DOCSLIB.ORG

The Stone Age in West Lithuania

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Stone Age in West Lithuania 86 ADOMAS BUTRIMAS THE STONE AGE IN WEST LITHUANIA The Stone Age in West Lithuania ■ Adomas Butrimas The systematic field investigation of Stone Age sites feast traditions, and some features of the symbolic occurred in the Biržulis region in the West Lithuania's thinking.The complex investigation by many individual Žemaičiai Highlands during 1978-1993 but the labora­ and teams of scientists has given this region's unique tory investigations continue to this day. During the material a multitude of new, unexpected challenges, excavations in the Žemaičiai Highlands (mostly in the interpretations, and nuances. vicinity of Lake Biržulis), 50 Mesolithic camp sites, Neo­ No distinct late Palaeolithic sites have been discove­ lithic and Bronze Age settlements, cemeteries’, and red in the Žemaičiai Highland, but the oldest finds, find spots were discovered. A large percentage of them epi-Swiderian points, end scrapers, and blade pieces, (22 sites) were excavated and the rest only surveyed. which were discovered in Dreniai village, not far from A collection of over ten thousand pottery, flint, bone, the south shore of Lake Stervas, and at the Kalniškiai I antler, amber, stone, and metal artefacts was assembled. camp site, date to the very end of the Palaeolithic and The excavated sites are clustered in the Varniai progla­ the early Mesolithic and should probably be ascribed cial lakebed (Lith. duburys) of the Žemaičiai Highlands, to the Swiderian cultural tradition2.These finds could in the vicinity of Lake Biržulis, and in the upper reaches have been left by the first inhabitants on the shores of of the River Virvytė. The proglacial lakebed is one of Lake Biržulis during the Bioling interglacial, i.e. circa the oldest remnants of the East Baltic region's lakes and 10 800-10 300 вс when the first conditions suitable for its north part includes Lake Biržulis and the Upper habitation arose.These first inhabitants were tribes of Virvytė. The lake, the third largest in the Žemaičiai reindeer hunters. Reindeer antlers were discovered in Highland, empties into the Virvytė basin (a Venta tribu­ Pabiržulis village in the vicinity of Lake Biržulis, stored tary), which encompasses 1140 km2. The present lake for a time in the Pavandenė church and ground up by occupies less than 5% of the area the ancient Lake the local inhabitants because it was believed that they Biržulis occupied in the Middle and Late Holocene or possessed special healing powers. Almost all of the according to the archaeological periodisation, the end intact antlers from Karkliškiai village near the Biržulis of the Late Palaeolithic, the Mesolithic, and the Early shore ended up in the Samogitian Museum 'Alka' (Tel­ and Mid-Neolithic. šiai). The late Palaeolithic reindeer antlers with signs During the excavations, material from all three of cutting that were discovered in Upėtos village near Stone Age periods was found, making this region excep­ the Rešketa stream and ascribed to the reindeer hunter tional among all of the Lithuanian regions to be exca­ culture also ended up in the Samogitian Museum'Alka'. vated. The region is also interesting in that Mesolithic Analogous reindeer antlers are likewise known from and Neolithic cemeteries were discovered beside the Latvian territory and the dates available for them as Stone Age camps and settlements, revealing new well as the dated reindeer antlers from Lithuanian ter­ aspects not only about the material heritage but also ritory show that these animals and their hunters lived the spiritual life: the ritual burial, sacrificial, and funeral in Lithuania during 14 000-10 000 вс3.The hunters, as asserted by the archaeologists who excavated the rein­ Butrimas A. Donkalnio ir Spigino mezolito - neolito kapinynai. Vil­ deer hunters'camps, lived in small communities, which nius, 2012. consisted of 25-30 individuals on average or 5-7 small 2. Butrimas A., Ostrauskas T. Pirmieji Varnių apylinkių gyventojai, Žemaičių praeitis. Vilnius, 1996, vol. IV. Varniai, p. 8. families of 5-7 individuals each4. R. Rimantienė, based 3. Zagorska I. Seniežiemelbriežu medniekiLatvija. Riga, 2012, p. 42-44. on the archaeological investigation data from South 4. Ostrauskas T. Vakarų