Neolithic Contexts Research Articles

Paleogenetic evidence of a Pyrenean Neolithic family: Kinship, physical appearance and biogeography multidisciplinary analysis

One of the most important Neolithic necropolises in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula is La Feixa del Moro (3975-3790 cal. BC), located at 1335 mamsl in the Pyrenees (Juberri, Sant Julia de Lòria, Andorra). Within the scarcity of multiple simultaneous Neolithic burials, the main importance of La Feixa del Moro lies in the fact that it is one of the very few cases to suggest a biological family burial, comprising two adults and a newborn baby.Accordingly, the purpose of the present work was the multidisciplinary interpretation of the necropolis in the Neolithic context of the Pyrenees, on a potential route between the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. Therefore, kinship and biogeographic analyses were performed, as well as external visible characteristics phenotyping.Our results suggest the possibility of a traditional nuclear family, pointing to a very probable relation between the newborn and both adults. First, two mitochondrial haplotypes and two lineages were determined: H1, for the presumable mother and newborn, and U5, for the presumed father. Second, regarding their physical appearance, they all had brown eyes, the adult female and the neonate had dark brown hair, while the adult male's hair was dark red-brown. Finally, it was possible to confirm the sex of two of the individuals, as the newborn baby gender was also confirmed by the High Troughoutput Sequencing analysis.The multidisciplinary analysis of the La Feixa del Moro burial place envisions a very probable familial burial. Not only does the genetic evidence point to biological kinship, but also the archaeological record indicates a habitational area surrounding the burial site. The similar artefacts and the care shown during the funerary ritual suggest a probable biological Neolithic family.

New AMS 14C dates track the arrival and spread of broomcorn millet cultivation and agricultural change in prehistoric Europe

Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is not one of the founder crops domesticated in Southwest Asia in the early Holocene, but was domesticated in northeast China by 6000 bc. In Europe, millet was reported in Early Neolithic contexts formed by 6000 bc, but recent radiocarbon dating of a dozen 'early' grains cast doubt on these claims. Archaeobotanical evidence reveals that millet was common in Europe from the 2nd millennium bc, when major societal and economic transformations took place in the Bronze Age. We conducted an extensive programme of AMS-dating of charred broomcorn millet grains from 75 prehistoric sites in Europe. Our Bayesian model reveals that millet cultivation began in Europe at the earliest during the sixteenth century bc, and spread rapidly during the fifteenth/fourteenth centuries bc. Broomcorn millet succeeds in exceptionally wide range of growing conditions and completes its lifecycle in less than three summer months. Offering an additional harvest and thus surplus food/fodder, it likely was a transformative innovation in European prehistoric agriculture previously based mainly on (winter) cropping of wheat and barley. We provide a new, high-resolution chronological framework for this key agricultural development that likely contributed to far-reaching changes in lifestyle in late 2nd millennium bc Europe.

The biomolecular characterization of a finger ring contextually dated to the emergence of the Early Neolithic from Syltholm, Denmark.

We present the analysis of an osseous finger ring from a predominantly early Neolithic context in Denmark. To characterize the artefact and identify the raw material used for its manufacture, we performed micro-computed tomography scanning, zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) peptide mass fingerprinting, as well as protein sequencing by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We conclude that the ring was made from long bone or antler due to the presence of osteons (Haversian canals). Subsequent ZooMS analysis of collagen I and II indicated that it was made from Alces alces or Cervus elaphus material. We then used LC-MS/MS analysis to refine our species identification, confirming that the ring was made from Cervus elaphus, and to examine the rest of the proteome. This study demonstrates the potential of ancient proteomics for species identification of prehistoric artefacts made from osseous material.

