Stone Age Sites Research Articles

A new approach to identify heat treated silcrete near Pinnacle Point, South Africa using 3D microscopy and Bayesian modeling

The heat treatment of stone to enhance flaking attributes was an important advance in the adaptive toolkit of humans and a major step in pyrotechnology. The earliest evidence for this is the heat treatment of silcrete ~164 ka at the Middle Stone Age site, Pinnacle Point 13B in South Africa. Heating stone prior to knapping alters the physical and chemical composition of the stone. This study investigates whether surface roughness, as measured by a 3D microscope, can be used as a proxy to identify the presence of heat treatment in the archaeological record. We record values for multiple surface texture parameters on a sample of experimentally created stone tools from paired heat-treated and unheated silcrete nodules. A Bayesian probability model, trained on the experimental sample, was then used to evaluate the probability individual samples have undergone heat treatment. Furthermore, we tested whether an industrial silicon compound can be used to record and preserve surface roughness for analysis. This research provides a novel, probabilistic, and non-invasive technique for identifying heat treatment from three sources near Pinnacle Point.

КРАТКИЕ РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ РАБОТ НА СТОЯНКЕ ВАВИЛИНО 1 В 2020 ГОДУ

he article provides brief information about the results of the field works in 2020 at the stratified Stone Age site in Western Kazakhstan - Vavilino 1. The sites of the Stone Age, with a preserved cultural layer, are very rare for the territory of Kazakhstan, and in particular for the studied region. The works of 2018 and 2019 showed the destruction of the upper cultural layer of the site as a result of anthropogenic impact, the excavation in 2020 was expanded by another 12 sq. m eastward, were obtained more than four hundred stone artifacts, fragments of ceramics and animal bones. The first horizon up to 25 (30) cm thick was saturated with eluvium and gaize; artifacts of yellowish-gray quartzitic sandstone, siliceous raw materials of dark gray and light gray shades, single fragmentary bone remains and ceramics were found in the layer. The main percentage of artifacts in the first horizon is represented from quartzite sandstone - 173 specimens. (94%). The tool kit (39 pieces) is represented by the following items: scrapers on flakes and blades (9 pieces), mainly of end types (7 pieces). Fragments of blades with secondary processing along the edges are representative (14 pieces), or 34% of tools. Highlighted in a set are an burin on straight retouched truncation, reamers on a plates and flakes (3 pieces). A single chisel reshaped from a fragment of a core, notched tools on blades and a technical chip (3 pieces), a massive pebble side-scraper, a tool with a spike, chips with retouch, and fragments of tools (5 pieces). Artifacts from siliceous rocks are few in number - 11 specimens (6%), of which 5 tools, all of them endscrapers. On one, measuring 14.3x16.0x3.9 mm, the left edge was retouched with back retouch. The second horizon, 25 (30) cm to 60 (70) cm thick, includes 238 artifacts, 211 specimens from quartzite sandstone (88.6%) and 27 specimens (11.4%) from siliceous rocks. The technique of primary reduction from quartzite sandstone is represented by a double-sided core for removing short spalls, technical spalls, and ribbed plates. The tool kit (37 pieces) is represented by the following items: two end-scrapers on a plate, one end-scraper on a flake, and one side scraper on a flake; fragments of plates with retouch (8 pieces); an angular cutter, a drill on a fragment of a plate, two cutting tools, the first knife with a natural backing, the second with a serrated blade; scrapers on a flake (2 pieces); a chopping tool, the rest are whole flakes and their fragments with secondary processing. From siliceous rock, 10 tools, three end-scrapers, a round scraper on a flake, a chisel, fragments of plates and flakes with secondary processing along the edges were found. Despite the accident rate of the site and the destruction of most of the cultural layer by anthropogenic impact, the study of the site is of great importance for understanding the cultural processes in the Neolithic-Eneolithic era in the Volga-Ural interfluve. The stratigraphy of the excavation showed that the areas in the east and south are the most destroyed. However, in the southern direction, despite the destroyed upper layer, the thickness of the cultural layer increases to 70 cm, which is of interest for increasing the excavation area in the southern, as well as the western part of the site, which is less affected by economic activity. At the site, a bone fragment was used to obtain the first radiocarbon date 7483 ± 23 BP (Hela-4507) (cal 6355- 6335 BC), which indicates the early Neolithic age of the object. Work on Vavilino 1 has just begun, a small stone and ceramic inventory has been obtained, which has similar features to the Neolithic monuments of the Steppe Volga region (Algai, Irrigated 1), the date obtained includes this monument in the circle of the Early Neolithic monuments of the Steppe Volga region, however, additional dating is required and obtaining more massive material, which can solve to some extent the issues of the origin and cultural features of the Early Neolithic in the Volga-Ural interfluve. The article was prepared with the financial support of the KN MES RK (IRN of the project AR05134087 "Stone Age of the North-Eastern Caspian Region").

