Environmental reconstruction of the younger loess sequences of the Petrovaradin Fortress Palaeolithic site (Novi Sad, Serbia)

Three phases of archaeological investigations have been conducted in the area of the City Museum of Novi Sad at the Petrovaradin Fortress. In this study, we summarize the results of geoarchaeological research carried out during the third phase of excavations inside the museum building. The investigated area covered 27 m2. The approximately 0.60 m thick loessic sequence offers a unique opportunity to reconstruct the environmental evolution of this area during the last glacial period. In sectors inside of the City Museum of Novi Sad, artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian) were discovered. The analysed paleoenvironmental proxies (magnetic, geochemical, and colour proxies) largely indicate similarities with the uppermost three units of previously studied sections and with the Late Pleniglacial loess unit in nearby loess profiles in Petrovaradin and Mišeluk. This chronostratigraphic interpretation, suggesting that the profile most likely formed during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 and possibly the youngest part of MIS 3, is supported by one radiocarbon date. The identified mollusc assemblages indicate relatively humid and cold environmental conditions in the upper part of the section. These results suggest that the northern slopes of Fruška Gora Mountain played an important environmental role during the Late Pleistocene. Up to 12 different mollusc species per sample were identified, favouring both steppe and forest-like vegetation. This environmental diversity, combined with favourable strategic factors, may have influenced the human occupation in the area.