‘Pre-Neolithic’ in Southeast Europe: a Bulgarian perspective

 This paper discusses why large areas of the central and northern Balkans lack evidence of Mesolithic settlement and what implications this holds for future research into the Neolithization of the region. A marked shift in site distribution patterns between Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic is interpreted as a response to changing environmental conditions and resource availability. It is suggested that some important questions of the pattern, processes and timing of the transition to farming across the Balkan Peninsula may only be answered through new archaeological surveys of the Lower Danube valley and exploration of submerged landscapes along the Black Sea, Aegean and Adriatic coasts.V članku razpravljamo o vzrokih za pomanjkanje dokazov o mezolitski poselitvi velikega dela srednjega in severnega Balkana ter o posledicah, ki jih lahko imajo te ugotovitve za prihodnje raziskave neolitizacije v regiji. V poselitvenih vzorcih med poznim paleolitikom in mezolitikom smo prepoznali premik, ki ga razlagamo kot odziv na spremembe v okoljskih pogojih in razpoložljivosti naravnih virov. Predlagamo, da je mogoče na nekatera pomembna vprašanja, povezana z vzorci, procesi in ritmom prehoda h kmetovanju na Balkanskem polotoku, odgovoriti le z novimi arheološkimi pregledi Spodnjega Podonavja in z raziskovanjem potopljenih pokrajin ob obalah Črnega, Egejskega ter Jadranskega morja

Reassessing Neolithic diets in Western Scotland

Although marine resources are known to have been exploited by both foragers and early farmers in Scotland, the importance of seafood to the diets of Neolithic groups has been widely debated. Here we present paired stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) and radiocarbon measurements on Early Neolithic human remains from Raschoille Cave in Oban. These are compared with published data for other sites in western Scotland and used to re-evaluate the use of marine resources by the first farmers. The diets of Late Mesolithic foragers and Early Neolithic farmers were modelled from stable isotope data using both Linear and Bayesian (FRUITS) mixing models. Our FRUITS dietary models indicate that Mesolithic foragers obtained much of their dietary protein and calories from marine resources, consistent with the predominance of shellfish, fish and sea mammal remains in their shell middens. Of note is the large proportion of dietary calories obtained from plant foods, which is like that of the early farming groups. The diets of Early Neolithic farmers appear relatively homogeneous across Scotland. Plant foods were the primary source of calories. Meat and/or dairy from terrestrial mammals were the most important source of dietary protein. Marine resources were, at most, a minor component of the ‘lifetime’ diet