0000000000084341
AUTHOR
John Meadows
Supplementary Information from Organic residue analysis shows sub-regional patterns in the use of pottery by Northern European hunter–gatherers
The introduction of pottery vessels to Europe has long been seen as closely linked with the spread of agriculture and pastoralism from the Near East. The adoption of pottery technology by hunter–gatherers in Northern and Eastern Europe does not fit this paradigm, and its role within these communities is so far unresolved. To investigate the motivations for hunter–gatherer pottery use, here, we present the systematic analysis of the contents of 528 early vessels from the Baltic Sea region, mostly dating to the late 6th-5th millennium cal BC, using molecular and isotopic characterization techniques. The results demonstrate clear sub-regional trends in the use of ceramics by hunter–gatherers; …
New research at Riņņukalns, a Neolithic freshwater shell midden in northern Latvia
The prehistoric shell middens of Atlantic Europe consist of marine molluscs, but the eastern Baltic did not have exploitable marine species. Here the sole recorded shell midden, at Riņņukalns in Latvia, is on an inland lake and is formed of massive dumps of freshwater shells. Recent excavations indicate that they are the product of a small number of seasonal events during the later fourth millennium BC. The thickness of the shell deposits suggests that this was a special multi-purpose residential site visited for seasonal aggregations by pottery-using hunter-gatherer communities on the northern margin of Neolithic Europe.
Potential Freshwater Reservoir Effects in a Neolithic Shell Midden at Riņņkalns, Latvia
Riņņukalns is the only known prehistoric shell midden in the eastern Baltic, and is one of the few middens in northern Europe consisting mainly of freshwater mussel shells. Situated on the Salaca River at the outlet of Lake Burtnieks, in northeastern Latvia, the site was originally excavated in the 1870s, and reinvestigated several times over the following decades. A new excavation in 2011 showed that part of the midden remained intact. The new exposure, dated to the later 4th millennium cal BC, yielded rich fishbone and mollusk shell assemblages, herbivore, human and bird bones, and a wide range of artifacts typical of a subsistence economy based on fishing, hunting, and gathering. Human r…
Organic residue analysis shows sub-regional patterns in the use of pottery by Northern European hunter–gatherers
The introduction of pottery vessels to Europe has long been seen as closely linked with the spread of agriculture and pastoralism from the Near East. The adoption of pottery technology by hunter–gatherers in Northern and Eastern Europe does not fit this paradigm, and its role within these communities is so far unresolved. To investigate the motivations for hunter–gatherer pottery use, here, we present the systematic analysis of the contents of 528 early vessels from the Baltic Sea region, mostly dating to the late 6th–5th millennium cal BC, using molecular and isotopic characterization techniques. The results demonstrate clear sub-regional trends in the use of ceramics by hunter–gatherers; …
Dating Late Paleolithic Harpoons from Lake Lubāns, Latvia
Over 3000 prehistoric bone and antler artifacts, collected in the late 1930s from the former lakebed of Lake Lubāns, are held by the National History Museum of Latvia. This collection is remarkable not only as one of the largest known assemblages of bone implements in northern Europe, but also in terms of diversity of forms. The most elaborately worked objects include harpoons, often with two rows of barbs and spade-shaped bases, which are believed to date to the Late Paleolithic, and to be among the oldest organic artifacts ever found in Latvia. Four broken specimens were sampled in 2011 for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating, stable isotope analysis, and taxonomic attribution by Z…
A 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer already plagued by Yersinia pestis.
