The Use of Wood at the Zamostje 2 Site

Prehistoric sites preserved in the waterlogged environments of northern Europe, the Baltic region, and Russia possess a number of common features related to the specifics of their locations in prehistoric times and the later conditions of their preservation. The lake settlements of the forest zone of European Russia did not undergo any drastic changes in their economy based on hunting and fishing during most of the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. The importance of fishing can be understood by studying the remains of wooden items from such sites, which include utensils like paddles, floats, and nets, as well as fish traps and other fishing constructions. The comprehensive analysis of wooden artefacts enables not only a detailed reconstruction of woodworking traditions and techniques at the sites, but also the reconstruction of the surrounding landscape, as exemplified by recent studies made at the Zamostje 2 site (Sergiev Posad district, Moscow region, Russia). This article presents the results of these studies. The assemblage of wooden artefacts – with more than 300 items – and fishing structures (fish traps, weirs, and fish screens) found at the Zamostje 2 site currently represents a unique opportunity to assess not only the role of wood in hunter-fisher societies during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods in the forest zone of eastern Europe, but also the scientific potential of this fragile find material category

New Evidence of the Fishing Economy of Stone Age Waterlogged Sites in Central and North-Western Russia: The Example of Zamostje 2

Investigations of Stone Age waterlogged sites in eastern Europe pose a great scientific interest due to the excellent preservation of organic materials. Excavations of settlements like Sārnate, Zvidze (Latvia), Šventoji (Lithuania), Purkajasuo (Finland), and Okhta 1 (Russia) are among the best examples of such research. New investigations in 2010–2013 at the peat-bog site of Zamostje 2 (Sergiev Posad district, Moscow region, Russia) were of special interest thanks to the discovery of a specific fishery zone dated to the Late Mesolithic–Early Neolithic periods. Several constructions made of wood were found in this particular part of the settlement: among them two fish traps made of wooden splinters and bound by common reed tapes, mobile fish screens, and 150 wooden piles. These finds, along with wooden, bone, antler, and pine bark artefacts (fish hooks, harpoons, floats, fishnet knots, paddles, etc.) allow us to state that fishery was a basic economic activity at this site. This statement is further supported by a large number of finds, including fish bones and fish scales, found in relevant cultural layers. Similar fishing constructions have been found recently at other sites in European Russia, too. In this article, we present main elements of the fishing economy at Zamostje 2 and some newly-found materials from other sites in central and north-western Russia. We also propose a typology for wooden fishing structures and outline some patterns of fishing strategies for this territory in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods

Saturation with Sugar of Wet Wood from the Late Mesolithic Site Zamostye 2: preservation and scientific potential

Wooden artifacts more than 8 thousand years old (7th millennium BC), preserved in the waterlogged horizons of peatland settlements, represent an extremely valuable source of information on both human behavior and paleoecology, and at the same time they are a great challenge for archaeologists who are obliged to ensure further preservation of these rapidly decaying finds. Various conservation techniques have been applied to wet wooden artifacts of Mesolithic age from the Zamostye 2 site (Volga-Oka interfluve), affecting a limited number of items. Since 1997, the method of sugar saturation has been actively used by the author (archaeologist) to preserve mass collections. During 5 years (1997–2002), 211 objects of various shapes and purposes were processed. The results and problems received are discussed 20 years after the end of conservation, that allows an objective assessment of all the methods used and their influence on the scientific potential of wooden artifacts

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

Typological Analysis and Assessment of the Bone-Working Stone Inventory of the Zamostje 2 Late Mesolithic Layer

The article presents the results of a typological and functional analysis of flint assemblage from the Late Mesolithic layer (II half of the 7th – early 6th millennium cal BC) at the site Zamostje 2 (Volga-Oka region). The studied series of flint implements is limited to a material from the excavations of 1996–97 and has 11892 artefacts. A typological analysis of the Late Mesolithic flint industry at Zamostje 2 showed the absence of standard blanks and the instability of tool morphology. The shaping of tools was due to the needs of production operations for hard materials. In order to reconstruct the features of bone production in the Late Mesolithic on the East European Plain, the collection was evaluated and 193 items were selected for use-wear analysis. The results of the experimental and traceological analysis revealed 24 tools with microtraces of bone processing, among which scrapers predominate. In a small number there are tools for sawing-cutting and burin cutting (grooves and engravings). A flint polished adze was used to chop a bone or elk antler. The identified implements for working bone (antler), on the one hand, showed a certain homogeneity of morphological characteristics and modes of shaping the working blades of the tools, on the other hand, gave a clear idea of the methods of processing solid organic raw materials in the Late Mesolithic period

Derevânnye konstrukcii na stoânke kamennogo veka Zamostje 2 : novye dannye

Wooden remains of fishing construction (fish-traps, fish-fence) are rare finds difficult for interpretation, mostly owing to damages and replacing from the original position. At Mesolithic-Neolithic peat site Zamostye 2 a fishery zone were excavated including three fish-traps related with 210 poles driven in the Dubna River bed. Fish-traps represented conic baskets made of tiny pine splinters bound with grass bands, with original length around 2 m. During underwater investigation remains of two more constructions were discovered. According to a series of 14C dates the fishery zone is dated back to the Early Neolithic (the beginning of the 6th millennium BC

Derevânnye konstrukcii na stoânke kamennogo veka Zamostje 2 : novye dannye

Wooden remains of fishing construction (fish-traps, fish-fence) are rare finds difficult for interpretation, mostly owing to damages and replacing from the original position. At Mesolithic-Neolithic peat site Zamostye 2 a fishery zone were excavated including three fish-traps related with 210 poles driven in the Dubna River bed. Fish-traps represented conic baskets made of tiny pine splinters bound with grass bands, with original length around 2 m. During underwater investigation remains of two more constructions were discovered. According to a series of 14C dates the fishery zone is dated back to the Early Neolithic (the beginning of the 6th millennium BC

Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia

Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene1,2,3,4,5. Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes—mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods—from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a ‘great divide’ genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 bp, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 bp, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a ‘Neolithic steppe’ cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia

Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene1–5. Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes—mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods—from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a ‘great divide’ genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 bp, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 bp, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a ‘Neolithic steppe’ cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations