Zöld Cave and the Late Epigravettian in Eastern Central Europe

Abstract Zold Cave is a recently discovered Late Epigravettian site in Hungary. It yielded a small archaeological collection dated to 17.0–14.9 ka cal BP. The findings consists of faunal remains of horse and reindeer bearing extensive marks of human activity, and lithic artifacts of hunting armature types, including curved backed points, backed truncated bladelets, and backed bladelet, typical for a Late Epigravettian tool inventory. The archeozoological results indicate the cave was used as a hunting–butchering site. The Late Epigravettian archaeological record of eastern Central Europe suggests that this human population of hunter-gatherers practiced a residentially mobile subsistence strategy. Our results indicate that the Late Epigravettian population of eastern Central Europe did not disappear without descendants but likely contributed to the formation of the Federmesser culture.