Separating caprine (Capra/Ovis) distal tibiae: A case study from the Polish Neolithic

AbstractDistinguishing the skeletal remains of sheep (Ovis aries) from goats (Capra hircus) is a fundamental and habitual problem in zooarchaeology. Such a distinction is desirable because the taxa can be raised to serve variable purposes, are behaviourally different and are biologically dissimilar; all factors influencing their role in past human economies. Although considerable effort has been spent exploring various methods for their distinction in the Near East, in the Mediterranean world, and in modern populations, the rarity of Neolithic caprines north of the Alps has meant that distinction has not been attempted on any systematic basis. In this study, we present the first attempt to do so, using one of the more problematic elements, the distal tibia, to investigate the caprine remains from Racot 18, Poland, a settlement of the Neolithic Late Lengyel culture. The assemblage is characterised by an unusual proportion of caprines, and ZooMS results indicate relative parity in numbers of sheep and goats. Standard and new biometrics and morphological identifications were also applied. Morphological identifications did not reliably distinguish the taxa. Nonetheless, both standard and new biometrics demonstrate significant size differences between the taxa in this assemblage. This study represents the first step required of establishing effective criteria for differentiation of caprines in Neolithic Poland and by extension other Neolithic contexts north of the Alps.

A multi-isotope analysis of Neolithic human groups in the Yonne valley, Northern France: insights into dietary patterns and social structure

With the arrival of the Neolithic to Europe, new ways of life and new subsistence strategies emerged. In the Paris Basin (northern France), the appearance of some monumental funerary structures during the Middle Neolithic highlights in particular the increasing complexity of the social organisation. At the same time, several sites, such as open-air cemeteries, do not display any evidence of such arrangement. In the southeast of this area, the two primary routes of neolithisation meet. Several funerary parameters attest to the diverse influence received from other surrounding cultures. In order to assess potential differences in diet, and therefore on purported social distinctions at the inter- and intra-site level, stable isotope analyses (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) were performed on bone collagen of humans (n = 177) and non-human animals (n = 62) from seven archaeological sites located in the same area (< 10 km). This study is the biggest so far on French Neolithic material and thus allows for an extensive investigation at a regional scale. Results show that the human nitrogen isotopic ratios are relatively enriched in nitrogen-15 comparing to those of the domesticated animals. This reflects a trophic step that is rarely observed elsewhere in the surrounding Neolithic people, particularly for humans of the biggest site Gurgy “Les Noisats”. Though zooarchaeological data support a predominant cattle consumption, here, we propose a mixed protein consumption of cattle and pig, possibly complemented with some freshwater resources. Furthermore, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopic ratios suggest some slight differences between sexes and sites. This sexual distinction has rarely been identified in the diet within a Neolithic context. Some variations over time were also detected. On the whole, this study seems to support previous observations made from burial practices about a specific regional Neolithic pattern in the Paris Basin as well as bring new elements into discussion of social organisation in human populations.

Assessing the occurrence and status of wheat in late Neolithic central China: the importance of direct AMS radiocarbon dates from Xiazhai

The introduction of wheat into central China is thought to have been one of the significant contributions of interactions between China and Central Asia which began in the 3rd millennium bc. However, only a limited number of Neolithic wheat grains have been found in central China and even fewer have been directly radiocarbon dated, making the date when wheat was adopted in the region and its role in subsistence farming uncertain. Based on systematic archaeobotanical data and direct dating of wheat remains from the Xiazhai site in central China, as well as a critical review of all reported discoveries of Neolithic and Bronze Age wheat from this region, we conclude that many wheat finds are intrusive in Neolithic contexts. We argue that the role of wheat in the subsistence of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age of central China was minimal, and that wheat only began to increase in its subsistence role in the later Bronze Age during the Zhou dynasty after ca. 1000 bc.