Searching for hidden activities: Percussive tools from the Oldowan and Acheulean of West Turkana, Kenya (2.3–1.76 Ma)

Over the last thirty years, investigations in the Nachukui Formation (West Turkana, Kenya) have revealed the importance of the region for human evolution studies within an archaeological sequence spanning the period 3.3 million years (Ma) to 0.7 Ma. Despite the numerous sites discovered, little is known about pounding activities during this time period in the region. In this paper, we present an analysis of percussive tools from three West Turkana archaeological sites: Lokalalei 2C, Kokiselei 1 and Kokiselei 4, dated between 2.3 Ma and 1.76 Ma. Their chronological range allows us to conduct a diachronic comparison of the percussive activities during a time span with two hominin genera (Australopithecus boisei, early Homo and Homo erectus). The three assemblages are compared with others from the Early Stone Age and with experimental percussive tools. Despite the stable predominance of hammerstones associated with stone knapping activities over time in the Nachukui Formation, our macro- and microscopic analyses reveal an inter-site variability in the type and re-use of percussive tools for specific heavy-duty pounding activities. When compared with other Early Stone Age sites, Lokalalei 2C, Kokiselei 1 and Kokiselei 4 similarly present a low frequency of pounding tools but a high number of blanks used for both flaking and pounding activities, suggesting that the reutilization of the tools and the change in their functionality was common in the ESA lithic record.

Ninety years after: New analyses and interpretations of Kubenino hunter-gatherer burials, north-western Russia (c. 5000 cal BC)

Burial practices in the large area of the north-eastern European and especially the western Russian forest zone are not as well-known as contemporary sites in, for example, western or southern Europe. To fill this gap in our knowledge of north-western Russian Stone Age hunter-gatherer burial traditions and to better understand the similarities and differences in burial traditions between these areas, a new Russian-Finnish collaboration was launched in late 2016. The main aim of this collaboration is to systematically investigate previously excavated mortuary materials from north-western Russia and study them in the broader context of hunter-gatherer funerary practices in north-eastern Europe. As a first case study, we revisited the burial finds from the Stone Age site of Kubenino, a multi-period site with at least six inhumation burials. Burials have been excavated here since the 1930s, but only three have been published so far. Here we describe all the Kubenino burials and present the results of new analyses, namely the osteological study of bone artefacts, the traceological study of flint artefacts, and new radiocarbon determinations. According to the novel radiocarbon data, the Kubenino burials date to the emergence of the Neolithic, which in this region is marked by the appearance of the first pottery-using hunter-gatherers. As our new analyses show, this transition towards the Neolithic is not only present in the everyday life of these hunter-gatherer groups but also resulted in subtle changes in the funerary realm. These changes include, for example, the intentional breakage of grave goods and the introduction of new artefact forms for animal raw materials that were present already in pre-pottery burials.

Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into early southern African pastoralism

The advent of domestication is a major step that transformed the subsistence strategies of past human societies. In Africa, domestic caprines (sheep and goat) were introduced in the north-eastern part of the continent from the Near East more than 9000 years ago. However, their diffusion southwards was slow. They are thought to have made their first appearance in the southern part of the continent ca. 2000 years ago, at a few Later Stone Age sites, including Leopard Cave (Erongo region, Namibia), which provided the oldest directly dated remains assigned to sheep or goat on the basis of morphology of bones and teeth. However, similarities in morphology, not only between these two domesticated caprine species, but also between them and the small wild antelopes, raised questions about the morphological species attribution of these remains. Additionally, the high fragmentation of the site’s osteological remains makes it difficult to achieve species-level taxonomic identification by comparative anatomy. In this paper, we report molecular species identification of the Leopard Cave remains using palaeoproteomics, a method that uses protein markers in bone and tooth collagen to achieve taxonomic identification of archaeological remains. We also report new direct radiocarbon dates. Wild antelope remains from museum collections were used to enrich the available protein record and propose de novo type I collagen sequences. Our results demonstrate that the remains morphologically described as domesticates actually belong to a wild antelope species and that domestic caprines first appeared at Leopard Cave 1500 years later than previously thought. This study illustrates that the use of palaeoproteomics coupled with direct radiocarbon dates is particularly suited to complement classic zooarchaeological studies, in this case concerning the arrival of the first herding practices in arid environments.

