GitHub - wccarleton/mesoneomalta: Chronology of the Maltese Neolithic (original) (raw)

Project

Overview

This repo contains the data and code used for the study presented in the following paper:

Hunter-gatherer sea voyages extended to remotest Mediterranean islands

Abstract

The Maltese archipelago is a small island chain that is among the most remote in the Mediterranean. Humans were not thought to have reached and inhabited such small and isolated islands until the regional shift to Neolithic lifeways, ~7,500 years ago (7.5 ka)1. In the standard view, the limited resources and ecological vulnerabilities of small islands, coupled with the technological challenges of long-distance seafaring, meant that hunter-gatherers were either unable or unwilling to make these journeys2–4. Here, we detail chronological, archaeological, faunal, and botanical data supporting the presence of Holocene hunter-gatherers on the Maltese Islands. At this time, Malta’s geographic configuration and sea levels approximated that of the present day, necessitating seafaring distances of around 100 km from Sicily, the closest landmass. Occupations began at ~8.5 ka and likely lasted until ~7.5 ka. These hunter-gatherers exploited land animals, but were also able to take advantage of marine resources and avi-fauna, likely helping to sustain habitation on a small island. Our discoveries document the longest yet-known hunter-gatherer sea crossings in the Mediterranean, raising the possibility of previously unknown, precocious connections across the wider region.

Software

The R scripts contained in this repository are intended for replication efforts and to improve the transparency of research. They are, of course, provided without warranty or technical support. That said, questions about the code can be directed to me, Chris Carleton, at ccarleton@protonmail.com.

R

This analysis described in the associated manuscript was performed in R. Thus, you may need to download the latest version of R in order to make use of the scripts described below. To run the anlaysis again, just source() the analysis.R script in the Src/.

Nimble

This project made use of a Bayesian Analysis package called Nimble. See the Nimble website for documentation and a tutorial. Then, refer to the R scripts in this repo.

Contact

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License

Shield:

This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.