The Peştera cu Oase People Chapter 21 The Peştera cu Oase People, Europe’s Earliest Modern Humans

region during this critical time period (Fig. 21.1). Here, we present the site and the human fossils, and then discuss their significance in the light of the broader regional context. The Peştera cu Oase project is an ongoing collaborative international endeavour, and this represents a summary of the current state of our knowledge. Peştera cu Oase: the site The karstic system The Peştera cu Oase (Cave with Bones) is located in the southwestern Carpathians, in the vicinity of Anina, Caraş-Severin, Banat, Romania. This is a region of complex geology and rugged terrain. The average elevation is around 700 m and river valleys are deeply incised between steep slopes. The cave belongs to the karstic system created by the Ponor stream, which, via the Miniş and the Nera, drains into the Danube, only c. 36 km away. Above the presently active, c. 750-m-long underground stretch of the Ponor, and sharing the same general NW–SE orientation, there is a network of fossil galleries located at different elevations, comprising at least two main levels that reflect prior stages in the incision of the Miniş drainage. The uppermost level is currently exposed over extensive stretches as a result of collapses, originating an exokarst dotted by numerous dolines but whose con