Yezupil is the first Middle Palaeolithic site discovered in upper part of the Dnister River valley. It is situated in a set of sediments composed of loess and fossil soils lying on alluvia. The results of geological and palaeopedological investigations are presented. They contain lithological and geochemical analyses (main components and trace elements), as well as micromorphological study. Palaeo- and petromagnetic record is presented too. Horohiv pedocomplex developed from the older, Wartanian loess. It is composed of luvisol originated during the Eemian Interglacial and chernozem soil - during the Early Vistulian interstadials. An subarctic brown Dubno soil dated to the Interplenivistulian (Middle Vistulian interstadials) separates two parts of the younger loess. Older assemblage of Middle Palaeolithic-Mousterian culture with Levalloisian technique was found in the E horizon of the luvisol and therefore it could be dated to the Eemian Interglacial. Younger Middle Palaeolithic-Micequian- type materials were situated in partially redeposited by solifluction, Early Vistulian chernozem. Scanty and uncharacteristic Upper Palaeolithic assemblage was found in interstadiał Dubno palaeosol

Obłazowa Cave was first excavated in 1985, and is best known for the discoveries of remains of settlement from the time of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. The traces of most recent settlement in the cave, found in the uppermost part of the stratigraphy can be attributed to Magdalenian settlement. Results of latest excavation brought more precise date this occupation face. In years 2016 and 2017 in layer III of the cave a series of artifacts, and a small sandstone female figurine were found.

The paper discusses the discovery of a single lithic artefact from the Dąbrowa Tarnowska 37 site. The lithic, based on its technological and typological characteristics, can be associated with the Middle Palaeolithic. This is an important find due to the fact that, in the area of the Sandomierz Basin, settlement of that period is confirmed by only a few single finds discovered exclusively in the eastern and central parts of the basin. The lithic has been defined as a Levallois point, although a different interpretation, such as its being a by-product of Levallois core shaping, can not be excluded. It was made of Jurassic flint of undetermined provenance, probably originating from moraines. Precise dating of the find is not possible. It was been found on the surface of fluvioglacial deposit of South Polish glaciation (Elsterian) age. The chronological framework of this glaciation preceded the well-proven use of Levallois techniques in the south of Poland (Biśnik cave, Ciemna cave, Kraków-Zwierzyniec 1).

This paper presents a new approach to study the palaeoecological and archaeological benefits of the previously investigated Szeged-Öthalom area. The aim was to combine the archaeological results with the palaeoecological ones by a new integral view. Age-depth models of 14C dated charcoal were calculated via Bayesian method to reconstruct the sediment accumulation rates in the investigated loess- palaeosol sequences. Moreover, the age of a Mammoth bone found in 1935 at the nearby Palaeolithic site was correlated with the calculated accumulation rates. Through our new results, the age of the Palaeolithic site could be correlated to the late LGM dust-accumulation-peak period. Even if this period is considered as cold and dry, the palaeoecological settings indicated dense forest cover and cool climate in the investigated area. This means that the palaeoenvironment may have encouraged the diffusion of Gravettian hunters in this area, founding campsites like Öthalom in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin.

At the end of 2018, when the Hučivá Cave (Hučivá diera, Rausch Keller) was explored in Tatranská Lomnica, profile deposits in rear areas of the cave were found disturbed by an amateur excavation. One stone artefact was first found in back-dirt clay-layer material at the excavation pit, later joined by four more specimens from the cleaned pit profile. The Typological analysis of the artefacts shows, that their closest parallels are found in inventories of the Magdalenian culture. Hučivá is the only cave in the whole Tatras with documented prehistoric settlement and the only Slovak cave with evidence of the Magdalenian culture. The discovery provides new information concerning subsistence strategies of late Pleistocene hunters in High Tatra Mountain landscapes. In light of this discovery, the possibility of seasonal movements along the northern slopes of this mountains range to the east and then south, through the mountain passes to the upper Spiš region should now be considered.

Middle Palaeolithic land exploitation strategies remain as yet an unexplored element in our understanding of Neanderthal behavioural patterns. Many different approaches to the problem were so far developed. Among others, biological, economic or environmental data concerning Neanderthals were considered as relevant. One of the focus points in such divagations is the issue of raw materials economy as undertaken by Neanderthals. The long-distance transport of knappable minerals (as a basis for the stone tools production) allows an insight into the economy and understanding of the size of land in use by Neanderthals group. Addressing this particular issue from the perspective of the Western Carpathian Mountains allows us to track the trails of mobility or trace possible contact zones between groups, and also to state, that at least in some circumstances Neanderthal groups were infiltrating and possibly crossing this highly elevated area on the S-N axis.

Analysis of weathering parameters of bones from cave deposits is presented as a useful tool of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. As an example, we studied profiles of sediments in two Palaeolithic sites: Nietoperzowa Cave and Deszczowa Cave. Our studies included histological and EDS analyses of bone remnants found in these profiles. This method allowed us to reconstruct the changes of palaeotemperature and palaeohumidity, and finally the climatostratigraphy of sediments. The results presented here put a new light onto the stratigraphy of Deszczowa Cave's filling. In particular, besides the Vistulian sediments (MIS 2-5d), we confirmed the presence oflayers formed during the Penultimate Glaciation (MIS 6) and Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e).