Hunter-gatherers transformed: the transition to agriculture in northern and western Euope

Antiquity ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (252) ◽  
pp. 664-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Armit ◽  
Bill Finlayson
Keyword(s):  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
Northwest Europe ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
Transition To Agriculture ◽  
Gradual Transformation ◽  
Late Mesolithic

The quantity and quality of material from the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic in southern Scandinavia has dominated the study of this important period in northwest Europe. Recent evidence from the west of Scotland suggests that, despite a rich and varied resource base similar in many ways to that in southern Scandinavia, a very different process of change occurs. The evidence suggests a very gradual transformation, with selected parts of the farming socio-economy being being adopted at varying rates. This situation is compared with that in various parts of Europe and is considered to fit in well with a pattern of great regional diversity in the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic.

Cremation Burials of Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers on the European Plain

2021 ◽  
pp. 15-45
Author(s):  
Karolina Bugajska
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Independent Origin ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Western European ◽  
Local Hunter ◽  
Late Mesolithic

Cremation burials of Stone Age hunter-gatherers were found at 21 sites across the European Plain (including southern Scandinavia). In total, there are 54 graves and deposits containing bones of at least 89 individuals. Sites with Mesolithic cremations are unevenly spread over the European Plain and there are some regions where this type of burial was more common, such as the Seine Valley and the Low Countries, southern Scandinavia or north-eastern Poland. In all of these regions, the oldest burials are dated to the Early Mesolithic, which indicates a parallel and independent origin of this custom. Moreover, each region or even cemetery has its own features of the cremation rite. In both the Western European Plain and southern Scandinavia, most burials are dated to the Middle Mesolithic and there are only a few examples linked to the Late Mesolithic. North-eastern Poland, including the Dudka cemetery, is probably the only region where cremation was practised on a wider scale in the Late Mesolithic and para-Neolithic. The share of cremations among all burial types differs between regions and cemeteries. It was probably a dominant practice in the Middle Mesolithic in the Netherlands. In other cases, cremation probably involved a large part of the local hunter-gatherer society, for instance at the Dudka cemetery in Masuria or in the Middle Mesolithic of Vedbæk Fiord (Zealand), whereas at the cemeteries in Skateholm it amounted to only a few percent, suggesting that it was practised in the case of the deceased of particular status or in unusual circumstances only.

scholarly journals Genomic and dietary transitions during the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in Sicily

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke S. van de Loosdrecht ◽  
Marcello A. Mannino ◽  
Sahra Talamo ◽  
Vanessa Villalba-Mouco ◽  
Cosimo Posth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Early Farmers ◽  
Late Mesolithic

AbstractSouthern Italy is a key region for understanding the agricultural transition in the Mediterranean due to its central position. We present a genomic transect for 19 prehistoric Sicilians that covers the Early Mesolithic to Early Neolithic period. We find that the Early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (HGs) are a highly drifted sister lineage to Early Holocene western European HGs, whereas a quarter of the Late Mesolithic HGs ancestry is related to HGs from eastern Europe and the Near East. This indicates substantial gene flow from (south-)eastern Europe between the Early and Late Mesolithic. The Early Neolithic farmers are genetically most similar to those from the Balkan and Greece, and carry only a maximum of ∼7% ancestry from Sicilian Mesolithic HGs. Ancestry changes match changes in dietary profile and material culture, except for two individuals who may provide tentative initial evidence that HGs adopted elements of farming in Sicily.One-sentence summaryGenome-wide and isotopic data from prehistoric Sicilians reveal a pre-farming connection to (south-) eastern Europe, and tentative initial evidence that hunter-gatherers adopted some Neolithic aspects prior to near-total replacement by early farmers.

scholarly journals Herbivore diets and the anthropogenic environment of early farming in southern Scandinavia

The Holocene ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt J Gron ◽  
Peter Rowley-Conwy
Keyword(s):  
Early Period ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Human Influence ◽  
Domestic Species ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
Early Farming ◽  
Dietary Variation ◽  
Funnel Beaker Culture ◽  
Feeding Environments

Farming practice in the first period of the southern Scandinavian Neolithic (Early Neolithic I, Funnel Beaker Culture, 3950–3500 cal. BC) is not well understood. Despite the presence of the first farmers and their domesticated plants and animals, little evidence of profound changes to the landscape such as widespread deforestation has emerged from this crucial early period. Bone collagen dietary stable isotope ratios of wild herbivores from southern Scandinavia are here analysed in order to determine the expected range of dietary variation across the landscape. Coupled with previously published isotope data, differences in dietary variation between wild and domestic species indicate strong human influence on the choice and creation of feeding environments for cattle. In context with palynological and zooarchaeological data, we demonstrate that a human-built agricultural environment was present from the outset of farming in the region, and such a pattern is consistent with the process by which expansion agriculture moves into previously unfarmed regions.

INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SUPPORT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY OF THE NAAS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. М. Tatarchuk
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
Scientific Activity ◽  
Agricultural Science ◽  
Agricultural Field ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Library System ◽  
Effective System ◽  
Resource Support ◽  
System Mechanism

The article covers the theoretical statements of resource support of scientific activity of a library. System of information and resource support of scientific research in the National Scientific Agricultural Library of the NAAS (NSAL NAAS) was analyzed. The study justified its influence on the results and quality of scientific research in the context of further modernization of the information and resource base of agricultural science, as well as the importance of creating an effective system of resource support of scientific research. The resources for effective support of scientific research and informing specialists and scientists in the agricultural field were presented. It was determined that the achievement of the expected results can be provided under the condition of formation of the system (mechanism) for management of the institution resource support.

