Holocene Hunter-gatherers Research Articles

Prehistoric ornaments in a changing environment. An integrated approach to the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Columbella rustica shells from the Vlakno cave, Croatia

This paper advances knowledge of human behavioural and adaptational strategies in coastal areas related to acquiring, producing and distributing ornaments, specifically, the omnipresent marine gastropod Columbella rustica. By applying quantitative and qualitative approaches to the most extensive collection of Columbella rustica shells in the Eastern Adriatic region discovered in the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic levels of Vlakno cave in Croatia, we have determined the complete step-by-step life cycle of this bead type, in particular, where and how shells were collected, produced, used, distributed and discarded. By integrating different methodologies, our data revealed changes in the collection strategies, reduction of the shell size during the Mesolithic period, and standardisation and continuity in production techniques. Detailed analyses of broken shells in the archaeological assemblage identified the presence of technological traces resulting from processing mistakes, supporting our hypothesis of on-site production. A significant share of used and unused standardised beads points that bead production at this site was for personal use but also likely for the exchange and distribution systems. Standardised, systematic and long-lasting activity related to the ornaments places Vlakno cave as one of the leading centres for maintaining regional exchange and communication networks in the Eastern Adriatic region during significant climatic and environmental changes happening in this region in the Late Pleniglacial and the early Holocene. Detecting on-site activities related to the ornaments in Vlakno cave has extended our understanding of how symbolic motives influenced the settlement model of the Late Pleniglacial and Early Holocene hunter-gatherers in Eastern Adriatic region and overall contributed to fundamental questions about the complexity of ancient human societies' adaptation strategies.

Genomic history of coastal societies from eastern South America.

Sambaqui (shellmound) societies are among the most intriguing archaeological phenomena in pre-colonial South America, extending from approximately 8,000 to 1,000 years before present (yr BP) across 3,000 km on the Atlantic coast. However, little is known about their connection to early Holocene hunter-gatherers, how this may have contributed to different historical pathways and the processes through which late Holocene ceramists came to rule the coast shortly before European contact. To contribute to our understanding of the population history of indigenous societies on the eastern coast of South America, we produced genome-wide data from 34 ancient individuals as early as 10,000 yr BP from four different regions in Brazil. Early Holocene hunter-gatherers were found to lack shared genetic drift among themselves and with later populations from eastern South America, suggesting that they derived from a common radiation and did not contribute substantially to later coastal groups. Our analyses show genetic heterogeneity among contemporaneous Sambaqui groups from the southeastern and southern Brazilian coast, contrary to the similarity expressed in the archaeological record. The complex history of intercultural contact between inland horticulturists and coastal populations becomes genetically evident during the final horizon of Sambaqui societies, from around 2,200 yr BP, corroborating evidence of cultural change.

Mesolithic human remains at Cueva de la Cocina: Insights from bioarchaeology and geochemistry

A series of previously unpublished human remains were found at Cueva de la Cocina (Dos Aguas, Valencia, Spain) in excavations from the 1940s and 1970s. Our analyses indicate a minimum of 5 individuals were present in the archaeological deposit, including both adults and children. AMS radiocarbon dating and osteological analysis document ritual defleshing or skinning during the Late Mesolithic, while δ13C and δ15N stable isotope analysis and comparisons to contemporary Mesolithic human remains from the region suggest that these individuals were part of a broader subsistence and cultural network of Holocene hunter-gatherers. Ancient DNA data indicate these late Mesolithic individuals were descendants of a major spread of a new population after a population turnover at the end of the Late Glacial. This research highlights the importance of long-term curation of archaeological finds and revisiting legacy collections.

From settlement patterns to memory of place among Holocene hunter-gatherers at Sai Island, Middle Nile Valley

ABSTRACT Persistent places are the locations where people aggregate, utilise and reuse natural or built features and develop their social identities and interactions. A network of persistent places forms interconnected persistent settlement patterns, which create a humanly made or storied landscape with a shared community-based memory of place. Although it has been demonstrated that persistent settlement patterns long preceded the onset of Neolithic farming villages, the Levant has received the most attention regarding this perspective. At the same time, Africa still needs to be addressed. This paper provides an illustrative case study of persistent settlement patterns created by Holocene hunter-gatherers in the Middle Nile Valley of Sudan. It employs geostatistical patterning and visual mapping of an extensive collection of different classes of artefacts (lithic industry, hammerstones, ground stone tools and pottery) from a well-preserved Khartoum Variant site on Sai Island and correlates them to complex architectural features exposed on an archaeological surface (Level 1) at site 8-B-10C dating to the early fifth millennium cal. BC. The combination of multiple in-depth geostatistical analyses of a complex habitation system successfully documents an exceptionally preserved planned intra-site settlement organisation maintained over several generations, revealing a memory of place.

