Neolithic Culture Research Articles

Cataloguing and mapping the Linear Band Pottery sites in Ukraine

Linearbandkeramik (LBK) is the most well-studied Neolithic culture in Central Europe. However, the easternmost part of its area is less known to European researchers. Addressing this gap, information on 175 reliable and 95 questionable LBK sites and six sub-Neolithic sites with LBK pottery in Ukraine has been collected, verified, and systematized. The precise mapping of these sites provided in this paper allows future analysis of their spatial distribution. Accurate contouring of the eastern boundary of the LBK area has revealed the exploitation and exchange of flint, graphite, and salt as a possible driving force of the first farmers’ mobility in the region.

Bustanaevo Burial Mound – a New Great Migration Era Monument in the North-West of Bashkortostan

The article publishes preliminary results of archaeological research on mound No. 45, the Bustanaevsky burial mound, located on the territory of the Buraevsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The monument was discovered in 2011, archaeological research began in 2015 under the leadership of A.G. Kolonskikh. Currently, excavations of the necropolis continue in the course of joint research by the Institute of Ethnological Research named after. R.G. Kuzeev and the Institute of Archaeology named after A. Kh. Khalikov Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. During excavations, one single burial was discovered under the mound. Along with the poorly preserved skeleton, the burial contained archaeological material represented by two vessels, arrowheads and elements of a belt set made in the heraldic style, horse bones and iron bits. The data obtained allow us to assume that the necropolis was left by the bearers of the Kushnarenkovo archaeological culture. The preliminary dating of the burial is the end of the 6th - beginning of the 7th century AD.

About the Settlement of the City of Ufa-II: To the 70th Anniversary of Scientific Research

Purpose. The settlement of Ufa-II is a reference monument of the early Middle Ages of the Southern Urals. The work introduces the latest materials from the site into academic discourse.Results. The obtained materials complement the picture of the development of the immediate surroundings of the Ufa-II settlement. The thickness of the cultural layer in the study area was more than 1 m, which suggests that the site had been in operation for quite a long time. Data on the archaeozoological collection and the results of a morphological and chemical-analytical study of the soil cover are presented. The osteological material is highly fragmented, it bears traces of cuts and appears to be kitchen remains. The species composition is represented by 4 domestic animal species. The cultural layer in its chemical composition is characterized by an increased content of gross phosphorus, and the content of humus, total nitrogen, mobile forms of phosphorus and potassium corresponds to background natural soils. The total thickness of the cultural layer of the monument in this profile is an average of 110 cm. The overlying layers were formed at a later time.Conclusion. The studies made it possible to establish the presence and thickness of the cultural layer. The obtained materials indicate that in the early Middle Ages, the area around the citadel of the settlement was actively developed by the tribes of the Bakhmutin and Turbaslin archaeological culture in the period of the 5th – 7th / 8th centuries.

Sherds of societies: Quantitative and petrographic analysis of Neolithic ceramics in Northeast China

In China, Neolithic sites are routinely attributed to “archaeological cultures” through typological comparisons of complete pottery vessels. However, ceramic datasets have the potential to reveal more than a chrono-cultural attribution. Taking into account not only all the complete vessels but also all the sherds excavated from a site makes it possible to use quantitative analysis as well as morpho-stylistic and petrographic approaches to measure the heterogeneity of the ensemble and ask why and how it was formed. The Wutaishan site in Nong'an, Jilin province, located at the centre of Northeast China, was chosen to implement this methodology. The ceramology research on the complete pottery dataset excavated at this site sheds light on the long- and short-distance exchanges networks in Northeast China at the turn of the 4th millennium BCE, provides a new understanding of inter-site relations in the Yitong River valley, and opens perspectives on the interpretation of the functional spatial layout within the site itself.