ACHIMOV REGIONAL MODEL AS A BUSINESS TOOL FOR FORMING A PORTFOLIO OF NEW OPTIONS FOR GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SIBERIA

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-15
Author(s):  
A.A. Timirgalin ◽  
M.G. Butorina ◽  
N.O. Novikov ◽  
G.V. Volkov ◽  
I.R. Mukminov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Siberia ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Direct Analysis ◽  
Regional Assessment ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Poor Knowledge ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
Gas Potential ◽  
Data Generalization

The resource base of Western Siberia needs to be replenished to maintain the current development indicators. The reserves associated with the classic structural traps were diagnosed and mapped for the main horizons in Western Siberia. Replenishment of the resource base at the expense of such reserves is ineffective due to the fact that undiscovered traps of these types are thin, or lie at great depths, which ultimately negatively affects the quality of the resource base and the economic efficiency of their involvement in development. The driver of the growth and replenishment of the resource base under current conditions is the Achimov deposits, which are ubiquitous in this area at depths of 2500–3500 m and are genetically deep-water deposits of fans. The advantage of involving these deposits in development is often associated with the confinement to existing assets, where production is carried out from above and below-lying geological objects, the complexity is associated with the lithological type of traps, which is not diagnosed by direct analysis of seismic materials, as well as the extremely poor knowledge of the deposits over the area. Considering that the variability of properties over the area is a distinctive feature of Achimov deposits, the factor of poor knowledge by drilling significantly complicates the understanding of the potential of the deposits. In order to identify and assess the most promising areas for involvement in the development of the Achimov deposits, in PJSC Gazprom Neft the work “Regional assessment and zonal study of the prospects for oil and gas potential of the Achimov formation in the Western Siberia” was carried out. The goal and objectives is to form a reliable tool for searching and forecasting potential options using the generated regional maps of criteria (various characteristic properties and their combinations) built on the basis of data generalization throughout Western Siberia.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Chronology of the Shigir and Gorbunovo Archaeological Bog Sites, Middle Urals, Russia

Radiocarbon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 783-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia E Zaretskaya ◽  
Sönke Hartz ◽  
Thomas Terberger ◽  
Svetlana N Savchenko ◽  
Mikhail G Zhilin
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
Middle Urals ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
First Time ◽  
Late Mesolithic ◽  
Ams Dates

Two well-known archaeological sites, the peat bogs of Shigir and Gorbunovo (Middle Urals, Russia), have been radiocarbon dated (61 conventional and accelerator mass spectrometry [AMS] dates from various natural and artifact samples). For the first time, a detailed chronology of Early to Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic occupation for this region has been obtained, and a paleoenvironmental history reconstructed. Based on these results, we propose that the Mesolithic settlement of the Middle Urals region started in the early Holocene, at the same time as in central and eastern Europe.

scholarly journals Construction sands of Podillya: patterns of distribution, resources and use

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-519
Author(s):  
M. Syvyj ◽  
B. Gavrychok
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Simultaneous Increase ◽  
Clay Material ◽  
Material Base ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Apparent Correlation ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Further Development

This article presents the characteristics of the resource base of building sands within the three Podillya regions, the patterns of sands distribution, and proposals for increasing the extraction of raw materials . The construction sands of Podillya are confined to the Upper Cretaceous, Neogene and Anthropogenicdeposits. The decrease of the thickness of the sandy strata of the Opilsk Neogene suite in the eastern direction was observed with the simultaneous increase in the thickness of the overlapping strata of the rocks. There is no apparent correlation between the thickness of sandy interlayers and the quality of sands. The interdependence of the chemical composition of Neogene sands and the sand size module is established.The genetic predisposition for the distribution of building sands in different parts of the Podillya territory has been established. Four groups of sand deposits of different age have been identified within the Podillya regions, which contrast sharply with single deposits in the neighbouring territories.There is a very uneven distribution of explored reserves of sandy raw materials across the region and accordingly in the provision of construction sands in the different oblasts /regions of Podillya. The areas best provided with sandy raw materials are the central districts of Ternopil region and Slavutsky district of Khmelnytsky region . Sands of the Baltic stage distributed in Vinnytsia region are mostly poor in quality, clogged with clay material and require enrichment. The further development of the mineral raw material base and the prospects for increasing the production of construction sand in the Podillya regions is associated with the increase in production at the prepared deposits, the commissioning of reserve deposits, the conducting of prospecting and exploration work in the proposed potentially exploitable areas and additional exploration of individual deposits that are exploited. The research allows us to evaluate objectively the existing base of sand raw materials for various purposes in the Podillya region and to develop on this basis measures to increase it. The importance of the study is determined by the acute shortage of the raw material in most administrative districts of Khmelnytsky and Vinnytsia regions, by the growth in the volume of construction work (and accordingly the requirements for sandy raw materials) both in Podillya and in the country.

scholarly journals Digestibility of plant fractions from different genotypes and the predictability of quality of forage maize in northwest Europe.

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-59
Author(s):  
P.C. Struik
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Forage Maize ◽  
Maize Hybrids ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Northwest Europe ◽  
Total Plant

Differences in digestibility of plant parts from 5 forage maize hybrids are described and related to the differences in whole plant digestibility of crops grown under different conditions. Plant parts differed greatly in digestibility, and the proportions of the DM of the total plant were variable due to numerous physical, chemical, biological and genetic factors. Whole-plant digestibility, however, was fairly constant and predictable. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

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