Cave sediments of the central part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland as valuable deposits of archaeological and natural sources

Abstract

Cave silt is mostly a clayey sediment filling the cave voids, being a mixture of insoluble products of limestone weathering, material brought in from outside and debris from the walls and ceilings of caves and shelters. Their study is of great importance to many scientific disciplines, primarily archaeology, paleozoology, and geology. Relics of human habitation, in the form of cultural levels formed by hearths, relics of residential structures, and artifacts, are particularly important for archaeologists. They enable paleohistorical interpretations from the Middle Paleolithic to the Middle Ages and the modern period.

In Poland, the study of caves and shelters in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland is of particular importance, as the milder climate than in the Tatras or Pieniny Mountains allowed for periodic human habitation during the Pleistocene, while the Jurassic limestones, susceptible to karst processes, resulted in the formation of thick cave deposits, which preserved relics of Pleistocene fauna and human camps.

This article will present cave sediments with preserved cultural levels in the central part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, in the Białka, Wodąca, and Udorka valleys.