Late Chalcolithic Research Articles

Integrated approaches to understanding animal exploitation and dairying in the Central European Early Neolithic: a case study from Ludwinowo 7 (Kuyavia, Poland; c. 5250–5000 cal BC)

Recent genetic studies point towards 6th millennium BC central Europe as the core region for the emergence of the lactase persistence (LP) gene mutation -13,910*T, making it important to understand the intensity of milk production and consumption among Linearbandkeramik (or LBK) farming groups. However, it is not known if milking was part of the LBK Neolithic “package” from the start, or if it displayed a discontinuous pattern in time and space. Documenting the changing nature of prehistoric animal exploitation requires integrating multiple strands of evidence and here we detail multi-proxy research into animal management strategies and the intensification of dairying in Neolithic Europe, using the LBK site of Ludwinowo 7 in central Poland as a case study. Lipid biomarker and stable isotope compositions of food residues from vessels provide qualitative and quantitative assessments of the major animal products acquired and processed, while zooarchaeological analyses identify slaughter and butchery practices, revealing the nature of meat, milk and fat exploitation. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses on cattle teeth are also undertaken to define seasonal herd management. This combined approach offers an integrated picture of animal exploitation and milk use at the central European LBK site of Ludwinowo.

Interactions between Trypillian farmers and North Pontic forager-pastoralists in Eneolithic central Ukraine.

The establishment of agrarian economy in Eneolithic East Europe is associated with the Pre-Cucuteni-Cucuteni-Trypillia complex (PCCTC). PCCTC farmers interacted with Eneolithic forager-pastoralist groups of the North Pontic steppe as PCCTC extended from the Carpathian foothills to the Dnipro Valley beginning in the late 5th millennium BCE. While the cultural interaction between the two groups is evident through the Cucuteni C pottery style that carries steppe influence, the extent of biological interactions between Trypillian farmers and the steppe remains unclear. Here we report the analysis of artefacts from the late 5th millennium Trypillian settlement at the Kolomiytsiv Yar Tract (KYT) archaeological complex in central Ukraine, focusing on a human bone fragment found in the Trypillian context at KYT. Diet stable isotope ratios obtained from the bone fragment suggest the diet of the KYT individual to be within the range of forager-pastoralists of the North Pontic area. Strontium isotope ratios of the KYT individual are consistent with having originated from contexts of the Serednii Stih (Sredny Stog) culture sites of the Middle Dnipro Valley. Genetic analysis of the KYT individual indicates ancestry derived from a proto-Yamna population such as Serednii Stih. Overall, the KYT archaeological site presents evidence of interactions between Trypillians and Eneolithic Pontic steppe inhabitants of the Serednii Stih horizon and suggests a potential for gene flow between the two groups as early as the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE.

From Neolithic to Copper Age: two tales of change in the Carpathian Basin

Uivar “Gomilă”, a long-awaited and overdue first volume (of a planned set of three), presents, in seven chapters, a comprehensive account of the results of archaeological research on the site of Uivar, Romania. It reports on 10 seasons of investigation into the north-eastern periphery of the Vinča Culture phenomenon and the occurrence of tell settlements in the second half of the sixth millennium BC. Multiple contributors—mostly members of the original research team—present a well-defined case study of a Late Neolithic tell settlement, starting from general questions about the tell phenomenon in South-east Europe and the Neolithic of the Banat area, where “Gomilă” is located (Chapter 1).

