Popis knihy

This book presents of the photographs of some thirty human Gravettian skeletons from Předmostí near Přerov in the Czech Republic. This is one of the most important collections of early anatomically modern humans from Europe and has been used as a reference sample for the early Upper Paleolithic. The first anthropological evaluation was undertaken by Jindřich Matiegka. The destruction of fossils in the fire at Mikulov Castle at the end of WWII has been a major constraint of the use of the information from these fossils for the past 60+ years. However, the recent discovery of Matiegka's original photodocumentation on glass plate negatives allows new insights into the skeletal sample. Also with the discovery of Maška’s original archaeological field diary, there is a better understanding of the taphonomic context of the human skeletal material. A graphic analysis of the glass plate negatives and a presentation of several dozen unpublished records serve as the basis for obtaining new perspectives about this important skeletal series here. This volume details the chronological, stratigraphic and archaeological contexts of the finds and includes translations of some of Maška's original field notes allowing a new aphonomic understanding of the site. An atlas of photographs of the skeletal material and graphical analyses of the digitized photographs makes possible a detailed evaluation of the important skeletons from Předmostí.