The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the Paris Basin: a review

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Allard
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Paris Basin ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
River Valleys

The last thirty years have seen increasing numbers of excavations of early Neolithic settlements in the main Paris Basin river valleys. These early Neolithic sites can be seen as part of the Danubian period, and specifically belong to the Rubané and Villeneuve–Saint-Germain–Blicquy cultures. The Paris Basin is also an area with many excavated Mesolithic sites. This chapter presents a review of research into neolithization processes on the westernmost edge of Danubian expansion. The study is mainly based on lithic finds, because recent work has greatly improved our knowledge not only of Early Neolithic, but also of Mesolithic, flint industries in the Paris basin.

The Neolithic transition and European population history

Antiquity ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (301) ◽  
pp. 708-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Crombé ◽  
Mark Van Strydonck
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
European Population ◽  
Population History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Regional Approach ◽  
Absolute Dating

In volume 295 of Antiquity M. Gkiasta et al. (2003) discussed the results of two sets of analysis carried out on a “new” database of radiocarbon dates: one for the whole of Europe examining the spread of the Neolithic, and one regional approach looking at the relation between Mesolithic and Neolithic dates. Although we are convinced of the potential of both approaches, we do have some major comments on the methodology.First of all the analyses were conducted on a highly incomplete database. As the authors state on their p. 48, the analysed database currently includes over 2600 samples. Many of them, however, had already been collated in Gob’s Atlas of 14C dates (1990). Although the authors have included new dates, we do not believe that this has been done very systematically. For the Belgian territory, for example, virtually all the dates used in the article were those published by Gob – 16 Mesolithic dates and 30 Neolithic dates. The authors justify this by referring to the bad state of publication and public availability of radiocarbon dates in Europe. This certainly does not hold for the Belgian territory. In the last decade over a hundred new Mesolithic and Neolithic dates have been produced, the majority published in journals available world-wide such as Radiocarbon (Van Strydonck et al. 1995; 2001a), Antiquity (Crombé et al. 2002), Archaeometry (Cauwe et al. 2002) proceedings of the international congresses such as 14C and archaeology (Crombé et al. 1999) and The Mesolithic in Europe (Crombé 1999), and the IRPA- datelists (Van Strydonck et al. 2001b; Van Strydonck et al. 2002). The authors assert that these “shortcomings” to the database probably do not affect their conclusions. This is a rash and provocative statement, which minimises all recent progress in absolute dating of the European Mesolithic and Neolithic. We believe that for the Belgian situation a hundred new dates can make a difference. In recent years, for example, these new dates have allowed a thorough revision of Mesolithic chronology (Crombé 1999; Van Strydonck et al. 2001a) and a refinement of the (early) Neolithic chronology (Jadin & Cahen 2003). This will certainly also be the case for the other study-areas in Europe.

scholarly journals The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in southern Iberia

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Cortés Sánchez ◽  
Francisco J. Jiménez Espejo ◽  
María D. Simón Vallejo ◽  
Juan F. Gibaja Bao ◽  
António Faustino Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
North African ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Subsistence Strategies ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Population Turnover ◽  
Southern Iberia ◽  
Upwelling Intensity

New data and a review of historiographic information from Neolithic sites of the Malaga and Algarve coasts (southern Iberian Peninsula) and from the Maghreb (North Africa) reveal the existence of a Neolithic settlement at least from 7.5 cal ka BP. The agricultural and pastoralist food producing economy of that population rapidly replaced the coastal economies of the Mesolithic populations. The timing of this population and economic turnover coincided with major changes in the continental and marine ecosystems, including upwelling intensity, sea-level changes and increased aridity in the Sahara and along the Iberian coast. These changes likely impacted the subsistence strategies of the Mesolithic populations along the Iberian seascapes and resulted in abandonments manifested as sedimentary hiatuses in some areas during the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. The rapid expansion and area of dispersal of the early Neolithic traits suggest the use of marine technology. Different evidences for a Maghrebian origin for the first colonists have been summarized. The recognition of an early North-African Neolithic influence in Southern Iberia and the Maghreb is vital for understanding the appearance and development of the Neolithic in Western Europe. Our review suggests links between climate change, resource allocation, and population turnover.

scholarly journals Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions during the Meso- to Neolithic transition (9.2–5.3 cal. ka BP) in Northwestern France: Palynological evidences

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clément Lambert ◽  
Muriel Vidal ◽  
Aurélie Penaud ◽  
Pascal Le Roy ◽  
Evelyne Goubert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Palynological Analysis ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
The North ◽  
Bay Of Brest ◽  
River Valleys ◽  
Climate Events