THE TERM "ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE" AND ITS DISCOURSE IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF EARLY IRON AGE POPULATIONS ON THE UPPER OB

The paper analyzes the use of the term “Bolsherechenskaya archaeological culture” in domestic anthropological publications of the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Using historiographical and conceptual analysis, the author of the paper presents the main options and contradictions in using the term “Bolsherechenskaya” archaeological culture within the framework of anthropological publications. The analysis of available materials helps to emphasize the discussion points regarding the contradictory and inconsistent use of this term in a specific regional context. Such features fully correspond to the general tendencies of crisis phenomena in using the term “archaeological culture” in modern settings.

Bodily boundaries transgressed: corporal alteration through ornamentation in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic at Boncuklu Tarla, Türkiye

Lack of contextual evidence for the use of small personal ornaments means that much of our understanding of ornamentation traditions within archaeological cultures is reconstructed from ethnographic comparisons. New in situ finds from the areas around the ears and mouth in burials at Boncuklu Tarla, a Neolithic settlement in Türkiye, add a novel dimension to the interpretation of stone ‘tokens’ or ‘plugs’. This article presents a new typology for these artefacts and argues for their use as ear ornaments or labrets in a practice involving significant and lasting corporal alteration.

Continuity and climate change: the Neolithic coastal settlement of Habonim North, Israel

ABSTRACTSedentary occupation of the southern Levantine coast spans from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C to the Early Bronze Age Ib phase (c. 7000–3100 BC). Sites dating to the Early Pottery Neolithic (c. 6400–5500 BC) are scarce, however, potentially reflecting the effects of the 8.2ka climatic event. Here, the authors present the investigations at the submerged site of Habonim North off the Carmel Coast. Typological and radiocarbon dating indicate an Early Pottery Neolithic occupation and evidence for continuity of subsistence and economic strategies with both earlier and later Neolithic cultures. The results indicate the resilience of coastal communities in the face of significant climatic uncertainty and contribute to understanding human responses to environmental change.

Anthropological materials of the Bronze Age from the Ishkininsky burial mounds of Orenburg Region

The Ishkinin mounds are located on the territory of ancient copper mines that could have been created by the miners themselves. The materials from the burials of these burial grounds in total include six skeletons belonging to the Yamnaya and Alakul archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age. The people of the early stage of this epoch, judging by its morphological features, represent a rather tall Europeoid population. The restored male skull (Ishkinovka I, 3/7) is specific, differs from typical pit craniums of the Volga-Ural region in ultradolichocrania, and a very high face. According to male heredity, this individual has the same haplogroup that was characteristic of many Volga-Ural Ural Yamnaya people (R-Z2106), and according to female (mtDNA: H13a1a1), he finds a complete analogy with the sample of the Khvalyn Chalcolithic culture (Khlopkov Hillock, item 8), the owner of which craniologically represents a typical Uraloid complex. Probably, the physical characteristics of this person, and the appearance in general, are a reflection of the mestization of his progenitors. The Alakul skeletons of the Ishkinovka I and III burial grounds are more graceful. Taking into account previously published information, the bearers of the Alakul culture of the Late Bronze Age had a genesis unrelated to the ancient Yamal population. This, as well as archaeological data, shows that the ancient mines were developed for quite a long time, and by carriers of different archaeological cultures. The presence of cases of injury and natural pathologies on the skeletons of both cultures may indicate the presence of stress factors that caused their occurrence.

Cranial selection in the cremated remains of the Iron Age Golasecca Celtic Civilization (Northwestern Italy, 9‐4th century BCE)

AbstractThe Golasecca Celtic Civilization (GCC) developed in the Italian Iron Age, between the 9th and 4th centuries BCE, and is characterized by the predominant use of cremation as a funerary ritual in the Italian area. Reconstructing the steps of the cremation ritual in archaeology is a complex challenge, as many anthropic actions leave only faint traces in cremated remains. Within the funerary rituals of prehistoric and protohistoric Italy, the skull has received particular attention from numerous archaeological cultures and civilizations. The context of via Marconi 2020 (Sesto Calende, Varese, northern Italy) has allowed hinting at this practice also in GCC, through the anthropological analysis of cremated remains found in two different but spatially close tombs. The analysis of the cremated remains identified the selection of some elements of the skull of an adult individual and the post‐cranium of a non‐adult individual in the first tomb, and the presence of only the skull of the non‐adult individual in the second tomb. The possibility of a ritual attention of the GCC reserved for the skull has been proven for the first time thanks to the analysis of these subjects. This work provides new data on funerary ritual behaviors of the GCC, allowing for a better understanding within the Italian and European panorama.