Plant taphonomy, flora exploitation and palaeoenvironments at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu’s Cave (Limpopo, South Africa): an archaeobotanical and mineralogical approach

The interior regions of South Africa have had less attention devoted to archaeological research than coastal regions, and palaeoenvironmental studies are also more limited. As such, little is known about the interaction between human behaviours and past environments in these semi-arid regions. Here, we present an archaeobotanical and mineralogical study from the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu’s Cave, Limpopo Province. Our study shows the importance of using taphonomical approaches prior to interpreting archaeobotanical assemblages, while provides with novel information on the plants used by ancient inhabitants of Mwulu’s. The grass phytolith composition is of environmental significance, where a shift from C4 Panicoideae to C3 grasses is observed in the last occupation event. This tentatively suggests a shift in rainfall regime, from summer rainfall conditions to an increase in winter rain, during Marine Isotope Stage 5b in the Polokwane region, or a decrease in rainfall seasonality. Although we are unable to chronostratigraphically associate this change in the plant composition, our study adds evidence in support of previous propositions for an expansion of the winter rainfall zone into the interior regions of South Africa.

Single grain TT-OSL ages for the Earlier Stone Age site of Bestwood 1 (Northern Cape Province, South Africa)

The transition from the Earlier Stone Age (ESA) to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in the interior of southern Africa is associated with the Fauresmith Industry. Major cultural developments found in the Fauresmith include regular use of ochre and other coloured minerals, prepared core technology including blade and point production, and the use of hafted spears. Chronological control for the Fauresmith is weak so that critical questions regarding the relationship of this industry to the evolution of modern humans remain unresolved. Here we present ages for the Bestwood 1 site, an open-air locality in the Northern Cape Province (South Africa) where an extensive Fauresmith occupation is found underlying sand deposits. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) was first applied to samples from the sands overlying the Bestwood 1 occupation horizon, and from the occupation horizon itself, in order to establish the chronology of the site. However, sediment mixing resulting from bioturbation processes has been observed, causing post-depositional bleaching of the majority of the grains, thus limiting the use of OSL. In addition, given the identification of the lithic assemblage to the Fauresmith, it seems likely that the sands were beyond the dating range of conventional OSL. Due to its hard-to-bleach properties, the thermally transferred-optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) signal was deemed suitable for detecting the least-bleached grains. Single grain TT-OSL analyses combined with the finite mixture model (FMM) were conducted in order to isolate the oldest grains that could be contemporaneous with the time of deposition of the sediment associated with the ESA assemblage. High scattering of the equivalent doses is consistent with bioturbation processes that mixed sediment; the distribution of the equivalent dose values suggests that younger grains were incorporated into the ESA layers, thus supporting the use of the oldest component determined using the FMM to calculate the TT-OSL ages. This approach allowed us to establish the time for the Fauresmith occupation at 366 ± 32 ka, and the age of the overlying sand deposits, spanning from 350 ± 22 ka to 226 ± 13 ka.

First results of a Middle Stone Age survey in the Kerma region, northern Sudan

Sudan is a vitally important region for understanding the migrations of Anatomically Modern Humans from the African continent. Here, the authors present the results of a preliminary survey in the Kerma region, during which, 16 new Middle Stone Age sites were discovered.

Archaeological Ochres of the Rock Art Site of Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia): Looking for Later Stone Age Sociocultural Behaviors

The use of ochre has been documented in many Middle Stone Age sites of Southern Africa. However, the literature on the exploitation of ochre within the archaeological contexts of Later Stone Age (LSA) rock art sites is scarce. Despite the discovery of several painted shelters within the Erongo Mountains (Namibia), no archaeological study of ochre assemblages has been conducted in the region. Here, we present the archaeological ochre assemblage recovered from a LSA sequence at the rock art shelter of Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia), spanning ca. 5,700 to 2,100 cal. BP. The use-wear traces present on some ochre fragments and the stone tools bearing red residues are indicative of different stages of ochre processing at the site. The presence of other artifacts, such as ostrich eggshell and bone beads with red residues, and the existence of rock paintings in the cave are pointers to the importance of ochre for understanding the sociocultural behaviors of the LSA populations in central Namibia.

