Mesolithic Europe Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The collection "Art and Religion of Ancient Societies" is a continuation of the series of the scientific publications which is devoted to the problems of study of the spiritual culture in the primitive societies. The previous edition "Art... more

The collection "Art and Religion of Ancient Societies" is a continuation of the series of the scientific publications which is devoted to the problems of study of the spiritual culture in the primitive societies. The previous edition "Art and Ritual of Ice Age", that was published in 2005, covered a circle of questions directly connected with the theory and practice of study of the Paleolithic Art. In this collection we also address to the same problematic. However, taking into account that the understanding of the most ancient culture stages of the human society is connected to a wide circle of questions of the study of the traditional communities, we think it is necessity to expand the edition’s subjects. Therefore we have tried to capture not only questions directly connected with field and basic study of the ancient art, but also practical analysis of the cultural and ethnographic facts. The questions of the aesthetics and theory of development of the early forms of art are considered as separately subjects in works. The published materials enable the reader to familiarize with the questions and methods of their analysis more in details, which are submitted in works of the researchers from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Germany, Canada, USA, Australia.

A long standing traditional cultural division exists between the Irish, the Welsh and the Highland Scots on one side, who are of Celtic heritage, and the English on the other side, who are of mixed Germanic, French, Celtic and even Roman... more

A long standing traditional cultural division exists between the Irish, the Welsh and the Highland Scots on one side, who are of Celtic heritage, and the English on the other side, who are of mixed Germanic, French, Celtic and even Roman ancestry. Until recently, no historian could really agree on on much influence the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans had had on the British and Irish gene pools, let alone agree on where the Celts came from before that. Were the Celts descended from Bronze or Iron Age invaders from the Continent ? Were they the direct descendants of the Neolithic farmers who built Stonehenge, or even of the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who recolonised northern Europe at the end of the last glaciation 10,000 years ago ? Before the age of historical population genetics these questions were left to anyone's guess and speculations. The fast paced progress in genetic sequencing have shed a new light on our prehistory and it is now possible to answer all those questions with a great degree of certainty. This page attempts to retrace the origins of the British and Irish people through the analyses of their genetic markers using Y-chromosomal (Y-DNA) haplogroups, which are passed on nearly unaltered from father to son, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is inherited only from one's mother, and complete genomic studies looking at all the chromosomes.

The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Anatolian ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers,... more

The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Anatolian ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain c. 6000 years ago (kBP), a millennium after they appear in adjacent
areas of northwestern continental Europe. However, the pattern and process of the British Neolithic transition remains unclear. We assembled genome-wide data from six Mesolithic and 67 Neolithic individuals found in Britain, dating from 10.5-4.5 kBP, a dataset that includes 22 newly reported individuals and the first genomic data from British Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Our analyses reveals persistent genetic
affinities between Mesolithic British and Western European hunter-gatherers over a period spanning Britain’s separation from continental Europe. We find overwhelming support for agriculture being introduced by incoming continental farmers, with small and geographically structured levels of additional hunter-gatherer introgression. We find genetic affinity between British and Iberian Neolithic populations indicating that British Neolithic people derived much of their ancestry from Anatolian farmers who originally followed the Mediterranean route of dispersal and likely entered Britain from northwestern mainland Europe.

In this paper we look at the process of Neolithisation by examining the patterning of stable isotope data in the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition from two ends of the continent: south-east and north-west Europe. The accounts we can provide... more

In this paper we look at the process of Neolithisation by examining the patterning of stable isotope data in the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition from two ends of the continent: south-east and north-west Europe. The accounts we can provide based on the current evidence reveal some differences, but also many similarities. The comparative perspective may offer some benefit to our understanding of wider processes while we keep an eye on the detail at regional and site levels – an important lesson we both learned from Alasdair.