GIS-Based Analysis of the Regional Typology of Neolithic Archaeological Cultures in the Taihu Lake Region of China

The study of the evolution of regional typology of archaeological cultures is essential in understanding the trajectory of cultural evolution from a temporal and spatial perspective. In this paper, we focused on the Taihu Lake region, one of the six major regional typologies of Neolithic archaeological cultures in China. By utilizing archaeological site data from the Neolithic Era in this region, our study investigates the evolution of typologies in archaeological cultures at both regional and sub-regional scales. From a broad perspective, quantitative methods were used to explore the cultural evolution process in the Taihu Lake region. The degree of social integration and intercultural inheritance can be reflected through the size of the site and the superimposition of cultural layers. In addition, climate and environmental data were combined to investigate its driving factors. Moreover, GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis methods were used to cluster and partition the cultures in the Taihu Lake region. By identifying distinct groups of sites, it is possible to deconstruct and analyze the interior of the cultures to study their distribution patterns and to explore the exchanges and expansions within the cultures. By integrating both research approaches, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary characteristics of the regional typology of archaeological cultures within the Taihu Lake region. These findings contribute to the development of quantitative methods for studying the evolutionary trajectory of archaeological cultural systems.

A Study on the Perceived Tourist Image of the Jingzhou Xiongjiazong National Archaeological Site Park Based on Network Text Analysis

With the advent of the big data era, establishing a database by collecting network reviews of destination-related websites from various tourism platforms allows for the acquisition of tourists' perceptions of destinations. This provides a novel approach for researching the perceived tourist image of national archaeological site parks. This study employs network text analysis to investigate the perceived tourist image of the Xiongjiazong National Archaeological Site Park. It collects network reviews from tourism websites such as Ctrip Travel, Dianping, and Mafengwo about the Xiongjiazong National Archaeological Site Park. The study utilizes rostcm software for frequency analysis, semantic network analysis, and sentiment analysis to explore tourists' preferences for the archaeological site park. Simultaneously, it analyzes tourists' perceptions of the Xiongjiazong National Archaeological Site Park from four aspects: archaeological culture, park environment, park facilities, and management services. Four conclusions are drawn: firstly, "Chema Zhen" is the most direct and profound cognition of the park by tourists, aligning with the park's theme; secondly, expressions like "worth seeing," "shocking," and "spectacular" signify high satisfaction among tourists regarding the site's landscapes; thirdly, overall, tourists tend to have a more positive attitude towards visiting; fourthly, the rich archaeological culture, serene and beautiful park environment, awe-inspiring Chema Zhen, comprehensive and interesting park facilities, patient and meticulous service attitude, digital design, and immersive experience have left a favorable impression on tourists. Finally, this paper proposes corresponding strategies to enrich the display of cultural relics, improve the park environment, enhance promotional efforts, refine park facilities, and optimize management services.

Koban culture genome-wide and archeological data open the bridge between Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus.

