Stefanie Klooss | State Archaeology Department of Schleswig-Holstein (original) (raw)

Papers by Stefanie Klooss

Archäologische Nachrichten Schleswig-Holstein, 2022

Seit 2020 fanden drei kleine Ausgrabungskampagnen auf dem eisenzeitlichen Fundplatz Nebel LA 431 ... more Seit 2020 fanden drei kleine Ausgrabungskampagnen
auf dem eisenzeitlichen Fundplatz
Nebel LA 431 in der Nähe der „Vogelkoje
Meeram“ zwischen den Orten Nebel und
Norddorf auf der Insel Amrum statt. Die
Besonderheit dieses Fundplatzes zeigt sich in
den gut erhaltenen Steinstrukturen eines Gehöfts
und der mächtigen Kulturschicht, die,
anders als auf dem Festland, nicht von modernem
Ackerbau beeinträchtigt ist. Um dem
außergewöhnlich guten Erhaltungszustand
Rechnung zu tragen, wurden die Eingriffe in
die intakten Schichten und Befunde auf das
Notwendigste beschränkt, die Steinsetzungen
wurden größtenteils erhalten.

Archäologische Nachrichten Schleswig-Holstein, 2022

In ganz Schleswig-Holstein sind zertifizierte, ehrenamtliche Sondengängerinnen und Sondengänger m... more In ganz Schleswig-Holstein sind zertifizierte,
ehrenamtliche Sondengängerinnen und Sondengänger
mit viel Engagement unterwegs
und mehren unser Wissen um archäologisch
hochwertige Fundstellen. Dennoch gelingt
nur selten eine Entdeckung wie die des Bronzehortes
von Fahrdorf, Kr. Schleswig-Flensburg.
Im Oktober 2021 bargen Sondengänger
in vertrauensvoller Zusammenarbeit mit
Mitarbeitenden des Archäologischen Landesamtes
Schleswig-Holstein (ALSH) sowie dem
Museum für Archäologie Schloss Gottorf
(MfA) eine zerpflügte Deponierung der Älteren
Bronzezeit aus Absatzbeilen, Sicheln und
einer Lanzenspitze.

Arkæologi i Slesvig / Archäologie in Schleswig, 2023

Abstract The North Frisian Wadden Sea is regarded as an important natural area and is now protect... more Abstract
The North Frisian Wadden Sea is regarded
as an important natural area and is
now protected as a national park and a
UNESCO
World Heritage Site. At the
same time, it is a relic of a submerged cultural
landscape. Environmental influences,
extreme weather conditions but also
dyke construction and artificial land reclamation
have constantly changed the region
over the past millennia. While some
areas could be regained after a devastating
flood, other parts sank into the sea for
ever. Remains of the lost terps and their
agricultural land are preserved under the
present-day surface of the Wadden Sea.
An interdisciplinary, partly DFG-funded
research project is addressing the systematic
investigation of selected areas
in the North Frisian Wadden Sea. Largescale
non-invasive methods of geophysics
together with analyses of aerial photographs
and drone photography are combined
with targeted geoarchaeological and
archaeological investigations.
A defined working area is located near
the present-day Hallig Südfall, where the
trading centre of Rungholt, which sank on
16 January 1362, is assumed to have been
located. Here, for the first time, the path
of a medieval dyke, terps, and drainage
ditches could be reconstructed, and various
locations of tide gates identified.
Hallig Hooge and the surrounding tidal
flats form another area of investigation.
A large number of submerged settlement
areas as well as new insights into the extent
and organisation of medieval salt peat
quarrying are the focus of the current investigations
here.