ASSESSING THE SPREAD OF ENEOLITHIC AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE FOREST-STEPPE OF UKRAINE USING AMS RADIOCARBON DATING

ABSTRACTCurrent scholarship suggests that Neo-Eneolithic systems of settlement and subsistence in Eastern Europe were defined by short-to-medium range migration, while sparsely populated land in peripheral regions allowed for the continual colonization of new territories. We address the Eastern Tripolye Culture (ETC), a sub-group of the Cucuteni-Tripolye cultural complex that flourished ca. 4300–2950 BC by expanding into the forest-steppe ecozone of Central Ukraine. While a general lack of multi-layer sites complicates regional chronology, we resolve several longstanding questions in Ukrainian archaeological discourse by combining traditional relative chronologies of ceramic types with high-precision AMS dating of material from key sites. We offer a revision of the chronology of Tripolye BI and BI-II, which, rather than consisting of distinct “early” and “late” temporal periods, instead constitute a single period characterized by stylistic diversity in material culture. With an absolute chronology established, we then analyze the space-time distribution of sites, revealing a southwest-to-northeast migratory vector across Central Ukraine characterized by punctuated episodes of “leapfrog” colonization. The establishment of this vector by the ETC presages larger-scale population movements by the Western Tripolye Culture (WTC), which led to the establishment of the giant-settlement phenomenon during the first part of the 4th millennium BC.

Dendroarchaeology at Lake Ohrid: 5th and 2nd millennia BCE tree-ring chronologies from the waterlogged site of Ploča Mičov Grad, North Macedonia

On the prehistoric site of Ploča Mičov Grad (Ohrid, North Macedonia) on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid a total of 799 wooden elements were recorded from a systematically excavated area of nearly 100 square metres. Most of them are pile remains made of round wood with diameters up to almost 40 cm. A comprehensive dendrochronological analysis allows the construction of numerous well-replicated tree-ring chronologies for different species. High agreements between the chronologies prove that oak, pine, juniper, ash and hop-hornbeam can be crossdated. The chronologies are dated by means of radiocarbon dates and modelling using wiggle matching. An intensive settlement phase is attested for the middle of the 5th millennium BCE. Further phases follow towards the end of the 5th millennium BCE and in the 2nd millennium around 1800, 1400 and 1300 BCE. Furthermore, the exact, relative felling dates allow first insights into the minimum duration of the settlement phases, which lie between 17 and 87 years. The multi-centennial chronologies presented in this study can be used as a first robust dating basis for future research in the numerous not yet dated prehistoric lake shore settlements of the region with excellently preserved wooden remains.

Страсти по детям, или этюд о Высшем Третьем

The article considers a few burial sites with numerous chindren’s graves of the Early Eneolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age (the fifth and fourth millennia BC) in the North-West Black Sea region (cemeteries at Giurgiulești, Koshary, Vykhvatintsy and Bursuceni). Analysis of the burial rite and distribution of grave goods allows us to discern some ternary structures which could exemplify certain principles in the organization of prehistoric societies and institutions of social power. It is suggested that young children could be treated in a ritual as sacred victims whereas burial sites themselves could partially or completely function as sacrificial places. Archaeological parallels for such triple structures can be also traced outside the region in question. The ritual ternary compounds uncovered at archaeological sites are compared with threefold structures and motives evidenced within different mythological traditions. An inference is drawn that triple social models have no universal character and can emerge and disappear depending on specific historic situations.

Linking Neolithic lakeshore settlements through raw material of siliceous artefacts

This paper presents the results of the provenience analysis of siliceous artefacts from Neolithic lakeshore settlements studied in the scope of the SNSF-project MET (“Mobilities, entanglements and transformations in Neolithic societies on the Swiss Plateau (3900-3500 BCE) supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Project No 100011 156205). The aim of this paper is to compare the cultural entanglements as defined by the pottery studies with the regions of origins of the knappable siliceous sedimentary rocks (KSSR) raw materials. The analysed siliceous artefacts were found in cultural layers of wetland settlements in the Northern Alpine Foreland, most of which are dated dendrochronologically with extreme precision. The sources of the raw materials were determined by the identification of the sedimentary microfacies of the siliceous artefacts, which allows the accurate location of the exploited outcrops without destroying the artefacts. This enabled detailed insights into complex entanglements, ties and mobility patterns in the raw material procurement between settlement communities on the Swiss Plateau, southern Germany and eastern France. Furthermore, these results were compared visually with stylistic entanglements in the pottery of the 4th millennium BCE. As a first attempt in this direction, this paper shows the potential of studies on mobility patterns when different find categories are studied in combination regarding their raw materials but also their typology.