Adapting in the Arctic II: Upper limb diaphyseal robusticity and habitual activity in Late Holocene hunter-gatherers from Alaska.

This study compares humeral diaphyseal robusticity and asymmetry between Late Holocene hunter-gatherers from Alaska with the goal of reconstructing habitual activity in relation to culture and environment. Ancestral remains from four geographic regions of Alaska were divided into five site groups defined by subsistence strategies and technology: Aleutian Islands, Coastal Bay, Far North Coastal, Inland/Riverine, and Tikeraq. Mid-distal humeral diaphyseal robusticity was quantified using cross-sectional geometric properties standardized by estimated body mass and bone length. Humeral strength and bilateral asymmetry were greatest in Aleutian Island males, moderate in Far North Coastal and Tikeraq males, and reduced in Inland/Riverine males. Left-biased directional asymmetry and reduced humeral strength were found in Coastal Bay males. Aleutian Island males had relatively mediolaterally strengthened humeri compared with other groups. Aleutian Island females had elevated humeral strength, while humeral asymmetry among females was moderate and did not vary between groups. Humeri were relatively round among Aleutian Island and Tikeraq females and anteroposteriorly (A-P) strengthened among Coastal Bay, Far North Coastal, and Inland/Riverine females. These results suggest elevated humeral strength and asymmetry in males that engaged in rowing and unimanual projectile hunting, while reduced humeral strength and asymmetry may reflect bow-and-arrow or ensnarement technologies. Left-biased humeral asymmetry may be associated with net-fishing. Humeral strength and asymmetry are consistent with select instances of unimanual projectile hunting in females, while differences in humeral A-P/mediolateral strength may reflect variation in butchery and processing of prey versus rowing and throwing behaviors.

Неолит и ранний бронзовый век Предбайкалья: основные факторы и процессы в развитии культур охотников-собирателей

Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers (HG) of the Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia, display substantial spatiotemporal variation in adaptive strategies highlighted by several cultural transitions. These transitions are examined focusing on the role of the following factors: (1) changes in the distribution of the boreal forest; (2) technological innovations; (3) intensification of fishing; and (4) their combined impacts on subsistence and social structure. The expansion and retreat of boreal forest was important because it directly affected the distribution and abundance of large and medium terrestrial game, the core of subsistence for all Middle Holocene HG in the region. All other things being equal, expanding forests meant less game while shrinking forest meant more game and more living space for HG. The bow was crucial not only due to its technological superiority over the spear and atlatl as a game hunting weapon but also because its flexibility allowed it to work equally well for groups of any size and in any environment – forest or steppe. The much higher return rates associated with bow hunting freed enough labour to be allocated to other activities such as the intensification of fishing. Fishing and fisheries were important because they worked as a differentiating force: the more intensive the fishing, the more limited its spatial distribution and the greater the micro-regional differences between cultural patterns. Intensive fishing and game hunting pulled the adaptive strategies in two opposing directions: fishing towards differences and hunting towards similarities between groups and micro-regions. Social relations were important because they fine-tuned the social fabric to optimize the general strategy. Together, these factors account for all cultural transitions and variation documented for the Middle Holocene HG of Cis-Baikal: Transition 1 – formation of the Late Mesolithic cultural pattern with incipient formal cemeteries ~8630 cal BP; Transition 2 – replacement of the Late Mesolithic system on the Angara and in Southwest Baikal, but not in the Little Sea or on the Upper Lena, by the Early Neolithic Kitoi pattern with its very large cemeteries ~7560 cal BP; Transition 3 – collapse of the Kitoi by ~6660 cal BP followed by the formation of the Middle Neolithic pattern with no cemeteries; Transition 4 – reappearance of cemeteries ~6060 cal BP and the establishment of the Late Neolithic pattern; Transition 5 – formation of the Early Bronze Age system ~4970 cal BP; and lastly, Transition 6 – the end of the Early Bronze Age socio-economic pattern by ~3470 cal BP.

