The beginning of the Neolithic in Austria – a report about recent and current investigations

The “Earliest Linear Pottery-Culture” (LPC I) is to be seen as a synonym for the beginning Neolithic in Central Europe and therefore also in Austria. The distribution of this culture was limited by several facts of the natural environment, as its economic base was agriculture and stockbreeding. Traces are only to be found through Austrian territory outside the Alps in altitudes up to 400/450 m, on the best arable soils (mainly on loess base) and in the driest and warmest climatic zones with a clearly defined limit of tolerance. In the last two decades excavations of very different scale have been effected. A short overview is given upon the biggest ones and their main results. The first field researches had been between 1984–1986 within an international investigation project. Their results were analysed in detail and just gone into print. In this article they were presented shortly in a sort of summary. At least an outlook is given on current excavations and other projects.Najzgodnejša kultura linearnotrakaste keramike velja kot sinonim za začetek neolitika v srednji Evropi in zatorej tudi v Avstriji. Razširjenost te kulture so omejevali dejavniki naravnega okolja, saj je gospodarsko temeljila na poljedelstvu in živinoreji. Njene sledi v Avstriji smo našli le izven alpskega področja in na nadmorskih višinah do 400/450 metrov, na najbolj plodni prsti (pretežno aluvialnega izvora) in v najbolj suhih in toplih klimatskih področjih z jasno določeno mejo tolerance. V zadnjih dveh desetletjih pa smo opravili obsežna nova izkopavanja. V članku podajamo kratek pregled največjih izkopavanj in glavne izsledke. Med leti 1984 in 1986 smo v okviru mednarodnega raziskovalnega projekta opravili prve terenske raziskave. Rezultati teh raziskav so bili podrobno analizirani in so trenutno v tisku. V članku jih na kratko povzamemo in predstavimo. Pregledamo tudi izkopavanja, ki so v teku, in druge projekte

Empty graves in LBK cemeteries – indications of special burial practises

After a short overview of LBK burial rites, I propose a definition of empty graves, dis- tinguishing them from cenotaphs. Until now, empty graves have been found only in twelve LBK graveyards, comprising an average of 10.2% within these cemeteries, which seem to cluster in some regions and to be absent in others, which might be due in part to bad soil conditions for preserving skeletons. The proportion of empty graves within the graveyards varies considerably and is highest in Lower Austria/Moravia and Bavaria. Some 53% of the empty graves yielded no finds, 45% some ceramic remains and 10% stone tools only, or in addition (Fig. 3). There are never remains of ornaments, indicating that when the corpses were disinterred they were still securely wrapped in winding sheets. The open questions remain as to what kind of ritual treatment these bodies underwent next, and where the human remains were finally reburied.Po kratkem pregledu LTK pokopnih praks predlagam definicijo praznih grobov, tako da jih ločimo od kenotafov. Prazni grobovi so bili do sedaj najdeni le na dvanajstih LTK grobiščih. V povprečju predstavljajo 10,2% grobov v grobiščih. Opazne so njihove zgostitve v nekaterih regijah in odsotnost v drugih, kar je lahko posledica slabe ohranjenost kosti v agresivnih okoljih sedimentov. Delež praznih grobov v grobiščih močno variira in je najvišji v Spodnji Avstriji, na Moravskem in Bavarskem. V 53% praznih grobov ni najdb, v 45% se pojavljajo keramične najdbe, v 10% pa tudi ali samo kamena orodja (Sl. 3). Nikoli ni ostankov okrasja, kar je indic, da so bila trupla ob izkopu še vedno zavita v mrtvaški prt. Ostaja vprašanje, v kakšne rituale so bila ta trupla vključena in kje so bili njihovi ostanki pokopani za tem

The genomic origins of the world’s first farmers

The precise genetic origins of the first Neolithic farming populations in Europe and Southwest Asia, as well as the processes and the timing of their differentiation, remain largely unknown. Demogenomic modeling of high-quality ancient genomes reveals that the early farmers of Anatolia and Europe emerged from a multiphase mixing of a Southwest Asian population with a strongly bottlenecked western hunter-gatherer population after the last glacial maximum. Moreover, the ancestors of the first farmers of Europe and Anatolia went through a period of extreme genetic drift during their westward range expansion, contributing highly to their genetic distinctiveness. This modeling elucidates the demographic processes at the root of the Neolithic transition and leads to a spatial interpretation of the population history of Southwest Asia and Europe during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

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 beginning of the Neolithic in Austria – a report about recent and current investigations