Combining geometric morphometrics and redundancy analysis to analyse Neolithic architecture – A case study on southwest German longhouses 5000-4500 BCE

Longhouses represent the typical architecture of early farming societies of Central Europe. For almost 1000 years, these buildings with earthfast posts remain the typical form of construction (c. 5500–4500 BCE). In the course of this time, a number of architectural elements nevertheless changed. In the first half of the 5th millennium BCE, the variety of architectural construction methods increased. The typology of the ground plan and further architectural elements are hence a crucial basis for dating buildings of this time period. And this is also of great importance because individual house plans cannot be dated using finds from accompanying pits. This article examines previous categorisations for house layouts of the southwest German Middle Neolithic (5000-4500 BCE) on the basis of multivariate methods including geometric morphometrics, principal component analysis, and redundancy analysis. The results show a significant connection between the shape of the outline and a rough chronological classification as well as various constructional characteristics. Our analysis shows that the Middle Neolithic longhouse does not exhibit a continuous change in the shape from “ship-shaped” to “trapezoidal”. Rather, for the older stage, exclusively ship-shaped outlines are typical while for the younger stage a diversification took place. This transformation can be placed in a broader cultural context since diversification processes have also been observed for settlement patterns and agricultural practice during this period.

Pit-houses of the Stone Age Belarus in the 4th millennium BC

Abstract Fifty-eight Stone Age buildings discovered at 31 settlement sites are currently known in Belarus. Our attention is focused on 21 pit-houses, which are presumably dated to the 4th millennium BC and were found at 13 sites in southern Belarus. They are mainly related to the Eastern Polessye and Upper-Dnieper cultures of the Dnieper-Donets cultural complex, as well as to the Neman culture. Analysis of the shapes, sizes and constructive features of these pit-houses revealed both similarities (size up to 11 m2, depth ca. 0.3–0.5 m and the presence of rounded fireplaces without stones) and differences (rectangular or oval shapes for the Eastern Polessye culture and rounded for the Upper-Dnieper culture). Analogues of the Belarusian building remains exist on the territories of Ukraine and Lithuania. The distribution of these pit-houses indicates an architectural tradition that differs significantly from the second geographically well-defined pit-house area from the 4th millennium BC, which is located in Finland, north-western Russia and the northern coast of Estonia.

Enamel thickness per masticatory phases (ETMP): A new approach to assess the relationship between macrowear and enamel thickness in the human lower first molar

Many anthropological studies have examined the functional implications of enamel thickness in human dental crowns. Despite limitations, Enamel thickness (ET) values are still used to infer taxonomic attribution in the genus Homo, and to identify mechanisms of functional adaptation against macrowear. However, only a few studies have tried to describe the possible relationship between ET and dental wear patterns in permanent lower first molars (M1) aiming to observe whether an adaptive response to the environmental and cultural context is detectable. The present work aims to investigate a possible signal of ET adaptive response in M1 (wear stage 3; Molnar, 1971) belonging to individuals who lived between the Neolithic (early 6th millennium BCE) and the Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BCE) in Croatia to identify any signal of change in dental tissue proportions based on archaeologically documented shifts in population structure and subsistence strategies. In order to do so, we explored 3D Average Enamel Thickness (AET) of the entire crown and wear pattern distribution among individuals and across chronological groups. We then described a new method called “Enamel Thickness per Masticatory Phases” (ETMP) involving the creation of virtual sections cutting enamel and coronal dentine in three parts based on masticatory phases, and explored the distribution of 3D AET accordingly. Finally, we performed geometric morphometric analysis on dental crown to ascertain possible morphological differences between Neolithic, Eneolithic, and Bronze Age groups. Results show that Bronze Age individuals differ from previous groups due to 1) higher values of ET in both the entire crown and specifically in the buccal area, 2) to an extensive wear pattern localized on the buccal side, and 3) to the distal extension of the hypoconid together with an extended mesio-distal shape of the crown. These patterns may represent an adaptive response of dental tissue to varying functional demands (e.g. archaeologically documented dietary shift). The study of ETMP therefore offers a more nuanced method, in addition to morphology and macrowear analysis, to document biocultural processes of change over time in archaeological populations through dental tissues.

