Fish and Fishing in Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia: a Review Robert J
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This article was downloaded by: [Robert Losey] On: 03 April 2012, At: 18:52 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uica20 Fish and Fishing in Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia: A Review Robert J. Losey a , Tatiana Nomokonova a & Dustin White b c a Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada b Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK c Department of Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK Available online: 29 Mar 2012 To cite this article: Robert J. Losey, Tatiana Nomokonova & Dustin White (2012): Fish and Fishing in Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia: A Review, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 7:1, 126-145 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2011.611854 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, 7:126–145, 2012 Copyright © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1556-4894 print / 1556-1828 online DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2011.611854 Fish and Fishing in Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia: A Review Robert J. Losey,1 Tatiana Nomokonova,1 and Dustin White2,3 1Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 2Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 3Department of Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK ABSTRACT Eastern Siberia’s Lake Baikal and its tributaries are productive fish- eries, and the region’s Holocene archaeological sites confirm that this is a long-standing phenomenon. Recent zooarchaeological investigations of sites here allow Holocene fishing practices to be examined in more detail than was previously possible. Along much of the lake’s coast, bathymetry is very steep and the water very cold; here fishing appears to have been supplemental to other subsistence practices such as seal- ing and ungulate hunting. In shallower areas, waters were warmer and supported very productive fisheries for littoral species, perhaps through the use of nets or traps. The region’s rivers offered their own resident species but also were used as spawning grounds by some lake fishes. The lake’slittoralfisheries,whileproductive,likelyproducedfishthroughout the year and did not require complex labor organization to be effec- Downloaded by [Robert Losey] at 18:52 03 April 2012 tively used. Some sections of the region’s rivers, particularly those that were spawning grounds for some lake fishes, may have required more complex sociopolitical organization to be exploited efficiently. Such fish runs were short-lived and the best fishing places likely were spatially restricted. This potentially created the need for pools of labor, required organization of harvesting and processing, and generated surpluses that could be stored and manipulated. Keywords zooarchaeology, economy and subsistence, fishing, social organization, Russia, Siberia Received 13 December 2010; accepted 10 June 2011. Address correspondence to Robert J. Losey, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, 13-8 Tory Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4, Canada. E-mail: [email protected] 126 Fish and Fishing in Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia INTRODUCTION assemblages have been systematically ana- lyzedusingmodernmethods,andfieldrecov- Lake Baikal and its nearby rivers offer an ery techniques typically have not involved abundance of aquatic food resources un- the use of sieves. Existing collections are matched in the rest of the interior south- often biased toward the remains of large- ern boreal region of Siberia (Figure 1). The bodied fauna, and interpretations of ancient archaeological record of Holocene hunter- subsistence practices previously were quite gatherers and pastoralists here in part re- speculative and based on little hard data. Fur- flects this abundance. Much fishing equip- ther, faunal remains rarely have been quan- ment is found in some sites, seal (Phoca tified systematically here, and most available sibirica) bones are numerous in settlements data consists of simple lists of taxa present. along portions of the Baikal coast, and stud- The work of the BAP has sought to address ies of diet through isotope analyses of hu- these issues in recent years by employing man remains indicate long-standing use of modern recovery techniques at several sites, aquatic foods. Here we review and discuss building a faunal skeletal comparative col- patterns in aquatic fauna use by Holocene lection for zooarchaeological research, and occupants of Cis-Baikal focusing specifically publishing detailed accounts of faunal re- on fishes. To start, we outline characteristics mains analyzed (Losey et al. 2011; Losey et of Lake Baikal and its fauna that we consider al. 2008; Nomokonova et al. 2009a, 2009b, significant for understanding Holocene sub- 2010, 2011). sistence practices. A review of Cis-Baikal’s Reviews of the region’s Holocene ar- zooarchaeological record of fishing is then chaeological record can be found in Weber offered, including several new sets of data. et al. (2010) and Weber and Bettinger (2010) Finally, we speculate on patterns in Middle and are only briefly outlined here to provide Holocene fishing in Cis-Baikal and their re- context for the rest of the paper. Habitation lationships to other phenomena, including sites dating to the Early Holocene have been issues of labor organization and climate and identified along the shore of Baikal and in environmental change. To begin, basic in- Cis-Baikal’s river valleys, but specifics about formation about recent research here is pro- subsistence strategies during this period are vided, along with a very brief review of Cis- limited and human remains rare. Recurrently Baikal’s Holocene culture history. used burial places (cemeteries) first appear TheBaikalArchaeologicalProject(BAP), in this region during the period from 8000 a large multidisciplinary research endeavor to 7000 cal BP (the Early Neolithic). From centered at the University of Alberta, has ∼7000 cal BP to 6000 cal BP (the Middle Ne- been investigating the Holocene archaeolog- olithic), burials essentially cease to be made, ical record of the Cis-Baikal region for over 10 but the region continued to be occupied. At Downloaded by [Robert Losey] at 18:52 03 April 2012 years, and much of the data presented here ∼6000 cal BP, burials once again reappear derive from this project. Cis-Baikal, follow- in the region (Late Neolithic, 6000–5000 cal ing Michael (1958), encompasses the area BP) and continue to be made throughout north and west of Lake Baikal, including the the Bronze Age (∼5000–2500 cal BP). Vir- Angara River and its tributaries downriver tually all Cis-Baikal Middle Holocene ceme- from the lake to Ust’-Ilimsk, the upper Lena teries are located on the Angara downstream River to Kirensk, and the west coast of the from the lake, the Little Sea coastline, or the lake itself (including the lake’s largest island, upper Lena River—almost none have been Ol’khon; Figure 2). Archaeology in this re- documented in the vast stretches between gion traditionally (and as part of the BAP) these three waterways. The hiatus in buri- has been heavily focused on its abundant als corresponds in time with pronounced cli- Holocene hunter-gatherer cemeteries, while mate change in the region, which included its habitation sites and the materials within significant warming and drying, decreased them have garnered far less recent scientific seasonal fluctuations in temperature and pre- attention. Zooarchaeological research in par- cipitation, and a suite of local environmental ticular has been very under-developed. Few changes (few of which are well understood; JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 127 Robert J. Losey et al. Figure 1. Map of northern Eurasia. The box marks the location of the map in Figure 2. White and Bush 2010). Ancient DNA stud- to the Neolithic and later periods. Stable car- ies of human remains indicate that popula- bon and nitrogen isotope studies of several tions in the region before and after the hiatus hundred sets of Neolithic and Bronze Age (the Early Neolithic versus the Late Neolithic human remains show that diets in this region and Early Bronze Age) are genetically discon- were variable, but nearly all individuals, re- tinuous, likely indicating population replace- gardless of the sub-region they were buried Downloaded by [Robert Losey] at 18:52 03 April 2012 ment. Early and Middle Holocene dwellings in,reliedtosomeextentonaquaticresources of any sort are undocumented