This volume provides an insight into the current state of archaeological research in Southeast Europe and its adjacent regions, spanning chronologically from the Aurignacian to the beginning of the Neolithic period. In ten contributions... more

This volume provides an insight into the current state of archaeological research
in Southeast Europe and its adjacent regions, spanning chronologically from the
Aurignacian to the beginning of the Neolithic period. In ten contributions by leading
experts in this field, specific topics in regions ranging from the Aegean Sea, the
Carpathians, and Western Anatolia to the Apennine Peninsula and Central Europe are
presented. This book represents the proceedings of an international workshop, held in
May 2014 in Tübingen as a part of the work of the Collaborative Research Centre 1070
ResourceCultures.

Migrations or larger population movements have so far not yet been discussed for the Mesolithic, while the debates have waged for long both for the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic. Focusing on the so-called blade-and-trapeze horizon, a... more

Migrations or larger population movements have so far not yet been discussed for the Mesolithic, while the debates have waged for long both for the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic. Focusing on the so-called blade-and-trapeze horizon, a long-distance Pre-Neolithic Eurasian movement of small groups across Asia and into continental Europe is suggested. The genetic reflection of these movements might be the westernmost extension of the eastern hunter-gatherer genetic ancestry, with regional adaptations of the lithic technology by local populations further west. In this model, the origins of the blade-and-trapeze horizon should be sought in eastern Asia, and not – as has also been suggested – in NW Africa. It is furthermore suggested, that a climate anomaly, the so-called 9.2 cal BP or 7.2 cal BC-event, has served as a forcing event for the spread of this lithic horizon into Europe. However, the exact mechanisms of this process are not yet understood.

The monumental nature of Neolithic funerary rites is analysed by archaeologists in relation to its alleged links with the management of land by agro-pastoral communities. This article examines the social dynamics in the Neolithic of... more

The monumental nature of Neolithic funerary rites is analysed by archaeologists in relation to its alleged links with the management of land by agro-pastoral communities. This article examines the social dynamics in the Neolithic of Western France, with a particular focus on how human populations mastered oceanic geographical and environmental characteristics. Numerous excavations during the
last fifteen years have significantly transformed the chronology. The evolution of the Mesolithic has been completely renewed and there is now a lack of reliable data between 5300 and 5000 BC (Mesolithic / Neolithic transition). Obviously dependent on a pioneer movement, the Late Bandkeramik of the Paris Basin and Villeneuve-Saint-Germain are well documented in villages that now cover the whole Breton peninsula up to the Loire river. Its early dates when compared to the Parisian Basin model could be due to bias within the calibration curve. South of the Loire, our knowledge of the Early Neolithic in the Centre-Atlantic
region, which is Mediterranean in origin, remains embryonic and centred on the chronological interval 4700-4500 BC. The analysis of social organization shows a clear difference between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic; it also applies to the technical traditions that are subject to an abrupt break. The issue of transmission of arrowhead technology between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic is no longer relevant, because of the revision of the chronology. Two technical domains are likely to have been inherited from the indigenous coastal communities: fisheries
and navigation. Their degree of respective control may have conditioned the socioeconomic foundations of the first agro-pastoral societies in Western France. The successive steps of the transmission of knowledge during the Atlantic Neolithic are discussed. It points to asset control and power in a few hands, which is best ‘embodied’ in the central tomb of the Tumulus Saint-Michel, dated around 4700-4600 BC. We do not know the economic foundations that ensure the ustainabilityof this social structure; their maritime dimension should not be overlooked.

A considerable number of bows or fragments dating from the Mesolithic Age have been discovered at different sites in Northern Europe, most of them in what is now Denmark (DK). All are made of elm wood, and while they show great similarity... more

