Marián Soják

In 2017, a new neolithic site was discovered south of the village of Liptovské Matiašovce, on the elevated ridge of the Bochníčky site. Numerous finds of sherds, daub and chipped lithic industry from dominant Jurassic sub-Kraków flint were obtained by a primary survey and a succeeding small evaluation excavation in form of three trenches. Decoration of the thin-walled neolithic pottery of mostly semiglobular shapes points to presence of the younger Linear (musical note) Pottery culture, Želiezovce and rarely the Bükk culture. Unique chipped artifacts made of obsidian are also associated with the last mentioned culture. Part of the chipped lithic industry from the survey belongs to the late Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Among the previously documented rare neolithic settlements from the region of Liptov, the newly discovered site represents the richest neolithic settlement which should be complexly studied. It is being destroyed by ploughing every year.

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.