Lietuvos mezolitas, LA, 1996, vol. 14, p. 192-212; Lithuania and the ethnological investigations of rein­ Zaliznyak L. The Swiderian reideer - hunters of Eastern Europe, deer hunter nations, thinks that the small reindeer Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas.W\\kau, Hasslau, 1995, Band 5.S.50. hunter communities consisted of 1 -3 families or 5-15 5000 BC 5000 individuals, of which 2-6 were hunters5. Only such small teristic of later Mesolithic sites and the presence of a families could have adapted, easily moving their homes blade detachment method characteristic of the Upper and following the reindeer herds that are able to travel Palaeolithic. This site dates to the very beginning of the up to 25 km per day. The only hunting tools, which Mesolithic-first half of the 8th millennium вс. were produced from reindeer antler and bone, are The bone-antler artefacts characteristic of this spearheads, which have been discovered in Lithuanian culture, such as the harpoon with small barbs found territory in Kalniškiai (now in the city of Klaipėda). by chance on the north shore of Biržulis, can be dated Significantly more finds are available from Meso­ to a similar or somewhat later period. lithic settlements and cemeteries and therefore sig­ A completely different type of site is found in the nificantly more details can be revealed about life at Late Mesolithic, i.e. 6000-4500 вс, during the Atlantic Biržulis at that time and the interaction between the period. Dense forests of broad-leafed trees: oaks, linden, population and nature. The aforementioned chance elm, and hazelnut flourished in the warm, damp climate find bone and antler artefacts discovered north of the ofthat time while pine forests comprised only a small Nemunas and Neris, in West Lithuanian, East Prussian, part of the flora ofthat period7. The most distinct settle­ and North Polish territories, were ascribed to the Kunda ment of that time is Širmė Hill 3, which has a cultural culture6. During the last decades of the last century, at layer of iron-rich brown ortstein (hardpan) sand and least four distinct Kunda culture sandy sites have been where 700 m7 were excavated during 1978-1979. It is excavated near Lake Biržulis: Biržulis Channel, Dreniai, at the foot of the west slope of Širmė Hill, about 500 m Skirmantinė 1,and Širmė Hill 3 Settlements. After the to the south of the town centre of Janapolė. Almost flint finds from the settlements were supplemented by 2000 Mesolithic flint finds and several thousand pieces chance find bone and antler artefacts and so-called of the debitage: flakes and blades were collected in the Pulli-type points, all of the main find types characte­ settlement's cultural layer and on the surface of the ristic of this culture were identified at Lake Biržulis and ground. The most characteristic artefact types in Meso­ in the Žemaičiai Highland. lithic camps are lancets, trapezes, various geometric The Pulli-type points, which were made from long, microliths, inserts produced from microblades and regular, generally triangular cross-section blades and flakes, side and end scrapers, retouched blades, etc. have been discovered at this culture's earliest sites, The flint source located in Šūkainiai had special sig­ should be considered exceptional finds, characteristic nificance for the older Mesolithic and Neolithic inhabit­ of this culture, in the flint inventory. Based on the typo­ ants near Lake Biržulis. The source and the adjacent flint logical features of the artefacts and the technology of knapping area were on the boundary between Šūkainiai the flint industry, Biržulis Channel 1 Settlement, which and Pabiržulis villages. In a small 400 x 200 m area at has a complete assemblage of flint finds characteristic this location, large numbers of flint cores and debitage of the Kunda culture, should be ascribed archaeologi- were found along with some artefacts. The white flint, cally to this culture. The artefacts belonging to this which geological and mineralogical investigations have complex were distinguished on the basis of typological shown to be found at almost every Biržulis region Stone criteria and the patina characteristics of the flint arte­ Age settlement, is found at this location. In some places, facts. The regularly shaped, various width blades were it even comprises 2 