:Pottery Making and Communities during the 5th Millennium BCE in Fars Province, Southwestern Iran

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewPottery Making and Communities during the 5th Millennium BCE in Fars Province, Southwestern Iran. By Takehiro Miki. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2022. Pp. xii + 445 + 86 color and 69 black and white illustrations. $92 (paper).Abbas AlizadehAbbas AlizadehUniversity of Chicago Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 82, Number 1April 2023 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/723791 For permission to reuse a book review in this section, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Middle Neolithic agricultural and land-use models in southern Poland: A case-study of the long-term settlement in Mozgawa

Palaeoecological and archaeological studies conducted in Mozgawa (southern Poland) demonstrated a long-term sustainable land-use by inhabitants of a large settlement occupied during the second half of the fourth millennium BC. The Middle Neolithic society established a settlement that covered an area of about 30–35 ha and functioned during at least three centuries, as validated by the absolute chronology. A thorough analysis based on the fuzzy-logic principle combined with archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data showed that the subsistence model was based on agricultural practices, related with both crop cultivation and animal husbandry, together with an important component of hunting, fishing and gathering. Ecological requirements of plants and animals represented by fossil remains suggested that the exploited area included a variety of habitats. In the open landscape, wet and dry grasslands, used partly as pastures, cultivated fields and marshes were present. Wooded areas included deciduous lime-oak-elm forests, also of open canopy type, and riparian forests. This was due to the transitional location of the Mozgawa site on a loess-mantled hill, covered with fertile soils, but right on the border with a vast alluvial plain of the Nida River. Such ecologically diversified micro-region became a managed landscape, which provided rich resources for seasonal diets of the settlement’s inhabitants. The case study of the Mozgawa site offers a unique insight into the palaeoeconomy of the Funnel Beaker culture in central Europe.

Dnieper-Dvina basin at the end of 6th millennium BC and early ceramic traditions of the Circum-Baltic region

The most ancient pottery in the Eastern Europe appeared at the end of the 7th – first half of the 6th millennium BC and spread across a greater part of the Eastern Europe, including the Dnieper-Dvina basin by the middle of the 6th millennium BC. At the end of the 6th millennium BC new ceramic traditions appeared here, attributed to the Rudnya archaeological culture. The authors present an overview of the ceramic complex, bone industry, constructions, and chronology of the Rudnya culture. Similarities with ceramic complex of the Rudnya culture were found within various groups of the Narva culture. It could testify the change of vectors of cultural contacts at the end of 6th millennium BC manifesting destruction of the established network of cultural contacts that existed before in the 6th millennium BC. The Narva culture traditions probably spread eastwards from Eastern Baltic at the end of 6th millennium BC. Such a radical change of material culture might be regarded as a result not only of the cultural impulse, but probably arrival of new population from the western territories to the Upper Western Dvina area.

A ceramic kiln of the Early Bronze Age from Tel Lod in the southern Levant: Microarchaeological analyses and technological significance

A two-storey updraft ceramic kiln of mudbrick and clay, dated by associated ceramic finds to the Early Bronze (EB) IB period, and by radiocarbon dating to the end of the 4th millennium BC, has been found adjacent to a large, possibly public structure at Tel Lod. Mineralogical analysis based on Infrared spectroscopy demonstrates that temperatures between 700 and 800 °C were achieved in this installation, and thin sections analysis show that the mudbricks of the walls were intentionally enriched with quartz, a mineral known for its refractory properties. In contrast to open firing or pit kilns known from earlier periods, updraft kilns facilitate better control of the firing process and a more efficient use of fuel, allowing better mass production of durable ceramics of lighter weight that could be more easily transported in larger amounts over longer distances. Proto-Metallic Ware that was found at the site, also associated with the EB IB period, shows variable ranges of temperatures between 500 and 800 °C, indicating that such ceramics could also have been made in this installation. This is one of the earliest examples of this technology in the southern Levant and is observed to coincide with the beginnings of the first urbanization in this region, expressing a growing need for efficient mass production of well-fired ceramics for a market economy.

