Publication details
XIX. Tertiary molluscs
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | At the Dolní Věstonice II site, we analysed 377 specimens of molluscs, including 157 gastropods, 215 scaphopods and 5 bivalves, and, in addition to the molluscs, 1 worm tube fragment and 4 specimens of brachiopods. Among the molluscs, the most numerous (sub)species are Dentalium badense (214), Melanopsis impressa posterior (35), Melanopsis vindobonensis vindobonensis (29), Pirenella picta picta (15), Terebralia lignitarum lignitarum (11), and Melanopsis cf. fossilis (10). The worm and all of the molluscs are of Tertiary (Miocene) age. The molluscs originally come from marine and brackish environments and mostly date to the Badenian (235/62%), Sarmatian (35/9%), and Pannonian (107/29%) ages. The relatively high percentage of Pannonian elements (melanopsids) at this site represents the highest value ascertained up to now at all the studied Gravettian sites from the area of the Pavlovian Hills. The ascertained brachiopods are of marine origin and most probably of Mesozoic (Jurassic) age. The primary state of preservation of Tertiary shells is relatively bad; their surfaces are intensively weathered, rolled, eroded or corroded. Secondary human adaptations of these shells are relatively frequent. A notable exception is represented only by the melanopsids from the triple burial, especially by the specimen 430886. The Tertiary molluscs were intentionally collected at surficial outcrops. Their source areas are interpreted as the Tertiary sediments of the Carpathian Foredeep and of the Vienna Basin. The brachiopods come most probably from the Mesozoic rocks of the Pavlovian Hills.They do not manifest any traces of human adaptations. The evaluation of Tertiary molluscs indicates the closest affinity to the Dolní Věstonice I site, nevertheless, at Dolní Věstonice II the Pannonian specimens are more abundant. Dolní Věstonice II, with its 382 specimens of fossils, represents the second richest site after Pavlov I. |