5 -3 0 % of all of the flint finds8. knapped from single-platform cores using pressure flaking. Their closest find spots are near the River Venta 5. Rimantienė R. Akmens amžius Lietuvoje. Vilnius, 1984, p. 52; Попов A. (into which the Virvytė flows from Biržulis), in Ringuvėnai Охота и рыболовство у долган. Москва, Ленинград, 1937, с. 40. (Šiauliai District), and in Šilalė District. Aside from the 6. Rimantienė R. Akmens amžius Lietuvoje. Vilnius, 1984, p. 83, fig. 43. Pulli-type points, five fragments of which have been 7 Stančikaitė M., Baltrūnas V., Kisielienė D., Guobytė R., Ostrauskas T. Gamtinė aplinka ir gyventojų ūkinė veikla Biržulio ežero apylinkėse found in the Biržulis channel settlement, the other holoceno laikotarpiu, Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis. Vilnius, 2004, discovered points are of a similar size. The tip of the vol. 34. Kultūrinio landšafto raida Žemaičių aukštumoje, p. 59. Pulli-type points has flat retouch on the ventral side. e. Baltrūnas V., Karmaza B., Kublickas A., Pukelytė
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Between West and East People of the Globular Amphora Culture in Eastern Europe: 2950-2350 Bc
    BETWEEN WEST AND EAST PEOPLE OF THE GLOBULAR AMPHORA CULTURE IN EASTERN EUROPE: 2950-2350 BC Marzena Szmyt V O L U M E 8 • 2010 BALTIC-PONTIC STUDIES 61-809 Poznań (Poland) Św. Marcin 78 Tel. (061) 8536709 ext. 147, Fax (061) 8533373 EDITOR Aleksander Kośko EDITORIAL COMMITEE Sophia S. Berezanskaya (Kiev), Aleksandra Cofta-Broniewska (Poznań), Mikhail Charniauski (Minsk), Lucyna Domańska (Łódź), Viktor I. Klochko (Kiev), Jan Machnik (Kraków), Valentin V. Otroshchenko (Kiev), Petro Tolochko (Kiev) SECRETARY Marzena Szmyt Second Edition ADAM MICKIEWICZ UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF EASTERN STUDIES INSTITUTE OF PREHISTORY Poznań 2010 ISBN 83-86094-07-9 (print:1999) ISBN 978-83-86094-15-8 (CD-ROM) ISSN 1231-0344 BETWEEN WEST AND EAST PEOPLE OF THE GLOBULAR AMPHORA CULTURE IN EASTERN EUROPE: 2950-2350 BC Marzena Szmyt Translated by John Comber and Piotr T. Żebrowski V O L U M E 8 • 2010 c Copyright by B-PS and Author All rights reserved Cover Design: Eugeniusz Skorwider Linguistic consultation: John Comber Prepared in Poland Computer typeset by PSO Sp. z o.o. w Poznaniu CONTENTS Editor’s Foreword5 Introduction7 I SPACE. Settlement of the Globular Amphora Culture on the Territory of Eastern Europe 16 I.1 Classification of sources . 16 I.2 Characteristics of complexes of Globular Amphora culture traits . 18 I.2.1 Complexes of class I . 18 I.2.2 Complexes of class II . 34 I.3 Range of complexes of Globular Amphora culture traits . 36 I.4 Spatial distinction between complexes of Globular Amphora culture traits. The eastern group and its indicators . 42 I.5 Spatial relations of the eastern and centralGlobular Amphora culture groups .
    [Show full text]
  • Tracing Human Networks In
    TRACING HUMAN NETWORKS IN PREHISTORIC BALTIC EUROPE : THE INFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF KRZYZ 7 AND DABKI 9 (POLAND) PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON BONE AND ANTLER WORKED MATERIAL Eva David To cite this version: Eva David. TRACING HUMAN NETWORKS IN PREHISTORIC BALTIC EUROPE : THE IN- FORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF KRZYZ 7 AND DABKI 9 (POLAND) PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON BONE AND ANTLER WORKED MATERIAL. [Research Report] Polish Academy of Sciences. 2007. hal-03285349 HAL Id: hal-03285349 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03285349 Submitted on 13 Jul 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. SCIENTIFIC REPORT – PRELIMINARY RESULTS TRACING HUMAN NETWORKS IN PREHISTORIC BALTIC EUROPE : THE INFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF KRZYZ 7 AND DABKI 9 (POLAND) PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON BONE AND ANTLER WORKED MATERIAL Eva DAVID* Recent archaeological investigations in Poland, at the Krzyz 7 and the Dabki 9 archaeological sites, open discussion about presence or extend of human networks in the Baltic Europe at the both 9th and 5th millenium BC. By networks, it is meant here transports or transferts of goods, ideas or technology that can possibly be highlighted by archaeological studies, by means of reconstructing human behaviours.