Неолит и ранний бронзовый век Предбайкалья: хронология и пищевые тренды

Analyses of radiocarbon dates (all corrected for the freshwater reservoir effect) and associated stable isotope values obtained from the skeletal remains of ~560 individuals provide many new insights about Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers (HG) of the Cis-Baikal region, Eastern Siberia. The new radiocarbon evidence clarifies the culture history of the region by defining better the boundaries between the chronological (archaeological periods) and cultural (mortuary traditions) units, as well as our understanding of the transitions between them. Furthermore, differences between the four archaeological micro-regions with regard to the timing and duration of these culture historical units have come into focus for the first time. In terms of dietary patterns, the Early Neolithic foragers of the Angara and Southwest Baikal trended towards a greater reliance on aquatic foods. A similar trend was found in the Late Neolithic Isakovo group on the Angara, while the Late Neolithic Serovo group in the Little Sea trended towards an increased dietary reliance on terrestrial game. In the Early Bronze Age HG, a mosaic of dietary patterns was found: some groups experienced dietary shifts (frequently emphasizing different foods), while other groups displayed stability. Such differences were found even between close neighbours. All these results suggest significant variation in patterns of culture change within and between archaeological periods, mortuary traditions, and micro-regions. Some cultural patterns developed at a quick pace, others much more slowly; some appear to have collapsed rapidly, while others probably went through a more gradual transition to a different pattern. Additionally, this large set of radiocarbon dates allows novel insights into patterns of cemetery use: some seem to have been used continuously, others only sporadically, and some show long periods of disuse. Moreover, some cemeteries of the same mortuary tradition were apparently in use substantially earlier than others were even established. In sum, Cis-Baikal Middle Holocene HG strategies underwent a range of changes not only at the boundaries between relevant culture historical units but also within such units. New insights suggest considerable spatio-temporal variation in the nature, pace, and timing of these developments.

Неолит и ранний бронзовый век Предбайкалья: пространственно-временные паттерны использования могильников

Hunter-gatherer archaeology typically focusses on the details of subsistence strategies and material culture and, in the case of cemeteries, on various aspects of mortuary practices, beliefs, and social differentiation. This paper aims to look rather at patterns of change over time and space in how past hunter-gatherer cemeteries were used from Late Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age (~8600–3500 cal BP) in the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia. The approach is based on a Kernel Density Estimate methodology applied to 560 radiocarbon dates obtained for individual burials from 65 cemeteries and representing 5 distinct mortuary traditions. This enables a number of different types of analysis to be performed at different scales: (1) It is possible to examine the overall tempo of burial events at each cemetery or a group of cemeteries; (2) Within each cemetery the spatial patterns of the sequence of graves and burials can be analyzed further; (3) It is possible to compare the different cemetery-specific chronologies within the microregional or regional context; and (4) Although tentatively at this time, the spatiotemporal pattern of cemetery use over the whole region can be visualised. The spatiotemporal analysis of individual cemeteries shows that each one had its own pattern, some very distinct and clear in their characteristics, which relate to the role the cemetery played for the local group, and within the microregional or regional population. On the regional scale some broader patterns such as shifts in frequency of burial events between microregions within mortuary traditions are visible. However, at this scale the existing sampling biases require caution in assessment of the results and future fieldwork will help improve the analysis and insights. On the other hand, many of the individual cemeteries have been excavated in full and such comprehensive datasets already provide a range of entirely new and important insights into cemetery use by the Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal.

Resinous deposits in Early Neolithic pottery vessels from the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula

The use of resinous substances, certainly one of the earliest technologies developed by humans, was well-known by Holocene hunter-gatherers at the onset of the Neolithisation process across Europe. Recent research has revealed the use of birch bark tar in the central Mediterranean far from this taxon’s endemic regions both in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods and shows that the first farmers from the Fertile Crescent hafted lithic tools and waterproofed artefacts using bitumen.The generalised absence of these natural products in south-western Europe may have thus forced a reformulation of Early Neolithic technologies by exploring and benefitting from existing knowledge in local European hunter-gatherer societies. However, information on resin use from the western Mediterranean is still scarce. Here, we report on the analysis of organic residues from 168 pottery sherds by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry from 10 archaeological sites in this region dating from the second half of the VIth millennium to the first half of the Vth millennium cal BC. In a limited number of samples, minor amounts of several diterpenoids diagnostic of aged Pinaceae resins were detected as mixtures with fats.The presence of pine in the palynological and carpological record supports the human exploitation of this taxon, but its minimal incidence in the anthracological record suggests that other species were selected as fuelwood. This supports the hypothesis that Pinaceae resins were used in association with pottery sporadically but ubiquitously either as its contents, or as post-firing treatments to waterproof the vessels. This demonstrates the development of adhesive technologies and resin-involved labour processes specific to Early Neolithic societies.

