The importance of stock herding and dairying in the Neolithic Balkans and the subsistence diversity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darko Stojanovski ◽  
Ivana Živaljević ◽  
Vesna Dimitrijević ◽  
Julie Dunne ◽  
Richard Evershed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Milk Proteins ◽  
Domestic Animal ◽  
Dental Calculus ◽  
Isotopic Study ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
New Information ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Ceramic Vessels

The application of biomolecular techniques to archaeological materials from the Balkans is providing valuable new information on the prehistory of the region. This is especially relevant for the study of the neolithisation process in SE Europe, which gradually affected the rest of the continent. Here, to answer questions regarding diet and subsistence practices in early farming societies, we combine organic residue analyses of archaeological pottery, taxonomic and isotopic study of domestic animal remains and biomolecular analyses of human dental calculus. The results from the analyses of the lipid residues from pottery suggest that milk was processed in ceramic vessels. Dairy products were shown to be part of the subsistence strategies of the earliest Neolithic communities in the region but were of varying importance in different areas of the Balkan. On the other hand, we did not confidently detect any milk proteins within the dental calculus. The molecular and isotopic identification of meat, dairy, plants and beeswax in the pottery lipids also provided insights into the diversity of diet in these early Neolithic communities. We also present the first compound-specific radiocarbon dates for the region, obtained directly on absorbed organic residues extracted from pottery, identified as dairy lipids.

A Revised Chronology for the Last Pleistocene Lake Cycle in the Central Lahontan Basin

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Thompson ◽  
Larry Benson ◽  
Eugene M. Hattori
Keyword(s):  
Plant Materials ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Paleoclimatic Changes ◽  
New Information ◽  
Archaeological Materials

Radiocarbon dates of plant materials from packrat middens in caves below the elevation of the last high stand of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan, in conjunction with radiocarbon dates of ancient archaeological materials, provide evidence that the last high stand terminated before 12,070 yr B.P. This new information suggests that the last major fluctuation in the level of Lake Lahontan was approximately synchronous with those of Lakes Bonneville and Russell, and that these three lakes probably responded contemporaneously to the same regional paleoclimatic changes.

Visitors to Leuke Island

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-267
Author(s):  
Mikhail Abramzon ◽  
Irina Tunkina
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Geographical Range ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Meeting Point ◽  
Magna Graecia ◽  
Classical World ◽  
New Information ◽  
Economic Ties

Abstract This article is the publication of the plates compiled by N.N. Murzakevich, secretary of the Odessa Society for History and Antiquities. It contains tracings of 241 Classical coins and lists of coin finds from the island of Fidonisi (known as Leuke in antiquity), which had been excavated in the 1840s and early 1850s. Recent data have led to a doubling of the list of Greek centres (up to 202) and the rulers of a number of states and peoples, whose coins made their way to the island. Details of these finds and the dates of the emissions illustrate clearly the development and chronological framework of the religious and economic ties between the northern coast of Pontus with the various regions of the Classical oikumene. The geographical range of the coin finds (from Magna Graecia, Sicily and the Levant to the Aegean, the Balkans, the Pontic region and Asia and as far away as Mesopotamia) demonstrates that the sanctuary of Achilles on the island of Leuke situated at a meeting point of Black Sea trade routes, enjoyed enormous popularity in the Classical world. The publication of these plates compiled by N.N. Murzakevich makes available new information on the maritime trade in the Pontus area between the 5th century BC and the 5th century AD.

scholarly journals The results of the study of the Algay site (2019) in the lower Volga Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-131
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Alekseevich Vybornov ◽  
Irina Nikolaevna Vasilyeva ◽  
Aleksey Valerievich Baratskov ◽  
Filat Faritovich Gilyazov ◽  
Pavel Andreevich Kosintsev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Lower Volga Region ◽  
Lower Volga ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Technological Analysis