    [Show full text]
  • MESOLITHIC and NEOLITHIC HABITATION of the EASTERN BALTIC EE-2400 Tartu, Estonia and Institute of Latvian History, 19, Turgenev
    [RADIOCARBON, VOL. 35, No. 3, 1993, P. 503-506] MESOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC HABITATION OF THE EASTERN BALTIC ARVI LIIVA Institute of Zoology and Botany, Estonian Academy of Sciences, Vanemuise Street 21 EE-2400 Tartu, Estonia and ILZE LOZE Institute of Latvian History, 19, Turgenev Street, LV-1518 Riga, Latvia ABSTRACT. In this paper we consider the radiocarbon chronology of Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement sites in the eastern Baltic region. Dating of wood and charcoal from Estonian and Latvian sites establishes the periods (early, middle and late) within these epochs. We present 9014C dates, as yet unpublished in RADIOCARBON, produced by laboratories in Riga, Tallin, Tartu, Leningrad and Moscow. INTRODUCTION The Tartu, Vilnius and Leningrad laboratories radiocarbon dated samples from Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement sites of the eastern Baltic. Laboratories in Riga, Tallinn and Moscow also dated some samples; Tartu and Leningrad previously reported 36 dates (Vinogradov et al. 1966; Liiva, Ilves and Punning 1966; Dolukhanov 1970; Ilves, Punning and Liva 1970; Semyontsov et al. 1972; Dolukhanov et al. 1976). We have used 90 additional dates for our study. All 14C data presented here are uncorrected and uncalibrated. RADIOCARBON INVESTIGATIONS Radiocarbon investigations in the eastern Baltic have enabled us to establish an occupation history beginning with the Early Mesolithic. No samples were obtained from Late Paleolithic sites. The timing of the Early Mesolithic culture in Estonia and eastern Latvia was determined after dating seven samples from three habitation sites: Pulli in Estonia (5 samples), Zvejnieki II and Suagals in Latvia (2 samples). Occupation of the Pulli site, associated with the early phase of the Kunda culture, as are habitation sites of Latvia, is ascribed to 9600-9350 BP (Punning, Liiva and Ilves 1968; Ilves, Liiva and Punning 1974; Jaanits and Jaanits 1978).
    [Show full text]
  • An Integrated Analysis of Maglemose Bone Points Reframes the Early
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN An integrated analysis of Maglemose bone points reframes the Early Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen1,2*, Arne Sjöström3, Anders Fischer4, Erika Rosengren3,5, Liam Thomas Lanigan1, Ole Bennike6, Kristine Korzow Richter7, Kurt Joseph Gron8, Meaghan Mackie1,9, Morten Fischer Mortensen10, Lasse Sørensen11, David Chivall12, Katrine Højholt Iversen9,13, Alberto John Taurozzi1, Jesper Olsen14, Hannes Schroeder1, Nicky Milner15, Mikkel Sørensen16 & Matthew James Collins1,17* The extensive peat bogs of Southern Scandinavia have yielded rich Mesolithic archaeological assemblages, with one of the most iconic artefacts being the bone point. Although great in number they remain understudied. Here we present a combined investigation of the typology, protein- based species composition, and absolute chronology of Maglemosian bone points. The majority of the bone points are made from cervids and bovines. However, changes both in species composition and barb morphology can be directly linked to a paucity of fnds lasting nearly 600 years in Southern Scandinavia around 10,300 cal BP. We hypothesize that this hiatus was climate-driven and forced hunter-gatherers to abandon the lakes. Furthermore, the marked change in bone points coincides with a change in lithic technology. We, therefore, propose that the Maglemose culture in Southern Scandinavia is fundamentally divided into an Early Complex and a Late Complex. Te biological and geological record of the transition from the Late Glacial to the Early Holocene is manifested by a dramatic change in vegetation due to climatic warming1. With the increase in temperature vast amounts of buried stagnant ice gradually melted forming water-flled depressions.
