Viola T. Dobosi: Paleolithic Man in the Által-ér Valley (Tata, 1999)

ment transported by the wind called loess extends to, on the average, some 1,5 m in the cave. It could be separated into two parts. The younger level was formed by the end of the Ice Age and seems to be coeval with the range of Upper Palaeolithic open-air sites excavated on the high loess terraces along the river Danube. Some 18 - 20 thousand years ago, the interior parts of the Carpathian Basin were covered with dry loess-steppes, and large herds of reindeer and wild horses were grazing on them. These were the most important game species for the prehistoric people. The dry, cold and long winters alternated with short and cool summers, the vegetation period was not more than four months and the annual average temperature was 3-4 degrees below that of today. The wood for the camp fires could only be collected along the slow rivers of meagre water discharge or on the protected hill-slopes: pine trees, willow and birch has been identified from the charcoal collected from the hearth-places of the settlements. The few stone implements collected from the relevant layers of the cave seem to be identical with the material of the north-east Transdanubian open air sites. These hunters of the Late Ice Age used to live in round base tents probably covered by animal hide on the high terraces along the Danube, utilising the route and the regularity of the wandering rein-deer herds, performing seasonal hunting for some weeks around the shallows of the river. They were obviously Fig. 20. The interior part of the Szelim-cave using the shelter offered by caves and could used the Szelim-cave as well for their temporary camp and deposit. On the top of the loessy layer, 3-4 cm long, slender implements made of high quality raw material were found. These stone tools resembling and in fact called blades could serve as working tools and arms, both in themselves and also fit into wooden or antler hafting. The few pieces found in the sediment of the A Szelim-cave were probably accidental remains of a short stay: no signs for the production of the tools, neither for a longer stay of the hunters could be found in this layer of the cave sediment. What was actually found is a pendant made of pierced canine tooth of a wolf, a characteristic example for the generally spread jewellery of the period. Trinkets were stringed, made of teeth, pretty pebbles, ornate shell of Tertiary snails for the decoration of their body or their garments. 41