Preservation of Mammalian Teeth and Bones Influences Identification of Terminal Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence at Ban Rai Rockshelter, Northwest Thailand

Ban Rai Rockshelter in northwest Thailand, dating to the Terminal Pleistocene and Middle Holocene, includes evidence for hunter-gatherer exploitation of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and arthropods. Abundant faunal remains, identified throughout site deposits, include macaques (Macaca sp.) and Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), but these identifications are influenced by an assemblage largely comprised of preserved tooth elements and fragmented bone. Area 3 at Ban Rai has the largest abundance and diversity of faunal remains recovered and identified in this study. Here, we examine the zooarchaeological assemblage from Ban Rai Rockshelter, to understand long-term hunter-gatherer subsistence change, influenced by site preservation, during and after the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Our results support the presence of the exploitation of arboreal taxa during the Early and Middle Holocene in northwest Thailand.

Biological distances between Late Holocene hunter-gatherers from the lower Paraná wetland (Argentina).

This study assesses the biological affinity between Late Holocene hunter-gatherers that inhabited the region of the lower Paraná wetland (Argentina) at the end of the Late Holocene (1800-700 years BP). Cranial nonmetric traits were registered in 159 adult individuals of both sexes. Biodistances were estimated between environmental and archaeological units through Smith's Mean Measure of Divergence, Mahalanobis distance, multidimensional scaling, Fst index, and R-matrix. Biological distances concerning temporal and geographic distances between the archaeological sites were also evaluated through Mantel and partial Mantel tests. The environmental units showed statistically significant biodistances according to a distance spatial pattern but low genetic differentiation between groups. Additionally, some archaeological sites with median radiocarbon dates around 700 years BP also presented statistically significant biodistances. Gene flow and genetic drift could be responsible for the observed biodistance results. These processes gave rise to different subpopulations of hunter-gatherers with a shared material culture, whose territorial limits could have been reinforced around 700 years BP or earlier.

Human social organization during the Late Pleistocene: Beyond the nomadic-egalitarian model

Many researchers assume that until 10–12,000 years ago, humans lived in small, mobile, relatively egalitarian bands. This “nomadic-egalitarian model” suffuses the social sciences. It informs evolutionary explanations of behavior and our understanding of how contemporary societies differ from those of our evolutionary past. Here, we synthesize research challenging this model and articulate an alternative, the diverse histories model, to replace it. We review the limitations of using recent foragers as models of Late Pleistocene societies and the considerable social variation among foragers commonly considered small-scale, mobile, and egalitarian. We review ethnographic and archaeological findings covering 34 world regions showing that non-agricultural peoples often live in groups that are more sedentary, unequal, large, politically stratified, and capable of large-scale cooperation and resource management than is normally assumed. These characteristics are not restricted to extant Holocene hunter-gatherers but, as suggested by archaeological findings from 27 Middle Stone Age sites, likely characterized societies throughout the Late Pleistocene (until c. 130 ka), if not earlier. These findings have implications for how we understand human psychological adaptations and the broad trajectory of human history.

North Angara Early Holocene hunter–gatherers: Archaeological evidence of the collector strategy

This paper examines Early Holocene hunter–gatherer subsistence–settlement patterns in the North Angara region, located at the northern boundary of Cis-Baikal, Siberia. The archaeological evidence, supported by radiocarbon and stratigraphic data, indicates the presence of hunting and fishing activities, resource diversification, lithic technologies, and settlement organization showing some aspects of the “collector” end of Binford's forager–collector continuum: specialized “logistical” camps and a multi-activity residential base with different patterns of resource procurement and technology. Considering paleoenvironmental conditions, this pattern can be largely explained as an attempt by hunter–gatherers to minimize the risks of seasonal deficits from fishing and game hunting in a boreal zone.