The North Caucasus played a key role during the ancient colonization of Eurasia and the formation of its cultural and genetic ancestry. Previous archeogenetic studies described a relative genetic and cultural continuity of ancient Caucasus societies, since the Eneolithic period. The Koban culture, which formed in the Late Bronze Age on the North Caucasian highlands, is considered as a cultural "bridge" between the ancient and modern autochthonous peoples of the Caucasus. Here, we discuss the place of this archeological culture and its representatives in the genetic orbit of Caucasian cultures using genome-wide SNP data from five individuals of the Koban culture and one individual of the early Alanic culture as well as previously published genomic data of ancient and modern North Caucasus individuals. Ancient DNA analysis shows that an ancient individual from Klin-Yar III, who was previously described as male, was in fact a female. Additional studies on well-preserved ancient human specimens are necessary to determine the level of local mobility and kinship between individuals in ancient societies of North Caucasus. Further studies with a larger sample size will allow us gain a deeper understanding of this topic.

An Early Neolithic Bone and Antler Industry of Rakushechny Yar on the Lower Don: Technological Strategies and Functional Context

The Early Neolithic site of Rakushechny Yar on the Lower Don evidences successive peopling of the coastal zone in the 6th millennium BC. Analysis of faunal remains, toolkit, and limited technological contexts suggest seasonal orientation of the site shown at least at the early stages. We present the results of the analysis of the Early Neolithic bone tools from Rakushechny Yar layers 23–11 of excavation I, and assess their place in the context of bone industries of the contemporaneous archaeological cultures. The collection is dominated by points. Despite the variable morphology, their preforms and manufacturing techniques are rather standard. Apart from points, two spatula-like tools and two specimens with beveled edges, made from red-deer antler, were found. A limited typological and functional set reveals a peculiar subsistence activity. The traceological analysis has highlighted a stable series of tools for working skins and processing coarse vegetable materials (possibly for basket weaving). Spatula-shaped tools were likely destined for processing mineral materials such as ceramics. Certain typological and technological parallels are found in the Northern Caspian and the Lower Volga regions, but especially in the Southern Caucasian Neolithic (Aratashen-Shulaveri-Shomutepe) traditions possibly originating from those of the Levant and Zagros.

Inferring language dispersal patterns with velocity field estimation

Reconstructing the spatial evolution of languages can deepen our understanding of the demic diffusion and cultural spread. However, the phylogeographic approach that is frequently used to infer language dispersal patterns has limitations, primarily because the phylogenetic tree cannot fully explain the language evolution induced by the horizontal contact among languages, such as borrowing and areal diffusion. Here, we introduce the language velocity field estimation, which does not rely on the phylogenetic tree, to infer language dispersal trajectories and centre. Its effectiveness and robustness are verified through both simulated and empirical validations. Using language velocity field estimation, we infer the dispersal patterns of four agricultural language families and groups, encompassing approximately 700 language samples. Our results show that the dispersal trajectories of these languages are primarily compatible with population movement routes inferred from ancient DNA and archaeological materials, and their dispersal centres are geographically proximate to ancient homelands of agricultural or Neolithic cultures. Our findings highlight that the agricultural languages dispersed alongside the demic diffusions and cultural spreads during the past 10,000 years. We expect that language velocity field estimation could aid the spatial analysis of language evolution and further branch out into the studies of demographic and cultural dynamics.

Association of HLA-C*07:359 with HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 alleles in Taiwanese.