    [Show full text]
  • First Capitals of Armenia and Georgia: Armawir and Armazi (Problems of Early Ethnic Associations)
    First Capitals of Armenia and Georgia: Armawir and Armazi (Problems of Early Ethnic Associations) Armen Petrosyan Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Yerevan The foundation legends of the first capitals of Armenia and Georgia – Armawir and Armazi – have several common features. A specific cult of the moon god is attested in both cities in the triadic temples along with the supreme thunder god and the sun god. The names of Armawir and Armazi may be associated with the Anatolian Arma- ‘moon (god).’ The Armenian ethnonym (exonym) Armen may also be derived from the same stem. The sacred character of cultic localities is extremely enduring. The cults were changed, but the localities kept their sacred character for millennia. At the transition to a new religious system the new cults were often simply imposed on the old ones (e.g., the old temple was renamed after a new deity, or the new temple was built on the site or near the ruins of the old one). The new deities inherited the characteristics of the old ones, or, one may say, the old cults were simply renamed, which could have been accompanied by some changes of the cult practices. Evidently, in the new system more or less comparable images were chosen to replace the old ones: similarity of functions, rituals, names, concurrence of days of cult, etc (Petrosyan 2006: 4 f.; Petrosyan 2007a: 175).1 On the other hand, in the course of religious changes, old gods often descend to the lower level of epic heroes. Thus, the heroes of the Armenian ethnogonic legends and the epic “Daredevils of Sasun” are derived from ancient local gods: e.g., Sanasar, who obtains the 1For numerous examples of preservation of pre-Urartian and Urartian holy places in medieval Armenia, see, e.g., Hmayakyan and Sanamyan 2001).
    [Show full text]
  • Early Pottery Use Among Hunter- Gatherers Around the Baltic Sea
    Theses and Papers in Scientific Archaeology 17 Vasiliki Papakosta Early Pottery Use among Hunter- Gatherers around the Baltic Sea Early Pottery Use among Hunter-Gatherers around the Baltic Sea around Use among Hunter-Gatherers Pottery Early Vasiliki Papakosta ISBN 978-91-7911-236-3 ISSN 1400-7835 Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies Doctoral Thesis in Scientific Archaeology at Stockholm University, Sweden 2020 Early Pottery Use among Hunter-Gatherers around the Baltic Sea Vasiliki Papakosta Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Scientific Archaeology at Stockholm University to be publicly defended on Friday 16 October 2020 at 13.00 in Nordenskiöldsalen, Geovetenskapens hus, Svante Arrhenius väg 12. Abstract This thesis aims to provide an understanding of the dynamics underlying the adoption of pottery by pre-agrarian hunter- gatherer cultural groups around the Baltic Sea. The focus is on three approximately contemporaneous early pottery traditions of the region (ca. 5200–3900 cal BC); the Ertebølle (EBK) of southern Scandinavia (southern Sweden, Denmark) and northern Germany, the Narva of the eastern Baltic, and the Early Comb Ware (ECW) of north-eastern Fennoscandia. To develop knowledge about what ceramics in these traditions were used for, and whether intra- and/or inter-cultural variations occurred, EBK pottery material from Scania (southern Sweden) and Lolland (eastern Denmark), as well as material from ECW pottery sub-styles (Säräisniemi 1, Sperrings 1, and 2, Jäkärlä) from mainland Finland were selected from museum collections in the corresponding countries to be analyzed by means of lipid residue analysis. The use of the EBK pottery was compared to that of the contemporaneous Narva, to assess whether the typological similarities characterizing the two pottery traditions corresponded also to common functions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Genetic History of Northern Europe
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/113241; this version posted March 3, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. The Genetic History of Northern Europe Alissa Mittnik1,2*, Chuan-Chao Wang1, Saskia Pfrengle2, Mantas Daubaras3, Gunita Zarina4, Fredrik Hallgren5, Raili Allmäe6, Valery Khartanovich7, Vyacheslav Moiseyev7, Anja Furtwängler2, Aida Andrades Valtueña1, Michal Feldman1, Christos Economou8, Markku Oinonen9, Andrejs Vasks4, Mari Tõrv10, Oleg Balanovsky11,12, David Reich13,14,15, Rimantas Jankauskas16, Wolfgang Haak1,17, Stephan Schiffels1 and Johannes Krause1,2* *corresponding author: [email protected], [email protected] 1Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany 2Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany 3Department of Archaeology, Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius 4Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia 5The Cultural Heritage Foundation, Västerås, Sweden 6|Archaeological Research Collection, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia 7Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia 8Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 9Finnish Museum of Natural History - LUOMUS, University of Helsinki, Finland 10Independent