Arkæologi i Slesvig / Archäologie in Schleswig, 2023

Abstract The western part of the North Frisian island of Amrum is characterized by a wide area of... more Abstract
The western part of the North Frisian island
of Amrum is characterized by a wide
area of sand dunes. Beneath the dunes
the old geest landscape with prehistoric
settlement sites and burial grounds
is preserved. At the wind exposed site
Nebel LA 431 near the duck decoy Meeram
uncovered structures were documented
and small exploratory excavations
were carried out between 2020 and 2022.
Using modern methods, a farmstead of
the late pre-Roman Iron Age / early Roman
Imperial Period is being investigated
here. Several settlement sites had already
been documented by Hans Hingst in the
1960s and 1970s in the nearby surroundings.
The former occupation layer of the
settlement is characterized by extensive
stone pavements. These are partly covered
by a massive cultural layer containing
burnt clay, marine clay, charcoal, and
numerous pottery sherds. In addition
to a courtyard pavement preserved over
an area of about 25 m², in which a large
pit and a fireplace are embedded, it was
possible to document at least two socalled
manure gutters, carefully set out
of stones and representing the longitudinal
central passage in the livestock barn
section of the longhouse. Several oval
hearths, paved and partly covered with a
clay mantle, indicate the living part of the
house. Intensive traces of fire in the living
quarters suggest that this part of the
house had to be renewed at least once and
that several settlement phases presumably
overlap here. Furthermore, an old soil
with Neolithic flint artifacts beneath the
Iron Age settlement layer indicates older
settlement phases.

Supplemental material, Filipovic_et_al_Supp._table_corrected for Middle-Neolithic agricultural pr... more Supplemental material, Filipovic_et_al_Supp._table_corrected for Middle-Neolithic agricultural practices in the Oldenburger Graben wetlands, northern Germany: First results of the analysis of arable weeds and stable isotopes by Dragana Filipović, Jan Piet Brozio, Peter Ditchfield, Stefanie Klooß, Johannes Müller and Wiebke Kirleis in The Holocene

Since 2009, a Priority Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG) deals with the Funnel Beak... more Since 2009, a Priority Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG) deals with the Funnel Beaker Period in Northern Germany, focussing, in a holistic approach, on the conjunction of social structures and the erection of monuments. To this end, evidence for subsistence patterns, social organisation, communication and networks are considered in a diachronic perspective. Spatial structures and chronologies are re-evaluated and adjusted in the light of new excavation results, scientific data and statistical analysis, environmental and economic data are presented and discussed. Several new fieldwork projects are introduced, and their results are combined into the frame of an overall picture of Funnel Beaker societies which are to be described as a complex mosaic of regionally diverse patterns, different sequences of temporal change and distinct spheres of social interaction. Finally, a discussion of the role of monuments in social reproduction together with considerations towards demo...

The results of pollenanalytical and archaeobotanical studies presented here show the development ... more The results of pollenanalytical and archaeobotanical studies presented here show the development of veg-etation in the state of Brandenburg, which was characterized by the climate and the associated natural spread of plants as well as the use of the resource forest by man.The plant food of humans was first obtained by gathering and, since the beginning of permanent settle-ment in the Neolithic period, mainly by means of agriculture. The cultivation of plants continued over the millennia, with most archaeological cultures showing their typical inventory of crops. The dynamics of these developments require further research, as there are still many spatial and temporal gaps. However, in addition to the influence of natural habitats such as climate, soil properties and water supply on agricul-ture, the importance of the exchange of crops and new methods of cultivation between different cultures regarding the local supply of food is already being shown.

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2021

The Holocene, 2019

A number of small middle-Neolithic (3300–2800 BC) settlements flourished in the Oldenburger Grabe... more A number of small middle-Neolithic (3300–2800 BC) settlements flourished in the Oldenburger Graben area of northern Germany. The excavations yielded large amounts of crop remains, suggesting that agrarian production was a cornerstone of subsistence economy. Until about 3000 BC, Oldenburger Graben was a fjord, which over time was separated from the Baltic Sea and became a lagoon. The location of the settlement in the wetlands would have been highly favourable, offering a range of terrestrial and aquatic resources. Nonetheless, it may have been challenging to the Neolithic farmers, as perhaps not much dry land was available for crop growing. The success of agrarian production likely depended on the methods employed. This is an initial attempt at reconstructing strategies of agricultural land use during the middle-Neolithic occupation of the Oldenburger Graben lowland. We combine information on the habitat preferences and life history of arable weeds, and the recently obtained carbon a...