Summary A 5,000-year-old Yersinia pestis genome (RV 2039) is reconstructed from a hunter-fisher-gatherer (5300–5050 cal BP) buried at Riņņukalns, Latvia. RV 2039 is the first in a series of ancient strains that evolved shortly after the split of Y. pestis from its antecessor Y. pseudotuberculosis ∼7,000 years ago. The genomic and phylogenetic characteristics of RV 2039 are consistent with the hypothesis that this very early Y. pestis form was most likely less transmissible and maybe even less virulent than later strains. Our data do not support the scenario of a prehistoric pneumonic plague pandemic, as suggested previously for the Neolithic decline. The geographical and temporal distributi…
Stone-age subsistence strategies at Lake Burtnieks, Latvia
Abstract Zvejnieki, on Lake Burtnieks in northeastern Latvia, is the largest known prehistoric cemetery in the eastern Baltic; > 300 inhumations, most dating to c.7000–3000 cal BC, have been excavated. Archaeozoological and artefactual evidence from graves and nearby settlement layers show that throughout this period, the community depended on wild resources for subsistence, with a particular emphasis on fishing. Dietary stable isotopes (δ 15 N and δ 13 C) from human remains show significant dietary variation within the Zvejnieki population, in terms of access to and dependence on freshwater and marine species (Eriksson 2006); we provide new stable isotope data for another 13 individuals. E…
Recurrent Mesolithic–Neolithic occupation at Sise (western Latvia) and shoreline displacement in the Baltic Sea Basin
A major assemblage of Mesolithic and Neolithic wooden artefacts has been recovered from the bed of the River Užava at Sise, in the coastal belt of western Latvia. New archaeological investigation has also produced wooden remains and other evidence of occupation on the riverbank. On the basis of multi-proxy environmental data and radiocarbon dating, this article offers a first attempt to place the human activity in a palaeolandscape context. The earliest evidence of human presence is provided by wooden artefacts dated to c. 10,500–9700 cal. BP, during the Ancylus Lake transgression. These remains are thought to reflect fishing activities in the shallows of the Ventspils Bay, which existed d…
Neolithic fish remains from the freshwater shell midden Riņņukalns in northern Latvia
The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the only freshwater shell midden in the eastern Baltic Sea area. An excavation carried out in 2011 revealed an intact stratigraphy with alternating layers of unburnt and burnt mussel shells and yielded various kinds of archaeological finds, among them several thousand fish remains. To gain an understanding of the fish species and specimens caught by the Neolithic settlers, and to discern any temporal development in the fish species composition, we analysed fish remains from different sections and layers. Results from both the archaeozoological and stable isotope data, give evidence for a change in th…
A lake fortress, a floating chronology, and an atmospheric anomaly: the surprising results of a radiocarbon wiggle-match from Āraiši, Latvia
Abstract An Iron Age timber settlement which, in view of the defensive structures uncovered, is described as a lake fortress, on an island in Lake Āraiši, north-eastern Latvia, was excavated in 1965–69 and 1975–79 by teams led by Jānis Apals, who distinguished five construction phases. Dendrochronological analysis produced a c. 100-year floating chronology for Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) timbers from the earliest phase. A 14C wiggle-match was undertaken to obtain an absolute date range for the final year of the floating chronology, and thus for the construction of the settlement. Ten blocks of wood from one timber, each comprising 6-11 years and collectively spanning the whole 9…
Dietary freshwater reservoir effects and the radiocarbon ages of prehistoric human bones from Zvejnieki, Latvia
Abstract Aquatic food resources (fish and molluscs) were exploited intensively at Riņņukalns, a Neolithic freshwater shell midden at the outlet of Lake Burtnieks, north-eastern Latvia. Stable isotope data (δ 15 N and δ 13 C) from a rich fishbone assemblage and a wide range of terrestrial species complement published results on faunal samples from the famous prehistoric cemetery and settlement at Zvejnieki, on the same lake. Stable isotope data show that freshwater food resources made substantial but varying contributions to human diets at Zvejnieki and Riņņukalns throughout the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Our research has also shown significant radiocarbon freshwater reservoir effects (FRE) i…
East meets west in the 6th millennium: Mesolithic osseous tools and art from Sise on the Latvian seaboard
A collection of 141 bone and antler tools and debitage pieces recovered from the River Užava at the village of Sise constitutes the largest Mesolithic osseous assemblage in western Latvia. Radiocarbon dating of 12 pieces suggests that most of this collection dates from the 6th millennium calBC. We present a general analysis, highlighting typical and unique tool forms, ornamented and sculpted pieces, and assess the corpus in a wider geographical context. Predominant in this rich and diverse collection are heavy duty antler tools: various forms of adzes, axes and hammers as well as sleeves, made either from shed antler or antler of hunted animals. They include two pieces classifiable as T-axe…
Dataset 3 from Organic residue analysis shows sub-regional patterns in the use of pottery by Northern European hunter–gatherers
Result of the Bayesian mixing model (FRUITS)
Dataset 2 from Organic residue analysis shows sub-regional patterns in the use of pottery by Northern European hunter–gatherers
δ13C values of of new and published authentic reference animal tissues
Dataset 1 from Organic residue analysis shows sub-regional patterns in the use of pottery by Northern European hunter–gatherers
Sample data with molecular and isotopic analysis results