New radiocarbon dates of human and bird bones from Zvejnieki Stone Age burial ground in northern Latvia

This article is a follow-up to that of Mr D. W. Phillipson published in this Journal in 1970, and to the six earlier lists compiled for the whole of sub-Saharan Africa by Dr B. M. Fagan. I have endeavoured to include here all radiocarbon dates for archaeological sites of the Iron Age and most of those of the end of the Stone Age in the eastern and southern part of Africa—that is from Ethiopia, the Upper Nile and the Congo Basin southward—which have been published or made available since the preparation of the former articles. Some of these dates are already included in recent numbers of the Journal Radiocarbon, or have been mentioned in publications elsewhere, as indicated in the footnotes. A large proportion of these new dates, however, have not yet been published, and are included here through the agreement of the various individual archaeologists and research bodies, all of whom I wish to thank for their cooperation. In particular, I am indebted to Mr David Phillipson for his willing assistance in providing a number of contacts and relaying information from southern Africa.

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Some Recent Radiocarbon Dates from Eastern and Southern Africa

The Journal of African History ◽

10.1017/s0021853700015486 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 161-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Tim Maggs

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Central Africa ◽

West African ◽

Stone Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Age Sequence ◽

Eastern And Southern Africa

This Article follows in the series started by Fagan and continued for eastern and southern Africa by Phillipson, Sutton and Soper. The scope remains much the same, covering in time the later part of the Stone Age sequence as well as the Iron Age. Geographically, however, there are some changes: the Sudan has been excluded as it was covered by the recent review of North and West African dates, while a detailed chronological review of francophone Central Africa is in progress and therefore this region has been excluded.

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Pieces in vertical movement—a model for rockshelter archaeology

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x0001046x ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 349-353 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ari Siiriäinen

Keyword(s):

Vertical Movement ◽

Stone Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Late Stone Age ◽

Vertical Scale ◽

Small Stone ◽

Image Position

In 1973, excavations were carried out in a rockshelter called River Rockshelter in Laikipia District, Kenya (the results will be published in AZANIA). The archaeological deposit was c 80 cm thick and contained an abundant lithic material belonging to a Late Stone Age industry. The deposit was excavated in seven layers each 5–15 cm thick. The stratigraphy was as follows (fig. 1):1. 0–10 cm, brown, loose fine-grained earth;2. 10–35 cm, brown, hard, medium-grained soil with stone slabs;3. 35–50 cm, greyish brown, hard gravel with small stone slabs;4. 50 cm + grey, hard gravel.Stratigraphical layers, radiocarbon dates and excavated layers from River Rockshelter. Vertical scale 1/10.

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Novoilyinskaya culture sites of the Lower Kama region: current state of the research

Samara Journal of Science ◽

10.17816/snv201982214 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 186-199

Author(s):

Viktor Vladimirovich Morozov

Keyword(s):

Forest Steppe ◽

Copper Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Neolithic Culture ◽

Current State ◽

Small Series ◽

Middle Volga ◽

Clear Idea

The paper deals with the analysis of the Novoilyinskaya culture sites existed in the Lower Kama region between the Kama Neolithic culture collapse and the Copper Age cultures with porous (shell tempered) ceramics appearance. The analysis of the ceramic complex of the Novoilyinskaya culture shows its similarity with the comb ornamented pottery of the Kama Neolithic culture according to a number of indicators. A lack of clear data on stratigraphy and spatial distribution of finds as well as a small series of absolute dates do not give a clear idea of the formation time and the development of the Novoilyinskaya culture. Currently available data show that the Samara collar (Ivanovskaya) traditions disappeared until the last quarter of the 5th Millennium cal BC. Specific ceramics of the Neolithic-type shape is formed in the Lower Kama region. At the same time the Novoilyinskaya culture ceramics of the Ik and Belaya Rivers interfluve has some features which are the reminiscences of the Levshinskaya stage which are not characteristic for the Middle and Upper Kama region. These features are: thickening on the inner side of the rim; rows of pits and bulges (formed by pits imprinted from the inner side) under the rim; closed forms of the pots and an ornamentation - stepping comb impressions. The proximity of the ceramic complexes of the Novoilyinskaya culture sites to the Late Neolithic ceramics of the Kama culture as well as the radiocarbon dates and the absence of the metalworking evidences prove the functioning of the Novoilyinskaya culture sites of the Lower Kama region during the border of the Stone Age and the period of Early Metals. Another important question is - which southern components took part in the formation of the Novoilyinskaya type or influenced it. Researchers of the forest-steppe Copper Age cultures supposed that in the process of forest Copper Age cultures formation - the Garin and Bor cultures as well as the Middle Volga variant of the Volosovo culture - the Tok and even Altata elements took part. In our opinion, the influence of the Tok traditions is already clearly visible on the Novoilyinskaya culture ceramics. This conclusion is supported by the ⁴C dates which established the synchronicity of the Tok and Novoilyinskaya sites.