SUMMARY The article presents the results of the SINCOS research group and the SINCOS II project b... more SUMMARY The article presents the results of the SINCOS research group and the SINCOS II project bundle concerning the changes of the socio-economic system of the communities and societies living on the shore of the southwestern Baltic rim from the mid-Holocene Mesolithic and Neolithic period to the Early Medieval Age. The main focus is laid on the stage of the Littorina Transgression from 6000 to 2000 cal. BC, when the people living in the maritime zone between the Oder estuary and the Oldenburg Rift were facing a continuous shore displacement and a coastal decline, forcing them to move their settlements successively to pretect them from inundation. Because of the regionally differing intensity of the isostatic rebound to the isostatic uplift of northern Scandinavia, the coasts of the Bay of Mecklenburg were affected by this phenomenon to a much larger scale than those of the Arkona Basin and the Pomeranian Bay. Both areas were separated by the Darss Sill, which acted as a threshold...

OPEN WORKSHOP 25TH - 27TH MARCH, 2015, CAU KIEL. Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,00... more OPEN WORKSHOP 25TH - 27TH MARCH, 2015, CAU KIEL. Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,000 Years: The Creation of Landscapes IV. Session 1-1: Fish(ing) communities and fishing technologies in inland waters, rivers and at the coast Fish is an important food resource for human societies which live in various aquatic landscapes. The utilization of fish is self-evident in water rich areas but infrequently proven by archaeological findings. Therefore the proportion of fish in the human diet of past societies is still quite unknown. Certainly it varied through time and between different regions. In this session we want to collect multi-disciplinary information about fishing technologies and exploited fish species communities from different time periods and regions and discuss the implications for societies, settlement systems and use concepts of the landscape. Information can come from finds of prehistoric fishing equipment, fish bone analysis, ethnographical sources and historica...

New research on European wetland, bog or underwater sites with well-preserved organics expands ou... more New research on European wetland, bog or underwater sites with well-preserved organics expands our understanding of the importance of aquatic resources in the economy of prehistoric Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer groups in Europe. The excellent preservation led not only to the discovery of active fishing gear like hooks, spears, leisters or tridents but also of larger equipment or structures like nets, traps or fishing fences. Better excavation methods led to the recovery of large quantities of small-sized faunal remains, which contradicts earlier investigations about the importance of fish as food. Finally, cutting-edge isotopic research on questions about human diet gives further evidence for the significance of this food resource. Fishing could attain such importance for human consumption only because an appropriate technology was developed, with which substantial quantities of fish were captured. These were especially stationary fishing structures that are recorded in different coastal ...

ABSTRACT In 2003 a Neolithic wooden fishing fence structure was discovered in the Arendsee, a lak... more ABSTRACT In 2003 a Neolithic wooden fishing fence structure was discovered in the Arendsee, a lake in the north of Sachsen-Anhalt (Germany). Situated at the northern border of the lake, it was found in a horizontal position covered by marl sediments. So far the estimated length is more than 150 m. This discovery and the methods of diving in Lake Arendsee are described. Owing to natural land subsidence, triggered by subrosion, the fishing fence lies at a depth of 9–11 m, which is deeper than when it was in use. Radiocarbon analyses date the wooden artefacts to the 3rd millennium cal BC. Scientific research in 2004, 2005–6, and 2007 included excavations at several sites and the collection of sediments for pollen analysis. The results of the pollen analysis are supported by wood analyses of the Neolithic fence. The fence was made of thin wooden sticks of Corylus, bound with rope, one sample of which was identified as the phloem of Acer campestre. The pollen spectra of the ‘on-site’ sediments of the Neolithic fence can be dated to the Subboreal, i.e. the period after the Ulmus decline. Remains of four fish species, pike, bream, perch, and pikeperch, were identified in the surrounding sediments. In comparison to similar fishing fences from Northern Europe, the fishing fence of Lake Arendsee demonstrates a practice that was certainly often used, although the structure is of a type that is rarely documented for the Late Neolithic. The Arendsee fishing fence is the oldest such find from a lake in Germany, and the first evidence for the coppicing of hazel bushes in the Arendsee area during that period.

The article presents the results of the SINCOS research group and the SINCOS II project bundle co... more The article presents the results of the SINCOS research group and the SINCOS II project bundle concerning the changes of the socio-economic system of the communities and societies living on the shore of the southwestern Baltic rim from the mid-Holocene Mesolithic and Neolithic period to the Early Medieval Age. The main focus is laid on the stage of the Littorina Transgression from 6000 to 2000 cal. BC, when the people living in the maritime zone between the Oder estuary and the Oldenburg Rift were facing a continuous shore displacement and a coastal decline, forcing them to move their settlements successively to pretect them from inundation. Because of the regionally differing intensity of the isostatic rebound to the isostatic uplift of northern Scandinavia, the coasts of the Bay of Mecklenburg were affected by this phenomenon to a much larger scale than those of the Arkona Basin and the Pomeranian Bay. Both areas were separated by the Darss Sill, which acted as a threshold between...

