Preceding the Neolithic and marking the end of the Old Stone Age, the Mesolithic (corresponding
with a transitional period between the Pleistocene and Holocene periods in geological
terms) is still one of the blind spots of Hungarian archaeology. Based on available
data, Late Epigravettian hunter-gatherers left the Carpathian Basin in the Late Glacial
period (at the end of the Pleistocene period). In the following phase, one may only
reckon with sporadic inhabitation until the emergence of Mesolithic cultures. As the
related sites have only yielded very vague relative or absolute chronological data,
clarifying their age and cultural connections is of exceptional importance for the
research into the transition of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods in Hungary
and Eastern Europe. In order to gain a better understanding of this transition, the
National Institute of Archaeology of the Hungarian National Museum launched a research
project aimed at processing the record of the sites mentioned above and conducting
field research on certain sites.