A Species Specific Investigation Into Sheep and Goat Husbandry During the Early European Neolithic

ABSTRACT Archaeozoological assemblages are important sources of information on past management strategies, which are influenced by cultural practices as well as the physical geography and climate. Sheep, goat and cattle arrived in Europe with early Neolithic migrants. Their distribution is believed to have been mainly influenced by the geography of European regions although individual species may have held symbolic importance for specific Neolithic cultures. Domesticated animal mortality data derived from dental eruption, wear and replacement can provide insights into slaughter management and consequently animal husbandry practices. Previous studies have focused on caprines (sheep and goat) collectively as a results of their morphological similarity. Here we present a species specific study of sheep and goat mortality data from early European and Anatolian Neolithic contexts using correspondence analysis. The results show that for sheep there were significant differences in slaughter management practices between regions, cultures and site types whereas for goats there was none. This initial examination into sheep and goat husbandry during the Neolithic suggests that cultural practices as well as regional geography played an important role in shaping management practices.

Grinding-stone implements in the eastern African Pastoral Neolithic

ABSTRACTGrinding-stone tools are a poorly utilised source of archaeological information in eastern Africa. Their presence is noted in multiple contexts, including both domestic and funerary, yet the inferences drawn from them are often limited. This short review paper presents existing information on grinding-stone tools (and stone bowls) from Pastoral Neolithic (PN) contexts in eastern Africa. Data on the diverse grinding-stone tool assemblages of the Pastoral Neolithic have been compiled with a focus on details of morphology and spatial, temporal and contextual distribution. Summarising what is known (and, perhaps more importantly, what is not known) about grinding-stones in the Pastoral Neolithic, this paper serves as a reminder that the function of grinding-stone tools was neither singular nor their significance simplistic.

The re-discovery of Arma dell’Aquila (Finale Ligure, Italy): New insights on Neolithic funerary behavior from the sixth millennium BCE in the north-western Mediterranean

Evidence of Neolithic occupation at Arma dell’Aquila (Finale Ligure, Italy) had been unearthed in the 1930s, with the discovery of nine burials and a number of scattered human remains. The material, however, had never been systematically studied and characterized chronologically until recently. We performed a complete re-assessment of funerary behavior at the site, and studied for the first time the scattered human remains, cross-referencing the anthropological data with the spatial and stratigraphic information contained in the original excavation diaries, and with new direct radiocarbon dates on human bone. Results reveal the funerary use of the site throughout the sixth millennium BCE, when various cultural horizons belonging to the Impresso-Cardial cultural complex have succeeded one another, and during the fifth millennium BCE, when the Square Mouthed Culture was attested in Liguria. Five burials spanning the second half of the sixth millennium BCE were aligned head-against-head and feet-against-feet, crouched on their left side, and may be part of an organized funerary space used over a relatively long period of time. Among the nine individuals recognized from the scattered human remains, three date to c. 5750-5650 BCE, and represent the oldest human remains from a Neolithic context in the north-western Mediterranean. Arma dell’Aquila now constitutes an important source of information on the funerary behavior and biological makeup of Neolithic people of the sixth millennium BCE, a period for which little information was previously present in the region.

El ámbar de la Cueva de los Cuarenta (Priego de Córdoba, Córdoba)

La presencia de objetos exóticos en contextos arqueológicos y los intercambios a larga distancia que estos implican es uno de los temas que despierta más interés en la discusión arqueológica. En este artículo presentamos el estudio de una cuenta o colgante hallado en contextos neolíticos de la Cueva de los Cuarenta (Priego de Córdoba). Se trata del único elemento de adorno presente en la cueva, en la que se ha documentado un número mínimo de 41 inhumaciones datadas a lo largo del IV milenio cal ANE. Se presenta la información contextual del hallazgo así como su caracterización arqueométrica mediante Espectroscopía de Infrarrojos por Transformada de Fourier (FTIR). El análisis de la pieza muestra que se trata de una cuenta de ámbar realizada con material foráneo, similar al empleado en las producciones de ámbar posteriores como las de Valencina de la Concepción (Sevilla). Al igual que en estos casos, se propone la procedencia exógena de la materia prima empleada, siendo Sicilia el origen más plausible a día de hoy, lo cual contribuirá al debate sobre las implicaciones que estos materiales foráneos pudieron tener en las sociedades prehistóricas peninsulares.