Tracking Hunter-Gatherer Impact on Vegetation in Last Interglacial and Holocene Europe: Proxies and Challenges

We review palaeoenvironmental proxies and combinations of these relevant for understanding hunter-gatherer niche construction activities in pre-agricultural Europe. Our approach consists of two steps: (1) identify the possible range of hunter-gatherer impacts on landscapes based on ethnographic studies; (2) evaluate proxies possibly reflecting these impacts for both the Eemian (Last Interglacial, Middle Palaeolithic) and the Early–Middle Holocene (Mesolithic). We found these paleoenvironmental proxies were not able to unequivocally establish clear-cut differences between specific anthropogenic, climatic and megafaunal impacts for either time period in this area. We discuss case studies for both periods and show that published evidence for Mesolithic manipulation of landscapes is based on the interpretation of comparable data as available for the Last Interglacial. If one applies the ‘Mesolithic’ interpretation schemes to the Neanderthal record, three common niche construction activities can be hypothesised: vegetation burning, plant manipulation and impact on animal species presence and abundance. Our review suggests that as strong a case can be made for a Neanderthal impact on landscapes as for anthropogenic landscape changes during the Mesolithic, even though the Neanderthal evidence comes from only one high-resolution site complex. Further research should include attempts (e.g. by means of modelling studies) to establish whether hunter-gatherer impact on landscapes played out at a local level only versus at a larger scale during both time periods, while we also need to obtain comparative data on the population sizes of Last Interglacial and Holocene hunter-gatherers, as these are usually inferred to have differed significantly.

Reconstructing social networks of Late Glacial and Holocene hunter-gatherers to understand cultural evolution.

Culture is increasingly being framed as a driver of human phenotypes and behaviour. Yet very little is known about variations in the patterns of past social interactions between humans in cultural evolution. The archaeological record, combined with modern evolutionary and analytical approaches, provides a unique opportunity to investigate broad-scale patterns of cultural change. Prompted by evidence that a population's social connectivity influences cultural variability, in this article, we revisit traditional approaches used to infer cultural evolutionary processes from the archaeological data. We then propose that frameworks considering multi-scalar interactions (from individuals to populations) over time and space have the potential to advance knowledge in cultural evolutionary theory. We describe how social network analysis can be applied to analyse diachronic structural changes and test cultural transmission hypotheses using the archaeological record (here specifically from the Marine Isotope Stage 3 ca 57–29 ka onwards). We argue that the reconstruction of prehistoric networks offers a timely opportunity to test the interplay between social connectivity and culture and ultimately helps to disentangle evolutionary mechanisms in the archaeological record.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines’.

How gathering wild rice under human-mediated drought stress could have inadvertently paved the way to Asian rice incipient domestication and cultivation

In eastern China, on the southern end of the Yangtze Valley, early Holocene hunter-gatherers were foraging various plants, including wild rice – Oryza rufipogon Griff. – an aquatic and perennial plant which is the wild progenitor of domesticated rice. According to optimal foraging theory, these foragers should have tried to enhance the efficiency of harvesting wild rice seeds by draining water around the plants before seeds ripened and shattered. This proto-cultivation practice led to unintended consequences given that wild rice responds to drought stress owing to its phenotypic plasticity. Plant and panicle architectures were modified with transitions to more compact and erect tillers and to a closed panicle shape. They provide incentives to early foragers for intensifying their proto-cultivation practices and so could have also triggered initial cultivation of rice. They also triggered incipient domestication of rice, starting by the transition to selfing. According to this narrative, it is even possible that rice incipient domestication preceded cultivation.

Unique foot posture in Neanderthals reflects their body mass and high mechanical stress

Neanderthal foot bone proportions and morphology are mostly indistinguishable from those of Homo sapiens, with the exception of several distinct Neanderthal features in the talus. The biomechanical implications of these distinct talar features remain contentious, fueling debate around the adaptive meaning of this distinctiveness. With the aim of clarifying this controversy, we test phylogenetic and behavioral factors as possible contributors, comparing tali of 10 Neanderthals and 81 H. sapiens (Upper Paleolithic and Holocene hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists, and postindustrial group) along with the Clark Howell talus (Omo, Ethiopia). Variation in external talar structures was assessed through geometric morphometric methods, while bone volume fraction and degree of anisotropy were quantified in a subsample (n = 45). Finally, covariation between point clouds of site-specific trabecular variables and surface landmark coordinates was assessed. Our results show that although Neanderthal talar external and internal morphologies were distinct from those of H. sapiens groups, shape did not significantly covary with either bone volume fraction or degree of anisotropy, suggesting limited covariation between external and internal talar structures. Neanderthal external talar morphology reflects ancestral retentions, along with various adaptations to high levels of mobility correlated to their presumably unshod hunter-gatherer lifestyle. This pairs with their high site-specific trabecular bone volume fraction and anisotropy, suggesting intense and consistently oriented locomotor loading, respectively. Relative to H.sapiens, Neanderthals exhibit differences in the talocrural joint that are potentially attributable to cultural and locomotor behavior dissimilarity, a talonavicular joint that mixes ancestral and functional traits, and a derived subtalar joint that suggests a predisposition for a pronated foot during stance phase. Overall, Neanderthal talar variation is attributable to mobility strategy and phylogenesis, while H. sapiens talar variation results from the same factors plus footwear. Our results suggest that greater Neanderthal body mass and/or higher mechanical stress uniquely led to their habitually pronated foot posture.

