Neolithic economy in central Europe

This article presents a survey of Neolithic economy, land use, trade, natural environment, and usage of plant and animal resources in central Europe, 5415–2240 B.C. (4500–1800 bc). Early, Middle A and B and Late Neolithic materials are summarized and compared. The earliest farmers expanded from southern Hungary and adjacent areas into central Europe over a relatively short time period, 100–200 years. They occupied areas only with good soils; thus probably hunters and gatherers continued to exist in many regions of central Europe. There is an increase in population and more upland areas are exploited for farming during the Middle Neolithic A and B periods. By the Middle Neolithic B period, low-level hierarchical or ranked societies appear in some regions of central Europe. The Late Neolithic may represent a modification of the mixed farming strategy observed during the earlier periods. Perhaps the herding of domestic animals became more important.     

The Greek Neolithic: A new review

The Greek Neolithic, here divided into five phases, is the oldest in Europe. Geographically, it is the closest to the Near East and has thus long been seen as an impoverished derivative of the latter. However, recent research has tended to emphasize the autochthonous nature of Neolithic development in Europe, including Greece. The Greek Neolithic economy, which was based almost entirely on domesticates, and its densely packed, long-lived villages strongly recall the Near East, as do also the early emphasis on fine, decorated, nonculinary pottery and the wealth of figurines. On the other hand, the evolution of stylistic patterns is specifically Greek, although generally related to trends in the Balkans. Originality in the development of the Greek Neolithic is also seen in its latest phase, with apparent decreases, rather than increases, in site density, social differentiation, and, to some extent, long-distance trade. At the same time, however, the dichotomy became much sharper between the rich agricultural plains of northern Greece and the more pastoral(?) regions of the Peloponnese and Cycladic Islands; this presages similar contrasts during the Bronze Age.     

Prehistory of the Upper Yenisei area (southern Siberia)

Our understanding of the prehistory of the Upper Yenisei area is based on several key multilayered sites, which provide an excellent opportunity for the investigation of long-term culture change and the reconstruction of culture history. The earliest traces of prehistoric people in the region date to the Sartan glacial. Ui I is dated to ca. 22,000–17,000 B.P. and belongs to the middle phase of the Yenisei Upper Paleolithic, predating the period of the Final Paleolithic Afontova culture (16,000–10,000 B.P.). The Early Holocene period remains little known; there is only one assemblage (the lower cultural layer of Sosnovka Golovan'skaya) which may be attributed to the Epipaleolithic. In the seventh and sixth millennia B.P., the aceramic Early Neolithic (the uppermost cultural horizons of Maina and Ui II, Ust'Khemchik 3, etc.) was widespread and was replaced by the Late Neolithic Verkhneeniseisk culture in the fifth millennium B.P. This was succeeded by the Eneolithic Afanas'eva culture at the end of the fifth millennium B.P. and, later, by the Bronze Age Okunev culture (until the twelfth century B.C.). From the eighth to the second centuries B.C., Scythian cultures flourished in the area, until the invasion of the Huns. All of these stages of the Holocene culture sequence are represented in the stratified site of Toora-Dash.     

Importing Clay for Local Pottery Production in the 4th Century b.c. at Tell el-Timai,Egypt

Archaeological evidence of ceramic production most commonly consists of locally procured raw materials. Excavations at Tell el-Timai in Lower Egypt recovered raw fine marl clay from two transport jars in the vicinity of pottery kilns dating to the 4th century b.c. Production wasters of small perfume bottles produced in the same fine marl clay were found inside the kilns. The marl clay inside the jars pointed to an origin outside of Lower Egypt. Samples of the clay and wasters, along with a confirmed locally sourced sample, were subjected to X-Ray Fluourescence (XRF) analysis, revealing significant differences in their chemical compositions. The results of the analysis are compared to published Egyptian data and an Upper Egyptian provenience is suggested because the raw clay is consistent with available comparative XRF data.     

The Neolithic refrigerator on a Friday night: How many people are coming to dinner and just what should I do with the slimy veggies in the back of the fridge?

Abstract

The prehistoric development of food storage represents a major evolutionary transition, one potentially more important than the initial domestication of plants. Researchers, however, have yet to really deal with some of the critical practical questions related to the materiality of food storage and decision-making. Drawing upon experimental research this paper seeks to identify and model some of the critical interconnections between anticipated food loss due to spoilage, storage decision-making and the need for people to store food for multiple years. Building on this foundation, and echoing ethnographic, ethnoarchaeological and archaeological research, this study argues that the concept of storage and surplus is underdeveloped and that in many cases the storage practices of prehistoric sedentary people do not reflect a food surplus so much as normal storage. Turning to a case study of changing Near Eastern Neolithic grain storage practices, this research argues that from the Natufian through Neolithic periods people increasingly relied upon cultivated domesticated plants and food storage. This required people to expand their use of pre-existing technology, such as plaster for lining storage features, to store sufficient amounts of food to overcome seasonal shortages, potential crop failures and minimise food spoilage due to a range of biological agents. Tracking shifts through time, the results of this study suggest that it is only with increased scale of food storage in the later stages of the Neolithic that we may see a materialization of a food surplus.     

