Houses and burials at Lepenski Vir

Houses and burials recorded in the settlements of Lepenski Vir I and II and burials previously ascribed to Lepenski Vir III are here discussed in view of the recent analyses of archaeological material and re-analyses of the field burial record from this site. Evidence of pottery in situ in houses of Lepenski Vir I, together with the evidence for important dietary change in the Lepenski Vir community in the course of the second half of the seventh millennium cal BC, reinforces the assumption, made by a number of scholars over several previous decades, of intensive contacts between early Neolithic groups and local hunter-gatherers. Burial practice throughout the seventh and sixth millennia cal BC at Lepenski Vir is thus reanalyzed in this new light. Apart from burials unrelated to architectural remains, five ‘types’ of burial deposition are noted in relation to houses of Lepenski Vir I–II, all but one having a distinct chronological and spatial patterning. The inhabitants' choice of mode of deposition of the deceased is always associated with a certain location in the settlement, sometimes used over several centuries. In the course of their history, these locations were often used for building a particular house or group of houses. The content of such houses is also discussed wherever it was possible. Duality in settlement organization could also be recognized in the burial practices related to settlement architecture. The attribution of the majority of burial remains to early Neolithic Lepenski Vir III is here also questioned in the light of new data and reinterpreted settlement sequences.

Download Full-text

Megaliths in Tropical Africa: Social Dynamics and Mortuary Practices in Ancient Senegambia (ca. 1350 BCE – 1500 CE)

International Journal of Modern Anthropology ◽

10.4314/ijma.v15i2.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 363-412

Author(s):

Augustin F.C. Holl

Keyword(s):

Cultural Landscape ◽

Social Dynamics ◽

Mortuary Practices ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Tropical Africa ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Burial Practices ◽

Burial Practice ◽

Territorial Strategies ◽

Territorial Marking

When analyzed systematically, Tropical Africa megalithism appears to have emerged in contexts of friction between different lifeways, agriculturalists versus foragers, pastoralists versus hunter-gatherers-fishermen, or agriculturalists versus fishing folks. The monuments built were clearly part of actual territorial strategies. Research conducted by the Sine Ngayene Archaeological Project (2002-2012) frontally addressed the “Why” of the emergence of megalithism in that part of the world, and probes the reasons for the performance of the elaborate burial practices preserved in the archaeological record. This paper emphasizes the diversity and complexity of burial protocols invented by Senegambian “megalith-builders” communities from 1450 BCE to 1500 CE. Senegambian megalithism is shown to have proceeded from territorial marking imperatives, shaping a multi-layered cultural landscape through the implemented mortuary programs anchored on the construction of Ancestorhood. Keywords: Megaliths; Senegambia; Cultural landscape; Mortuary program; Burial practice; Monolith-circle; Sine-Ngayene;

Download Full-text

Megaliths in Tropical Africa: Social Dynamics and Mortuary Practices in Ancient Senegambia (ca. 1350 BCE – 1500 CE)

International Journal of Modern Anthropology ◽

10.4314/ijma.v2i15.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (15) ◽

pp. 363-412

Author(s):

Augustin F.C. Holl

Keyword(s):

Cultural Landscape ◽

Social Dynamics ◽

Mortuary Practices ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Tropical Africa ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Burial Practices ◽

Burial Practice ◽

Territorial Strategies ◽

Territorial Marking

Download Full-text

Written on the body

Neolithic cave burials ◽

10.7228/manchester/9781526118868.003.0006 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 125-155

Author(s):

Rick Peterson

Keyword(s):

The Body ◽

Body Parts ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Funerary Practices ◽

Burial Practices ◽

Multi Stage ◽

Burial Practice ◽

Burial Rites ◽

Secondary Burial ◽

Burial Rite

This chapter examines the diversity of Neolithic cave burial practices after around 3800 BC. In this period there is evidence of a secondary burial rite which is focussed on the cranium. There is also one possible example of mummification or the curation of body parts as part of extended funerary practices. Other secondary burial rites can be recognised in a small number of sites. There are also a very small number of primary burials. The most common burial rite in this period is successive inhumation, which is well documented at a number of sites. There are also sites where multi-stage rites of some kind clearly took place, but without sufficiently well preserved evidence to describe them in more detail and other sites where there are Early Neolithic dates from poorly understood single bones. This diversity of burial practice seems to be linked to the fact that all of these different kinds of rite are also attested at other kinds of Early Neolithic site as well as caves.