Animal remains from Neolithic Lameiras, Sintra: the earliest domesticated sheep, goat, cattle and pigs in Portugal and some notes on their evolution

The fauna of Neolithic Lameiras includes abundant sheep. Many could be secure- ly identified by applying criteria described by the late Joachim Boessneck as well as metrical methods. Sheep bones from Early Neolithic contexts, several dated directly via 14C, pinpoint the arrival here, 5450 cal BC, of this exotic animal three thousand years after its domestication 5000 km to the east. Thus sheep were transported at a rate of 1,6 km per year – considerably faster than suggested by the ‘wave of advance’ theory. It therefore seems probable that part of the journey was undertaken by ship. Most of the mammal remains identified at Lameiras belonged to domes- ticated forms and besides sheep and some goat, they include cattle and pig. Zooarchaeologically there is little difference between Early and Late Neolithic. However the Neolithic spectrum of species contrasts with that from a small assemblage in the underlying Mousterian level as well as other pre-Neolithic assemblages in Portugal. It is possible that in southern Portugal the adop- tion of animal husbandry was sudden. Measurements of the remains of Canis, Bos, Ovis, Capra and Sus compared with an increasingly large corpus of data from the South-Western part of the Iberian Peninsula indicate several occasions when these animals underwent size changes. Bos, Capra and Canis were considerably larger in the Pleistocene – a size difference now documented in other regions. Besides a Pleistocene-Holocene reduction in size, they underwent a further dim- inution associated with their domestication. It is possible that aurochs and wild boar recovered some of their former size after the Neolithic, perhaps due to a relaxation of hunting pressure after the Mesolithic. Domestic sheep, goats and cattle increased in size in more recent times perhaps reflecting Moslem and Christian improvements.

Two‐needle knitting and cross‐knit looping: early bronze age pottery imprints from anatolia and the caucasus

SummaryThere is ample evidence for the use of prehistoric loom‐woven, tabby fabric (made by plain warp and weft technique) in the construction of pottery. Ancient potters from the steppe regions of central Asia through to Anatolia and in some parts of Europe sometimes built their wares aided by old fragments of cloth and basketry, which left impressions on and in the walls of their vessels. In the highlands of eastern Turkey at the site of Sos Höyük and at Chobareti, in Georgia, the impressions on Early Bronze Age pottery include an array of textiles and, notably, what appears to be the earliest known evidence for two‐needle knitting and for the continued use of the single‐element, cross‐knit looping (also known as Coptic ‘nalbinding’) made using an eyed‐needle, a craft which has been found in Pre‐Pottery Neolithic contexts of the Levant. Various basketry techniques are also represented.

Joint health in free-ranging and confined small bovids - Implications for early stage caprine management

Human interference with the life cycle of wild ruminant species in the 10th-9th millennia BCE was essential to the ‘Neolithic Revolution’ in the Near East. Being a process of learning by doing, initial ruminant management must have been challenging to both founder flocks and people, but information about potential problems is hitherto lacking in the archaeological record. Here we report on a skeletal condition affecting joint health in small bovids. Detailed examination of the bone surfaces of astragalus of modern and Goitered gazelles as well as wild and domestic sheep revealed circumscribed mesoscopic lesions that we classified into five stages based on their size and properties. Our study demonstrates that intra-articular bone damage is significantly more pronounced in animals living confined to enclosures. Similar non-physiologic conditions have been evidenced in juvenile and adult sheep from early Neolithic contexts throughout Anatolia and interpreted as evidence for locomotor stress due to restricted mobility and stabling on-site. Still in the course of the early Neolithic, joint health improved significantly, implying a better mastering of sheep management over the centuries. In conclusion, pathologic profiling yields the potential for tracing initial management of captive ruminants. Apart from Southwest Asia, the methodological approach presented here seems appropriate for detecting similar developments in the human-animal relationship of behaviorally comparable medium- and large-sized herbivore taxa in other parts of the Old and New Worlds.

