New radiocarbon dates for the Criş site of Sacarovca I (Moldova)

Four new AMS radiocarbon dates shed new light on the chronology of one of the easternmost sites of the Criş culture. The conventional dating efforts had yielded indecisive results, while the new results correspond well to the typo-chronological position of the site (Criş IV) and the chronology of other sites with similar finds. The comparison with the nearby para-Neolithic sites demonstrated that the establishment of the para Neolithic way of life (foragers equipped with pottery) in the region happened several centuries before the spread of early farmers of the Criş culture into Moldova

Najstarejša lončenina para-neolitske kulture Zedmar na najdišču Szczepanki, Mazurija, SV Poljska

The article presents the earliest ceramics of the site Szczepanki, north-eastern Poland, belonging to the Para-Neolithic Zedmar culture, which existed in the south-east Baltic region. The presented pottery come from the Late Atlantic layers, dated 5600–5100 conv BP. The pottery is discussed regarding the technology, morphological details, vessel forms and ornamentation. Each of the elements shows multidirectional influences or similarities with the Western and the Eastern Para-Neolithic, as well as the Danubian cultures and the TRB. However, a specific characteristic of the early Zedmar pottery relies on mixing features of various origins or traditions, creating a new and peculiar technology and style.V članku predstavljamo najstarejšo keramiko na najdišču Szczepanki, severovzhodna Poljska, ki je umeščena v para-neolitsko kulturo Zedmar, ki je bila razširjena na območju jugovzhodnega Baltika. Predstavljena lončenina je iz poznoatlantske plasti, ki je datirana med 5600 in 5100 pred sedanjostjo. Lončenino smo opazovali na podlagi značilnosti tehnologije, morfologije, oblik posod in okrasa. Vsak od elementov kaže večsmerne vplive ali podobnosti z zahodnim in vzhodnim para-neolitikom kot tudi z donavskimi kulturami in s kulturo lijakastih čaš (TRB). Vendar pa se posebna značilnost lončenine zgodnje kulture Zedmar opira na mešanje lastnosti različnega izbora in tradicij, kar ustvarja novo in posebno tehnologijo in slog

Modelling para-Neolithic “reconquista”: hunter-gatherers’ revival of the early Vth mill. BC in the south of Eastern Europe

The issue of hunter-gatherers / early farmers interaction is particularly vivid in the south of Eastern Europe. Here, two subsistence systems co-existed for millenia in VI-IV mill. BC. Sometimes in a single microregion there are sites of hunter-gatherers and those of early farmers separated just by few kilometers of distance. However, sites situated close in space can be separated in time and vice-versa. An intriguing pattern appeared when refining the chronological controls with AMS-dating. The early farming settlement had a punctuated nature: after a demise of a certain agricultural society there usually were some centuries with a little known evidence of human occupation. Such a gap is evident in the early Vth mill. BC after disappearance of Linear Pottery culture and prior to expansion of Early Trypillia agriculturalists. Surprisingly some dates from “ceramic” hunter-gatherers (para-Neolithic) sites fell into this time slot, thus suggesting that deserted fields were resettled as hunting grounds. Under the conditions of still unsufficient radiocarbon dating and dubious stratigraphies, “scenario” modelling seems to be the only way to investigate the mechanisms of this revival. The GIS-aided modelling pointed to the possible “refugia”, where hunter-gatherers population could continue its way of life during agricultural expansion. The demographic potential of “reconquista” is estimated as well as routs and geographical “targets” of re-expansion of para-Neolithic groups. The possibilities of their interaction with early farmers in the decline phase are highlighted as relatively limited, while possible zones of such contacts are defined on chronologically and geographically evident basis

The Soils of Early Farmers and Their Neighbors in the Southern Buh Catchment (Ukraine): Micromorphology and Archaeological Context

