Late Neolithic Research Articles

Human-shaped landscape history in NE Greece. A palaeoenvironmental perspective

Following palaeobotanical, sedimentological and archaeological research recently conducted on and around the tell of Dikili Tash (Eastern Macedonia, Greece), we present continuous palaeoenvironmental data on this multi-period site. This study combines pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), macro-charcoal and sedimentological analyses that are compared with archaeological data from the Middle Neolithic to Antiquity period. It provides an overview of the local environment near the former Tenaghi-Philippon marsh and a comprehensive view of human impact on vegetation cover in lowlands. As early as ca. 4550cal BCE, an initial phase of change in vegetation cover, has been recorded. This period, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, is one of intensifying human activities and social interactions into the Balkan region, which resulting in the foundation and transformation of early Late Neolithic societies. Although the palynological record does not show the crops species grown, the intensive clearance resulted in the increase of open herbaceous landscapes with anthropogenic indicators. This, as well as the increase of macro-charcoal values strongly supports a more or less continuously shaping of the landscape by human induced fires. New tree species that also became established at this time include Olea and Castanea. The presence of three main formations can be argued from the Early Neolithic to Antiquity: (1) riparian vegetation, (2) oak woodlands and (3) open vegetation in the form of wooded grasslands. Beyond the responses to climate changes, the vegetation composition reflects a regionally diversified land management system as indicated by a greater diversity in cultivated or harvested plants. The study reveals two phases of decline in land use directly on the edge of the marsh, although indicators of anthropogenic disturbance of the vegetation never entirely disappear during these periods between 3900 and 3300cal BCE at the transition from the Late Neolithic (LNII) to the Bronze Age and from 1650 to 800cal BCE when we observe a reorganization of the settlement on the higher slopes. In contrast, four periods are characterized by an increase in land use extension and intensification: Late Neolithic (4500–3900cal BC); Early to Middle Bronze Age (3000–1600cal BCE), the Iron Age (1000–800cal BCE) and Antiquity during the Macedonian (ca. 357–148cal BCE) and Roman periods (148cal BCE–cal 395CE).

Variability in coiling technique in LBK pottery inferred by experiments and pore structure micro-tomography analysis

The article aims at identifying the origin of voids left by burnt-out organic material within the ceramic paste of Neolithic pottery from the Czech Republic territory. In methodological terms, an experimental reference collection was created and compared with the original early Neolithic pottery from the sites of Bylany by Kutná Hora and Těšetice-Kyjovice. The key analytical procedure consisted in non-destructive 3D microtomography (uCT) analysis, which is especially well suited for the study of the internal spatial organization of voids and temper. It allows to determine whether it is possible to define different manufacturing techniques employed for vessel construction on the basis of internal distribution of voids. The research identified cow dung as the probable organic temper within the original LBK ceramic paste. The ‘S’-forming technique, consisting in pressing the coil to the vessel wall, most closely corresponded to features observed at the Neolithic vessels.

Early Neolithic potters of the Italian Middle Adriatic region

This paper presents the preliminary results of the study of the Early Neolithic pottery production in the Marche region, Italy (VI mill. BC). The main goal of this research is to expand the knowledge of pottery manufacturing processes associated to the typical Central Adriatic Impressed Ware, at present poorly understood. All sites under analysis are located in the piedmont hills of the Apennine Mountains, except one which is on the coast. This study aims to highlight synchronic and diachronic variability in pottery technology, to identify common traits and to investigate the raw materials selection and exploitation strategies. The pottery assemblages are examined by means of an integrated approach which include techno-typological and archaeometric analyses. The environmental factors, the distribution of resources, the technology solutions taken by these early Neolithic communities are considered.

From sherds to potters

The British Neolithic transition, occurring around 4000 BC, at least one millennium after the continental part of Northwest Europe, is still subject to important debate these days. Various studies suggest that the Neolithic start involved farming immigrants from various parts of the Continent. However, ceramics of the Early Neolithic of Britain became increasingly distinct from their Continental roots, particularly in the Southwest and Southeast of England. We recently completed two important projects, one on Early Neolithic British and Irish pottery and the other on Peterborough Ware, integrating a new way of considering these early productions through a technological approach and the observation of various steps of the chaîne opératoire. This paper is the opportunity to present preliminary results which shed a new light on the evolution of pottery wares during the fourth millennium BC in Southern Britain. It specifically highlights strong connections between Early Neolithic and Middle Neolithic pottery, in terms of style, but above in terms of manufacturing techniques.

