Refitting structure as an indicator of duration of site occupation. A case study of Late Glacial settlement of the Hamburgian culture in western Poland

Abstract

The diversity of settlement in the Late Paleolithic of lowland Europe is a key issue for the interpretation of the mobility system. The traditional view presented the communities of the early Late Glacial period, the Hamburgian culture, as small, frequently moving groups of reindeer hunters. In recent years, the discovery of a large encampment suggests a more diverse cyclical system of seasonal aggregation and dispersion.

This article presents an attempt to apply a method of lithic refitting structure analysis to determine the relative length of residence at two Hamburgian culture sites in western Poland that are associated with two different phases of the seasonal mobility cycle.