Sedimentological, palynological, and micropalaeontological studies carried out throughout the first half of the Holocene, during the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition in the Bay of Brest (i.e. 9200–9000 and 6600–5300 cal. BP) and in the Bay of Douarnenez (i.e. 9200–8400 cal. BP), allowed characterizing coastal environmental changes under the increasing influence of the relative sea-level rise. The gradual flooding of the two studied sites implied a transition from river valleys to oceanic bays as revealed by the gradual retreat of salt marsh environments, as detected through palynological analysis. In addition, these high-resolution studies highlight the regional imprint of the North Atlantic millennial climate variability in north-western coastal environments. Two cold climate events are indeed suggested to have been locally marked by a moisture increase, mainly detected by increases in Lingulodinium machaerophorum, Corylus, and Alnus percentages at 8550 cal. BP in the Bay of Douarnenez and at 6250 cal. BP in the Bay of Brest. Moreover, regarding the Neolithic transition timing in the Bay of Douarnenez, large pollen grains of Poaceae (i.e. Cerealia-type pollen grains) have been detected at around 8600 cal. BP, that is, 1500 years before the general accepted cereal cropping appearance in Western France. These results, consistent with other palynological studies conducted in the French Atlantic coast, could underline a Mesolithic ‘proto-agriculture’ in Brittany.

scholarly journals Stable Isotope Palaeodietary and Radiocarbon Evidence from the Early Neolithic Site of Zemunica, Dalmatia, Croatia

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Guiry ◽  
Ivor Karavanić ◽  
Rajna Šošić Klindžić ◽  
Sahra Talamo ◽  
Siniša Radović ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Near East ◽  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Adriatic Coast ◽  
Isotope Evidence ◽  
Main Protein ◽  
Spread Of Agriculture

The Adriatic Sea and Balkan Peninsula were an important corridor for the spread of agriculture northwards and westwards from the Near East into Europe. Therefore, the pace and nature of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition along the Adriatic coastline has important implications for the movement of new peoples and/or ideas during one of the most eventful periods in European prehistory. We present new Early Neolithic radiocarbon and stable isotope evidence from humans and animals from the Zemunica cave site in Dalmatia, Croatia. The results show that these humans date to the earliest Neolithic in the region, and they have completely terrestrial diets, where the main protein source was most likely to have come from domesticated animals. Data are then compared to previous isotope and archaeological evidence to explore models for the spread of agriculture along the eastern Adriatic coast.

What Have Genetics Ever Done for Us? The Implications of aDNA Data for Interpreting Identity in Early Neolithic Central Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 454-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Hofmann
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Fundamental Change ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Migration Process ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Transition Models ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Impact

This paper is concerned with the impact of ancient DNA data on our models of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in central Europe. Beginning with a brief overview of how genetic data have been received by archaeologists working in this area, it outlines the potential and remaining problems of this kind of evidence. As a migration around the beginning of the Neolithic now seems certain, new research foci are then suggested. One is renewed attention to the motivations and modalities of the migration process. The second is a fundamental change in attitude towards the capabilities of immigrant Neolithic populations to behave in novel and creative ways, abilities which in our transition models were long exclusively associated with hunter-gatherers.

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.

scholarly journals The Late Paleolithic-Neolithic Transition in Korea: Current Archaeological and Radiocarbon Perspectives

Radiocarbon ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 493-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J Bae ◽  
Jong Chan Kim
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Late Paleolithic ◽  
China And Japan ◽  
Korean Archaeology

The application of chronometric dating studies in Korean archaeology has lagged behind similar research in China and Japan. The focus of this article is to provide an update on the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates derived from Korean Paleolithic and Early Neolithic sites. One of the major highlights from recent AMS 14C studies in Korea is that blade (and microblade) technologies may have diffused directly from Siberia, rather than through northern China as originally thought. In addition, a Neolithic wooden boat has been discovered in Korea that is as old as, if not older than, similar discoveries from eastern China. More detailed archaeological and chronometric studies in Korea in the coming years will certainly clarify many of the points mentioned here. In particular, through more detailed studies, we will be able to further evaluate the causal factors that provided the impetus for the Late Paleolithic-Neolithic transition in Korea.

scholarly journals Mineral Resources, Procurement Strategies, and Territories in the Linear Pottery Culture in the Aisne Valley (Paris Basin, France)

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 631-644
Author(s):  
Pierre Allard ◽  
Caroline Hamon ◽  
Louise Gomart
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resource ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Paris Basin ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Procurement Strategies ◽  
Local Materials

Abstract This article presents the mineral resource procurement territories of Early Neolithic settlements (LBK or Rubané) in the Aisne valley. Our study focuses on data from 15 LBK sites belonging to the final LBK of central Europe; C14 dates for the sites fall between 5100 and 4900 cal BC. The bulk of pottery from these sites seems to have been produced using local raw materials that can be found over a large part of the valley; only a dozen recorded vessels were made of an exogeneous raw material. Analysis of the supply and management of sandstone and flint productions indicates the presence of three groups of villages. These distinct groups correspond to the definition of a cluster as proposed to define site organization in the Aisne valley. On the LBK sites of the Aisne valley blades, polished tools and certain personal ornaments were occasionally made of non-local materials. Some of these objects seem to indicate contacts outside the LBK settlement zones and suggest relationships with southern Neolithic groups.

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