Highly productive fishing in Lake Onega? New data on the subsistence basis of the Late Stone age populations in Russian Karelia

Abstract

Recent excavations of the site of Fofanovo XIII (ca. 3500 to 3000 cal BC) on the western shore of Lake Onega, Russian Karelian, yielded evidence of production of Russian Karelian axes and adzes, as well as a rich faunal assemblage. Consisting mainly of unburnt bones, this assemblage represents a rare occurrence in Karelia and the neighboring regions of Russia and Finland, and sheds light on the subsistence of the Late Neolithic / Eneolithic populations of the Lake Onega. Fish bones overwhelmingly dominate, indicating a primary reliance on aquatic food resources, with the most common species being zander (over 80 %) and pike (ca. 9 %). In the specific natural conditions of the Early Subboreal in Lake Onega, zander was the species that could yield the maximal return of the invested effort, and this caused a very narrow specialization of fishing activities. The stable food supply provided by fishing favored tendencies towards complexity, which are evident through studies of the Russian Karelian industry. The analysis of the annual rings of zander vertebrae indicates that the site was in use during the snowless season. The identification of ringed seal, Atlantic sturgeon, and Wels catfish, which are not present in the lake nowadays, are also important results of the analysis.