A considerable number of bows or fragments dating from the Mesolithic Age have been discovered at different sites in Northern Europe, most of them in what is now Denmark (DK). All are made of elm wood, and while they show great similarity in general design, they differ in detail.
The finds from the Mesolithic site Holmegaard IV in Zealand/DK – one complete bow, one fragment – are dated to ca 6,500 BC, making them the oldest bows in the world discovered to date. They were made of elm wood (Ulmus glabra) with very narrow growth rings. Since they are of very distinctive design, later bows of similar shape are often said to be of the „Holmegaard type“. Characteristics of this design are: a deep and narrow grip section; wide and flat limbs; the widest parts of the limbs are above and below the handle, tapering towards the ends;
limb cross-section of a flat D shape, with rounded back and flat belly.
Roughly one dozen complete bows of this design and a number of similar fragments dating from ca 6,500 BC to 1,700 BC have until now been found in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
The paper offers an overview of some of the bows from Mesolithic Denmark which has been compiled from a variety of sources, sometimes contradicting each other, and tries to present the most reliable data and facts concerning these artefacts.
First published in Lee, Noh-Shin (Ed.), Study of Structures, Materials & Manufacturing Processes of World Traditional Bows & Arrows, Cheonan 2009, pp. 155-180.

Human demography research in grounded on the information derived from ancient DNA and archaeology. For example, the study on the early postglacial dual-route colonisation of the Scandinavian Peninsula is largely based on associating... more

Human demography research in grounded on the information derived from ancient DNA and archaeology. For example, the study on the early postglacial dual-route colonisation of the Scandinavian Peninsula is largely based on associating genomic data with the early dispersal of lithic technology from the East European Plain. However, a clear connection between material culture and genetics has been lacking. Here, we demonstrate that direct connection by analysing human DNA from chewed birch bark pitch mastics. These samples were discovered at Huseby Klev in western Sweden, a Mesolithic site with eastern lithic technology. We generated genome-wide data for three individuals, and show their affinity to the Scan-dinavian hunter-gatherers. Our samples date to 9880-9540 calBP, expanding the temporal range and distribution of the early Scandinavian genetic group. We propose that DNA from ancient mastics can be used to study environment and ecology of prehistoric populations.

Throughout the greater part of human evolution in Europe, use of plant foods is invisible and thus might have played a secondary role in nutrition. Ecological changes at the beginning of the early Holocene provoked innovations in early... more

Throughout the greater part of human evolution in Europe, use of plant foods is invisible and thus might have played a secondary role in nutrition. Ecological changes at the beginning of the early Holocene provoked innovations in early Mesolithic subsistence, focusing on the rich plant resources of the increasingly forested environment. High-resolution analyses of the excellently preserved and well-dated special task camps documented in detail at Duvensee, Northern Germany, offer an outstanding opportunity for case studies on Mesolithic subsistence and land use strategies. Quantification of the nut utilisation demonstrates the great importance of hazelnuts. These studies revealed very high return rates and allow for absolute assessments of the development of early Holocene economy. Stockpiling of the
energy rich resource and an increased logistical capacity are innovations characterising an intensified early Mesolithic land use, which is reflected in the stable tradition of uniform seasonal settlement patterns at early Mesolithic Duvensee. The case study reveals characteristics in early Mesolithic subsistence and land use that anticipate attributes of the Neolithic economy.

Caves and rockshelters dominate the mortuary record for large parts of Mesolithic Europe, including southwest Britain and the Meuse Basin of Belgium. There is a striking correspondence in the ebb and flow of use of caves in these two... more

Caves and rockshelters dominate the mortuary record for large parts of Mesolithic Europe, including southwest Britain and the Meuse Basin of Belgium. There is a striking correspondence in the ebb and flow of use of caves in these two regions, beginning in the Early Holocene (ca. 10,700/10,300 cal BP) but then declining markedly after ca. 10,000 cal BP, only to see a strong resurgence in the Neolithic. The Early Mesolithic floruit may reflect an increased concern with marking group identity and territoriality in the light of rapidly rising sea-levels, leading to a readjustment of hunter-gatherer populations as coastal communities were forced to relocate. In southwest Britain, the ‘re-discovery’ of caves for funerary deposition occurs in the early part of the Neolithic, from just after 6,000 cal BP; it commences a few centuries earlier in Belgium, which experiences a strong peak in the early to mid-fifth millennium BP. There is a clear chronological – and arguably a perceptual – link between the mortuary use of caves and chambered tombs in the British Neolithic, while in Belgium the peak in Neolithic use of caves for collective burial coincides with the construction and use of 'allées couvertes'.

