STUDY OF THE AURIGNACIAN-GRAVETTIAN «TRANSITION» EAST OF THE CARPATHIANS: BLADELET PRODUCTION FEATURES FROM MITOC-MALU GALBEN (ROMANIA) AND MOLODOVA V (UKRAINE)

Although the Aurignacian to Gravettian «transition» represents a considerable cultural change, this issue still lacks an explanatory consensus and needs further researches. Data is quite unequal throughout Europe, as exemplified by the middle Prut and Dniestr area, which have remained little investigated so far, despite the presence of different sites related to Late Aurignacian and Early Gravettian. Some of these sites consist of secure sequences with high-resolution climatic context and abundant archaeology, such as Molodova V (Ukraine) or Mitoc-Malu Galben (Romania). Rich in lithic artefacts, these collections have rarely been examined else than typologically. In order to highlight this phenomenon in the concerned area, we have studied and confronted the bladelet production patterns from Mitoc-Malu Galben’s Late Aurignacian to Molodova V’s Early Gravettian. Preliminary results emphasize the technological individuality of both technocomplexes, but further investigations on materials and contextual data are necessary to confirm any population dynamics model.