The circulation of Early Neolithic pottery in the Mediterranean: A synthesis of new archaeometric data from the Impressed Ware culture of Liguria (north-west Italy)

The use of ceramic sourcing to study the scale of human interaction has revealed new perspectives on Early Neolithic voyaging in the Ligurian Sea (northern Italy). We have documented, through archaeometric analyses and in particular optical microscopy of 50 thin sections, the discovery of imported vessels at important prehistoric sites of the Impressed Ware culture of western Liguria. The imported fabrics are characterised by inclusions of gneisses, ophiolites or alkaline-potassic volcanic rocks, which are incompatible with local formations. The sources of these imports could be a few geological areas of the Tyrrhenian coast between central Liguria, Corsica and Lazio. The results of this research demonstrate that a very early maritime circulation of pottery began in the central Mediterranean, with the introduction of ceramic pyrotechnology at the beginning of the Neolithic period (c. 6000BCE). The provenanced areas for the imported vessels suggest that the route of human colonisation of the Ligurian-Provençal arch could have been from the south-east, probably favoured by the north-west direction of the surface marine currents. The stylistic similarities (in vessel shapes and decorative motifs) observed in the pottery production and other aspects of the material culture from the Impressed Ware sites of the north and central Tyrrhenian coast are thus explained as the result of an intensive contact network that existed between the populations living along the coast of the Mediterranean, which were trading and exchanging several commodities overseas, presumably including obsidian and greenstones but also, perhaps, perishable substances contained in vessels.

Transforming Technical Know-how in Time and Space. Using the Digital Atlas of Innovations to Understand the Innovation Process of Animal Traction and the Wheel

The paper uses a new research tool, the Digital Atlas of Innovations to re-think the invention and diffusion of wheeled vehicles in Eurasia during the 4th and 3rd millennium BC. It is argued that the diffusion of wheeled vehicles is the result of the local transformation of several technical components which have been known since the Pottery Neolithic. The technical knowledge to combine these components was widely spread and resulted in experimentation with the use of animal traction already in the late 6th millennium. It were, however, the significantly better connected networks which were established during the early 4th millennium, which enabled the innovation-diffusion of the wheel from its presumed zone of origin in the Black Sea area to the Baltic. The same technology (minus the wheels) is also adopted in many other regions, where it is transformed according to local specifications (ploughs, sleds).

Teething problems in cereal cultivation in prehistoric Egypt: a restudy of Fayum Neolithic sickle blades

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the beginning and development of cereal cultivation in the Fayum Neolithic of northern Egypt by restudying flint sickle blades, which were found and poorly published by the British archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson in the early twentieth century and are presently stored in the British Museum, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London, the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The restudy of various sickle blades in the Fayum Neolithic suggests that they derived from those in the Pottery Neolithic of the southern Levant and evolved in the Fayum according to local conditions and needs. It also suggests that the diffusion of cereal cultivation to the Fayum probably took place earlier than previously thought.

Neolithic land use in the northern Boreal zone: high-resolution multiproxy analyses from Lake Huhdasj\xe4rvi, south-eastern Finland

Two high-resolution pollen and charcoal analyses were constructed from sediments obtained from a small bay in eastern Finland in order to gain information on human activity during the Neolithic Stone Age, 5200–1800 bc. We used measurements of loss on ignition (LOI), magnetic susceptibility and geochemical analyses to describe the sedimentological characteristics. Palaeomagnetic dating and measurements of 137Cs-activity were supported by 14C-datings. The analyses revealed human activity between 4400 and 3200 bc, which is synchronous with archaeological cultures defined through different stages of Comb Ware pottery types and Middle Neolithic pottery types with asbestos as a primary temper. Direct evidence of Hordeum cultivation was dated to 4040–3930 cal bc. According to the pollen data, more significant effort was put into the production of fibres from hemp and lime than the actual cultivation of food.

