scholarly journals δ18O-inferred salinity from Littorina littorea (L.) gastropods in a Danish shell midden at the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243
Author(s):  
Jonathan P Lewis ◽  
Angela L Lamb ◽  
David B Ryves ◽  
Peter Rasmussen ◽  
Melanie J Leng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Training Set ◽  
Shell Midden ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Common ◽  
Late Mesolithic

Norsminde Fjord has received extensive geoarchaeological investigation, hosting one of the classic Stone Age shell midden sites in Denmark, and one of the best examples of the widespread oyster decline at the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. Here, intra-shell δ18O (and δ13C) analyses from the common periwinkle Littorina littorea (L.) are used to infer inter-annual environmental changes at the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition (four from each period). This study utilises a modern δ18O L. littorea-salinity training set previously developed for the Limfjord, Denmark to quantify winter salinity. δ18O values range between +1.6% and +4.0% in the late Mesolithic and ‒6.3% to +2.0% in the early Neolithic. Using maximum δ18O values, winter salinity at the known temperature of growth cessation in L. littorea (i.e. +3.7 ± 1°C) for the first annual cycle of each shell ranges between 25.5 and 26.8 psu (standard deviation (SD): 0.56) for the late Mesolithic, with an average salinity of 26.1 psu. Early-Neolithic shells range between 19.4 and 28.2 psu (SD: 4.59) with an average salinity of 23.7 psu. No statistically significant change in salinity occurs between the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic. This result supports recent diatom/mollusc-based inferences that salinity was not the sole cause of the oyster decline, although some evidence is presented here for more variable seasonal salinity conditions in the early Neolithic, which (along sedimentary change and temperature deterioration) might have increased stress on oyster populations in some years. It is recommended here that for robust palaeoenvironmental inferences, where possible, multiple specimens should be used from the same time period in conjunction with multiproxy data.

scholarly journals The earliest dwellings of the stone age in Smolensk and Pskov regions of Russia

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 77-85
Author(s):  
Irina Yurjevna Khrustaleva
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Base Layer ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Regions Of Russia

The following paper analyzes the ancient building traditions of the upper Dvina basin. The paper deals with the earliest dwellings in the region, found on the base layer of seasonal Stone Age settlements of the Smolensk and Pskov regions: Serteya 3-3 Serteya X, Serteya XIV, Rudnya Serteyskaya and settlement Uzmen. During the excavation, these materials were isolated in a single layer of Early Neolithic Serteyskaja culture. As a result of spatial analysis of the dwellings remains on the settlements Serteya X, Serteya XIV, and studying findings correlated with these structures, the existence of Mesolithic buildings were allocate and justified within this layer. An analysis of the plans and remains of structures revealed the features of the Mesolithic - Early Neolithic transition, manifested in dwellings form changing: the transition from round to oval and subrectangular in plan that also noted by the Stone Age archaeologists, not only for the territories of the forest zone. Such changes are unlikely to be random, and probably can be considered as Neolitization element, but these assumptions still require further research and evidence.

Origins

2019 ◽  
pp. 95-124
Author(s):  
Rick Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Shell Midden ◽  
Burial Practice ◽  
Burial Rites ◽  
Late Mesolithic ◽  
Rock Shelters

This chapter considers whether cave burial in Britain starts in the Late Mesolithic or the Early Neolithic. It explores the evidence from cave and shell midden burial sites with early 4th millennium BC dates. There are examples from Western Scotland of similar burial rites at Late Mesolithic Cnoc Coig and Early Neolithic Carding Mill Bay. There are also different styles of Neolithic midden burial in rock shelters at Raschoille and An Corran. There were also a number of other possible midden burials in other part of Britain. Cave burial practice could be considered as evidence for continuity between the Late Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic in these regions. There are cave burials with early dates and these may provide indications of cave burial as a Late Mesolithic practice. However, it is more likely that these represent the very earliest manifestations of a ‘culturally’ Neolithic burial practice.

scholarly journals New AMS 14C Dates for Human Remains from Stone Age Sites in the Iron Gates Reach of the Danube, Southeast Europe

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Bonsall ◽  
Rastko Vasić ◽  
Adina Boroneanţ ◽  
Mirjana Roksandic ◽  
Andrei Soficaru ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Bone ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Human Burials ◽  
Detailed Record ◽  
Ams Dates