    [Show full text]
  • Supplementary Information
    Supplementary Information The Genetic History of Northern Europe Alissa Mittnik1,2, Chuan-Chao Wang1, Saskia Pfrengle2, Mantas Daubaras3, Gunita Zarina4, Fredrik Hallgren5, Raili Allmäe6, Valery Khartanovich7, Vyacheslav Moiseyev7, Anja Furtwängler2, Aida Andrades Valtueña1, Michal Feldman1, Christos Economou8, Markku Oinonen9, Andrejs Vasks4, Mari Tõrv10, Oleg Balanovsky11,12, David Reich13,14,15, Rimantas Jankauskas16, Wolfgang Haak1,17, Stephan Schiffels1 and Johannes Krause1,2 1Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany 2Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany 3Department of Archaeology, Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius 4Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia 5The Cultural Heritage Foundation, Västerås, Sweden 6|Archaeological Research Collection, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia 7Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia 8Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 9Finnish Museum of Natural History - LUOMUS, University of Helsinki, Finland 10Independent researcher, Estonia 11Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russia 12Vavilov Institute for General Genetics, Moscow, Russia 13Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA 14Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA 15Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
    [Show full text]
  • Archaeology and Vegetation from the Earliest Mesolithic Site in Denmark at Lundby Mose, Sjælland
    Quaternary International xxx (2014) 1e15 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint Early Maglemosian culture in the Preboreal landscape: Archaeology and vegetation from the earliest Mesolithic site in Denmark at Lundby Mose, Sjælland Catherine A. Jessen a,*, Kristoffer Buck Pedersen b, Charlie Christensen a, Jesper Olsen c, Morten Fischer Mortensen a, Keld Møller Hansen b a The National Museum of Denmark, Environmental Archaeology & Materials Science, Ny Vestergade 11, 1471 Copenhagen K, Denmark b Museum Southeast Denmark, Slotsruinen 1, 4760 Vordingborg, Denmark c AMS 14C Dating Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade 120, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark article info abstract Article history: The transition from Late Palaeolithic to early Mesolithic cultures is strongly associated with the major Available online xxx environmental and climatic changes occurring with the shift from the Younger Dryas to the Holocene in northern Europe. In this paper, we present an interdisciplinary study combining archaeological and Keywords: palaeoenvironmental research in an attempt to examine the relationship between environment and Mesolithic culture during this transition. Lundby Mose is a former kettle hole lake in southern Denmark where the Preboreal vegetation earliest Danish human traces of the Holocene were excavated. Two types of bone deposits were found, 1) Elk deposits ritual offerings of worked, marrow-split elk bones and antler and 2) settlement waste with multiple Denmark fi Climate/cultural transitions species. These date to the early Holocene and are af liated to the early Maglemose culture. The modelled 14 Pollen C ages suggest that the bones were deposited in four phases.
    [Show full text]
  • Extensive Farming in Estonia Started Through a Sex-Biased
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/112714; this version posted March 2, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 1 Extensive farming in Estonia started through a sex-biased 2 migration from the Steppe 3 Lehti Saag*1,2, Liivi Varul3, Christiana Lyn Scheib4, Jesper Stenderup5, Morten E. Allentoft5, 4 Lauri Saag2, Luca Pagani2, Maere Reidla1,2, Kristiina Tambets2, Ene Metspalu1,2, Aivar 5 Kriiska6, Eske Willerslev5, Toomas Kivisild1,2,4, Mait Metspalu2 6 1Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of 7 Tartu; 2Estonian Biocentre; 3School of Humanities, Tallinn University; 4Department of 8 Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge; 5Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural 9 History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen; 6Department of Archaeology, 10 Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu. 11 Abstract 12 Farming-based economies appear relatively late in Northeast Europe and the extent to which 13 they involve genetic ancestry change is still poorly understood. Here we present the analyses 14 of low coverage whole genome sequence data from five hunter-gatherers and five farmers of 15 Estonia dated to 4,500 to 6,300 years before present. We find evidence of significant differences 16 between the two groups in the composition of autosomal as well as mtDNA, X and Y 17 chromosome ancestries. We find that Estonian hunter-gatherers of Comb Ceramic Culture are 18 closest to Eastern hunter-gatherers.