Human adaptation and socioeonomic change in northeast China: Results of the Fuxin Regional Survey

Northeastern China is one of the centers of early development of agriculture and sedentary life, as well as of the subsequent development of social complexity and distinct cultural attributes. While the outlines of this trajectory are clear, its important details are still elusive. Like all other regions of northern China, there is little data on the all-important transition from nomad hunter-gatherers to sedentary agriculturalists. The Fuxin Regional Survey was designed as the first step in accumulating new data and addressing the geographic and ecological contexts of these socioeconomic processes. Among the most remarkable results of this survey is the identification of early ceramics, which possibly predate the transition to agriculture. The systematic collection and analysis of stone tools was done in a way never before done in this region. Analysis of our findings, using GIS and other methods, sheds new light on the local trajectory of human adaptation in this area.     

Epipaleolithic/early Neolithic settlements at Qinghai Lake,western China

Transitions from terminal Pleistocene Upper Paleolithic foraging to Holocene Neolithic farming and pastoralist economic orientations in the northern Tibetan Plateau are examined from the perspective of Epipaleolithic sites located near Qinghai Lake, Qinghai Province, western China. Jiangxigou 2 is an artifact-rich, multicomponent midden site with the main period of occupation dating ca. 9000–5000 cal yr BP, containing abundant flaked stone artifacts including a substantial proportion of microlithic tools, abundant faunal remains including gazelle, deer, and sheep, and a small number of ceramics, including the oldest known on the Tibetan Plateau. Heimahe 3, on the other hand, is a brief hunter's camp dating ca. 8450 cal yr BP, with evident affinities to late Upper Paleolithic camps in the same region that date several thousand years older. The two distinctively different sites are probably nodes within a single Epipaleolithic foraging system that developed on the margins of the high Tibetan Plateau during the early Holocene, and that served as a basis for colonization of the high-altitude Plateau at that time. Jiangxigou 2 appears to be connected to early Neolithic agricultural settlements along the upper Yellow River (Huang He) drainage during the middle Holocene, and may provide insights into forager–agriculturalist interactions that lead to the development of pastoralist systems in the region.     

Analysis of adhering organic residues of two “coupes-à-socles” from the Neolithic funerary site “La Hougue Bie” in Jersey: evidences of birch bark tar utilisation

The “coupes-à-socle” (footed cups) are ceramics which can be found in domestic Neolithic contexts in Brittany (Castellic, Auzay-Sandun), but more generally in non-domestic areas. Their ceremonial function has often been evoked, in particular as a perfume burner. The analysis by GC and GC/MS of two samples from the “Hougue Bie” (Jersey) passage graves showed the presence of vegetable fatty acids, degraded n-alkanes and terpenoïds, biomarkers of birch bark tar. The presence of such substances could be explained either by the use of the “coupes-à-socle” for burning birch bark tar as an odoriferous product or their use as an everyday vessel for heating and increasing tar plasticity. However, the limited occurrence of this type of ceramic in habitat sites supports the former utilisation. This first report of the presence of birch bark tar in “coupes-à-socle” thus suggests use of this tar as an odoriferous product, in addition to its numerous, previously recognised, more technical uses.     

Coast–inland mobility and diet in the Danish Mesolithic and Neolithic: evidence from stable isotope values of humans and dogs

Here we present the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen measured in bone collagen extracted from humans, dogs, herbivores and fish from Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal and inland sites in Denmark. Bones of freshwater fish from several Early Mesolithic lake-side sites have δ¹³C values surprisingly similar to those seen in marine fish. We propose a model, based on δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, for the correction for both marine and hard water reservoir effect in radiocarbon dates. A strong reliance on aquatic protein is demonstrated for the Mesolithic inhabitants of the region from the middle of the Early Mesolithic onwards. A significant part of the protein in the diets of the dogs and humans from the Middle and Late Mesolithic was of marine origin, even at inland sites. This observation points to a high degree of (seasonal) coast-inland mobility. The isotopic evidence indicates that during the Neolithic small quantities of aquatic foods were still common sources of dietary protein.     

New light on early caprine herding strategies from isotope analysis: a case study from Neolithic Anatolia

The measurement of stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes of caprine bone collagen from the Neolithic sites of Çatalhöyük and Aşıklı Höyük in south-central Anatolia have allowed examination of exploitation and herding practices of sheep and goats. The isotope values from protodomestic caprines at Aşıklı Höyük suggests that these animals were consuming very similar foods to each other and were all confined to the same or similar environments with no access to C₄ plants. At Çatalhöyük, the results show how the caprine management strategy develops from the strategy seen at Aşıklı Höyük into a more varied practice at an early stage as the site grows with an increasing dietary contribution obtained from C₄ plants. No change in diet is isotopically discernible at Aşıklı Höyük. Interestingly, no distinction could be made between the diets of sheep and goats at either site. Therefore, such studies are a useful method of examining the development of early herding or management strategies of caprines in the Near East.