Download Full-text

A Meeting in the Forest: Hunters and Farmers at the Coneybury ‘Anomaly’, Wiltshire

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/ppr.2018.15 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 84 ◽

pp. 111-144 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Kurt J. Gron ◽

Peter ROWLEY-CONWY ◽

Eva Fernandez-Dominguez ◽

Darren R. Gröcke ◽

Janet Montgomery ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stone Tools ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Faunal Assemblage ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Domestic Species ◽

Regional Community ◽

Local Hunter ◽

Isotope Analyses ◽

Lines Of Evidence ◽

Local Farmers

The Coneybury ‘Anomaly’ is an Early Neolithic pit located just south-east of Stonehenge, Wiltshire. Excavations recovered a faunal assemblage unique in its composition, consisting of both wild and domestic species, as well as large quantities of ceramics and stone tools, including a substantial proportion of blades/bladelets. We present a suite of new isotope analyses of the faunal material, together with ancient DNA sex determination, and reconsider the published faunal data to ask: What took place at Coneybury, and who was involved? We argue on the basis of multiple lines of evidence that Coneybury represents the material remains of a gathering organised by a regional community, with participants coming from different areas. One group of attendees provided deer instead of, or in addition to, cattle. We conclude that the most likely scenario is that this group comprised local hunter-gatherers who survived alongside local farmers.

Download Full-text

Roots of diversity in aLinearbandkeramikcommunity: isotope evidence at Aiterhofen (Bavaria, Germany)

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00062037 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 85 (330) ◽

pp. 1243-1258 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Penny Bickle ◽

Daniela Hofmann ◽

R. Alexander Bentley ◽

Robert Hedges ◽

Julie Hamilton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Central Europe ◽

Isotope Analysis ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Men And Women ◽

Mobility Strategies ◽

Isotope Evidence ◽

Burial Rites ◽

Local Hunter

The early Neolithic in northern Central Europe ought to be the theatre in which incoming farmers meet local hunter-gatherers, with greater or lesser impact. By way of contrast, the authors use isotope analysis in a cemetery beside the Danube to describe a peaceful, well-integrated community with a common diet and largely indigenous inhabitants. Men and women may have had different mobility strategies, but the isotopes did not signal special origins or diverse food-producing roles. Other explanations attend the variations in the burial rites of individuals and their distribution into cemetery plots.

Download Full-text

Mesolithic mortuary ritual at Franchthi Cave, Greece

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00064681 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 69 (263) ◽

pp. 270-289 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Tracey Cullen

Keyword(s):

Human Remains ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Burial Practices ◽

Mortuary Ritual ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Southern Greece ◽

Mesolithic Burials

Mesolithic sites are rare in the Aegean, and Mesolithic burials are uncommon throughout Europe. The Mesolithic human remains from Franchthi Cave, that remarkable, deeply stratified site in southern Greece, offer a rare glimpse into the burial practices of early Holocene hunter-gatherers of the Mediterranean.

