Předmostí u Přerova | |
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Archeological site | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 250 m (820 ft) |
Prominence | 35 m (115 ft) |
Coordinates | 49°27′56″N 17°26′23″E / 49.46556°N 17.43972°ECoordinates: 49°27′56″N 17°26′23″E / 49.46556°N 17.43972°E |
Dimensions | |
Area | 37 acres (15 ha) |
Geography | |
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Location | Czech Republic—Moravia |
Parent range | Moravian Gate/Oderské vrchy |
Geology | |
Age of rock |
Předmostí (Skalka) (often without diacritics as Predmosti or Predmost), situated in the north western part of Přerov, Moravia near the city districts Předmostí of Přerov, is an important Cro-Magnon hill site of Central Europe.
A fossil site at Předmostí is located near Přerov in the country Moravia of what is today the Czech Republic. The site was discovered in the late 19th century. Excavations were conducted between 1884 and 1930. As the original material was lost. The skeletal remains of the few dozen people from Předmostí are among the most important finds ever made of anatomically modern humans, and are accompanied by items from the Gravetian culture. A major restriction on the opportunities available for extracting information from this Upper Paleolitic population assemble, however, came with the irreparable damage done to the skeletal material during fire at Mikulov castle in the course of World War II. For many years, the only sources of scientific information relating to the assemblage available were two - volume work by Jindřich Matiegka (1934 and 1938) and casts made of the skulls of individuals Předmostí 3 and Předmostí 4, and the endokrania of individuals Předmostí 3, 4, 9 and 101, in the collection of Moravian Museum in Brno.
New excavations were conducted.
The Předmostí site appear to have been a living area with associated burial ground with some 20 burials, including 15 complete human interments, and portions of five others, representing either disturbed or secondary burials. Cannibalism has been suggested to explain the apparent subsequent disturbance, though it is not widely accepted. The non-human fossils are mostly mammoth. Many of the bones are heavily charred, indicating they were cooked. Other remains include fox, reindeer, ice-age horse, wolf, bear, wolverine, and hare. Remains of three dogs were also found, one of which had a mammoth bone in its mouth.