Depiction of hairstyle, reflection of identity? Some considerations concerning Neolithic depictions of hairstyles in the Anzabegovo – Vršnik and Velušina – Porodin cultural milieu

The phenomenon of Neolithic figurines and other anthropomorphic representations depicting humans with styled hair is an issue that has been generally overlooked in research. Their occurrence in Neolithic contexts all around Southeast Europe is fascinating in itself, and the same holds for the territory of the Anzabegovo – Vršnik and Velušina – Porodin cultural milieus, which is the case study presented in this article.

Depiction of hairstyle, reflection of identity? Some considerations concerning Neolithic depictions of hairstyles in the Anzabegovo – Vršnik and Velušina – Porodin cultural milieu

The phenomenon of Neolithic figurines and other anthropomorphic representations depicting humans with styled hair is an issue that has been generally overlooked in research. Their occurrence in Neolithic contexts all around Southeast Europe is fascinating in itself, and the same holds for the territory of the Anzabegovo – Vršnik and Velušina – Porodin cultural milieus, which is the case study presented in this article.

The Urban Quandary and the ‘Mega-Site’ from the Çatalhöyük Perspective

This paper considers the phenomenon of urbanism and the ‘mega-site’ from the perspective of the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk in Anatolia. At 13 hectares, with 18 levels of Neolithic occupation spanning 1100 years, and peaking at around 8000 inhabitants, Catalhoyuk is considered to be an important source of evidence regarding the transition from settled villages to urban agglomeration. While parallels can be identified between spatio-temporally separated sites, we argue that traditional models of urbanism disregard divergent long-term trajectories. Thus, a comparative look at different types of sites has the potential to provide new insights into broader questions concerning highly populated permanent settlements in the prehistoric period and contemporary concepts of urbanism, providing a useful alternative to diffusionist or grand narratives. Here, we consider social and ritual practice, settlement layout and space, and social organization as they relate to the urban qualities of this prehistoric town and within the Middle Eastern Neolithic context.

Why the Donkey Did Not Go South: Disease as a Constraint on the Spread of Equus asinus into Southern Africa

Donkeys are the only ungulate definitely known to have been domesticated in Africa and were widely employed in the north of the continent and through the Sahara and the Sahel as pack animals, as well as spreading through much of the Old World. Used in Egypt by 4000 bc, they are attested in Nubia in the third millennium bc, in eastern Sudan in the second millennium bc and, in a Pastoral Neolithic context, at Narosura, Kenya, in the first millennium bc. However, they went completely unremarked by early European observers in southern Africa and appear never to have reached that region, unlike cattle and sheep, both of which reached it before the beginning of the Christian era in a process that linguistic and genetic data now firmly link to the migration of herders from East Africa. Taking its lead from previous studies of the impact of epizootic disease on the expansion through Sub-Saharan Africa of cattle and dogs, this paper asks if disease also constrained the southward movement of donkeys and, if so, what the consequences of this may have been.

Organized waste disposal in the Pottery Neolithic: A bifacial workshop refuse pit at Ein Zippori, Israel

A unique Pottery Neolithic context corresponding to the Wadi Rabah culture was found at the multi-layered site of Ein Zippori, Israel. Given the significant amount of flakes, cortical flakes, thinning flakes, and bifacial tool rejects, it was classified as a refuse pit in which bifacial knapping waste from a nearby workshop was disposed. In this paper we present the assemblage of Locus 8071, focusing on the by-products of bifacial tool manufacture and maintenance as well as bifacial tool rejects. We reconstruct the bifacial knapping and maintenance procedures and suggest that Locus 8071 was a disposal area for by-products from a knapping workshop of bifacial tools—an aspect of spatial organization related to possible specialized lithic production at Ein Zippori during the Neolithic period.

New information on Melides stable isotopes

Abstract

The transition to agriculture in south-western Europe: new isotopic insights from Portugal's Atlantic coast

Abstract