The processes of Neolithization and Eneolithization are two of the most important in the study of the human prehistory. The territory of the Lower Volga is of particular importance. In the Neolithic period, one of the oldest ceramic traditions in Eastern Europe appears. In the Eneolithic, cultures with signs of a productive economy are recorded rather early here. A further study of these issues depends on a quality source base. Monuments of the Neolithic and Eneolithic in the Volga steppe are rare. Therefore, the study of the new site Algay is very relevant. Its importance increases due to the discovery of stratigraphic data in 2019: the Eneolithic and Neolithic layers are separated by relatively sterile layers. This allows us to establish reliable periodization. Features of the lower cultural layer allowed us to trace the process of its formation. The work was interdisciplinary. The results of the technical and technological analysis of ceramics revealed the characteristic features of the Neolithic and Eneolithic. Archaeozoological definitions established the species composition of animals in the Neolithic and Eneolithic. New radiocarbon dates provide a basis for determining the exact chronological framework of the Orlovskaya and Caspian cultures in this region. Among archaeological materials, rare artifacts have been discovered that testify to social stratification already in the Neolithic period.

scholarly journals Isotopic investigation of skeletal remains at the Imdang tombs reveals high consumption of game birds and social stratification in ancient Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyungcheol Choy ◽  
Hee Young Yun ◽  
Seung Hee Kim ◽  
Sangsoo Jung ◽  
Benjamin T. Fuller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Dietary Adaptation ◽  
Early States ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Daily Food ◽  
Game Birds

AbstractUnderstanding the development of early states on the Korean Peninsula is an important topic in Korean archaeology. However, it is not clear how social structure was organized by these early states and what natural resources were utilized from their surrounding environments. To investigate dietary adaptation and social status in ancient Korea, stable isotope ratios and radiocarbon dates were measured from humans and animals from the Imdang cemetery, Gyeongsan city, South Korea. The results indicate that the Imdang diet was mainly based on C3 plants and terrestrial animals. Animal remains in the graves were directly consumed as daily food items as well as for ritual offerings. MixSIAR modeling results revealed that the dietary sources for the humans were: game birds > C3 plants > terrestrial herbivores > marine fish > C4 plants. The finding that the game birds represented the highest contribution to the whole diet, indicates that game birds must have been intensively hunted. Furthermore, elites consumed more game birds than their retainers and they also consumed seafood as a privileged dietary item in the Imdang society. This study demonstrates that the Apdok was a stratified society having high variations in the consumption of food items available to an individual and provides new insights about the subsistence and social status of the early ancient Apdok state on the Korean Peninsula.

scholarly journals Documentation of Caddo Ceramic Vessel Sherds from the Shelby Site (41CP71) in the Vernon Holcomb Collection, Camp County, Texas

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
Political Communities ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Work Done

The Shelby site (41CP71) is an important Late Caddo period, Titus phase, religious and political center on Greasy Creek in the Northeast Texas Pineywoods. The site, occupied from the 15th century A.D. until at least the late 17th century A.D., is a large and well-preserved settlement with abundant habitation features as well as plant and animal remains, evidence of mound building activities in the form of a 1.5 m high structural mound, and a large community cemetery with at least 119 burial pits and perhaps as many as 200. The Shelby site is the nexus of one of a number of Titus phase political communities in the Big Cypress Creek stream basin. Nevertheless, very little is known archaeologically about the site—or the history of the Caddo’s settlement there—since almost all the work done at the site since it was discovered in 1979 has been by looters. Perttula and Nelson completed a limited amount of work in the village area in 2003, and Bob Turner and others worked in the 1.5 m high structural mound between 1985-1988, but an overall synthesis of the Caddo occupation at the Shelby site awaits more extensive professional archaeological investigations. One key step in any professional archaeological work that may be forthcoming at the site includes the documentation of Caddo material culture remains, especially Caddo ceramics, that are known to have come from the site, as they provide a record of the temporal, functional, and stylistic range of the ceramic vessels used and discarded at the site, as well as evidence of interaction and contact between different but contemporaneous Caddo groups. In August 2009, I had an opportunity to document a collection of Caddo ceramic sherds held by Vernon Holcomb from the Shelby site. He collected these sherds from the surface of the site some 25-30 years ago where they had been eroded out of the banks of a dry or intermittent stream branch that drains north to Greasy Creek.