The problems regarding hunter-gatherer/early farmer interactions are quite an important topic in southeast European archaeology. According to the available data, the two economic subsistence systems have coexisted for some 2000 years during the 6th-4th millennia cal BC (Telegin 1985; Lillie et al., 2001). In some areas, hunter-gatherer and early farmer sites are located just a few kilometers apart. The Southern Buh River valley has yielded evidence of Linear Pottery culture, early Trypillia and Trypillia B1 Neolithic settlements as well as hunter-gatherer sites with pottery attributable to the so-called sub-Neolithic or para-Neolithic (Haskevych et al., 2019; Kiosak et al., 2021). Trial-trenches have been opened within some of these sites, which have been radiocarbon-dated from Bern University laboratory (LARA). Soil samples for micromorphological analysis have been collected from these sites to interpret their paleogenetic formation. The soil development is attested since, at least, the beginning of the 5th mill BC, followed by the developed of chernozem soils, which was interrupted by an erosional episode in the end of 5th millennium BC. The available data show that the soils of early farmers arable as are the present day ones. The early farmers were able to exploit relatively heavy soils to cultivate wheat and barley as early as 5250-5050 cal BC. In contrast, the sites of ceramic hunter-gatherers were often located on the soils which formed under wet conditions along seasonally flooded riverbanks, which were almost unsuitable for agricultural practices

RAPID CLIMATIC EVENT 8200 CAL BP AND SOCIAL DYNAMICS IN NORTH-WESTERN PONTIC REGION

The article treats the archaeological record of North-Western Pontic region in search of traces of 8200 calBP event. The two different approaches are applied: summation of 14C dates and a site-oriented approach. In the framework of the latter we refer to materials of Melnychna Krucha site, which contains a sequence covering 7500-1200 y. BCE. Twelve AMS dates highlight the probable gap in the sequence of human habitation on the site around 6250-6000 y. BCE, around the expected timing of the paleoclimatic oscillation. It seems that the event was accompanied by drastic changes in the watering of major rivers of Northern Pontic area like Southern Buh or Dnie

Primerjava prve in druge stopnje neolitizacije na območju Poljske (da o tretji sploh ne govorimo)

The origins of the Neolithic in Polish territories are associated with migrations of groups of the Linear Band Pottery culture (LBK) after the mid-6th millennium BC. Communities of this culture only settled in enclaves distinguished by ecological conditions favourable to farming (‘LBK neolithisation’). This situation persisted into the 5th millennium BC, when these enclaves were inhabited by post-Linear groups. This state of affairs changed from c. 4000 BC onwards due to the formation and spectacular territorial expansion of the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB). In the territories under consideration this expansion covered the areas previously inhabited by both hunter-gatherers (‘TRB neolithisation’) and farmers. Some of the Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers did not accept TRB patterns. They successfully carried on their traditional lifestyle until the Early Bronze Age although some changes in their material culture are visible (including ‘ceramisation’).Začetki neolitika na območju Poljske so povezani z migracijami skupin linearno trakaste kulture (LTK) v drugi polovici 6. tisočletja pr. n. št. Te skupine so se naselile v enklavah, za katere so značilne ekološke razmere ugodne za kmetijsko ( ‘neolitizacija LTK’). Takšno stanje se je ohranilo do 5. tisočletja pr. n. št., ko so te enklave poselile po-linearne skupine. Poselitev se je bistveno spremenila šele od ok. 4000 pr. n. št. naprej z oblikovanjem in spektakularnim širjenjem nosilcev kulture lijakastih čaš. Na Poljskem je ta poselitev zajela tudi območja, ki so jih pred tem poseljevali tako lovci in nabiralci ( ‘neolitizacija kulture lijakastih čaš’) kot poljedelci. Nekatere skupine pozno mezolitskih lovcev in nabiralcev niso sprejele vzorca kulture lijakastih čaš in so uspešno ohranili svoj način življenja vse do zgodnje bronaste dobe, čeprav lahko zaznamo nekatere spremembe v njihovi materialni kulturi (tudi ‘keramizacijo’)

Vegetation changes and human activity around Lake Łańskie (Olsztyn Lake District, NE Poland) from the mid Holocene, based on palynological study