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Bracelet from an Elunino burial at the Teleut Vzvoz-I site

VESTNIK ARHEOLOGII ANTROPOLOGII I ETNOGRAFII ◽

10.20874/2071-0437-2020-48-1-1 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 5-14

Author(s):

I.A. Valkov

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Trace Analysis ◽

Western Siberia ◽

Average Diameter ◽

Raw Material ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

Burial Ground ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

The Bronze Age

The article studies a stone bead bracelet found in an Early Bronze Age burial of the Elunino archaeological culture during the excavation of the Teleut Vzvoz-I burial ground (heterogeneous in time) in the south of Western Siberia (Forest-Steppe Altai). According to a series of calibrated radiocarbon dates, the Elunino burial ground at the Teleut Vzvoz-I site was used in the 22nd–18th centuries BC. The artefact under study was found in double burial No. 16 of the indicated burial ground, on the wrist of an adult (gender is not established). The bracelet in-cludes 66 stone beads, as well as one stone base. This piece of jewellery is unique in terms of technique, as well as the sacral meaning embedded in it. The ornament found on the beads bears no analogies to those discovered in the well-known Bronze Age archaeological sites of Western and Eastern Siberia. The present publication con-siders the morphological and raw material characteristics of the bracelet, as well as the specifics of its production and use. In this study, trace analysis was performed, i.e. the analysis of macro- and micro-traces left on the sur-face of the item as a result of its production and subsequent use. All traces were examined using an MBS-10 stereoscopic microscope at a magnification of ×16–56. It was found that some of the beads in the bracelet were made of serpentinite. The nearest sources of this stone are at least 250–300 km away from Teleut Vzvoz-I. The beads are made by counter-drilling, drilling of blind holes, polishing and grinding. This find is unique due to orna-mental compositions found on several beads in the form of oblique notches on side faces. The extremely small size of the beads (average diameter of 3.3 mm; average thickness of 1.4 mm) makes the pattern invisible to the naked eye. Thus, it is concluded that the ornament had a sacred meaning, and the bracelet itself served as an amulet. Despite no finds of ornamented bracelets dating back to the Bronze Age in Western Siberia and adjacent territories, typologically the bracelet bears analogies to the antiquities of the Okunevo culture, the Yamna cultural and historical community, as well as in the materials of the Bronze Age archaeological site of Gonur Depe (Turk-menistan). The study of the bracelet demonstrates the relevance of performing trace analysis of such items from other archaeological sites.

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Dromos burials of the saka time in the Nazar site (Central Kazakhstan)

Samara Journal of Science ◽

10.17816/snv20161203 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 84-93

Author(s):

Arman Ziyadenovich Beisenov

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Early Stage ◽

Complex Structure ◽

Burial Ground ◽

New Materials ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Cultural Traditions ◽

