THE FIRST PALAEOLITHIC AND MESOLITHIC SETTLEMENTS IN AUKŠTUMALA, ŠILUTĖ DISTRICT, THE NEMUNAS RIVER DELTA

In 2004, an archaeological survey was carried out in Aukstumala upland bog (in the Silutė district in western Lithuania), during which the remains of settlements from the Late Palaeolithic and Middle Mesolithic periods were discovered. These were the first sites from the Late Glacial and Early Holocene periods to be found in the lower reaches of the River Nemunas. The chronology and topography of the sites helped to identify the chronology of the area’s population, and to localise the natural environment in which the people of these periods lived. Based on the typology of the discovered artefacts, manufactured flint items in the Palaeolithic settlement were identified as being close to Late Arensburgian culture, and those of the Middle Mesolithic to Maglemosian or Early Nemunas culture. Key words: Aukstumala, Palaeolithic site, Mesolithic site, Arensburgian, Mesolithic Nemunas culture, Lithuania. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/ab.v20i0.815