Illuminating the Late Mesolithic: residue analysis of ‘blubber’ lamps from Northern Europe

Antiquity ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (335) ◽  
pp. 178-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Heron ◽  
Søren Andersen ◽  
Anders Fischer ◽  
Aikaterini Glykou ◽  
Sönke Hartz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Animal Fat ◽  
Baltic Coast ◽  
Lipid Biomarker ◽  
Single Compound ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Late Mesolithic

Shallow oval bowls used on the Baltic coast in the Mesolithic have been suggested as oil lamps, burning animal fat. Here researchers confirm the use of four coastal examples as lamps burning blubber—the fat of marine animals, while an inland example burned fat from terrestrial mammals or freshwater aquatics—perhaps eels. The authors use a combination of lipid biomarker and bulk and single-compound carbon isotope analysis to indicate the origin of the residues in these vessels.

scholarly journals Knappach Toll, Balbridie: a late 3rd-millennium bc Beaker burial on Deeside, Aberdeenshire

2019 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Olivia Lelong ◽  
Iraia Arabaolaza ◽  
Torben Ballin ◽  
Jane Evans ◽  
Richard P Evershed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
The West ◽  
Animal Fat ◽  
North East ◽  
And Migration

A short cist discovered during ploughing at Knappach Toll on Balbridie Farm, Aberdeenshire held the remains of an adult accompanied by a Beaker, fragments of a copper awl and 11 struck flints. Little survived of the skeleton except for cranial fragments, but these indicate that the person had been placed with the head to the west, with the artefacts also at that end. While the sex of the person is indeterminate, with the single surviving sexual dimorphic trait suggesting a male, the position of the body and the presence of the awl are more usually indicative of a female. Radiocarbon dating shows that the person died between 3775±35 years bp (SUERC-30852) and 2330–2040 cal bc (95.4% probability). Stable isotope analysis indicates that he or she grew up on basalt geology, like that of the region, or on chalk. Residue analysis of the Beaker has established that it had held ruminant animal fat such as butter or milk, probably for some time, and some of the flint pieces had been lightly used. The composition and constituents of the burial suggest links between north-east Scotland and East Yorkshire. They also evoke the cultural practices that were spreading across eastern Britain in the later 3rd millennium bc through the mechanisms of cultural transmission and migration.  

scholarly journals Knappach Toll, Balbridie: a late 3rd-millennium bc Beaker burial on Deeside, Aberdeenshire

2019 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Olivia Lelong ◽  
Iraia Arabaolaza ◽  
Torben Ballin ◽  
Jane Evans ◽  
Richard P Evershed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
The West ◽  
Animal Fat ◽  
North East ◽  
And Migration

A short cist discovered during ploughing at Knappach Toll on Balbridie Farm, Aberdeenshire held the remains of an adult accompanied by a Beaker, fragments of a copper awl and 11 struck flints. Little survived of the skeleton except for cranial fragments, but these indicate that the person had been placed with the head to the west, with the artefacts also at that end. While the sex of the person is indeterminate, with the single surviving sexual dimorphic trait suggesting a male, the position of the body and the presence of the awl are more usually indicative of a female. Radiocarbon dating shows that the person died between 3775±35 years bp (SUERC-30852) and 2330–2040 cal bc (95.4% probability). Stable isotope analysis indicates that he or she grew up on basalt geology, like that of the region, or on chalk. Residue analysis of the Beaker has established that it had held ruminant animal fat such as butter or milk, probably for some time, and some of the flint pieces had been lightly used. The composition and constituents of the burial suggest links between north-east Scotland and East Yorkshire. They also evoke the cultural practices that were spreading across eastern Britain in the later 3rd millennium bc through the mechanisms of cultural transmission and migration.

scholarly journals Ships and their timber source as indicators of connections between regions

AmS-Skrifter ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 133-143
Author(s):  
Aoife Daly
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
Baltic Coast ◽  
Art Objects ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
North And South ◽  
North Western

The precise dating and determination of the source of timbers in shipwrecks found around the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, through dendrochronology allows us to see connections between north and  south, east and west throughout the region and to a high chronological precision. In this paper we take a look at results of recent analyses of timber from ships, and timber and barrel cargoes, to try to draw a chronological picture, from the twelfth to seventeenth centuries, of links between regions, through transport in oak ships and trade of timber. Archaeological finds of oak from timber cargos in shipwrecks and fine art objects (painted panels and sculpture) show the extent to which timber was shipped from Hanseatic towns along the southern Baltic coast, to western and north-western Europe.

scholarly journals Food-web modification in the eastern Gulf of Finland after invasion of Marenzelleria arctia (Spionidae, Polychaeta)

NeoBiota ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 75-94
Author(s):  
Sergey Golubkov ◽  
Alexei Tiunov ◽  
Mikhail Golubkov
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Benthivorous Fish ◽  
Neva Estuary ◽  
The Baltic

