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

Lithic industry of two Linearbandkeramik sites in Moldova (Nicolaevca V and Ţâra II)

The two Linear Pottery culture lithic complexes presented in this paper came from northern Moldova. The Nicolaevca V assemblage was gathered from excavations of a small LBK dwelling, while the Ţâra II collection came from an eight-shaped pit. There was a “deposit” of objects suitable for knapping found in Nicolaevca V. This complex reflects flake-oriented expedient knapping. The Ţâra II complex represents a complicated sequence for obtaining regular blades. The interpretation of their differences is sought in the social organization of Neolithic flint-knapping, in which the Nicolaevca V lithic assemblage supposedly reflects domestic production in a household context, while Ţâra II products could have been involved in the exchange networ

3-D pit: Linear pottery culture long pit reconstructed through point-cloud analysis

Newly applied method of 3D-point cloud analysis performed in Kamyane-Zavallia, Ukraine, the easternmost LBK site introduced the opportunity to define the walking surface of Neolithic settlement and distinguish stratigraphic units in details using the geoinformational systems and geospatial database as a tools for the object analysis. This raises a number of questions concerning the previous interpretations of Linear Pottery Culture sites in Ukraine and the required accuracy of their archaeological excavation. Moreover, the analysis of stratigraphic units inside the long pit from Kamyane Zavallia had shown the complex and heterogenic process of its refilling

Modelling Yamna distribution in the west area: towards an economic reasoning

The landscape of Yamna (Yamnaya) studies has undergone a change lately. Nobody would be able to deny the fact of Yamna migration in the Balkans and Carpathian Basin. However, the drivers of this major population movement (or rather movements) need to be clarified. The interpretation is usually built from the possible crucial advantages that the Yamna way of life could propose: horseback riding, wheeled wagons, advanced metalworking, etc. Another variant is based on the drastic climatic deterioration that would force Yamna groups to seek new lands with a milder climate. We propose to take another perspective and study what could attract Yamna people in the West. This migration was not driven by overcrowding, as there was land to spare. Instead, social factors such as prestige or curiosity were likely an incentive to find new lands. In order to carry out this analysis, we suggest a cartographic approach by parallel mapping of prominent metal ores outcrops and Yamna enclave

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

The radiocarbon chronology of Shan-Koba rock-shelter, a Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sequence in the Crimean mountains (Ukraine)

Ovaj rad predstavlja novu seriju AMS datuma iz pripećka Šan-Koba u krimskim planinama (Ukrajina). Na Arheološkom institutu akademije znanosti u Sankt Peterburgu (Ruska Federacija) izabrana su četiri uzorka kosti koja su datirana AMS-om u izotopskom laboratoriju u Gröningenu (Nizozemska). Rezultati pokazuju da pripećak nije bio „neprekidno“ naseljen, na što su ukazivali istraživači. Suprotno tome, pokazuju da je bio nastanjen u precizno utvrđenim razdobljima od kraja paleolitika (interstadijal Allerød) do kraja mezolitika (atlansko klimatsko razdoblje). Zajedno s ostalim radiokarbonskim datumima nedavno dobivenim iz istog stratigrafskog slijeda, kao i iz Laspi 7 i Mirne, pomažu bolje utvrditi apsolutnu kronologiju obitavanja ljudi u sjeverozapadnoj regiji Crnog mora u kasnom pleistocenu i ranom holocenu te doprinijeti proučavanju okolišnih i kulturnih promjena koje su se dogodile na tom području na prijelazu između kraja paleolitika i atlantskog klimatskog razdoblja.This paper presents a new series of AMS dates from the rock-shelter of Shan-Koba in the Crimean mountains (Ukraine). Four bone samples were selected at the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation), and AMS-dated at Groningen Isotopic Laboratory (Holland). The results show that the shelter was not “continuously” settled, as suggested by the excavators. In contrast they indicate that it was inhabited in well-defined periods between the end of the Palaeolithic (Allerød interstadial) and the end of the Mesolithic (Atlantic). Together with other radiocarbon dates recently obtained from the same sequence, as well as from Laspi 7 and Mirne, they help refine the absolute chronology of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene peopling of the north-western Black Sea region, and contribute to the study of the environmental and cultural changes that took place in the same territory at the boundary between the end of the Palaeolithic and the Atlantic climatic periods

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

Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe

Update notice Author Correction: Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe (Nature, (2022), 608, 7922, (336-345), 10.1038/s41586-022-05010-7) Nature, Volume 609, Issue 7927, Pages E9, 15 September 2022In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years(1). Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions(2,3). Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectoriesthan uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank(4,5) cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation-proxies for these drivers-provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.Peer reviewe

The database of early farming sites of the south of the Eastern Europe (version 0.9-15.05.2021)

The database for the project "FUZZFARM" is based on the database for archaeological heritage protection developed in 2018 and adopted for further field-works in Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions of Ukraine (pre-project database). In the course of the project the structure of some tables is modified in order to make them comply better to the general objectives of the project, while the overall structure of the pre-project database is retained "as it was"