Quaternary International, 2019

Abstract The role of fishing in Stone Age hunter-gatherer societies of the European forest zone h... more Abstract The role of fishing in Stone Age hunter-gatherer societies of the European forest zone has been gaining importance as a research question over the last years. In order to better understand temporal developments in the role of fishing, changing strategies and their connection to environmental conditions, the study of multi-period stratified site holds good potential for working out a sound empirical basis. Multidisciplinary investigations at the site of Veksa 3 in northwestern Russia have substantially increased our understanding on the development of subsistence strategies of Stone and Early Metal Age populations in this region and on the changing role fishing played in this. For the Early Neolithic period (ca. mid-6th to early 5th mill. cal BC) evidence was gained from seasonal settlement remains within floodplain sediments at the bank of the river Vologda. Fish remains within the settlement structures represent kitchen remains (burnt bones) and processing debris (fish scales) with the dominant species being pike and cyprinids. The only evidence for fishing techniques are bone fish hooks which typologically are linked to Late Mesolithic practices in Northwest Russia. Isotopic analyses of ceramic food crusts attest to an increasing importance of pottery vessels in fish processing from the Early to the Middle Neolithic. For the Late Neolithic and the Early Metal Age period, almost one thousand years of intense regular use of the shallow water area east of the modern Veksa mouth for fishing with stationary constructions is attested to by rich waterlogged in situ remains. The wooden constructions encompass thousands of archaeological timbers, many of them upstanding posts with pointed ends, and several lath screens representing fich fences and fish traps, six of which have been excavated. Radiocarbon datings place the constructions within a time frame between the second half of the 4th and the third quarter of the 3rd millennium cal BC. They are associated with the lacustrine, shallow water phase identified in the palaeoenvironmental studies before the regime at this place changed to a fluvial character.

Quaternary International, 2016

CONCLUSIONS Through the example of the logboats from Stralsund-Mischwasserspeicher one can see on... more CONCLUSIONS Through the example of the logboats from Stralsund-Mischwasserspeicher one can see once more the highly developed, long tradition of building large, thin-walled dugout canoes out of lime trunks for thousands of years through the Late Mesolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic at the Baltic coast. Logboats certainly were important watercraft especially at the transition of the terminal Mesolithic Ertebølle culture and early Neolithic Funnel beaker culture. They played a decisive role for extensive fishing, sealing, communication, travel and transport along the coastline, lake shores and rivers, and were an essential part of the material culture of the Stone Age human societies in the S.W. Baltic region.

Archäologische Nachrichten Schleswig-Holstein, 2022

Arkæologi i Slesvig / Archäologie in Schleswig, 2023

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2021

The Holocene, 2019

Quaternary International, 2019

Quaternary International, 2016

Summary The exploration of the Ertebølle Culture and Early Neolithic represented a major research... more Summary
The exploration of the Ertebølle Culture and Early Neolithic represented a major research topic on the German coast of the Baltic Sea from the late 90s to the 2000s. In the scope of various research projects, particularly the DFG sponsored SINCOS group and further rescue excavations, carried out by the state department “Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”, several coastal sites with good preservation conditions for organic material were investigated.

In the present dissertation the excavated wooden artefacts were analysed in detail and compared with other finds, resulting in a comprehensive investigation of Stone Age wooden findings from the Northern German region. The investigation area encompasses Ostholstein and the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern including Rügen Island. The region in front of Poel Island in the Bay of Wismar and the sites in the wetlands of the Oldenburger Graben were particularly well inspected. For the most part, inventories of the Ertebølle Culture were examined dating from 5500 to 4100 cal. BC. Few sites even date into the Late Mesolithic around 6500 cal. BC. Some settlement sites were used until the beginning of Early Neolithic around 3800 cal. BC.