The paucity of data on non-indigenous marine species is a particular challenge for understanding the ecology of invasions and prioritising conservation and research efforts in marine ecosystems. Marenzelleria spp. are amongst the most successful non-native benthic species in the Baltic Sea during recent decades. We used stable isotope analysis (SIA) to test the hypothesis that the dominance of polychaete worm Marenzelleria arctia in the zoobenthos of the Neva Estuary after its invasion in the late 2000s is related to the position of this species in the benthic food webs. The trend towards a gradual decrease in the biomass of Marenzelleria worms was observed during 2014–2020, probably due to significant negative relationships between the biomass of oligochaetes and polychaetes, both of which, according to SIA, primarily use allochthonous organic carbon for their production. The biomass of benthic crustaceans practically did not change and remained very low. The SIA showed that, in contrast to the native crustacean Monoporeia affinis, polychates are practically not consumed either by the main invertebrate predator Saduria entomon, which preys on M. affinis, oligochaetes and larvae of chironomids or by benthivorous fish that prefer native benthic crustaceans. A hypothetical model for the position and functional role of M. arctia in the bottom food web is presented and discussed. According the model, the invasion of M. arctia has created an offshoot food chain in the Estuary food webs. The former dominant food webs, associated with native crustaceans, are now poorly developed. The lack of top-down control obviously contributes to the significant development of the Marenzelleria food chain, which, unlike native food chains, does not provide energy transfer from autochthonous and allochthonous organic matter to the upper trophic levels. The study showed that an alien species, without displacing native species, can significantly change the structure of food webs, creating blind offshoots of the food chain.

Paleodietary Patterns of the Cherepakha 13 Site Population (Early Iron Age) in Primorye (Maritime) Province, Russian Far East, based on Stable Isotope Analysis

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1611-1620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaroslav V Kuzmin ◽  
Vsevolod S Panov ◽  
Viacheslav V Gasilin ◽  
Sergei V Batarshev
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Russian Far East ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Far East ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Maritime Province

ABSTRACTNew paleodietary data were obtained after the discovery and excavation in 2015–2017 of the Cherepakha 13 site in the southern part of Primorye (Maritime) Province in far eastern Russia. The site is located near the coast of Ussuri Bay (Sea of Japan) and belongs to the Yankovsky cultural complex of the Early Iron Age 14C-dated to ca. 3000 BP (ca. 1200 cal BC). The stable isotope composition of the bone collagen for 11 humans and 30 animals was determined. For humans, the following values (with±1 sigma) were yielded: δ13C=–10.2±0.8‰; and δ15N=+12.4±0.3‰. The majority of terrestrial animals show the usual isotopic signals: δ13C=–19.4 ÷ –23.3‰; and δ15N=+4.6÷+6.6‰ (for wolves, up to +10.1‰); dogs, however, have an isotopic composition similar to humans: δ13C= –11.7±1.2‰; and δ15N=+12.4±0.4‰. Marine mammals have common values for pinnipeds: δ13C=–13.7 ÷ –14.6‰; and δ15N=+17.4 ÷ +18.0‰. The main food resources for the population of Cherepakha 13 site were (1) marine mollusks, fish, and mammals; and (2) terrestrial mammals; and possibly C4 plants (domesticated millets).

The Origin of Isolated Populations of the Mountain Weevil, Liparus glabrirostris—The Flagship Species for Riparian Habitats

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Lachowska-Cierlik ◽  
Krzysztof Zając ◽  
Miłosz A Mazur ◽  
Arkadiusz Sikora ◽  
Daniel Kubisz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Glacial Refugia ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Flagship Species ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
The Carpathians ◽  
The North ◽  
Baltic Coast ◽  
Riparian Habitats ◽  
The Baltic

Abstract Liparus glabrirostris is one of the largest European weevils, and it has been recently proposed as the flagship species for threatened riparian habitats in the mountains. For effective conservation of its populations (and associated habitats), it is crucial to understand its history, contemporary distribution, genetic diversity and predict changes in the range, including its highly isolated populations on the Baltic coast. Here, we examined numerous populations of L. glabrirostris across almost the entire species range using phylogeography and species niche modeling (SNM) approaches. Analyses of mtDNA and nucDNA markers revealed the existence of 2 major mitochondrial lineages generally separated between 1) the Alpine region and 2) the Bohemian Massif, the Carpathians, and the Baltic coast areas. Genetic diversity in nuclear genes was more complicated with no clear division between populations. The origin of Baltic populations was derived from the Carpathians, but there were probably multiple expansion events to the north. SNM suggested the existence of glacial refugia for L. glabrirostris, mainly in the Alps and the Southern Carpathians. Current predictions of species range were found to be generally congruent with zoogeographic data; however, the Baltic coast was not really supported as a suitable area for L. glabrirostris. An important prediction of future distribution (2050–2070 CE) suggests a shrinkage of the L. glabrirostris range and extinction of some of its populations (particularly those isolated on lower altitudes). Based on the aforementioned data, proposals for the protection of this species are proposed, including the designation of several evolutionary units of conservation importance.

scholarly journals Two rare halophyte species: Aster tripolium L. and Plantago maritima L. on the Baltic coast in Poland – their resources, distribution and implications for conservation management

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Lazarus ◽  
Katarzyna Wszałek-Rożek
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Ex Situ Conservation ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Aster Tripolium ◽  
Baltic Coast ◽  
Resources Distribution ◽  
Present Distribution ◽  
The Baltic

Abstract The paper presents the results of geobotanical studies on the distribution and resources of Aster tripolium L. and Plantago maritima L, two rare halophytes in Poland. The research was conducted in northern Poland, along the Baltic coast in 2013. The present distribution of the two species was compared with historical data and general trends of and threats to these two species were examined. In total, 33 sites of A. tripolium and 18 of P. maritima were found in the research area. The resources of both species have been perceptibly depleting during last 150 years, which is mostly due to human agencies (e.g. habitat devastation caused by growing urban areas and the change in management and/or habitat condition). In order to preserve both species, it may be necessary to start an ex situ conservation program.

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