The Environmental Archaeology Research Programme at Nicopolis: Methodology and Results

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. BEECH
Keyword(s):  
Research Programme ◽  
Domestic Animal ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Environmental Archaeology ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Bone Fragments ◽  
Wild Resources ◽  
Changing Role

This chapter describes the methodology and results of the environmental archaeology research programme at Nicopolis ad Istrum in the Balkans. The aims of the research programme were: to determine the use of the major domestic animal and plant species and to explore what husbandry practices may have been employed; to examine the changing role of domestic versus wild resources; to reconstruct the likely natural environment close to Nicopolis, using the presence of particular species and their known habitats. This chapter presents examinations of epigraphic and documentary evidence found at the site, including coins and animal footprints. A large quantity of bio-archaeological data was collected, including bone fragments of mammals, birds, and fish; moderate quantities of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine mollusca; and large quantities of cereals, pulses, edible fruits, and nuts, as well as wild plants.

scholarly journals Dispersals as demographic processes: testing and describing the spread of the Neolithic in the Balkans

2020 ◽  
Vol 376 (1816) ◽  
pp. 20200231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Vander Linden ◽  
Fabio Silva
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Population History ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Demographic Processes ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Density Dependent Dispersal

Although population history and dispersal are back at the forefront of the archaeological agenda, they are often studied in relative isolation. This contribution aims at combining both dimensions, as population dispersal is, by definition, a demographic process. Using a case study drawn from the Early Neolithic of South-Eastern Europe, we use radiocarbon dates to jointly investigate changes in speed and population size linked to the new food production economy and demonstrate that the spread of farming in this region corresponds to a density-dependent dispersal process. The implications of this characterization are evaluated in the discussion. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography’.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon and Archaeology in Japan and Korea: What has Changed Because of the Yayoi Dating Controversy?

Radiocarbon ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin'ya Shoda
Keyword(s):  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Asian Region ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Northeast Asian

Since the sensational 2003 announcement that pushed the start of the Yayoi period back by 500 yr, archaeologists working on 1st millennium BC material from northeast Asia have had to switch from the older short chronology to a new long chronology. However, this change need not apply to the entire northeast Asian region as China's chronology is tied to written records. The timeline of the Korean peninsula, intermediate between the Chinese and Japanese ones, needs to be reexamined. The chronology of the 1st millennium BC in the Korean peninsula is still in dispute, in part because many of the radiocarbon dates lack clear archaeological contexts. This paper shows that a reliable typological relationship observed in archaeological materials existed at this time linking northeast Asia from China to Japan. This paper includes absolute dates based on the initial AMS 14C measurements of charred crops from South Korean sites.

scholarly journals Excavations at a Neolithic Enclosure on The Peak, near Birdlip, Gloucestershire

2011 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 139-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Darvill ◽  
Alex Bayliss ◽  
Debra Costen ◽  
Ellen Hambleton ◽  
Frances Healy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Outer Boundary ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Group Vi ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Human Foot ◽  
Foot Bones ◽  
The North ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Single Complex

Surveys and excavations in 1980–1 confirmed Peak Camp as a Neolithic enclosure on a flat promontory of the Cotswold escarpment overlooking the Severn Valley just 1 km south of Crickley Hill. Although heavily eroded by quarrying the site can be reconstructed as having two concentric arcs of boundary earthworks forming an oval plan which was probably open to the north where a steep natural slope defined the edge of the site. A section through the outer boundary showed four main phases of ditch construction, at least one causewayed. An extensive series of radiocarbon dates shows construction began in the late 37th century calbcand probably continued through successive remodellings into the 33rd century calbcor beyond. An internal ditch or elongated pit situated in the area between the inner and outer boundary earthworks had a similar history. Where sampled, the ditch and internal feature were rich in material culture, including a substantial assemblage of plain bowl pottery; flint implements and working waste; animal remains dominated by cattle but including also the remains of a cat; human foot bones; slight traces of cereal production; a fragment of a Group VI axe; part of a sandstone disc; and a highly unusual shale arc pendant of continental type. It is suggested that the ditch fills represent selectively redeposited midden material from within the site that started to accumulate in the late 5th or early 4th millennium calbc. The construction and use of Peak Camp is contemporary with activity on Crickley Hill, and the two sites probably formed components of a single complex. Its use was also contemporary with the deposition of burials at local long barrows in the Cotswold-Severn tradition which are linked by common ceramic traditions and the selective deposition of human body parts.

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