Archaeological studies In theIlmeny state reserve, South Urals

The paper describes two stages of archeological studies at the territory of the Ilmeny State Reserve. Stage 1 is related to expedition of L.Ya. Krizhevskaya in 1961–1970, which resulted in fn-ding of more than 40 settlements and sites of the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. Seven settlements were excavated. Stage 2 studies began in 2010 and are continued at present. These works allowed us to fnd about 40 sites and settlements of the Stone Age and to excavate of the Stone Age sites and Bronze Ages burials.

Investigation of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Sites in the Don Basin on the Territory of Volgograd Region

The locations of the Stone Age on the Volgograd region territory have been known since the beginning of the XIX century. However, purposeful Stone Age sites explorations had only started after the Sukhaya Mechetka site was discovered by A.P. Koptev and M.N. Grischenko in 1951. The data accumulated on series of stratified sites in Volgograd Region makes it possible to outline two significant groups of them. One of the groups belongs to the Lower Volga basin. The other group is associated with the ramified network of gullies and ravines and multiple tributaries of the Don. The Don is the fourth longest river on the Russian Plain; its basin taken in the Volgograd Region is several times larger than the Volga basin taken in the area. The relatively flat landscape of the Don plain, saturated with small rivers, gullies and ravines, as well as stone raw materials available for mining, have been creating favorable conditions for human habitation since the Middle Paleolithic. The well-known Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites are found both in the watersheds and in the floodplain-terrace areas of the Middle Don. The near-mouth section of the Kurmoyarsky Aksai river – the Don tributary in Kotelnikovo District – and the surroundings of Kremenskaya village in Kletskaya District are standing out in terms of being studied. The stone industry detected in the lower layers of the multilayered site Schlyakh indicates that the Don plain was inhabited by people during the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic transition. The prospects of further searches for Stone Age sites in the Middle Don Basin had already been proven by the discovery of at least forty sites in previous decades. Further archaeological research will help to discover new stratified sites with impressive collections of stone and bone items, which will make it possible to draw analogies with synchronous sites in the territories adjacent to the Volgograd region.

Mesolithic AMS 14C Evidence on Microlithic and Pressure Blade Technology in the Lakeland of Eastern Lithuania

ABSTRACT The paper presents directly dated evidence of microlithic and blade pressure technology from the newly discovered Žingiai Stone Age site situated in eastern Lithuania. During its extensive excavations in 2017–2018, numerous features containing typologically discerned lithic material and datable organic were uncovered. One feature, in particular, No. 11, contained preserved fragments of animal bones and wood charcoal. Its lithic inventory consisted of flint scrapers, burin, inserts, lanceolates and semi-conical core. Three AMS 14C dated charcoal samples, identified as Pinus sylvestris L., found in the feature was assigned to 8475–8223 cal BC, whereas their stratigraphical positions and estimated potential old wood effect enabled to relate this new radiochronology to lithic finds. The research allowed to shed new light in the discussion on the use and chronology of microliths, and the replacement of tanged point technology with microlithic implements at the beginning of the Mesolithic.

Exploring complexity in luminescence dating of quartz and feldspars at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu's cave (Limpopo, South Africa)

Luminescence dating is applied to sediments from Mwulu's Cave, whose lithics have been typologically considered Middle Stone Age (MSA) and have been previously assigned to what is called the Pietersburg industry. This industry is, however, poorly defined both chronologically and typologically. Luminescence methods were applied to both quartz and potassium feldspars by two different laboratories. Age results from single-grain quartz are much younger than those from multi-grain aliquots and this is attributed to the use of different fits to the growth curves and the effect of this on samples near saturation. Single-grain potassium feldspar ages are much older than the single-grain quartz ages. Application of various methods to address anomalous fading produced broadly consistent results among samples. Most K-feldspar samples appear to be about 90 ka. These are compared to other South African MSA sequences and industries.

