Problems, Approaches and Fieldwork: 2004-2005

Abstract

The 2002–2003 discovery in the Pe ş tera cu Oase galleries of the mandible and face of two early modern humans (Chapter 2) raised a series of questions requiring an archeological approach: Did additional remains of those individuals exist? Did the cave also contain a material or behavioral context (e.g., artifacts or features) that could be associated with the fossil fi nds? Did such fi nds document evidence of human activity inside the cave (e.g., resulting from intentional burial, body disposal, accidental death), or had they been brought in from the outside by natural processes (e.g., sheet-wash, fl ooding, carnivores)? Were the human bones contemporary with the abundant cave bear remains among which they were found? What site formation and taphonomic processes explained the spatial distribution of the different categories of osteological remains (of ursids, canids, caprines, cervids, and humans) observed on the surface of the galleries? To answer these questions, two archeological fi eld seasons (July 2004 and July 2005) were carried out in the Pe ş tera cu Oase. Here, we explain our approach and discuss the criteria underlying the research strategy eventually adopted.