Recent excavations (2006–2009) at the Mesolithic-Neolithic site of Vlasac in the Danube Gorges region of the north-central Balkans have focused on a reevaluation of previous conclusions about site formation processes, stratigraphy,... more

Recent excavations (2006–2009) at the Mesolithic-Neolithic site of Vlasac in the Danube Gorges region of
the north-central Balkans have focused on a reevaluation of previous conclusions about site formation
processes, stratigraphy, chronology, and the nature of occupation. Mostly Late Mesolithic remains had
been encountered in the preserved portion of the site, but, for the first time, in a restricted zone of the
excavated area, vertical stratification of burial and occupation features yielded evidence about the use of
the site in the period that is contemporaneous with Phase I–II at Lepenski Vir, the Mesolithic-Neolithic
transition phase in this region, ca. 6200–5900 CAL B.C. Various strands of archaeological evidence show
both continuities and discontinuities in Late Mesolithic forager life- and deathways at the start of the
Neolithic in the central Balkans.

This article presents the results of recent surveys and excavations in the Turkish part of the North Aegean. The archaeological discoveries made on the island of Gökçeada (Imbroz) and on the adjacent Gallipoli Peninsula in the years since... more

This article presents the results of recent surveys and excavations in the Turkish part of the North Aegean. The archaeological discoveries made on the island of Gökçeada (Imbroz) and on the adjacent Gallipoli Peninsula in the years since 1998 are shedding new light on the early prehistory of Turkish Thrace. For instance, the survey work at Üçdutlar on the Gallipoli Peninsula has recently produced reliable evidence that human groups frequented the site on a seasonal basis at several different times ranging from the Early Upper Paleolithic to the Epipalaeolithic. The early site called Eskino on Gökçeada has yielded chipped stone Tools that date to the Middle Paleolithic and also the Epi-paleolithic. During the time of low sea level at the Last Glacial Maximum, the islands of Gökçeada, Samothrace, Limnos, Ayos Evstratious and Bozcaada were connected with one another and with the mainland as well. With the rapid rise in sea level between 20,000 and 7,000 years ago, all of these future islands began to form – at one time or another – and to separate from each other. The story of island formation is, of course, a complex and dynamic one. Major advances have been made in the last ten years but much work remains to be done on questions such as the rates of local tectonic activity on the respective islands. Thus, current knowledge of island formation at the head of the Aegean Sea
is still at the first level of approximation. The excavations in progress at the site of Uğurlu on Gökçeada show that an early
farming community had reached the island by around 6,500 cal BC. This settlement now plays a leading role in the study of the
Neolithic transition in this part of the Mediterranean Sea as well as the circulation and exchange of material culture on the basis of voyaging in the Early Neolithic period.

In this paper, I discuss a specific type of stone tool found at Lepenski Vir: clubs or mallets - which may have been used in fishing as stunners. The significance of large fish species (especially beluga sturgeon) in the diet, settlement... more

In this paper, I discuss a specific type of stone tool found at Lepenski Vir: clubs or mallets - which may have been used in fishing as stunners. The significance of large fish species (especially beluga sturgeon) in the diet, settlement patterns and cosmogony of the inhabitants of the Mesolithic-Neolithic settlement of Lepenski Vir (c. 6200-5900. cal. BC) is amply manifested in the archaeological record, namely by significant quantities of sturgeon bones, the famous ‘fishlike’ sandstone sculptures and isotopic dietary signatures of humans buried at the site. Ironically, there is less evidence to suggest how exactly these great animals were caught. The massive and often ornamented stone clubs were initially interpreted as ‘magic’ and ‘ritual’ devices; however, it should be noted that the ‘ritual’ and ‘profane’ uses of an object need not exclude one another. The aim of this paper is to present the material and stylistic properties of these tools, look into and interpret their contextual provenience, and offer an understanding of them not as passive objects, but as powerful agents in dramatic encounters with the big fish.

