The 8200 calBP climate event and the spread of the Neolithic in Eastern Europe

At 8200 calBP, the beginning of the Atlantic period, there was a drastic change from warm and humid climatic conditions to cold conditions. The abrupt cooling at 8200 calBP has been documented in different parts of Europe. In western, and some parts of southern, Europe, this event was a trigger for new forms of economy and migrations of groups of Neolithic farmers. This paper considers the different ways in which ceramic traditions developed in eastern Europe in the steppe,steppe-forest and forest zones as a result of the rapid climate changes at about 8200 calBP.V času okoli 8200 calBP, to je na začetku obdobja atlantika, je prišlo do korenite spremembe klime, od toplih in vlažnih pogojev do ohladitev. Nenadna ohladitev v času 8200 calBP je dokumentirana v različnih delih Evrope. V zahodni in v delu južne Evrope je dogodek sprožil nove oblike gospodarstev in preseljevanje skupin neolitskih poljedelcev. V članku razpravljamo o različnih oblikah razvoja keramičnih tradicij na stepskih, gozdno-stepskih in gozdnih območjih v vzhodni Evropi kot posledico te hitre klimatske spremembe v času 8200 calBP

Avifauna at the Neolithic Sites of the Dnieper-Dvina Basin: the role of birds in the culture of ancient hunter-gatherers of the VI–III Millennium BC

The article presents a study of avifauna at the Neolithic sites of the Dnieper-Dvina basin (Serteya I and II sites). Changes of paleo-environmental conditions and biotopes, archaeological cultures and types of campsites might have determined changes in the cultural and economic model of the ancient population, having an influence on avifauna particularity in different time periods. Four biotopic groups of birds: near-water birds, woodside birds, forest and meadow-steppe birds are singled out. Birds from the near-water group dominate. It can be assumed, that birds played an important role in food ration in spring and autumn. Paleo-ecological studies allow us to reconstruct a change of water body types. That may have caused a change in bird species. Changes in bird nesting and migration areas may also be evidence of paleo-ecological changes in the V–III millennium BC. Despite the widespread practice of making tools and ornaments from bones and animals teeth at the Neolithic sites in Dnieper-Dvina basin, bird bones were used rather seldom. Almost the entire collection dates back to the end of IV–III millennium BC and is represented mainly by tube beads and blanks

The transmission of pottery technology among prehistoric European hunter-gatherers

Human history has been shaped by global dispersals of technologies, although understanding of what enabled these processes is limited. Here, we explore the behavioural mechanisms that led to the emergence of pottery among hunter-gatherer communities in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Through radiocarbon dating, we propose this dispersal occurred at a far faster rate than previously thought. Chemical characterization of organic residues shows that European hunter-gatherer pottery had a function structured around regional culinary practices rather than environmental factors. Analysis of the forms, decoration and technological choices suggests that knowledge of pottery spread through a process of cultural transmission. We demonstrate a correlation between the physical properties of pots and how they were used, reflecting social traditions inherited by successive generations of hunter-gatherers. Taken together the evidence supports kinship-driven, super-regional communication networks that existed long before other major innovations such as agriculture, writing, urbanism or metallurgy

Preliminary results of an investigation of a single Barrow near the village of Serteya (Smolensk region)

A single burial mound is located on the right bank of the Serteyka River (north-western Russia). It was discovered by E.A. Schmidt in 1951 and is attributed to the Old Russian Period. New researches on the burial mound conducted in 2013 and 2014 have uncovered several diachronic constructions. The first stage was connected to a flint knapping site, which was located on a natural ele- vation. It can be attributed to the 6th millennium BC on the basis of the Early Neolithic pottery fragments found nearby. The next period is dated to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC, when a ritual platform was created. Moreover, on another mound, a ditch was created, which can be attributed to the Long Barrow Culture due to a ceramic fragment found there. Samples from burnt bones and charcoal indicate that the first and second stages of this construction could be dated to between the middle and the second half of the 3rd millennium BC – the late stage of the Zhizhitskaya Culture of pile-dwellers and the initial stage of the Uzmenskaya Culture. Animal bones were cremated along with bronze items, as evidenced by the patina visible on the surface of the bones. Such a rite has been recorded for the first time. Furthermore, a ritual fire-place was set on a flat platform, and additional fireplaces were situated on the slope of the burial mound. This complex, which can be interpreted as a site of worship from the Late Neolithic through the Early Bronze Age, existed for a long period of time. Nowadays, it is difficult to find analogies to such ritual complexes from the 3rd millennium BC from the territory of Poland and the Upper Dnepr region; only the kurgans and burial mounds of the Corded Ware Culture dating to the 3rd millennium BC are known. It might also be supposed that some of the sites with such a sepulchral rite, usually attributed to the Long Barrows Culture, could also be ritual sites – this, however, would require further research

Middle Holocene Climate Oscillations Recorded in the Western Dvina Lakeland

Although extensive archeological research works have been conducted in the Serteya region in recent years, the Holocene climate history in the Western Dvina Lakeland in Western Russia is still poorly understood. The Neolithic human occupation of the Serteyka lake-river system responded to climate oscillations, resulting in the development of a pile-dwelling settlement between 5.9 and 4.2 ka cal BP. In this paper, we present the quantitative paleoclimatic reconstructions of the Northgrippian stage (8.2-4.2 ka cal BP) from the Great Serteya Palaeolake Basin. The reconstructions were created based on a multiproxy (Chironomidae, pollen and Cladocera) approach. The mean July air temperature remained at 17-20 degrees C, which is similar to the present temperature in the Smolensk Upland. The summer temperature revealed only weak oscillations during 5.9 and 4.2 ka cal BP. A more remarkable feature during those events was an increase in continentality, manifested by a lower winter temperature and lower annual precipitation. During the third, intermediate oscillation in 5.0-4.7 ka cal BP, a rise in summer temperature and stronger shifts in continental air masses were recorded. It is still unclear if the above-described climate fluctuations are linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation and can be interpreted as an indication of Bond events because only a few high-resolution paleoclimatic reconstructions from the region have been presented and these reconstructions do not demonstrate explicit oscillations in the period of 5.9 and 4.2 ka cal BP.Peer reviewe