The palaeoecology of Klasies River, South Africa: An analysis of the large mammal remains from the 1984–1995 excavations of Cave 1 and 1A

Given the large number of hominin and archaeological remains the site has yielded, Klasies River has contributed significantly to our understanding of how humans developed and behaved during the Middle Stone Age. Its extensive occupational sequence and the abundance of faunal remains recovered from the deposits also make it an important site in exploring palaeoenvironmental change during the Late Pleistocene. The mammalian fauna from the over 70 000 year long sequence at Klasies River possibly extending from MIS 6 to 3 are useful in positioning the evolution of complex human behaviour within an environmental context. Here, we use the large mammal fauna excavated in the 1980s and 1990s from Klasies River Cave 1 and 1A to test links between ungulate diversity and palaeoclimatic change in the south-eastern Cape of South Africa. Fauna from extended Pleistocene sequences in the south-eastern Cape are relatively rare and collections such as these are important proxies for assessing environmental change in this particular region. Our analysis indicates that the proportion of ungulate grazers, browsers and mixed-feeders shifts in accordance with glacial/interglacial fluctuations. We find significant correlations between grazer proportions and ungulate diversity through the sequence which may be linked to the effect of marine regressions on the landscape or shifting moisture availability. We compare the Klasies River data set with a selection of Middle Stone Age sites in the southern Cape. Our analysis suggests that primary productivity is greater along the eastern southern Cape than the western region. This study has broad implications for understanding the relationship between expanding grasslands and ungulate richness during the Late Pleistocene.

Two burials in a unique freshwater shell midden: insights into transformations of Stone Age hunter-fisher daily life in Latvia

The Stone Age site Riņņukalns, Latvia, is the only well-stratified shell midden in the Eastern Baltic. In this paper, we present new interdisciplinary results concerning its dating, stratigraphy, features, and finds to shed light on the daily life of a fisher population prior to the introduction of domesticated animals. The undisturbed part of the midden consists of alternating layers of unburnt mussel shell, burnt mussel shell and fish bone, containing artefacts, some mammal and bird bones, and human burials. Two of them, an adult man and a baby, are discovered recently and date to the calibration plateau between 3350 and 3100 cal BC, and to the later 4th millennium, respectively. Stable isotopes suggest a diet based heavily on freshwater fish, and this is supported not only by ten thousands of identified fish remains, but also by a fish bone concentration nearby the skull of the man, which is interpreted as remain of a grave gift (possible fish soup). Of special interest are the baby’s stable isotope values. It shows that the mother’s diet was atypical (perhaps because she was non-local), and/or that dietary stress during pregnancy increased fractionation between the mother’s diet and her bloodstream.

AKMENINIAI GLUDINTI KIRVIAI LIETUVOJE. TIPOLOGIJOS IR TERMINOLOGIJOS PROBLEMOS / GROUND STONE AXES IN LITHUANIA. PROBLEMS OF TYPOLOGY AND TERMINOLOGY

During 1974–1978, the Lithuanian Institute of History published four volumes of the Lietuvos archeologijos atlasas (Atlas of Lithuanian Archaeology). The atlas’s first book, which was edited by Dr habil. Rimutė Rimantienė, was devoted to Stone and Bronze Age sites and stray finds from this period (Atlasas 1974). The separate article of this book (Bagušienė, Rimantienė 1974) encompassed all of the ground stone artefacts that had been mapped and were preserved at that time in Lithuanian museums. The work listed 2560 ground stone artefacts from 1420 find spots and created distribution maps, an index of the main types, and a typology scheme, which Lithuanian archaeologists and museologists have used for almost half a century. The typological scheme of ground stone artefacts created by Ona Bagušienė and Rimutė Rimantienė is seen not as an unalterable constant, but as a dynamic, modifiable classification structure. The article presents insights and thoughts that arose in creating a ground stone artefact database for SW Lithuania (Užnemunė). And examines the most abundant ground artefact ypological group, perforated stone axes. Keywords: perforated ground stone axes, typology, terminology.

Knowledge from the ancient sea – a long-term perspective of human impact on aquatic life in Mesolithic Scandinavia

Lately, evidence for early-Holocene emerging sedentism has been suggested among foragers in Northern Europe. The core of this suggested sedentism lies in the increasing dependency on large-scale fishing and mass consumption of fish and a territorial behaviour associated with access to the best fishing locations. This territoriality might also be associated with increasing numbers of people settling and living in Northern Europe at this time. In this article, we review the evidence for forager sedentism and territoriality and relate it to large-scale fishing, during a time of global warming, in early-Holocene Scandinavia. We explore the requisites of using the archaeological record to study the long-term effect of intense fishing on some of the best-preserved Stone Age sites in the area of study. We suggest that the archaeological record can enable a discussion of how aquatic life varies corresponding to human exploitation and climate change. In addition, we discuss how these changes might be traceable through temporal fluctuations in species composition, within species size reduction/increases, temporal fish age changes and within species dietary changes. In the end, we suggest that the archaeological record holds one of the keys to predict future impact on life below the surface, by offering a long-term perspective on aquatic exploitation in a period of climate change. At the same time as we acknowledge the potential hidden in the archaeological record, we also raise the dire warning that this record might be rapidly disappearing, because of an accelerated deterioration of archaeological organic remains in areas previously known for their good preservation.