It is thought that Taiwanese indigenous people were the "first people" to populate Taiwan (Formosa) having been there for over 5000 years, preceding the Dutch colonization (from 1624 to 1662) and Spanish colonization (from 1626 to 1642). Taiwan's indigenes, represented by Austronesian language speakers, currently constitute approximately 2% of the total population in Taiwan. It is unknown whether they evolved from Taiwan's Paleolithic or Neolithic cultures, arrived during or after the Neolithic period from China or Southeast Asia or both. HLA studies on the Taiwanese indigenous population have found several intriguing genetic information showing one or two relatively frequently observed alleles and a small number of relatively less frequently observed ones. We report here a relatively frequently observed HLA-C*07:359 allele in the Taiwanese indigenous population, its linkage with HLA-B*39:01, and its probable associated HLA haplotype in two Taiwanese indigenous families. HLA-C*07:359 is a rarely observed allele in the HLA-C locus in the world populations. The objective of this study is to report the allele HLA-C*07:359 that is more frequently found in the Taiwanese population, especially in the Taiwanese indigenous people, to demonstrate that it has a close linkage with HLA-B*39:01 allele in the HLA-B locus and to show the plausible deduced HLA-A-C-B-DRB1-DQB1 haplotypes in association with HLA-C*07:359 in two families of Taiwanese indigenous unrelated individuals. The samples were peripheral whole blood, with dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and/or acid citrate dextrose anticoagulation additives. The sequence-based typing method was employed to confirm the low incidence of the allele of HLA-C*07:359 observed in Taiwanese. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out to amplify exons 2, 3, and 4 of the HLA-A,-B,-C,-DRB1 and-DQB1 loci with group-specific primer sets. Amplicons were sequenced using the BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit in both directions according to the manufacturer's protocol. C*07:359 is an uncommon allele in the HLA-C locus in the world general population, according to our literature review. However, in this study, it is observed in the general Taiwanese population (frequency 0.41%), especially in the Taiwanese indigenous people at a frequency of 0.23%. In addition, we deduced two probable HLA haplotypes in association with C*07:359 in two indigenous families: A*24:02-C*07:359-B*39:01-DRB1*04:36 and A*24:02-C*07:359-B*39:01-DRB1*04:04. The two deduced HLA haplotypes associated with the uncommon C*07:359 allele that we report here are valuable for HLA tissue typing laboratories for reference purposes and for stem cell transplantation donor search coordinators to determine the likelihood of finding compatible donors in unrelated bone marrow donor registries for patients bearing the uncommon HLA allele. Since C*07:359 was found mostly in the Taiwanese indigenous population, we think the allele and its haplotypes we report here are important in population and anthropological studies.

«ЭЛЛИНЫ» ИЛИ «СКИФЫ»: ПРОБЛЕМА ИНОКУЛЬТУРНЫХ ВЛИЯНИЙ В СЕВЕРНОМ КИТАЕ ВО ВТОР. ПОЛ.I ТЫС. ДО Н.Э.

China’s contacts with the Greek world, as shown in previous research, are chronologically extensive. It is certain that they began in antiquity and continued until the developed Middle Ages (Roman Embassy to the Song China). However, in domestic and foreign scientific literature there are often very dubious examples of the Far East and Hellenic culture links. In this article we will examine some of them. It is noteworthy that in the Greek-Chinese contacts study it is often necessary to decide questions concerning the ethno cultural situation in the «world of early nomads». The latter extended from the Northern Black Sea to Transbaikalia and Ordos. The article also considers the problem of correlation of «ethnonyms» from narrative sources with archaeological cultures, the sites of which were found in the north of the People’s Republic of China.

Пряслица со знаками с памятников рязано-окской археологической культуры середины I тыс. н. э. (культурный и исторический контекст)

The paper introduces four spindle whorls with various ornamental signs from the sites of the Ryazan-Oka archaeological culture. As archaeologists have long established, spindle whorls were undoubtedly part of the technological complex of weaving – weights for spin-dles, however, in most cultures of Eurasia they had secondary sacred-magical functions and, accordingly, were often decorated with various signs in which they see calendar or cosmogonic symbolism. In three cases, these spindle whorls were placed in burials as a sep-arate element of grave goods. It is possible that the emergence of the tradition of putting various images on spindle whorls was borrowed by local residents as a result of contacts with the Chernyakhov archaeological culture, where there are finds in the burials of spindle whorls with supposed images of “Germanic” runes. Accordingly, the “Ryazan-Oka” signs on spindle whorls were a kind of import that representatives of the local “Ryazan-Oka” elites received as a result of contacts with provincial Roman limes cultures.

