{{Short description|Transitional archaeological culture}} [[File:Szeleta-barlang.jpg|thumbnail|right|Entrance of Szeleta Cave, Bükk Mountains, Miskolc, Hungary]] The '''Szeleta Culture''', or Szeletian, is a transitional archaeological culture between the Middle Paleolithic and the Upper Palaeolithic, found in Austria, Moravia, northern Hungary, and southern Poland.<ref>Adams B., 1998: The Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition in Central Europe: The Record from the Bükk Mountain Region. ''BAR International Series'' 693, Oxford. 175 pp.</ref> It is dated to 44,000 to 40,000 years ago (up to 35,000 years ago according to some scholars<ref>European Prehistory: A Survey. Chapter 5, pages 75-76. Edited by Sarunas Milisauskas and written by Michael Jochim.</ref>), a period when both Neanderthals and modern humans were present in Europe. Most experts think that it is a Neanderthal culture, but the issue is debated. It is named after Szeleta Cave in the Bükk Mountains in Hungary<ref>{{cite book|last=French |first=Jennifer |title=Palaeolithic Europe: A Demographic and Social Prehistory|pages=178, 184 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location =Cambridge, UK |year=2021|isbn=978-1-108-49206-5}}</ref>, though other prominent sites include Dzierżysław in Poland and Vedrovice V in Moravia.<ref>European Prehistory: A Survey. Chapter 5, pages 75-76. Edited by Sarunas Milisauskas and written by Michael Jochim.</ref>

It was preceded by the Bohunician (48,000–40,000 BP), and is roughly contemporary with the Aurignacian (43,000–26,000 BP) in France, the Uluzzian (45,000–37,000 BP) in Italy, and the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (starting around 45,000 BP) in parts of Britain, Germany, and Poland. It was succeeded by the Gravettian (33,000–21,000 BP).

It is considered one of two major transitional archaeological industries in east-central Europe, along with the Bohunician.<ref>European Prehistory: A Survey. Chapter 5, pages 75-76. Edited by Sarunas Milisauskas and written by Michael Jochim.</ref>

The initial excavation of the Szeletian cave was carried out from 1906 to 1913 by Ottocar Kadić.<ref>Kadić, Ottocar. Ergebnisse der Erforschung der Szeletahöhle. na, 1916.</ref> The idea of a distinctive Szeletian culture was advocated by the Czechoslovak archaeologist František Prošek (1922–1958).<ref name=wordsmith/> thumb|150px|Range of the Szeletian culture

It has been called the most original and also the most aboriginal Upper Palaeolithic culture in Central Europe.<ref>Oliva, Martin. "The Szeletian in Czechoslovakia." Antiquity 65, no. 247 (1991): 318-325.</ref> The findings are often interpreted in terms of the contemporaneity of Neanderthal and modern man, "as the product of acculturation at the boundary of Middle and Upper Paleolithic."<ref>Allsworth-Jones, Philip, 2004. The Szeletian revisited. ''Anthropologie'' (1962-), 42(3), page 292. </ref>

==Lithic industry== The lithic industry is characterized by: * Bifacial foliated points and sidescrapers * Prismatic and discoid debitage * Presence of Micoquien hand axes Later assemblages contain endscrapers and retouched blades. <ref name=wordsmith>{{cite web |url=https://archaeologywordsmith.com/search.php?q=Szeletian |title=Szeletian |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Archaeology Wordsmith |publisher= |access-date=April 26, 2020 |quote=}}</ref>

==Sites== In addition to the Szeletian cave in Hungary, assemblages have been found in Dzierzyslaw and Lubotyń (Poland),<ref>{{cite conference |chapter-url=https://repozytorium.ur.edu.pl/handle/item/199 |chapter=Nouvelles données sur le Szélétien en Pologne |last1=Połtowicz-Bobak |first1=Marta |last2=Bobak | first2=Dariusz |date=2013 |via=Uniwersytet Rzeszowski |isbn=9782913745520 |access-date=April 26, 2020 | last3= Badura | first3= Janusz |last4= Wacnik| first4= Agnieszka |last5=Cywa |first5=Katarzyna |editor1= P. Bodu |editor2= L. Chehmana |editor3= L. Klaric |editor4= L. Mevel |editor5= S. Soriano |editor6= N. Teyssandier| title= Le Paléolithique supérieur ancien de l'Europe du Nord-Ouest : Réflexions et synthèses à partir d'un projet collectif de recherche sur le centre et le sud du Bassin parisien |conference= Actes du colloque de Sens (15-18 avril 2009), Mémoires de la Société préhistorique française |publisher= Société Préhistorique Française |pages= 485–496 |language=fr}}</ref> at Čertova Pec in Slovakia, and at Pod Hradem (Moravia).<ref name=wordsmith/><ref name="Valoch">{{Cite book |author=Valoch, K.|year=1990|title=La Moravie il y a 10 000 ans|series=Actes du Colloque International de Nemours, 1988: Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe. Ruptures et transitions: examen critique des documents archéologiques, Mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire d'Île-de-France, 3|publisher=Ed. A.P.R.A.I.F.|place=Nemours|pages=115-124, 4 fig}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Szeleta Culture}}

{{Authority control}} Category:Industries (archaeology) Category:Upper Paleolithic cultures of Europe Category:Archaeological cultures in Hungary Category:Archaeology in Europe Category:Peopling of Europe Category:Archaeology of the Czech Republic