Stone Age Archaeological Sites in the Landscape. Monumentalisation of Sites on the South Korea Example

The aim of the article is to show selected ways of presenting Stone Age archaeological sites in the landscape. The forms of prehistoric archaeological sites monumentalisation in South Korea served as an example here. Displaying Stone Age sites in the landscape is popular in Korea, especially where no remains of former human activity visible in the landscape have been preserved. Establishing reserves, museums and monuments nearby an explored archaeological site is very important for the majority of stakeholders in South Korea. Patriotic factor plays an important role here as for the society in general getting to know the oldest history of the Korean Peninsula is very important, due to the people’s attachment to their tradition and culture. The sites described in this article are among the best-known by the researchers and the general public in South Korea. The Sorori site, showing first attempts at rice domestication, was discovered thanks to site prospection carried out before the construction of an industrial complex. The Suyanggae site is the biggest Palaeolithic flint workshop located in the Korean Peninsula, discovered during the rescue excavations connected with construction of a dam on the South Han River. The Jeongok site – one of the most important sites in Eastern Asia due to the discovery of the first Acheulian-type handaxe outside the borders of the Movius line – was accidentally discovered by an American pilot from the nearby military base. All three sites of prehistoric human activity are very important for the world of science as well as for entities responsible for the protection of cultural heritage, being a model for ways of managing museums, reserves, and culture parks established at excavation sites. What is more, in the article a short presentation of developing rescue archaeology is provided, related to rapid industrialization of South Korea.

UŽNEMUNĖS KULTŪROS RAIDOS BRUOŽAI. KERAMINIS ASPEKTAS

During the early 21st century and the last decades of the 20th century, a systematic investigation of prehistoric settlements was conducted in the Trans-Nemunas region (Užnemunė). In the course of ten archaeological investigation seasons, over fifty Stone, Bronze, and Iron Age sites and isolated artefact find spots were discovered at Kubilėliai, Žiūriai, Padusys, Aradninkai, and Paveisiejai settlements and cemeteries and excavated. The conditions for pottery to survive at the Trans-Nemunas region sites was not favourable; the cultural layers of all of the investigated settlements were in sand and in many places had been disturbed through ploughing or blown away by the wind. Although few in number or in poor condition, the Trans-Nemunas region pottery was very diverse and differed at the same sites. The publications devoted to the review of the investigated sites paid the most attention to the legacy of the Stone and Early Bronze Age, while the material from later periods was insufficiently illuminated. It is hoped that this article will fill this gap and bring new data to light about the development of Trans-Nemunas region pottery from the Neolithic to the mid-1st millennium. Keywords: Neolithic forest culture pottery, Brushed Pottery culture pottery, Przeworsk culture pottery, Bogaczewo culture pottery.

FEATURES OF CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE TRANS-NEMUNAS REGION. THE CERAMIC ASPECT

During the early 21st century and the last decades of the 20th century, a systematic investigation of prehistoric settlements was conducted in the Trans-Nemunas region (Užnemunė). In the course of ten archaeological investigation seasons, over fifty Stone, Bronze, and Iron Age sites and isolated artefact find spots were discovered at Kubilėliai, Žiūriai, Padusys, Aradninkai, and Paveisiejai settlements and cemeteries and excavated. The conditions for pottery to survive at the Trans-Nemunas region sites was not favourable; the cultural layers of all of the investigated settlements were in sand and in many places had been disturbed through ploughing or blown away by the wind. Although few in number or in poor condition, the Trans-Nemunas region pottery was very diverse and differed at the same sites. The publications devoted to the review of the investigated sites paid the most attention to the legacy of the Stone and Early Bronze Age, while the material from later periods was insufficiently illuminated. It is hoped that this article will fill this gap and bring new data to light about the development of Trans-Nemunas region pottery from the Neolithic to the mid-1st millennium. Keywords: Neolithic forest culture pottery, Brushed Pottery culture pottery, Przeworsk culture pottery, Bogaczewo culture pottery.