Female craniometrics support the \u2018two-layer model\u2019 of human dispersal in Eastern Eurasia

This study reports a cranio-morphometric analysis of female human remains from seven archaeological sites in China, Vietnam and Taiwan that date between 16,000 and 5300 BP. The aim of the analysis is to test the “two-layer” model of human dispersal in eastern Eurasia, using previously unanalysed female remains to balance the large sample of previously-analysed males. The resulting craniometric data indicate that the examined specimens all belong to the “first layer” of dispersal, and share a common ancestor with recent Australian and Papuan populations, and the ancient Jomon people of Japan. The analysed specimens pre-date the expansion of agricultural populations of East/Northeast Asian origin—that is, the “second layer” of human dispersal proposed by the model. As a result of this study, the two-layer model, which has hitherto rested on evidence only from male skeletons, is now strongly supported by female-derived data. Further comparisons reveal that the people of the first layer were closer in terms of their facial morphology to modern Africans and Sri Lankan Veddah than to modern Asians and Europeans, suggesting that the Late Pleistocene through Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers examined in this study were direct descendants of the anatomically modern humans who first migrated out of Africa through southern Eurasia.

Bramka Rockshelter: An Early Mesolithic cave site in Polish Jura

Although multiple Mesolithic cave sites have been recognised in Europe, the use of such sites by Early Holocene hunter gatherers was extremely scarce north of the Carpathians. Single Mesolithic artefacts have been found thus far only in six cave sites in Poland. The rich Early Mesolithic assemblage found in Bramka Rockshelter in southern Poland seems to be quite extraordinary in such a context. The site was excavated over 50 years ago, but the results have never been published or analysed beyond a short mention of child burial found in the Mesolithic context. The paper presents new radiocarbon dates obtained for the Mesolithic occupation and the child burial, showing the Early Holocene chronology of the Komornician assemblage and the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age chronology of the burial. The assemblage's techno-typological analysis allowed us to identify six human occupation phases at the site, with the most intensive phase connected to the Mesolithic. Comparative analyses of other Mesolithic assemblages from the region, together with an extremely high percentage of debitage found in the Bramka Rockshelter assemblage, allow us to discuss the possibility of identifying the site as a knapping workshop located in the vicinity of Jurassic flint outcrops.

Models of Neolithisation of Northeastern Iberian Peninsula: New Evidence of Human Occupations During the Sixth Millennium cal BC

Abstract The goal of this article is to discuss the significance of the archaeological evidence from the sites of La Draga (Banyoles, Spain) and Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Spain), in the context of the neolithisation of Northeastern Iberia. The 14C dates have been analysed using Bayesian statistics. The stratigraphy of Coves del Fem covers the transition between the last hunter–gatherers of the region and the first farmers. The chronological sequence covers approximately 1,300 years, from 6065–5990 cal BC to 4700–4550 cal BC. The site of La Draga was occupied by the first farmers circa 5300–5230 cal BC when a wooden platform was constructed and first used. Subsequent repairs of the wooden piles have been dated as well. Another use of the wooden platform is documented around 5200–5085 cal BC, although until now new construction evidence has not been documented. La Draga site was reoccupied later, when several travertine structures dated in two moments between the years 5100–4900 cal BC and 4950–4700 cal BC were constructed and used. The radiocarbon dates of Coves del Fem and La Draga support the existence of two different models of neolithisation in Northeastern Iberia. In the southern part of the territory, Coves del Fem suggests that the Holocene hunter–gatherer populations remained in the area until the arrival of the first farmers, in a model similar to the one observed at the Ebro basin. On the contrary, the site of La Draga supports the hypothesis of the first farmers colonising a previously unoccupied territory.