SINE QUA NON: INFERRING KODJADERMEN-GUMELNIȚA-KARANOVO VI POPULATION DYNAMICS FROM AGGREGATED PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF RADIOCARBON DATES

ABSTRACTPast human population dynamics play a key role in integrated models of understanding socio-ecological change over time. However, little analysis on this issue has been carried out for the prehistoric societies in the Lower Danube and Eastern Balkans area. Here, we use summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates to investigate potential regional and local variation population dynamics. Our study adopts a formal model-testing approach to the fifth millennium BC archaeological radiocarbon record, performing a region-wide, comparative analysis of the demographic trajectories of the area along lower Danube River. We follow the current framework of theoretical models of population growth and perform global and regional significance and spatial permutation tests on the data. Specifically, we investigate whether populations on both sides of the Danube follow a logistic pattern of steady growth, followed by a major decline over time. Finally, our analysis of local-scale growth investigates whether considerable heterogeneity or homogeneity within the region may be observed over the time span considered here. The results show both similarities and differences in the population trends across the area. Our findings are showcased in relation to the cultural characteristics of the region’s 5th millennium BC societies, and future research directions are also suggested.

FIRST RADIOCARBON DATING OF NEOLITHIC STONE CIST GRAVES FROM THE AOSTA VALLEY (ITALY): INSIGHTS INTO THE CHRONOLOGY AND BURIAL RITES OF THE WESTERN ALPINE REGION

ABSTRACTPrevious research on the Neolithic cist graves of the Western Alpine region—also known under the term Chamblandes type graves—mostly focused on sites located in western Switzerland and eastern France. For the adjacent Aosta Valley (Italy), only a little information is available. Within the framework of our research project, it was possible to identify about 120 stone cist graves from 10 sites in the Aosta Valley. Due to the lack of distinctive grave goods and missing absolute dating, however, their chronological position has been unclear until now. Here we present the first extensive series of radiocarbon dates from Neolithic stone cist graves of the Aosta Valley. We analyzed 31 human bone samples from four sites, and most dates indicate an unexpected early chronological position around the first half of the 5th millennium BCE, in particular, the site of Villeneuve, dating to 4800–4550 cal BCE. This identifies these burials from the Aosta Valley as belonging to the oldest known Neolithic cist graves of the Western Alpine region discovered so far. Altogether, our study provides new evidence allowing the first time to clarify the chronology of these sites and trace the evolution of this burial practice in the Western Alps.

Chronology of the Eneolithic Sites of the Forest Trans-Urals

Purpose. At the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century, a generalization of all radiocarbon dates available at that time for the Eneolithic of the Trans-Urals forest and forest-steppe zone was carried out. Two stages were allocated – early and late, within the second half of the 5th – 4th millennium BC. However, an analysis of the differences be-tween the chronology of sites in the forest and forest-steppe zones was not carried out. The aim of this article is to analyze the presence of radiocarbon dates and chronological positions of Eneolithic sites in the forest zone of the Trans-Urals. Results. In the forest part of the Trans-Urals, more than 50 Eneolithic sites were studied and 55 radiocarbon dates were obtained for 26 of them. Dating of various types of archaeological sites has been carried out: sites and settlements, including peat bogs; the burial-cult site Skvortsovskaya Gora V and the cult object Koksharovsky Hill; burials; animal bones and wood tools; human bones and skulls. The results were obtained both by the traditional method (43 dates), and AMS (12 dates). Conventionally, all sites can be divided into two categories – with several dates and with single dates. Coverage categories: belonging to the early group; objects of late groups and objects that have dates of both early and late groups.Conclusion. Analysis of the presented materials showed the presence of early complexes – the second half of the 5th – the first quarter of the 4th millennium BC (12 objects), and the late ones – the second half of the 4th – the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC (8 objects). It is also necessary to note a number of sites that have both early and late dates (7 objects). Another attempt to establish the Eneolithic sites periodization according to cultural traditions (e.g. ceramic complexes differences) was not successful. Traditional for the Trans-Urals ceramic complexes: with comb simple (linear) and geometric ornamentation, false cord (Lipchinskaya), Sosnovoostrovskaya, Shuvakishskaya and Shapkulskaya, present as in the early and in late complexes.

