Human fossil bones from the Muierii Cave and the Cioclovina Cave, Romania

This paper presents the cultural and archaeological context of the human fossil bones from Muierii Cave, dated by us to the age of 30 150 +/- 800 14C years BP (Before Present) or 34 810 +/- 927 cal years BP (calibrated years Before Present), and from Cioclovina Cave, dated to the age of 29 000 +/- 700 14C years BP or 33 540 +/- 832 cal years BP, in the Southern Carpathians. These are among the most ancient dated human fossil remains from Central and South-Eastern Europe and are described in conjunction with other sites with Mousterian assemblages of the recent Neanderthal population, and sites with Aurignacian assemblage of early modern humans, from Romanian region, for the interval of time 34,000-26,000, the transitional period from the Middle Paleolithic to the Upper Paleolithic. All rights reserved, Elsevier