Cereal remains, plant impressions and 14C direct dating from the Neolithic pottery of Arene Candide Cave (Finale Ligure, NW Italy)

The systematic examination of the VI and early V millennium BCE pottery from the Arene Candide Cave (Finale Ligure, Western Liguria) revealed several charred macroremains embedded in the paste, as well as imprints of a wide range of botanical remains. The analysis was conducted in stereomicroscopy (10–750×) on charred vegetal remains that were either extracted from the ceramic fabric or studied via intracavitary casts. Some of them were further investigated by SEM.Most of the bioclasts belong to cereals: Triticum monococcum, Triticum dicoccum, Hordeum vulgare and phytoliths of Pooideae. We also recognized endocarps belonging to Prunus mahaleb and Rubus cf. R. idaeus and woods of Rosaceae Prunoideae, Quercus t. ilex/coccifera, cf. Juniperus sp. and Pinus t. sylvestris. The imprints of fern fronds attributable to two typical of wetlands - Osmunda regalis and Thelypteris palustris – are of particular interest.The extraction of bioclasts allowed the identification and sampling of organic material suitable for 14C analysis without damaging ceramics. This constitutes a feasible methodological alternative to those currently in use. The dates obtained on plant remains extracted from potsherds corroborate the currently proposed chrono-cultural seriation for the Impresso-Cardial Complex of the Ligurian-Provençal region.

The Neolithic site of Jebel Oraf 2, northern Saudi Arabia: First report of a directly dated site with faunal remains

The archaeological record of the Arabian Neolithic remains extremely fragmentary. Archaeological sites containing faunal remains of early domesticates are extremely rare and only a few sites yielding these have been excavated in Yemen and along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Neolithisation models have therefore had to infer population dynamics and subsistence changes across vast distances. Here we present the first report of a newly discovered Neolithic site in the Jubbah oasis, on the southern edge of the Nefud desert. The site is located on the margin of palaeolake deposits and consists of a large cluster of at least 170 visible hearths. Test excavation of two hearth features yielded radiocarbon ages between 5200 and 5070BCE. Abundant lithics consisted of both ground and chipped stone artefacts, some of which recall the Pottery Neolithic in the Levant. Some 15 fragments of Bos dentition were also recovered. The age of the site raises the distinct possibility that the faunal remains represent domestic cattle. The nature of the site, with evidence for repeated occupation, may therefore indicate seasonal use by pastoralists. The site of Jebel Oraf 2 promises to fill a major geographic gap in our understanding of the Neolithisation process in Arabia.

Sealings before cities: new evidence on the beginnings of administration in the ancient Near East

The sealing of receptacles and storage facilities is one of the most conspicuous features related to early administration in the protohistoric Near East. It has been known and discussed for decades in the context of the northern Levant and Mesopotamia. Until recently, this phenomenon had not been attested in the southern Levant. However, in this paper the authors present an assemblage of sealings discovered in the excavations of Pre-Pottery Neolithic layers at Munhata, Pottery Neolithic deposits at Sha‘ar Hagolan and Middle Chalcolithic remains at Tel Tsaf, all located in the Beth-Shean Valley. We propose here, definitions of protohistoric sealings and their typology and function, and discuss the significance of this phenomenon for early administrative activity in the ancient Near East.

A Morphological Analysis of Malyshevo Middle Neolithic Pottery from the Lower Amur

A Morphological Analysis of Malyshevo Middle Neolithic Pottery from the Lower Amur

Морфологический анализ глиняных сосудов развитого комплекса малышевской неолитической культуры (Нижнее Приамурье)

Морфологический анализ глиняных сосудов развитого комплекса малышевской неолитической культуры (Нижнее Приамурье)

Bronze Age olive domestication in the north Jordan valley: new morphological evidence for regional complexity in early arboricultural practice from Pella in Jordan