Das Duvenseer Moor gehört zu den wichtigsten mittelsteinzeitlichen Fundarealen. Neue Forschungen an den exzellent erhaltenen »Wohnplätzen« befassen sich mit der Entwicklung des Subsistenzverhaltens am Beginn unserer heutigen Warmzeit. Und... more

Das Duvenseer Moor gehört zu den wichtigsten mittelsteinzeitlichen Fundarealen. Neue Forschungen an den exzellent erhaltenen »Wohnplätzen« befassen sich mit der Entwicklung des Subsistenzverhaltens am Beginn unserer heutigen Warmzeit. Und führen zu überraschenden Ergebnissen, die auch ein neues Licht auf die Ursprünge unserer heutigen Ernährungsweise werfen. Hochauflösende Rekonstruktionen der Siedlungsvorgänge, Artefaktuntersuchungen und Modellierungen zeigen: die saisonalen Wohnplätze dienten einer äußerst produktiven und nachhaltigen Nusswirtschaft. Sie ist Teil neuer Wirtschaftsstrategien, die dem späteren Neolithikum bereits viele Innovationen vorweg nehmen.

Hansen, G. & Storemyr, P. (eds.) 2017. Soapstone in the North: Quarries, Products and People. 7000 BC – AD 1700. UBAS University of Bergen Archaeological Series, 9, 408 p. Soapstone is a remarkable rock. While it is soft and very... more

Hansen, G. & Storemyr, P. (eds.) 2017. Soapstone in the North: Quarries, Products and People. 7000 BC – AD 1700. UBAS University of Bergen Archaeological Series, 9, 408 p.
Soapstone is a remarkable rock. While it is soft and very workable, it is also durable and heat-resistant, and with a high heat-storage capacity. These properties have been recognised and valued around the world since prehistoric times, and soapstone has been used for a multitude of purposes, ranging from everyday household utensils to prestigious monuments and buildings. This book addresses soapstone use in Norway and the North Atlantic region, including Greenland. Although most papers deal with the Iron Age and Middle Ages, the book spans the Mesolithic to the early modern era. It deals with themes related to quarries, products and associated people and institutions in a broad context. Recent years have seen a revival of basic archaeological and geological research into the procurement and use of stone resources. With its authors drawn from the fields of archaeology, geosciences and traditional crafts, the anthology reflects cross-disciplinary work born of this revival.

A new transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary field that emerges in pedagogics is commented. Arts coupled with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is the STEM with Arts (STEAM). It introduces students and educators to... more

A new transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary field that emerges in pedagogics is commented. Arts coupled with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is the STEM with Arts (STEAM). It introduces students and educators to an holistic approach in classroom. STEAM removes limitations and replaces them with wonder, critique, inquiry, and innovation. This editorial commentary introduces to Scientific Culture readers to the current status and potential of this field and initiates a further step to encompass Culture, as well. This is the STEMAC (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics for Arts & Culture), novel, and, surely integrated reapprochement, which reinforces the fragmentary bridges and sort of lack of coherence, between natural sciences and engineering & technology, with, and, for humanities (art / culture).

Franchthi Cave is a cornerstone for research on the mechanisms of the forager-producer transition in the southern Balkans region. Publications on this site have documented the geological, artifactual, and macrobotanical records, but... more

Franchthi Cave is a cornerstone for research on the mechanisms of the forager-producer transition in the southern Balkans region. Publications on this site have documented the geological, artifactual, and macrobotanical records, but detailed information on the faunas is lacking. This zooarchaeological study focuses on the Final Mesolithic and Initial Neolithic periods and the question of whether livestock were adopted as isolated components by late Mesolithic foragers or the site was colonized by people who possessed a fully agricultural lifestyle. Because minor stratigraphic mixing may underlie earlier perceptions of a gradual inclusion of domestic animals into the diet during the Initial Neolithic occupation, we examine this question with the help of zooarchaeological and taphonomic data. Changes in taxonomic abundance, contrasting patterns of burning damage, and caprine (sheep and goat) demographic and body-size data together reveal an abrupt shift from a broad spectrum diet during the Final Mesolithic period to a fully fledged domestic economy in the Initial Neolithic that centered on caprines, especially sheep. The caprines transported to Franchthi were small in size, and these animals were intensively managed to optimize meat production. The evidence indicates a wholesale replacement of Mesolithic economies by a Neolithic package at Franchthi Cave soon after 7000 cal BC.

