Piecing together the Late Palaeolithic at Kohlhau-Abri through faunal and lithic remains

In the archaeological record of Southwestern Germany, the Late Palaeolithic is considerably underrepresented. Most of the known finds derive from surface collections from disturbed deposits or open-air sites. Although preservation tends to be greater in cave sites and rock shelters, even from these contexts well-documented stratigraphic sequences with robust chronocultural data are rare. In this framework, the recent excavation of Kohlhau-Abri, a rock shelter site located near the Lone Valley in the Swabian Jura, provides an important stratigraphic archive for better understanding the Late Glacial period in this region. Initial research at the site revealed the presence of Magdalenian and Mesolithic archaeological layers in the lower part of the stratigraphic sequence. These were separated by deposits with sparse and largely undiagnostic lithic artefacts and faunal remains. Radiocarbon dating of two bone remains indicated an age corresponding to the end of the Late Pleistocene, but it remained unclear whether the lithic and bone remains could be subsumed into a Late Palaeolithic human occupation and which geological horizons made up this potential archaeological horizon. To disentangle the stratigraphic complexity of the site, we adopt a multidisciplinary approach including taphonomy, faunal refitting, lithic transformation analysis and spatial studies to trace the depositional history of the archaeological remains. To test the validity of our interpretations we use archaeometric and analytical methods such as ZooMs, radiocarbon dating and microfaunal data. In this way, we identify several large cervid remains with anthropogenic modifications dated to the Glacial Interstadial 1a and 1b (GI 1a-1b). Microfaunal data corroborate the Late Pleistocene origin of the deposits containing the large cervid remains confirming a human occupation of the site during the Late Palaeolithic. Furthermore, we can now also distinguish a lithic raw material unit assignable to the late Magdalenian/beginning of the Late Palaeolithic sandwiched between the Magdalenian and Mesolithic archaeological layers. Our study raises awareness on the underlying problems associated with the interpretation of archaeological palimpsests, especially in relation to Late Glacial archaeological sites in Southwestern Germany. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the combination of different analytical methods may provide a useful tool for dissecting these palimpsests. Careful consideration of these issues, particularly in the context of modern controlled excavations, is crucial for expanding and better understanding the Late Glacial period in this region as well as in Central Europe.