Transition from hunting to animal husbandry in Southern,Western and Eastern Finland: new dated osteological evidence

The beginning of animal husbandry in Finland is one of the most debated topics in Finnish archaeology. For this study a total of 69 bone materials from archaeological sites in Southern, Western and Eastern Finland, dating from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Metal Period, were analysed: 52 represented identifiable animal bones. These data were complemented with those from previously analysed bone materials. A total of 19 domestic animal bones were radiocarbon-dated to determine their connection with a particular cultural period. However, 13 of them proved to belong to the historical and not the prehistoric period, emphasizing the importance of radiocarbon-dating and context awareness when interpreting prehistoric bone materials. Among the radiocarbon-dated material were the oldest dated sheep, cattle and horse bones in Finland. The oldest radiocarbon-dated domestic animal bone in Finland, from sheep or goat, derives from the Late Stone Age Kiukainen Culture site, while cattle and horse bones date to the Bronze Age. This is later than expected. However, the available material does not exclude the possibility that some animal husbandry was practised in Finland earlier. Nevertheless, domestic animal bones are rare in samples dated to the cultural periods studied, while hunting and fishing represented important subsistence activities.     

Seasonality and season of birth in early Eneolithic sheep from Cheia (Romania): methodological advances and implications for animal economy

Cheia (early 5th millennium cal BC) is a prehistoric village in the Dobrodgea province in Romania. Its occupation is attributed to the Early Eneolithic period or Hamangia III phase. The exploitation of animal resources is heavily dominated by husbandry. Although cattle are dominant, they were complemented by caprines, mainly sheep, exploited for tender meat (as highlighted by a 6–12 months age class peak in the mortality profile). Sheep reproduction patterns were investigated through stable isotope analyses in order to characterize the annual rhythms of slaughtering for tender meat acquisition while informing a more general picture on sheep demographical management and animal husbandry at the settlement. Results from δ¹⁸O analysis on second and third molar enamel were modeled and compared with modern reference populations. Sheep births took place over less than four months, from late winter to early summer. From this it could be concluded that tender meat could be provided most of the year, excepted over short period in early summer. Finally, comparison of datasets obtained on the M2 and M3 suggests that the M2 presents a more accurate representation of birth seasonality due to lower inter-individual variability in the chronology of tooth growth.     

Insights into early Middle Palaeolithic tool use and hafting in Western Europe. The functional analysis of level IIa of the early Middle Palaeolithic site of Biache-Saint-Vaast (France)

Results are presented from the functional analysis of a large selection of tools from level IIa of the early Middle Palaeolithic site of Biache-St-Vaast (France). Results indicate that the site represents a hunting stand with a strong focus on hunting and animal processing activities, next to a maintenance component that appears to concern retooling and repair activities in preparation of the hunting episode(s). In spite of the site's age, a large part of the tool assemblage proves to have been used while hafted. Expertise in hafting was even quite elaborate in the sense that it includes tools for which hafting is not essential. It confirms the importance of hafting studies for improving insights into assemblage variability and past human behaviour.     

Functional insights into the innovative Early Howiesons Poort technology at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape,South Africa)

The Howiesons Poort (‘HP’) is characterized by a set of technological innovations that mark a rupture in the Southern African Middle Stone Age. However perspectives regarding its origin and emergence remain speculative. The recent identification of an Early HP phase at Diepkloof Rock Shelter provides the opportunity to characterize the initial stage of this technology and to discuss various mechanisms behind its innovative characteristics.     

How was Bell Beaker economy related to Corded Ware and Early Bronze Age lifestyles? Archaeological,botanical and palynological evidence from the Hegau,Western Lake Constance region

Abstract

The Europe wide spread of what has been called the Bell Beaker phenomenon remains an enigma of European prehistory. While most of the recent research stresses the ideological aspects of using Bell Beaker material culture, here we take a regional and economical perspective. We look for the chronological relationships and the economic choices of the Bell Beaker phase and of its closest neighbours in time and space: the Late Neolithic Corded Ware and the Early Bronze Age. We focus on the regional archaeological settlement history and present the hitherto richest European Bell Beaker-associated collection of palaeobotanical macro-remains, together with our high-resolution palynological work on annually laminated lake sediments. These different lines of evidence are tied together by an absolute chronology derived from new radiocarbon accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) dates (now more than 200) and from the dendrodates from the World Heritage wet preserved pile dwellings. We show the preceding Late Neolithic, the actual Bell Beaker, and the following Early Bronze age economies each relying on different agricultural strategies that focus on distinct parts of the landscape. There is no link obvious between Late Neolithic and Bell Beaker, but there is between Bell Beaker and Early Bronze Age. Related to different modes of production, differences in ideology become visible in food preferences as well as in other parts of the material culture. We conclude that the Bell Beaker economy represents a re-orientation of the mode of production focusing on single, rather small farmsteads which often do not leave a distinct signal in the archaeological record.     

Palynological interpretation of the Early Neolithic coastal open-air site at Sa Punta (central-western Sardinia,Italy)

The major goal of the present study has been to assess the ecological context of the Early Neolithic settlement under excavation in the coastal site of Sa Punta-Marceddì (Terralba, Sardinia, Italy) where a trench of Neolithic age has been brought to light. Based on the origins of the site's organic fossiliferous content, the purpose of this work is to achieve an understanding of: 1) the reasons why this location was chosen by EN man and 2) its functions. This research has enabled us to suggest a human paleoecological scenario over the course of the last three centuries of the 6th millennium BC in the inland area of the Oristano Gulf. On the basis of pollen spectra and the phytolith morphologies recognised, it is suggested that herbaceous vegetation covered the alluvial plain. Arable agriculture does not seem to have been practiced on the site, but the record of coprophilous fungi and endoparasites, along with clues that there were burning practices, suggest livestock farming activity. To date, a univocal interpretation of the function of this trench is still lacking. However, it is the oldest and the only evidence in Sardinia of a remarkable transformation of an open-air space due to settlement.     

湖南道县玉蟾岩遗址早期陶器及其地层堆积的碳十四年代研究

位于湖南道县的玉蟾岩遗址包含大量灰烬,丰富的动物遗存,砾石和石片石器以及骨角器。从出土遗物,特别是人工制品来看,该洞穴应是一处旧石器晚期狩猎采集者的营地。洞穴堆积反映出人类的一系列短期活动或栖居,其间穿插着遗址被废弃的时期。微形态学研究显示堆积中的红色粘土条带是当时人类从洞外搬进来的。该遗址还出土了若干陶片,可以复原成2件或更多的陶器。多数陶片出自于1993和1995年的发掘。另有10多件陶片在2004和2005年的发掘中被发现。我们将在本文介绍该洞穴堆积的年代研究过程和结果,包括样品的采集、预筛选和前处理过程,以及最后对保存好的炭屑和骨头样品的测年。玉蟾岩遗址的年代为距今21000～13800年(校正后,后同),年代数据表明下层堆积中存在人类栖居的间断,陶片的年代为距今17,000～18,000年。这些陶片是在中国发现的制造陶器的最早证据之一。