Boršice u Buchlovic, Uherské Hradiště District, Zlín Region

Seasonal hunters’ settlement from the Late Palaeolithic

(26,000–24,000 BP)

View of the valley from the Boršice-Chrástka site; from the north-west.

View of the valley from the Boršice-Chrástka site; from the north-west.

Photo M. Nývltová Fišáková, 2006.

In 1902, the Chrástka site yielded Palaeolithic finds, together with a mammoth tusk. This generated interest in the site and the first archaeological excavation was carried out there in 1939 followed by other successful excavations, particularly in the 1960s. There is evidence of a Gravettian settlement of mammoth hunters and the site is extremely rich in the chipped stone industry, such as flakes, blades, microblades, borers, gravers and endscrapers. To date, almost 5,000 animal bones and fragments from the woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wild horse, reindeer, wolf, cave bear, wolverine, arctic fox and the mountain hare have been found. The bone analysis points to an interpretation of the site as a base camp where the prey was processed. From the larger animals, only the fleshy parts and those suitable for processing were brought there and some bones show traces of heat. Other interesting finds include the remains of red pigment and lumps of burnt clay with fingerprints and textile impressions.

References: Klíma 1965; Škrdla 2000.

Navigation point: N 49°03'17.9", E 17°20'59.9".

Map notes: Map symbols are available in the Downloads section.

Selected fulltext articles and reports for further reading. Complete bibliographical records are available in the Downloads section as the List of publications.

Škrdla, P. 2000: Boršice u Buchlovic (okr. Uh. Hradiště), Přehled výzkumů 41, 67–70.