The “Earliest Linear Pottery-Culture” (LPC I) is to be seen as a synonym for the beginning Neolithic in Central Europe and therefore also in Austria. The distribution of this culture was limited by several facts of the natural environment, as its economic base was agriculture and stockbreeding. Traces are only to be found through Austrian territory outside the Alps in altitudes up to 400/450 m, on the best arable soils (mainly on loess base) and in the driest and warmest climatic zones with a clearly defined limit of tolerance. In the last two decades excavations of very different scale have been effected. A short overview is given upon the biggest ones and their main results. The first field researches had been between 1984–1986 within an international investigation project. Their results were analysed in detail and just gone into print. In this article they were presented shortly in a sort of summary. At least an outlook is given on current excavations and other projects

Mesolithic heritage in early Neolithic burial rituals and personal adornments

Some burial rituals such as cremation or the use of colorants, especially ochre, have old roots in the preceding Mesolithic and even in the Palaeolithic. The evidence for these old rituals is more dense in central or western Europe than in south east Europe, whence most of the new Neo- lithic ideas came. Among the personal adornments a small amount of snail-shell ornaments, stag tusks, tusks of wild boar and pendants made from antler are of special interest. People wearing these very traditional, old adornments are generally equipped with precious ‘new’ things such as Spondylus, ceramics, adzes etc, and therefore show them as high status people in early Neolithic society.Nekateri neolitski pogrebni rituali, povezani s kremacijo in uporabo barvil, posebno okre, imajo star izvor v predhodnem mezolitiku ali celo v paleolitiku. Ti stari rituali so pogostejši v srednji in zahodni kot v jugovzhodni Evropi, od koder je prišla večina novih neolitskih idej. Med osebnim okrasjem je posebej zanimiva mala količina ornamentov iz polžjih hišic, jelenovih deračev, merjaščevih oklov in obeskov, izdelanih iz rogovja. Umrlim, ki večinoma nosijo to zelo tradicionalno, staro okrasje, so v grob pridani tudi dragoceni ‘novi’ predmeti, narejenimi iz školjke Spondylus, keramične posode, tesla, itd. Ti predmeti jih določajo kot visoko cenjene osebe v zgodnje neolitski družbi

Das linearbandkeramische Gräberfeld von Kleinhadersdorf

The publication gives a complete documentation of the old rescue excavations by Josef Bayer and Viktor Lebzelter in 1931 as well as of the systematic investigations of the Neolithic cemetery under the direction of Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer and Christine Neugebauer-Maresch between 1987–1991. The burial customs of this early farming population are analyzed together with the grave goods, which comprise an exceptionally large number of grinding stones, as well as ceramics, bone tools, shell ornaments, chert and traces of red ochre. The results of analyses of anthropological remains pertaining to 57 inhumations − more than half of the bodies were oriented SE-NW and the majority buried in a crouched position on the left side − are complemented by 14C-dates and isotope-analyses.Die Publikation bietet sowohl eine vollständige Dokumentation der ersten Notgrabungen von Josef Bayer und Viktor Lebzelter 1931 als auch der systematischen Rettungsgrabungen zwischen 1987–1991 unter der Leitung von Johannes-Wolfgang Neugebauer und Christine Neugebauer-Maresch. Die Bestattungssitten dieser frühen bäuerlichen Bevölkerung werden ebenso eingehend analysiert wie die Grabfunde, die eine ungewöhnlich große Anzahl an Mahlsteinfragmenten und Reibplatten umfassen, weiters Keramik, Knochengeräte, Muschelschmuck, Silex und Spuren von Rötel. Die Resultate der Analysen der anthropologischen Überreste von 57 Körperbestattungen - mehr als die Hälfte der Körper waren SO-NW orientiert und die überwiegende Mehrheit in linker Hockerlage bestattet − werden durch 14C-Datierungen und Isotopen-Analysen ergänzt

Origin and contacts of people buried at the LBK graveyard at Kleinhadersdorf, Austria

In this article we present first information on results of analyses of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) graveyard of Kleinhadersdorf carried out in recent years. First, we briefly present the excavations and main characteristics of the burials. Analyses of C-, N- and Sr- isotopes, executed with- in a large-scale international project, showed that most of the people were born and lived in the area and gathered food nearby. Only three individuals came from a geologically different region, i.e. the gneiss-granite zone of the Bohemian massif. Adzes and some quern stones were also obtained in this area, while flint raw materials and Spondylus shells for ornaments were procured from other regions.