Bottom sediments of Lake Łańskie in NE Poland (Olsztyn Lake District) were studied by pollen analysis, and vegetation changes from ca 4800 BC to modern times were reconstructed based on the results. Due to rapid sedimentation the changes in plant cover are recorded with high resolution. The variation of pollen spectra composition reflects changing shares of deciduous trees and the continuous dominance of pine forest. Nowadays the surroundings of Lake Łańskie are also heavily forested but as early as 1100 AD the deciduous trees began to be eliminated. On the basis of pollen data, five phases of increased human activity were distinguished. Based on the available archaeological chronology of local settlements, the first stage is connected with para-Neolithic groups of Ząbie-Szestno type and the Lusatian culture. They are followed by the West Baltic Barrow culture, Wielbark culture and Early Medieval Prussian tribes. The pollen record shows low intensity of exploitation of the terrain around Lake Łańskie, probably attributable to the brevity of episodes of human occupation in the near vicinity of the lake. The last phase, covering part of the Middle Ages (since ca 1000 AD) and modern times, is reflected in the most distinct vegetation changes on the pollen diagram, caused by increased intensity of settlement. In spite of the distinct diminution of forest cover around the lake the scale of deforestation was much lower than at other sites in NE Poland. The main aims of this paper were to describe the changes in the palaeoenvironment which took place around Lake Łańskie (Olsztyn Lake District) and to find those changes in the plant cover which were the effect of human activity, and to confirm whether the changes of palaeoenvironment around Lake Łańskie were noted at the same time in adjacent areas

Chipped Stone Assemblage of the Layer B of the Kamyana Mohyla 1 Site (South-Eastern Ukraine) and the Issue of Kukrek in the North Meotic Steppe Region

The layer B is one of the lower layers of the long stratigraphic sequence of the Kamyana Mohyla 1 site. The layer B received eight new AMS radiocarbon dates that clarified its chronology: 7950–7300 calibrated years BC. They are in a reasonable correspondence with the dates for lower and upper layers. The lithic assemblage belongs to Kukrek cultural aspect. It is characterized by pencil-like conical cores, Kukrek inserts, Kukrek burins and Dęby burins, nongeometric microliths (oblique points). The assemblage finds close parallels in the sites of Kukrek, Ihren VIII, Melnychna Krucha SU4 and Domchi-Kaia. They can be united into Kukrek sensu stricto cultural unit. The overlying layer C yielded somewhat different complex that finds parallels in the materials of the so-called “Kukrek cultural tradition.” Due to clear stratigraphic position of these units in the Kamyana Mohyla 1 sequence, we are able to differentiate Kukrek sensu stricto and “Kukrek cultural tradition” and suggest their respective chronological positions

Tipe Hunian dan Karakteristik Budaya Sampungian di Situs Gua Lawa, Ponorogo

Abstract. Settlement Type and Characteristic of ‘Sampung Culture’ at Lawa Cave Site, Ponorogo. Lawa Cave, located in Sampung (Ponorogo, East Java), is an eponym site for the Sampungian culture. Its status within the cultural framework of the Javanese prehistory remains unclear. This article aims to reveal the type and characteristic of settlement in Lawa Cave, including its position within the historical framework of cave habitation in the archipelago. The descriptive-explanative approach reveals that the distribution of artifacts in Lawa Cave shows a distinctive feature. The bifacial arrowhead reported by Callenfels is associated with bone and pebbles (milling stones) in a relatively thick unit of cultural layer. Based on the emergence of milling stones, the inhabitants of Lawa Cave may have known simple agricultural activities through processing wild plants as their food source. Based on this, Sampungian can be categorized as part of the Para-Neolithic culture, which is also found in several sites in Mainland Southeast Asia.   Abstrak. Gua Lawa yang berada di Sampung (Ponorogo, Jawa Timur) merupakan situs eponim bagi budaya Sampungian yang statusnya di dalam kerangka kebudayaan prasejarah Pulau Jawa masih belum jelas. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengungkap tipe hunian dan karakteristik budaya Sampungian di Gua Lawa serta kaitannya dengan sejarah perkembangan hunian gua di Nusantara. Melalui pendekatan deskriptif-eksplanatif terlihat bahwasannya distribusi artefak di Gua Lawa menunjukkan suatu ciri khas tersendiri. Himpunan artefak mata panah bifasial, sebagaimana pertama kali dilaporkan oleh Callenfels, faktanya berasosiasi dengan artefak tulang dan kerakal pada suatu unit lapisan budaya yang cukup tebal. Berdasarkan kemunculan artefak kerakalpenggerus, diperkirakan masyarakat penghuni Gua Lawa telah mengenal aktivitas agrikultur sederhana melalui pengolahan tumbuhan liar tertentu sebagai sumber pangan mereka. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, Sampungian dapat dikategorikan sebagai bagian dari budaya Para-Neolitik yang juga dijumpai pada sejumlah situs di Asia Tenggara Daratan