Middle Holocene hunter–gatherer mortuary practices in the Little Sea microregion on Lake Baikal, part II: Late Neolithic

Abstract

The Late Neolithic Little Sea—Serovo mortuary protocol in Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia, shows relatively limited variation. The most common characteristics include stone structures (surface and in grave pits), extended supine body position, generally northern orientation of the head, pit-fires, sheets of birch bark to cover burials, multiple interments arranged in layers, and prevalence of grave goods related to the bow-and-arrow technology, knives, and ceramic pots. Many of these characteristics link the Little Sea—Serovo with the Angara and Upper Lena valleys. Characteristics that distinguish Little Sea—Serovo from the other microregions include the frequent use of pit-fires—absent on the Angara and rare on the Upper Lena, the shape and decoration of ceramic pots, the generally poorer assemblage of grave goods, and the infrequent presence of burials placed on the side with flexed legs. The Little Sea—Serovo also shows similarities with the Little Sea Early Neolithic Khotoruk—Kurma mortuary group. These include surface and grave pit stone structures, variable number of burials per grave, mostly extended supine body position but sometimes on the side or with flexed legs, generally northern orientation of the head, rather poor grave good assemblage frequently lacking diagnostic objects. Differences regard the presence of shanks of composite fishhooks of the Kitoi style—recorded only in a few Little Sea Early Neolithic graves, pit-fires—known only from Serovo graves, and ceramic pots—rare in Khotoruk—Kurma graves but frequent in Serovo graves and stylistically different from the earlier vessels. The chronology of all Serovo microregional groups still requires more radiocarbon dates. As of today, it seems that all these Serovo mortuary groups existed around the same time, but their start and end in each micro-region could had been somewhat different. The strongest is the evidence that the Little Sea—Serovo group lasted much longer than the other microregional groups.