Recent research from the site of Pella in Jordan examines the process and timing of olive cultivation. The frequent presence of olive remains from the Pottery Neolithic, beginning in the Yarmoukian, suggests that exploitation of the olive dates from as early as c. 6200 cal bce, with evidence of oil pressing from at least c. 5200 cal bce. Morphometric data, spanning the Late Neolithic to the Middle Iron Age II, using the measurement of olive endocarp length and width, demonstrates a reduction in the size variation of olive endocarps through time, in addition to an increase in their length, likely the result of selection pressure on trees. At Pella, this change occurs sometime after the Chalcolithic and before the Late Bronze Age, probably post-dating the earliest phases of the Early Bronze Age. Domestication is thus later than Teleilat Ghassul (Jordan), which has the earliest morphological evidence for olive domestication, and suggests that olive domestication was a regionally and temporally diverse process.

The use of different amber sources in Italy during the Bronze Age: new archaeometric data

The production of amber ornaments occurred in Italy during the Eneolithic (E)–Early Bronze Age (EBA), although very few beads from the Italian peninsula have been found and analysed. The number of data available for provenience study of Bronze Age ambers is larger, but still a precise picture of when and to what extent the local sources of amber were exploited is lacking. In the present work, 22 amber finds from six Sicilian sites have been studied and analysed by infrared spectroscopy, in particular with DRIFT (diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transformed) analyses. The amber samples are dated between the Eneolithic and the Final Bronze Age–Early Iron Age and are from the collections of the P. Orsi Museum, in Syracuse (Sicily). The data show that only simetite was used in South Italy in the Late Eneolithic (LE)–EBA. In the Bronze Age, the exploitation of simetite shows different intensity in different chronological phases. The results are discussed in comparison with the information available for coeval European ambers.

Revealing patterns of cultural transmission from frequency data: equilibrium and non-equilibrium assumptions.

A long tradition of cultural evolutionary studies has developed a rich repertoire of mathematical models of social learning. Early studies have laid the foundation of more recent endeavours to infer patterns of cultural transmission from observed frequencies of a variety of cultural data, from decorative motifs on potsherds to baby names and musical preferences. While this wide range of applications provides an opportunity for the development of generalisable analytical workflows, archaeological data present new questions and challenges that require further methodological and theoretical discussion. Here we examine the decorative motifs of Neolithic pottery from an archaeological assemblage in Western Germany, and argue that the widely used (and relatively undiscussed) assumption that observed frequencies are the result of a system in equilibrium conditions is unwarranted, and can lead to incorrect conclusions. We analyse our data with a simulation-based inferential framework that can overcome some of the intrinsic limitations in archaeological data, as well as handle both equilibrium conditions and instances where the mode of cultural transmission is time-variant. Results suggest that none of the models examined can produce the observed pattern under equilibrium conditions, and suggest. instead temporal shifts in the patterns of cultural transmission.

Regional asynchronicity in dairy production and processing in early farming communities of the northern Mediterranean

In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.

Plant materials used as temper in the oldest Neolithic pottery from south-eastern Poland

Plant materials were frequently used as a temper as an important part of the process of making pottery. However, identification of the presence of tempering material and its taxonomic composition are still uncommon practices. This paper presents the results of a study of plant remains observed in pottery dated to the oldest Neolithic from south-eastern Poland, as a tool for detecting or confirming changes in the method of making the pottery. In previous studies, plant material was noticed sporadically in coarse ware and its identification was based on macroscopic plant morphology. On the other hand, remains of plants were not usually observed in the other finer ware types since their surfaces were frequently smoothed and decorated, while their sections were very thin. Therefore, in the present study, these groups of pottery have been studied in detail. A preliminary observation of surfaces and fresh sections of selected potsherds has shown that plant temper was neither evident nor abundant in them. However, with microscopy, small fragments of plant tissues and their imprints have been seen inside the clay. Their identification was not possible on the basis of plant morphology, but was carried out with the help of plant anatomy, especially by observing the microscopic features of plant epidermis. Previous archaeobotanical studies from the area indicated that the plants used as temper in coarse ware mostly included remnants of cereal chaff. Consequently, this paper will test this hypothesis in the case of the finer Neolithic ceramics.

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.

Время появления и динамика распространения неолитических керамических традиций в Поволжье

Время появления и динамика распространения неолитических керамических традиций в Поволжье