From thirteen different coastal sites 4153 wooden artefacts of the Ertebølle Culture and the Early Neolithic were analysed. This includes 1223 tools and pointed sticks as well as predominantly anthropogenic wood without visible working traces. In addition, 80 preserved wooden findings from excavations of the 70s and 80s from the site Grube-Rosenhof LA 58 and 94 wooden artefacts of the Middle Neolithic settlement phase from the site Wangels LA 505 were examined. Above all, the wooden findings of the coastal sites account for fishing activities. In most cases fishing implements and remains of stationary fishing traps were recovered. In addition, dugouts, paddles, hunting tools and handles of stone and antler tools could be found. The artefacts were analysed by metric criteria and characteristics of shape. They were examined and compared archaeologically and dendrologically.

The first part of this doctoral dissertation describes the findings classified according to tool type. Thereby, the inventories of different sites could be compared among each other. Furthermore, the method of tools production and the modes of operation were delineated. The evaluation of the artefacts also includes their comparison with material from other Ertebølle sites of Denmark and Southern Sweden. Additionally, findings from other eras and other regions of Europe were consulted.
The second part of this analysis describes the wooden artefacts of the individual sites in detail or in summary for higher quantities. For every site the respective research history, dating, archaeological material and results derived from natural science are briefly mentioned.
An alphabetical catalog of the documented tree and shrub types with a short description and feature list as well as common use cases completes this analysis. This catalog recapitulates the proven artefacts of this work by wood type.

As noted, a categorization of several wooden tools according to type was attempted. In doing so the existing division of paddle types from HARTZ and LÜBKE (1999) was expanded. For the leister prongs of eel spears two types were determined and several groups were created for the knee-shaped handles. As a result of the great diversity, most types, with the exception of the leister prongs, have only a very limited number of examples. Signs of chronological development were found for paddles and leister prongs. The fishing implements, however, were already technically mature so there was little variation. This becomes all the more evident when these tools were compared with eel spears and trap baskets of recent history. Minor regional distinctions in the making of leister prongs are evidenced by the use of different wood types.

In general, the preference for certain, well-suited types of wood to create specific objects or tools could be proven for coastal settlements of the Ertebølle Culture and the Early Neolithic. This reflects downright standardisation. As such, fish trap baskets were always made from red dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) with root stripes of alder (Alnus glutinosa) and pine (Pinus sylvestris) as compound material. Tall lime (Tilia sp.) trunks and in one case a trunk of maple (Acer platanoides/ pseudoplatanus) – both wood types are easy to process – were used to build logboats. Spears and paddles were mostly crafted from the trunk wood of ash (Fraxinus excelsior), which is elastic but also rigid and especially resistant to breakage. The moderately tough wood of hazel (Corylus avellana) as well as very tough red dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and pomaceous wood (Maloideae) were used to produce leister prongs. Shafts and handles of stone and antler tools were made of miscellaneous wood types, mostly hazel (Corylus avellana), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) or pomaceous wood (Maloideae). For the production of bows, on the other hand, slow growing elm (Ulmus sp.) was selected, which was the best bow-making wood available at the time. Arrow shafts from split wood of hazel (Corylus avellana), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) as well as from sprouts of the latter are documented.

Based on the shape, age and annual ring widths of the hazel sticks management of hazel shrubs (Corylus avellana) by coppicing can be assumed. Straight, knotless shoots of hazel that are only a few years old with wide annual rings dominate the Terminal Mesolithic find layers of all sites. The shoots were needed in large quantities for the construction of fishing fences that were proven on nearly all investigated sites even if no well-preserved part of a wattle work could be detected. Regular cutting of bushes of red dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) and guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) can be assumed as well because straight rods of these plants were split and used to build fish trap baskets, which were likewise in high demand.

The fundamental importance of fishing for the coastal sites is also reflected in the results of fish bone analysis. Some sites can be interpreted as specialised eel catching places (Anguilla anguilla) because of wooden tools and the results of fish bone determination. At other places mainly the bones of small cod (Gadus morhua) and other marine fish were found, which could be caught by fish weirs composed of a fence and a trap basket.

No substantial change in the wooden material culture can be seen, due to the fact that living on the coastal sites continued the same manner from the Terminal Mesolithic to Early Neolithic.