Funeral Rite ◽

The People ◽

Burial Grounds

In recent years, numerous new sites of Tasmola culture have been studied. New materials significantly supplement the existing ideas about the culture of the population of Central Kazakhstan of Saka era. The present article focuses on three monuments of the early Saka time studied by the author in the Nazar site in Central Kazakhstan. This kurgan with stone ridges Nazar and two other kurgans compose the burial ground Nazar-2. The monument is located in the Karaganda region, which is geographically an eastern part of the Kazakh hills. In addition to the studied objects on the coast of the river Nazar, there are three unexplored burial grounds of the Saka era. All structures of these burial grounds, including those which have not been excavated yet, can be combined by common external features. As a result of excavations graves with dromos oriented to the east were discovered in all three mounds. The diameters of the kurgans are 20-23 m, their height is 1,5-1,7 m. A bronze arrowhead of the early Saka type was found in kurgan 1 of the burial ground Nazar-2. Such monuments, which are characterized by a large size and complex structure, belong to the early stage of Tasmola culture - VIII-VI cc. BC. Three radiocarbon dates obtained on bone samples from mounds № 1 and № 2 of burial ground Nazar-2 in the laboratories of the Royal University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom and the University of Miami, USA do not contradict that. According to the author, such detail of the funeral rite as dromos oriented to the east, can be genetically traced back to the cultural traditions of the people of the late Bronze Age in Central Kazakhstan. Tasmola culture of Central Kazakhstan was opened in 1960. New materials largely complement the existing ideas about this culture.

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Radiocarbon Dates and Stable Isotope Data from the Early Bronze Age Burials in Riigiküla I and Kivisaare Settlement Sites, Estonia

Radiocarbon ◽

10.2458/azu_rc.57.18459 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 645-656 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Mari Tõrv ◽

John Meadows

Keyword(s):

Stable Isotope ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Stone Age ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Agricultural Communities ◽

Time Period ◽

Freshwater Reservoir ◽

Relationship Of

Four inhumations from Kivisaare and Riigiküla I settlement and burial sites were dated in the course of a project about hunter-gatherer mortuary practices in Estonia, as they were believed to belong to the Stone Age. However, these burials appear to be Early Bronze Age inhumations instead, and thus are discussed separately in the present article. These burials are the first evidence in Estonia of a long-lasting tradition of inhumations without any visible aboveground structures. As the archaeology of the Early Bronze Age in Estonia is poorly known, these four inhumations contribute immensely to our understanding about this time period. Moreover, stable isotope values show that these people had a more terrestrial subsistence strategy than Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Nevertheless, aquatic resources were probably still significant components of their diet, particularly at Kivisaare, and the radiocarbon dates could therefore be subject to significant freshwater reservoir effects. This creates ambiguity in the chronological relationship of these four individuals to burials in stone-cist graves, which are attributed to the Late Bronze Age and which appear to be associated with fully agricultural communities.

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Pretoria Radiocarbon Dates III

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s003382220002018x ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 1133-1172 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

J C Vogel ◽

Annemarie Fuls ◽

Ebbie Visser

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Stone Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

The North ◽

Northern Cape

This list contains 14C dates pertaining to the Stone Age in southern Africa and covers the region from Zambia in the north to Natal and the northern Cape Province in South Africa. The southern and southwestern Cape Province are not included. Descriptions are based on information supplied by the submitters.

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Freshwater Reservoir Effect in 14C Dates of Food Residue on Pottery

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s003382220003280x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 449-466 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Anders Fischer ◽

Jan Heinemeier

Keyword(s):

Freshwater Fish ◽

Freshwater Ecosystems ◽

Stone Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Reservoir Effect ◽

Food Residue ◽

Northern European ◽

Food Residues ◽

Freshwater Reservoir

Radiocarbon dates of food residue on pottery from northern European inland areas seem to be influenced significantly by the freshwater reservoir effect (“hardwater” effect) stemming from fish and mollusks cooked in the pots. Bones of freshwater fish from Stone Age åmose, Denmark, are demonstrated to be 100 to 500 14C yr older than their archaeological context. Likewise, food residues on cooking pots, seemingly used for the preparation of freshwater fish, are shown to have 14C age excesses of up to 300 yr. It is probable that age excesses of similar or even larger magnitude are involved in food residue dates from other periods and regions. Since this effect cannot, so far, be quantified and corrected for, 14C dating of food residue, which may potentially include material from freshwater ecosystems, should be treated with reserve.

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