Three sites of the Magdalenien period in the valley of the Saale river in Thuringia

Three so far not analysed find assemblages of the Magdalenien period in the valley of the Saale river in Thuringia are presented; they come from one of the classical regions for the study of the late Younger Palaeolithic in Europe. They are the inventory of the first archaeological excavation in Olknitz run by Gotthard Neumann in 1932, the finds from Jena >>An der Hohen Saale<< which were surface finds or came to light unstratified during the excavations of Bronze Age structures by Friedrich Klopfleisch in 1866/67, and the finds from Rothenstein >>Kuhberg<<. Despite the fact that the latter, too, are surface finds, there are many matching fragments and some work pieces. The origin of the raw material, sequences of operations, seasonal dating, evident structures and spatial location with questions of landscape archaeology are discussed. These could offer new perspectives for the interpretation of the Magdalenien period.