OPEN WORKSHOP 11TH - 16TH MARCH, 2019, CAU KIEL, GERMANY. Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,000 Years: The Creation of Landscapes VI, Mar 11, 2019

Burial practices, as a kind of ritual activities, consist of many steps, represented archaeologic... more Burial practices, as a kind of ritual activities, consist of many steps, represented archaeologically by different types of burial objects and features, which quite often reflect and clarify cultural distinctions. From this point, the Northeast European forest zone from the Baltic to the Urals is of great interest in the Early and Mid-Holocene. Besides a considerable cultural diversity connected to hunter-gatherer communities, the territory is characterized by a generally favorable preservation of organic materials, including human skeletal remains. Nevertheless, the area has remained virtually a terra incognita from a comparative perspective assessing cultural links and chronological trajectories between Later Stone Age burial sites on a supraregional scale, although it is of particular interest also from a Western perspective due to the sequential, regionally very diverse appearance of " Neolithic " traits such as first pottery and early agriculture within this Eastern hunter-gatherer sphere. With respect to the application of a modern multi-proxy spectrum of methods to the information and materials from previously excavated sites, targeted analyses of existing finds as well as new excavations at several key sites are currently changing this picture. All these factors and developments shape our current understanding of the cultural processes in the above-mentioned time and space. Therefore, the session provides a forum for scholars, which are working with materials from different burial sites. Based on these contributions, variations, discrepancies and similarities should become transparent across the outlined area. This will lead to a better understanding of the transformation of burial practices as well as the ritual sphere and its role in the lifeways of the communities.

EAA Glasgow 2015 - 2-5 September Theme: Interpreting the Archaeological Record Call for Paper... more EAA Glasgow 2015 - 2-5 September
Theme: Interpreting the Archaeological Record

Call for Papers and Posters (Deadline 16th February 2015)

Session AR11: Stationary fishing structures - Use of joint facilities by fishing communities

New research on European wetland, bog or underwater sites with well-preserved organics expands our understanding of the importance of aquatic resources in the economy of prehistoric Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer groups in Europe. The excellent preservation led not only to the discovery of active fishing gear like hooks, spears, leisters or tridents but also of larger equipment or structures like nets, traps or fishing fences. Better excavation methods led to the recovery of large quantities of small-sized faunal remains, which contradicts earlier investigations about the importance of fish as food. Finally, cutting-edge isotopic research on questions about human diet gives further evidence for the significance of this food resource.

Fishing could attain such importance for human consumption only because an appropriate technology was developed, with which substantial quantities of fish were captured. These were especially stationary fishing structures that are recorded in different coastal and inland regions since the Mesolithic. They were constructed from wood, stone and other materials, and are constructed in different ways, shapes and sizes. Predominantly the fishing structures are rather large, and it has to be supposed that prehistoric fishing communities organized the building and use, as well the processing of the catch, as a joint effort. Thus, the traditional manners of building and use have certainly established a kind of collective identity of the communities.

The session holders invite talks and posters that describe special archaeological features, review fishing technologies in a specific area or culture, or give evidence of long term traditions or comparisons from historic, ethnographic and experimental sources, or discuss question about ways of extracting, restoration and conservation of such fragile objects and their further life in museums, labs etc. It is anticipated that through discussion of the various themes, the workshop will stimulate the growing interest of the scientific community in new areas of research on stationary fishing structures and collaboration on a European-wide level.

OPEN WORKSHOP 25TH - 27TH MARCH, 2015, CAU KIEL Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,00... more OPEN WORKSHOP 25TH - 27TH MARCH, 2015, CAU KIEL
Socio-Environmental Dynamics over the Last 12,000 Years:
The Creation of Landscapes IV

Call for Papers

(Deadline 15th January 2015)

Session 1-1:

Fish(ing) communities and fishing technologies
in inland waters, rivers and at the coast

Fish is an important food resource for human societies which live in various aquatic landscapes. The utilization of fish is self-evident in water rich areas but infrequently proven by archaeological findings. Therefore the proportion of fish in the human diet of past societies is still quite unknown. Certainly it varied through time and between different regions. In this session we want to collect multi-disciplinary information about fishing technologies and exploited fish species communities from different time periods and regions and discuss the implications for societies, settlement systems and use concepts of the landscape.
Information can come from finds of prehistoric fishing equipment, fish bone analysis, ethnographical sources and historical evidence as well as isotope analysis. Fishing gear (both passive gear like nets, basket traps and fishing fences or similar structures and active gear like hooks, spears, leisters and tridents) is relative simple constructed, stable in its development and widely distributed, but surely there are differences that might provide insights into contacts and communication between different fishing societies. Fish bone analysis provides detailed information about fish resources, the selectivity of fishery, seasonality, the area of fishing activities and the environmental circumstances.
We encourage contributors to announce talks concerning all the mentioned topics. The session should demonstrate possibilities and limits of the different sources and deepen the inter-disciplinary discussion about the former use of various types of waters, resources, and equipment.