Download Full-text

SPATIAL REGENERATION OF MUSLIM BURIAL PRACTICES IN THE METROPOLITAN AREAS OF KUALA LUMPUR AND JAKARTA

PLANNING MALAYSIA JOURNAL ◽

10.21837/pmjournal.v16.i8.535 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

Author(s):

Mohamad Reza Mohamed Afla

Keyword(s):

Southeast Asia ◽

Metropolitan Areas ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Kuala Lumpur ◽

Muslim Population ◽

Burial Practices ◽

Burial Practice ◽

The Subject ◽

Full Body

This article focuses on the subject of burial practices which are performed by the Muslim population and the management at public cemeteries within the metropolitan areas of Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. This research examines specifically, the conventional way of burial practice by the majority of the Muslim population. Unlike other major religions in Southeast Asia which are more open and flexible in the disposal of corpses, full body burial is mandatory in Islam. In response to the escalating issue of lack of space and land shortage for Muslim cemetery, local authorities of the two metropolitan areas have identified alternatives and solutions in handling these alarming situations. This research has recognised factors that lead to these problems, as well as discussing available methods to overcome these issues. The finding exhibits Muslim cemetery’s layout to be problematic due to abundance of burial practices accumulated by patrons which led to disorganisation of space and claustrophobia. This article concludes by providing proposals and design guidelines at the terrain level, together with recommendations that emphasise the long-term usage of the grave plots.

Download Full-text

Effect of population structure and migration when investigating genetic continuity using ancient DNA

10.1101/052548 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

NM Silva ◽

S Kreutzer ◽

C Papageorgopoulou ◽

M Currat

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

Ancient Dna ◽

Isolated Populations ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

History Of ◽

Genetic Continuity ◽

Population Continuity ◽

Local Hunter ◽

And Migration ◽

Genetic Pool

AbstractRecent advances in sequencing techniques provide means to access direct genetic snapshots from the past with ancient DNA data (aDNA) from diverse periods of human prehistory. Comparing samples taken in the same region but at different time periods may indicate if there is continuity in the peopling history of that area or if a large genetic input, such as an immigration wave, has occurred. Here we propose a new modeling approach for investigating population continuity using aDNA, including two fundamental elements in human evolution that were absent from previous methods: population structure and migration. The method also considers the extensive temporal and geographic heterogeneity commonly found in aDNA datasets. We compare our spatially-explicit approach to the previous non-spatial method and show that it is more conservative and thus suitable for testing population continuity, especially when small, isolated populations, such as prehistoric ones, are considered. Moreover, our approach also allows investigating partial population continuity and we apply it to a real dataset of ancient mitochondrial DNA. We estimate that 91% of the current genetic pool in central Europe entered the area with immigrant Neolithic farmers, but a genetic contribution of local hunter-gatherers as large as 83% cannot be entirely ruled out.

Download Full-text

Differential cytokeratin gene expression reveals early dorsal-ventral regionalization in chick mesoderm

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.110.2.417 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 110 (2) ◽

pp. 417-425 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

T.S. Charlebois ◽

J.J. Henry ◽

R.M. Grainger

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Spatial Patterning ◽

Germ Layer ◽

Dorsal Region ◽

Histological Differentiation ◽

Tissue Remodelling ◽

Early Step ◽

Present Evidence ◽

Hierarchical Manner

The induction and spatial patterning of early mesoderm are known to be critical events in the establishment of the vertebrate body plan. However, it has been difficult to define precisely the steps by which mesoderm is initially subdivided into functionally discrete regions. Here we present evidence for a sharply defined distinction between presumptive dorsal and presumptive ventral regions in early chick mesoderm. Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses reveal that transcripts corresponding to CKse1, a cytokeratin gene expressed during early development, are present at high levels in the presumptive ventral mesoderm, but are greatly reduced or undetectable in the future dorsal region of mesoderm, where the formation of axial structures occurs later in development. This distinction is present even while the mesoderm layer is being formed, and persists during the extensive cellular movements and tissue remodelling associated with morphogenesis. These results point to an early step in which two fundamentally distinct states are established along the presumptive dorsal-ventral axis in the mesoderm, and suggest that determination in this germ layer occurs in a hierarchical manner, rather than by direct specification of individual types of histological differentiation. The differential expression of CKse1 represents the earliest molecular index of dorsoventral regionalization detected thus far in the mesoderm.

Download Full-text