaviour and influence from radiolarite-supplied sites along the Váh River in the Late Gravettian.