Human and livestock faecal biomarkers at the prehistorical encampment site of Ullafelsen in the Fotsch Valley, Stubai Alps, Austria – potential and limitations

The Ullafelsen at 1869 m a.s.l. in the Tyrolean Stubai Alps next to Innsbruck is an important (geo-)archaeological reference site for the Mesolithic period. Buried fireplaces on the Ullafelsen plateau were dated at 10.9–9.5 cal. kyrs BP and demonstrate together with thousands of flint stone artifacts the presence of hunter-gatherers during the Early Holocene. Most recently, we demonstrated the great potential of n-alkane and black carbon biomarkers for contributing to a better understanding of pedogenesis and landscape evolution. In order to study the importance of human and/or animals for occupation of this relevant geoarchaeological site, we carried out steroid and bile acid analyses on two modern faeces samples from cattle and sheep and on 37 soil samples from seven soil profiles at the Ullafelsen. The modern animal faeces show a dominance of 5β-stigmastanol and deoxycholic acid for ruminants (cattle and sheep), which is in agreement with literature data. The OAh horizons, which have accumulated and developed since the Mesolithic, revealed high contents of steroids and bile acids; the E (LL) horizon coinciding with the Mesolithic living floor is characterized by medium contents of steroids and bile acids. By contrast, the subsoil horizons Bh, Bs and BvCv contain low contents of faecal biomarkers indicating that leaching of steroids and bile acids into the podsolic subsoils is not an important factor. Deoxycholic acid is the most abundant bile acid in all soil samples and gives evidence for strong faeces input of ruminants. The steroid and bile acid patterns and ratios indicate a negligible input of human faeces on the Ullafelsen. β-Sitosterol as plant-derived steroid has also a strong influence on the faecal biomarker pattern in our soils. Root input into the subsoils is likely reflected by β-sitosterol contents. In conclusion, our results reflect a strong faecal input by livestock, rather than by humans as found for other Anthrosols such as Amazonian Dark Earths. Further studies need to focus on the question of the exact timing of faeces deposition.

Early and Middle Holocene Antler Tools With Holes From the Gravel Pits of the Smarhon Area, North-Western Belarus

The present article focuses on artefacts made of antlers with holes drilled for the haft, both those available in physical collections and those known only from archaeological literature. This category of items is held by a number of central and regional museums in Belarus, as well as in private collections. Such ‘dispersion’ of the items makes their study problematic. Until now, no comprehensive study of antler artefacts with drilled holes from gravel pits located in Smarhon has been conducted. Publications have so far considered only the specimens that are most representative from the point of view of comparative typology. Michal Chernyavskiy and Piotr Kalinovskiy invariably associated tools with drilled holes with the Mesolithic period. However, this group of tools is more diverse and chronologically complicated than previously thought. The authors of the present article propose a new typological scheme for this item category which is part of a pan-European cultural and chronological context based on a complex analysis of antler artefacts with drilled holes.

History of medicine in Ukraine during the Mesolithic period: climatic and socio-religious origins of the development of empirical medicine

The development of empirical medicine of the Mesolithic period is closely connected with the worldview, religious beliefs and beliefs of primitive men. The difficulty in studying medicine of this period is due to the lack of written sources of information. The use of the method of reconstruction on the basis of multifactor analysis and comparison of historical events, the results of archaeological, climatogeographic, paleobotanical, paleozoological, paleopathological and ethnographic studies, socio-economic activities of people, their religious beliefs and worldview allows to present the peculiarities to their health. An important source of information is the art of primitive society, its symbolic and symbolic system, which most accurately reflects the worldview and beliefs of man, the attitude to their health.

Tracing the Materiality of Feathers in Stone Age North-Eastern Europe

The use of feathers in ritual costumes and everyday clothing is well described in ethnographic sources throughout the world. From the same sources we know that bird wings and feathers were loaded with meaning in traditional societies worldwide. However, direct archaeological evidence of prehistoric use of feathers is still extremely scarce. Hence, feathers belong to the ‘missing majority’: items that are absent from the archaeological record but which we can assume to have been of importance. Here we present microscopic analysis of soil samples from hunter-gatherer burial contexts which reveal the first direct evidence of the use of feathers in the Mesolithic period of north-eastern Europe.

Multi-profile fine-resolution palynology of Late Mesolithic to Bronze Age peat at Cat Stones, Rishworth Moor, Central Pennines, UK