Fishing was one of the simplest sources of livelihood in prehistory. Where available, fish consti... more Fishing was one of the simplest sources of livelihood in prehistory. Where available, fish constitutes an important food resource. Apart from the nutritional value, all parts of the fish have been utilised for various purposes. Humans’ adaptive and innovative ability to conquer new ecological niches and to respond to environmental stress led to the invention of new fishing technologies and e.g., mass-harvesting facilities and highly organised procurement strategies. Sometimes fisheries are labour-intensive and collective effort may have been required. Hence, fishing techniques may be closely related to the socioeconomic, cultural, and sociopolitical systems in fishing communities, as well as to population dynamics. Cultural constraints, behavioural interactions, and social norms might have regulated fishing and the consumption of aquatic resources. Exploitation technologies might express group identity, and provide insights into contacts and communication between different fishing societies. Still, aquatic resources and procurement technologies are often poorly visible in the archaeological record. Therefore, knowledge about the importance of fish in prehistoric subsistence is often quite uncertain.
This session aims to deepen current knowledge within the framework of local, supra-regional, and diachronic development and application of active and passive fishing techniques in the harvesting of aquatic resources as well as other linked activities. Where direct evidence of fish utilisation is insufficient, various forms of indirect evidence are employed. Settlement patterns, site location, fishing technology, and resource specialisation reflect the utilisation of fish as a food source, or as a source of raw materials. Therefore, apart from studies utilising archaeological fishing-related materials, we would also like to encourage researchers contributing studies applying analogous data, from the viewpoint of, e.g., ethnography, anthropology, and ethnohistory to help build the frames of reference and further our understanding about fishing as a phenomenon and its long-term dynamics.

New finds of lesser celandine (Ficaria verna HUDS.) root tubers from Neolithic sites in Northern ... more New finds of lesser celandine (Ficaria verna HUDS.) root tubers from Neolithic sites in Northern Germany and Denmark are presented here and compared with a literature-based compilation of further archaeological finds. The fact that archeological finds of charred lesser celandine tubers are primarily dated within the Mesolithic and the Neolithic, especially in the Early Neolithic, indicates that the occurrence of tubers was closely linked to the gathering of wild plants which still played an important role at the onset of the Neolithic. The discussion about the origin and interpretation of the charred tuber finds, focussing on related site functions and archaeological contexts, suggests that tubers in domestic contexts can widely be interpreted as wild food, at least for Stone Age periods, whereas those from cremation graves stem probably from accidental burning of the natural vegetation associated with heating of the topsoil.

UISPP 2018 conference, Paris, France

INQUA 2019 - 20th Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research

The Neolithic sites located in the c. 20km-long Oldenburg depression (Oldenburger Graben) in nort... more The Neolithic sites located in the c. 20km-long Oldenburg depression (Oldenburger Graben) in northern Germany yielded significant amounts of crop products and by-products, demonstrating that arable farming was the mainstay of subsistence economy. The Oldenburg depression represents remnants of a fjord that, by 3000 BC, was completely separated from the Baltic Sea. The Neolithic settlements, which were occupied both before and after 3000 BC, were located on former islands and along the shore of a lowland lacustrine environment into which the fjord was transformed. The depression received freshwater from numerous small streams flowing down the low slopes and creating brackish conditions. In such a hydrologically rich environment, was the area within and near the Neolithic settlements suitable for crop cultivation? This poster sheds light on the nature of Neolithic crop cultivation in the Oldenburg micro-region using selected ecological information on potential arable weeds and the ratios of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in the remains of major crops – emmer and barley. It appears that the two crops were grown in dissimilar conditions and were managed to varying levels. This may be understood as an adaptation to the potentially challenging farming environment.

INQUA 2019 Abstracts, 2019