Introduction: This paper discusses the interaction between foragers and farmers during the various phases of the neolithisation processes in south-western and north-western central europe. The disparate state of research on Late... more

Introduction:
This paper discusses the interaction between foragers and farmers during the various phases of the neolithisation processes in south-western and north-western central europe. The disparate state of research on Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherer groups and early Neolithic farmers in terms of the certainty of the detailed chronology, the number of sites and the comprehensiveness of the find and feature analyses, does not permit a discussion on the basis of equally-weighted data. Nevertheless, examples can be found to illustrate and evaluate such interaction with regard to the questions raised in this volume on “Mobility in prehistoric sedentary societies”. Important for the following discussions are the distribution maps (Figs. 2–4) and the sites of special interest (Fig. 1; list of sites in Appendix, p. 73).

Following a thorough review of high-resolution environmental archives, this paper aims at discriminating the factors determining the heterogeneous repercussion of the Lateglacial Younger Dryas in Central Europe. When examining the... more

Following a thorough review of high-resolution environmental archives, this paper aims at discriminating the factors determining the heterogeneous repercussion of the Lateglacial Younger Dryas in Central Europe. When examining the archaeological implications of human adaptation to the subsequent changes in the natural environment two divergent biotic regions are of special interest: the North European Plain and adjacent areas; and the Alpine foothills and surrounding mountain ranges. In these regions, two different archaeological technocomplexes (traditions) are found: the Tanged Point Complex and the Curve-Backed Point Groups. Considering the distribution of the archaeological sites witnessing changes in the material culture and subsistence pattern, the intensity of the environmental changes caused by the Younger Dryas is a decisive element. Settlement discontinuity during the Younger Dryas is questioned. Moreover, the potential existence of established social networks between the two regions expressed by comparable developments such as microlithization is considered. Finally, the authors assess whether the Younger Dryas acted as an accelerator or a brake in the process of regional diversification prior to the Early Mesolithic.

Abstract: A tiny bone plaque found at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe in southeast Turkey, and currently on display in nearby Sanliurfa Museum, shows the first recorded depiction of the site’s familiar T-shaped pillars. In... more

Abstract: A tiny bone plaque found at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe in southeast Turkey, and currently on display in nearby Sanliurfa Museum, shows the first recorded depiction of the site’s familiar T-shaped pillars. In addition to this, the etching on its surface might well be the earliest known use of a 3D perspective in prehistoric art. The plaque’s finely carved imagery also reignites the debate over the axial orientation of the site’s main enclosures and any potential astronomical targets during the epoch of their construction.

Osseous raw materials had important role in everyday activities in most Mesolithic communities. As flint industry, bone industries also create distinctive technocomplexes and display regional, chronological and cultural characteristics.... more

Osseous raw materials had important role in everyday activities in most Mesolithic communities. As flint industry, bone industries also create distinctive technocomplexes and display regional, chronological and cultural characteristics.
In this paper will be analysed the use of antlers as the raw material in the Iron Gates Mesolithic – methods of raw material acquiring, manufacturing techniques, tool types and modes of use and discard of antler objects. The Iron Gates hinterlands, where large populations of cervids lived and were hunted, offered a possibility of easy acquiring of antlers, which were abundantly used in all settlements. Both shed and unshed antlers were used, from red and roe deer, and the used techniques included grooving, use of abrasive wet fibres, chopping, scraping, etc. Main tool types were chisels, wedges and percussion tools. Harpoons were rare, however, the preserved specimen from Kula demonstrates it was carefully made, by a skilful artisan.
Antlers also had a symbolic meaning, as sometimes they were placed in graves (both unworked antlers and antler tools), related to the symbolic meaning ascribed to deer.