    [Show full text]
  • Pottery of the Funnel Beaker Culture in Settlement Contexts of the North-Eastern Coast of the Vistula Lagoon: Case Studies of Ushakovo and Pribrezhnoye Sites
    Baltic-Pontic Studies vol. 24: 2019-2020, 7-26 ISSN 1231-0344 DOI 10.2478/bps-2019-0005 Edwin Zaltsman* POTTERY OF THE FUNNEL BEAKER CULTURE IN SETTLEMENT CONTEXTS OF THE NORTH-EASTERN COAST OF THE VISTULA LAGOON: CASE STUDIES OF USHAKOVO AND PRIBREZHNOYE SITES *ORCID 0000-0001-9726-9273; Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Neolithic Branch, 236039 Kaliningrad, B. Khmelnitskiy str., 28–30, Russia; edwin_zalc- [email protected] ABSTRACT The article characterises new materials obtained in the course of stud- ies of Neolithic (according to the Baltic periodisation) settlements of the Vistula Lagoon coast. These sources according to all their fea- tures belong to the Funnel Beaker culture, whose monuments were previously unknown in the region. All Funnel Beaker materials were identified in settlements, the main cultural complexes of which be- long to the Primorskaya culture. Small sites of the Funnel Beaker culture existed here before the arrival of the Primorskaya population. In Ushakovo 3, Funnel Beaker pottery were found in the cultural layer in the eastern part of the excavation area, where it lies mainly separate from ceramics of the Primorskaya culture. In Pribrezhnoye, in addition to pottery, traces of two constructions with a double-row pillar wall structure were found. Buildings were of a ground type, elongated, with a width of not more than 3.20 m. Technological and morphological characteristics of ceramic fragments found within the buildings leave no doubt that these complexes belong to the Funnel Beaker culture. Also, two amphorae with typical features of the ‘badenised’ Funnel Beaker culture were revealed here.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Syllabus for M.Sc. in Anthropology
    Syllabus for M. Sc. in Anthropology From Academic session 2020-21 onwards Department of Anthropology Central University of Orissa Koraput Page 0 of 70 M.Sc. in ANTHROPOLOGY As per UGC Gazette notification dated 4th July, 2018; ‘Credit’ means the Unit award, gained as learning outcome, by a learner by study efforts required to acquire the prescribed level of learning in respect of that Unit; Explanation: It is hereby clarified that a study effort for one credit means time required by a learner to understand the contents equivalent to 15 hours classroom teaching., or one hour teaching in a week. In this syllabus some courses are 4 credit weightage, and some are 2 credit weightage. For the easy assessment to calculate percentage, though all courses are marked 100 marks, but the weightage of course content is more for 4 credit course then two credit course. Semester-I Semester-I: General Anthropology Course Course Code Title Credits Full Mark No. 1 ANT – C 311 Biological Anthropology -I 4 100 2 ANT – C 312 Socio-Cultural Anthropology 4 100 3 ANT – C 313 Archaeological Anthropology 4 100 & Museology 4 ANT – C 314 Research Methods 4 100 5 ANT – C 315 Tribes in India 2 100 6 ANT – C 316 General Practical – I 2 100 Semester-II Semester-II: General Anthropology Course Course Code Title Credits Full Mark No. 7 ANT – C 321 Biological Anthropology -II 4 100 8 ANT – C 322 Theories of Society and 4 100 Culture 9 ANT – C 323 Pre- and Proto- History of 4 100 India, Africa and Europe 10 ANT – C 324 Indian Anthropology 4 100 11 ANT – C 325 Peasants in India 2 100 12 ANT – C 326 General Practical – II 2 100 Students can perform summer internship programme during summer vacation, which will be treated as Audit Course and will be reflected in the Grade Sheet.
    [Show full text]