An Early Neolithic enclosure at the site of Vlaho, Pelagonia

Recent study of Vlaho in Pelagonia confirms that it is the earliest known Neolithic settlement in North Macedonia. Multidisciplinary research of the architecture and material reveals a complex enclosure site dating to the seventh millennium BC, with dozens of ditches, daub buildings, white painted pottery and domesticated plants and animals.

Ecological flexibility and adaptation to past climate change in the Middle Nile Valley: A multiproxy investigation of dietary shifts between the Neolithic and Kerma periods at Kadruka 1 and Kadruka 21.

Human responses to climate change have long been at the heart of discussions of past economic, social, and political change in the Nile Valley of northeastern Africa. Following the arrival of Neolithic groups in the 6th millennium BCE, the Northern Dongola Reach of Upper Nubia witnessed a cultural florescence manifested through elaborate funerary traditions. However, despite the wealth of archaeological data available from funerary contexts, including evidence for domesticated animals and plants as grave goods, the paucity of stratified habitation contexts hinders interpretation of local subsistence trajectories. While it is recognised archaeologically that, against the backdrop of increasing environmental deterioration, the importance of agriculture based on Southwest Asian winter cereals increased throughout the Kerma period (2500-1450 BCE), the contribution of domesticated cereals to earlier Neolithic herding economies remains unclear. This paper presents direct dietary data from a total of 55 Middle Neolithic and Kerma period individuals from Kadruka 21 and Kadruka 1. Microbotanical data obtained from human dental calculus and grave sediments are integrated with human and faunal stable isotopes to explore changes in dietary breadth over time. The combined results demonstrate the consumption of wild plant species, including C4 wetland adapted grasses, by Middle Neolithic individuals at Kadruka 1. Despite existing evidence for domesticated barley in associated graves, the results obtained in this study provide no clear evidence for the routine consumption of domesticated cereals by Middle Neolithic individuals. Rather, direct microparticle evidence for the consumption of Triticeae cereals is only associated with a single Kerma period individual and corresponds with an isotopic shift indicating a greater contribution of C3-derived resources to diet. These results provide evidence for Neolithic dietary flexibility in Upper Nubia through the persistence of foraging activities and support existing evidence linking increased agricultural reliance to the development of the Kerma culture.

Deciphering the chronology of Tepe Sialk (South) “Ziggurat”, North Central Iranian Plateau, through optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating

Tepe Sialk of Kashan in the north central Iranian Plateau, is acknowledged as one of the five most important archaeological sites in Iran. It consists of two prominent mounds, Sialk North and Sialk South with cultural layers spanning from the beginning of the 6th millennium BCE until the Achaemenid period. Sialk South is crowned by a massive, ziggurat-like, mudbrick platform as one of the major phenomena of the Iron Age of Iran. Considering that Sialk South lacks the plentiful of ages formerly generated for Sialk North, the application of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was considered necessary to revise the later occupation of Sialk. This project generated a chronological framework for the construction of Sialk South and focus on the Massive/large mudbrick platform by dating through OSL. Our results ranged from the Early Chalcolithic period to the Iron Age period of Sialk South. The existence of layers related to Iron Age right underneath the mudbrick platform at Sialk South attracts great interest and seems that Tepe Sialk could be a key-location in deciphering the chronology of the advancement of the Achaemenid Empire in the central Iran.