Time to Go Beyond Chrono-Stratigraphy: The (EPPNB) Aswadian Culture of the Southern Levant

Abstract. Contrary to current trends, I strive in this paper to uphold culture history as a valid conceptual and analytical framework of archaeological analysis and define Neolithic cultures as representatives of specific past socio-cultural groups. Promoting this claim, I dwell on the cultural makeup of the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (EPPNB) period in the southern Levant and make a case for the Aswadian culture. Following a review of the Aswadian’s spatiotemporal and material culture features, the paper proceeds to propose that it may be split further into subcultures, making way for a more detailed understanding of its socio-cultural makeup. Notwithstanding gaps in our knowledge, I will draw on the Aswadian’s distinctiveness from other entities—the preceding PPNA Sultanian, the EPPNB of the northern Levant, and the very recently defined Badia culture of Jordan—to argue that it be considered a full-fledged cultural entity. Notably, the position of the Aswadian culture within the broader context of the Levantine Neolithization will also be considered. I will argue that, notwithstanding decisive, innovative trends in the north Levantine EPPNB, the Aswadian culture continued to maintain a hunter-gatherer way of life, resisting the incorporation of domesticates (plants and animals) into its economy, which do not appear in the southern Levant before the very end of the 11th millennium cal. BP and later in the Middle PPNB.

Innovations at the Margins: The Transmission of Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (EPPNB) Culture across the Levantine Interior

Abstract. The advent of the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (EPPNB) in the southern Levant is reviewed here in the light of data from recent excavations. Data from the western flank of the southern Levant continue to indicate that the EPPNB cultural horizon arrived in the region around 9,300 BP/8,612–8,491 cal. BCE. This body of evidence includes a bloc of Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) sites in central western Jordan that terminate around the same time. On the eastern flank of the southern Levant, new excavations are returning progressively higher dates for the introduction of the EPPNB, with Harrat Juhayra 202 in the Jafr Basin being the earliest of them. The early dissemination of PPNB culture across the eastern flank of the Levant is explored in terms of the high mobility of hunter-gatherer communities living in marginal areas, and the porous boundaries of their home ranges. Since quite different adaptations appear to fall under the aegis of PPNB culture (both agrarian villages and mobile hunter-gatherers), this chapter revisits some basic notions and assumptions about the large, pan-Levantine PPNB cultural entity. It reassesses ideas about the construction of archaeological cultures, examines how culture elements disperse, and how inter-societal contacts may give rise to dynamic new cultural expressions.

“Much important for science and truth are still preserved by the Dnipro’s banks”: Letters of Oleksandr Bodyanskyi to Viktor Petrov

The study of the epistolary of Ukrainian archaeologists today is an important component of such a promising direction of scientific research as the history of archaeology. The purpose of this study is to publish and introduce into scientific circulation the letters of Oleksandr Bodyanskyi (1916–1992) to Viktor Petrov (1893–1969), two famous Ukrainian archaeologists. The designated ego-sources illustrate the peculiarities of the communication of the nation’s intellectual leadership in the conditions of the authoritarian Soviet system. The main milestones of their personal and professional biographies are outlined against the background of an era full of contradictions and historical cataclysms. Their participation in the Dnibrobudov expedition (1927–1932) led by D. Yavornytskyi was noted. The archeographic publication of four letters from 1964–1967 from the funds of the Central State Archives of the Museum of Literature and Arts of Ukraine (Kyiv) was carried out. This source complex combines private, public and professional components. For the history of domestic archeology, the details of the researches in the territories of the Steppe Ukraine of ancient eras from the Neolithic to Kyivan Rus’ are of interest. The main attention is paid to the debatable issues of the study of Chernyakhiv archaeological culture. The common foundations in the worldview principles of O. Bodyanskyi and V. Petrov are shown — Ukrainian-centricity, love for nature, non-acceptance of any lack of freedom, a cautious attitude to current civilizational challenges (nuclear threat, etc.). The letters record the peculiarities of the scientific environment of Ukrainian archaeologists, the regularities of their practical scientific and organizational activities, internal competition and interpersonal relationships, provide evaluation judgments about the personal traits and scientific achievements of prominent domestic archaeologists, etc.