Archaeological investigations in the Iron Gates reach of the Lower Danube Valley between 1964 and 1984 revealed an important concentration of Stone Age sites, which together provide the most detailed record of Mesolithic and Early Neolithic settlement from any area of southeastern Europe. Over 425 human burials were excavated from 15 sites. Of these, less than one-fifth have been directly dated. This article presents 37 new AMS dates on human bone from five sites in the Iron Gates, together with the corresponding δ13C and δ15N values. They include the first dates on human bone from two sites, Icoana and Velesnica. The results are important for the chronology of Stone Age mortuary practices in the Iron Gates and the timing of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the region.

scholarly journals Environmental Changes and Cultural Transitions in SW Iberia during the Early-Mid Holocene

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3580
Author(s):  
Cristina Val-Peón ◽  
Juan I. Santisteban ◽  
José A. López-Sáez ◽  
Gerd-Christian Weniger ◽  
Klaus Reicherter
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Climate Events ◽  
The Impact

The SW coast of the Iberian Peninsula experiences a lack of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data. With the aim to fill this gap, we contribute with a new palynological and geochemical dataset obtained from a sediment core drilled in the continental shelf of the Algarve coast. Archaeological data have been correlated with our multi-proxy dataset to understand how human groups adapted to environmental changes during the Early-Mid Holocene, with special focus on the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition. Vegetation trends indicate warm conditions at the onset of the Holocene followed by increased moisture and forest development ca. 10–7 ka BP, after which woodlands are progressively replaced by heaths. Peaks of aridity were identified at 8.2 and 7. 5 ka BP. Compositional, textural, redox state, and weathering of source area geochemical proxies indicates abrupt palaeoceanographic modifications and gradual terrestrial changes at 8.2 ka BP, while the 7.5 ka BP event mirrors a decrease in land moisture availability. Mesolithic sites are mainly composed of seasonal camps with direct access to the coast for the exploitation of local resources. This pattern extends into the Early Neolithic, when these sites coexist with seasonal and permanent occupations located in inland areas near rivers. Changes in settlement patterns and dietary habits may be influenced by changes in coastal environments caused by the sea-level rise and the impact of the 8.2 and 7.5 ka BP climate events.

scholarly journals A Revised Radiocarbon Chronology of the Aceramic Shell Midden of Ra’s Al-Hamra 6 (Muscat, Sultanate of Oman): Implication For Occupational Sequence, Marine Reservoir Age, and Human Mobility

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Zazzo ◽  
Olivia Munoz ◽  
Emilie Badel ◽  
Irène Béguier ◽  
Francesco Genchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Mobility ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Shell Midden ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Entire Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
Reservoir Age ◽  
Bone Apatite

AbstractRa’s al-Hamra 6 (RH-6) is one of the earliest stratified archaeological sites along the eastern littoral of the Arabian Peninsula. This shell midden was radiocarbon dated to the 6th–5th millennium cal BC, but the majority of the dates were obtained before the advent of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating and suffer from large uncertainties. In addition, most of these dates were obtained on marine and mangrove shells and required correction for local variations from the global average marine 14C reservoir age (MRA). This proved difficult because no consensus value exists for this period in the area. Recent excavations at RH-6 offered the opportunity to redate this important site in order to precisely determine its occupation history and later use as a graveyard, and establish the marine reservoir effect for this time period. Thirty-eight samples of charcoal, shells, and human bone apatite were selected for 14C dating. Bayesian modeling of the 14C dates suggests that the formation of the shell midden spanned ~1 millennium, between the mid-6th and the mid-5th millennium cal BC. Positive and consistent ΔR values were calculated throughout the entire sequence, ranging from 99±27 to 207±43 14C yr. At the beginning of the 4th millennium cal BC, RH-6 was used as a graveyard, as suggested by the 14C dating of a shell in strict association with an individual buried at the surface of the site. 14C dating of human bone apatite allowed us to calculate that 89% of this individual’s diet derived from marine resources. This finding confirms previous observations showing the overwhelming presence of marine and mangrove-dwelling species in the faunal and charcoal assemblage, and implies a low mobility, or mobility restricted to the coast for this population during the 4th millennium cal BC.

Environmental changes during Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Kuyavia Lakeland, Central Poland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirosław Makohonienko ◽  
Mateusz Płóciennik ◽  
Piotr Papiernik ◽  
Piotr Kittel ◽  
Mariusz Gałka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Central Poland

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.

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