Radiocarbon chronology of Late Pleistocene occupations at Piekary III (southern Poland)

During the Late Pleistocene, climate instability and rapid environmental change strongly conditioned human dispersals and settlement dynamics in Central Europe, particularly at latitudes above 45°N. Southern Poland represents a key region for investigating these processes, as it functioned as a peripheral or “satellite” area within broader hunter-gatherer settlement systems, episodically occupied during phases of climatic amelioration. Reconstructing the timing and tempo of these occupations requires robust, high-resolution chronologies anchored by reliable geochronological tools.

This contribution presents new radiocarbon data from the open-air site of Piekary III (southern Poland), part of a larger complex of Middle and Upper Paleolithic localities situated along the Vistula River valley near Kraków. Excavated primarily in the early 20th century, Piekary III preserves a multi-layered stratigraphic sequence resting on Jurassic limestone. However, limitations in excavation documentation and uncertainties in artifact–layer associations have long hampered precise chronological interpretation, making the site an ideal case study for assessing the role of radiocarbon dating in complex Quaternary archives.

To establish a refined chronological framework for the site’s occupation, fifteen bone samples underwent collagen extraction using advanced ultrafiltration protocols at the Bologna Radiocarbon Laboratory (BRAVHO), followed by AMS radiocarbon dating. Particular attention was paid to collagen preservation and data quality in order to minimize analytical uncertainties and to identify potential outliers.

The resulting dates indicate that the main phase of Late Middle Paleolithic occupation occurred during MIS 3, spanning approximately 50–42 ka BP, with a more constrained cluster between ca. 42–41 ka BP. Two samples yielded significantly younger ages attributable to a Gravettian occupation, documenting a later Upper Paleolithic phase at the site and episodic reoccupation of the area during colder phases of the Late Pleistocene.

These results demonstrate the value of combining rigorous pretreatment protocols, critical evaluation of outliers, and stratigraphic information to constrain human–environment interactions at millennial scales. More broadly, the Piekary III case illustrates how radiocarbon dating provides an essential independent anchor for reconstructing settlement dynamics and environmental responses during periods of rapid climatic change in the Quaternary.