Palynological data from three radiocarbon dated peat profiles at Rishworth Moor in the Pennine hills of northern England provide a record of vegetation change and human impacts in the Late Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. All three cultures have archaeological sites present in the vicinity, with Late Mesolithic sites by far the most abundant, comprising mainly very late assemblages dominated by ‘rod’-shaped microliths. Pollen evidence of vegetation disturbance occurs during all three archaeological periods, and is attributed to the results of human activity. Microscopic charcoal and non-pollen palynomorph analyses support the pollen evidence. Sites at Cat Stones 2 and Cat Stones 3 record evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age date only. Cat Stones 1 extends into the Late Mesolithic period, and fine-resolution pollen analyses have been applied in this profile to the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition leading up to the mid-Holocene Elm ( Ulmus) Decline, which starts here at c. 4940 14C BP (5670 cal. BP), a typical date for it in the central Pennines. Bayesian age-depth modelling provides precise ages for the vegetation changes and their spatial correlation. The plateau was dominated by scrub and grassy Calluna heath from the Late Mesolithic onwards. Elevated microscopic charcoal levels and ruderal herb pollen record phases of fire disturbance below the Elm Decline, including a grain of Hordeum cereal-type. Whether this grain represents early cultivation requires further research. Bronze Age impacts are of greater intensity, but disturbances of all three cultural periods are low scale, agreeing with the results of previous research in the Pennines.

History of weaving in Azerbaijan

One of the interesting part of craftsmanship is weaving and its’ history is very ancient. The article was dedicated to history of weaving in Azerbaijan. Archaeological materials which concern to weaving were unearthed during the excavations last decade are very significant for the history of craftsmanship. From Neolothic to Medieval period weaving had been developed and catched its’ industrial high. Archaeological materials give us an opportunity to describe a life of weavers in ancient times in Azerbaijan. According to weaving, abundance of raw material reserves in Azerbaijan territories have rich development since ancient times.First of all, there are included wild technical plants as well as lagh, linen, hemp mallow, nettle and etc. Along with this, development of cattle-breeding especially weaving and existence of main raw material reserves,wool should be emphasized. According to researches, early step of weaving was connected with simple technical habits in weaving field. Archaeologists suppose that bone tools with sharp edge which were found at “Firuz” camp in Qobustan of the Mesolithic period are related to elementary weaving. So that, actually we can’t deny the fact of appearance of initial habits in weaving field before the Neolithic period.Afterwards, habits obtained in weaving stimulated formation of weaving in the Neolithic period.In the Neolithic period and in the Eneolithic period that had replaced it, weaving became one of the significant fields for home craftsmen. As is known, at that time fields as home craftsmen’s stoneprocessing, boneprocessing, ceramics production, leather and peltprocessing, metalprocessing were spread widely. Actually, development of weaving was closely connected with most of above said fields of craftsmanship.There was defined existance of traces of mattings made from clay and reed at Kultepe I near to Nakhchivan city and Alikomektepesi monument in Mugan. There are remains of textile and matting on sceletons and on surface of clay pots in opened ground graves. In addition, there are found remains of mattings on clay floors of buildings of Alikomektepesi settlement.

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON 14C DATA

ABSTRACT The adoption of a new funerary ritual with all its social and cognitive meanings is of great importance to understanding social transformations of past societies. The first known occurrence of cremation in the territory corresponding to modern Belgium dates back to the Mesolithic period. From the end of the Neolithic onward, the practice of cremation was characterized by periods in which this rite was predominant and periods of contractions, defined by a decrease in the use of this funerary ritual. This paper aims to quantify such phenomenon for the first time by modeling discontinuities in burial practices through kernel density analysis of 1428 radiocarbon (14C) dates from 311 archaeological sites located in Belgium from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages. Despite possible taphonomic and sampling biases, the results highlight the existence of periods with a large uptake of cremation rite followed by periods of contractions; such discontinuities took place in correlation with changes in the socio-economical structure of local communities, as, for example, during the later Middle Bronze Age and at the end of the Roman Period.

Monoxyl a další dřevěné struktury v oblasti řeky Moravy z lokalit Moravičanských jezer na katastru Mohelnice

The article presents a brief summary of newly discovered wooden structures in the well-known polycultural site Mohelnice – štěrkovna (also “U cukrovaru” or Za cukrovarem) in the Mohelnice cadastre and its vicinity. Earlier discoveries at this site include Neolithic timbered wells and a sensational find of an oak monoxylon from the La Tène period of the 4th/3rd century BC (dendro 281 or 301 BC). It was found trapped in its home port on the banks of the meandering river Morava and dating has revealed the same age as the absolutely dated simple wooden pole construction. It is the northernmost found monoxylon known in the Czech Republic and also presents the oldest evidence for such use of ships on Czech rivers. The manufacture and use of such ships has been known since the Mesolithic period continuing until modern times. The subsequent exploration of the shores of the Moravičany Lakes banks revealed a number of smaller wooden structures below the water surface, either made up of pointed stakes themselves, or a combination of smaller stakes and branches built into a tapered corridor resembling a structure used for fishing. The latest discovery is a massive oak-fir structure manufactured from stakes, longitudinal and transverse planks and stones, interpretable as a timber trackway, or a bridge. It has been dendrochronologically dated to 1547–1560 and archival sources indicate the structure was repaired in 1645. The structure spans the former meander between Třeština and Mohelnice near one of the mills. The existence of this route is documented on 18th-century maps. Significant discoveries from various times of mainly wooden buildings underscore at least the European significance of the Mohelnice site. It may yield many valuable finds in the future.