Chronostratigraphy and the Palaeoenvironment of the Bistrița Valley. New Interpretations and a Critical Retrospective Evaluation

Abstract

The Carpathian Arch was certainly a difficult obstacle for the Palaeolithic communities of Eastern and Central Europe, at least during certain stages of the Upper Pleistocene glaciation, such as the Last Glacial Maximum. The density and perennity of the Palaeolithic occupations in the Bistrița Valley were favoured by the propitious conditions of living and developing long-term survival strategies. The importance of the Bistrița Valley lies in the fact that it is strongly embedded in the mountainous landscape, with a route extended in the Sub-Carpathian area and a generous opening towards the east to the plateau region and further towards the Great Russian Plain. The Bistrița Valley is a landmark of the Romanian Palaeolithic due to the number of investigated Palaeolithic settlements, the wealth and variety of archaeological materials and the extensive interdisciplinary studies. All this has entailed a better assessment of the evolution of the palaeoenvironment and of the chronostratigraphy of the Palaeolithic occupations. In a matter of speaking, the Bistrița Valley is to Romania what the Vézère Valley is to the Dordogne region in France.