Stone Age hunter-gatherer ceramics of North-Eastern Europe: new insights into the dispersal of an essential innovation

This paper explores the emergence and dispersal of the earliest pottery among the hunter-gatherer groups east and north of the Baltic Sea in the 6th and 5th millennium calBC. By combining existing knowledge with the results of detailed statistical analyses of 17 selected early ceramic complexes with altogether 535 vessel units from Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Russia, chronological, typological and spatial trajectories in the history of early ceramics are reconstructed. On the basis of this information, a scenario for the spread of the pottery technology into the study area is put forward, illuminating the situation not only for the actual research area, but for a wider region from the Baltic to the Urals mountains and from the Barents Sea to the Black and Caspian Seas. As a result, it is suggested that three separate lines of tradition in early pottery development played a role in the genesis of early ceramic groups east and north of the Baltic Sea.V članku raziskujemo pojav in razširitev najzgodnejše lončenine med lovsko-nabiralniškimi skupnostmi vzhodno in severno od Baltskega morja v 6. in 5. tisočletju calBC. Z združevanjem obstoječega znanja z rezultati natančne statistične analize 17 izbranih zgodnje-keramičnih kompleksov s skupno 535 enotami lončenine iz Finske, Estonije, Litve in Rusije poskušamo rekonstruirati kronološke, tipološke in prostorske trajektorije pri razvoju zgodnjega lončarstva. Na osnovi teh podatkov predstavljamo scenarij razširitve lončarske tehnologije na študijskem območju in v širši regiji od Baltika do Urala ter od Barentsovega do Črnega morja in Kaspijskega jezera. Na podlagi teh rezultatov ugotavljamo, da so v razvoju zgodnjega lončarstva obstajale tri ločene tradicije, ki so odigrale določeno vlogo v genezi skupin z zgodnjo keramiko vzhodno in severno od Baltskega morja

Indigenous Concerns, Archaeology, and Activism

Archaeologists have been in contact with Indigenous communities since the origins of the discipline during the 19th century. From the beginning, this relationship was fundamentally structured by the fact that academic archaeology reflects the development of European/Western modernity, nationalism, and imperialism. As a consequence, during archaeology’s long and complex history, the relationship with Indigenous communities has often been characterised by confrontations, disputes, and misunderstandings. The dominant worldview upon which archaeology stands, rooted in Enlightenment philosophies and materialism, is often in contradiction to Indigenous perspectives. This applies, for example, to notions of time and history, the position and roles of humans within the natural world, ancestry and personhood, distinctions between life and death, and the animated and unanimated. These fundamental differences, and the associated unequal power relations between researchers on the one hand and Indigenous communities on the other, have caused innumerable instances of the appropriation and/or destruction of heritage sites and built structures and the removal and theft of artefacts and human remains. Accordingly, archaeological practices have been causing pain and suffering for Indigenous communities. However, these aspects are not restricted to archaeology but are more broadly related to the idea and reality of modern science and research practice itself. The perspective of Indigenous communities is encapsulated in Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s statement that “scientific research remains inextricably linked to European imperialism and colonialism […] The word itself, ‘research’, is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world’s vocabulary” (Tuhiwai Smith 2012: 232). This understanding reflects the extensive and continuing experiences of objectification by Indigenous people in their engagements with researchers. It unmasks the position of Western (and other imperially rooted) science as yet another facet of extractive and exploitative practices of European domination. Indigenous communities have criticised that scientific practices can extract and claim ownership of Indigenous ways of knowing and heritage while excluding the people themselves from these processes and the subsequent results (Tuhiwai Smith 2012: 240)

Vom klassischen Produktgeschäft zum Lösungsgeschäft: Implikationen für eine Neugestaltung des Vergütungssystems im Vertrieb

Um dem steigenden Wettbewerbsdruck standhalten und den veränderten Kundenwünschen nachkommen zu können, wandeln sich viele Industrieunternehmen vom klassischen Produkt zum umfassenden Lösungsanbieter, d.h. zum Erzeuger und Vermarkter so genannter hybrider Produkte. In diesem Arbeitspapier stehen die Auswirkungen und Implikationen eines solchen Strategiewechsels für das Vergütungssystem von Vertriebsmitarbeitern im Mittelpunkt. Ausgehend von den spezifischen Merkmalen hybrider Produkte wird zum einen die Notwendigkeit eines teamorientierten Vergütungssystems und die damit verbundenen Schwierigkeiten der Umsetzung diskutiert. Zum anderen werden Auswirkungen thematisiert, die aus der Ausdehnung des Leistungserbringungs- und Vermarktungsprozesses über den kompletten Kundenlebenszyklus resultieren. Hier wird auf Probleme der Bestimmung der Bemessungsgrundlage sowie des Ausschüttungszeitpunktes und der Ausschüttungsfrequenz variabler Vergütungsbestandteile eingegangen. --Lösungsgeschäft,hybride Produkte,Vergütungssystem,Vertriebsmanagement,Personalmanagement

The Site Groß Fredenwalde, NE-Germany, and the Early Cemeteries of Northern Europe

The Mesolithic burial site Groß Fredenwalde, NE-Germany, discovered in 1962, had remained a poorly understood part of the Mesolithic burial record for decades. Since 2012, the site has been under re-investigation. New discoveries confirm the presence of several single and multiple inhumation graves. Groß Fredenwalde stands out as the largest and one of the oldest Mesolithic cemeteries in North-central Europe. Its use period can be separated into two phases: a main phase in the late seventh millennium cal BC to the early sixth millennium cal BC and a later single burial c. 4900 cal BC. Here the state of research on the site is presented and selected characteristics are discussed in the context of early cemeteries of Northern and North-eastern Europe

The world's oldest-known promontory fort: Amnya and the acceleration of hunter-gatherer diversity in Siberia 8000 years ago

Archaeological narratives have traditionally associated the rise of social and political ‘complexity’ with the emergence of agricultural societies. However, this framework neglects the innovations of the hunter-gatherer populations occupying the Siberian taiga 8000 years ago, including the construction of some of the oldest-known fortified sites in the world. Here, the authors present results from the fortified site of Amnya in western Siberia, reporting new radiocarbon dates as the basis for a re-evaluation of the chronology and settlement organisation. Assessed within the context of the changing social and environmental landscape of the taiga, Amnya and similar fortified sites can be understood as one facet of a broader adaptive strategy

The impact of farming on prehistoric culinary practices throughout Northern Europe

To investigate changes in culinary practices associated with the arrival of farming, we analysed the organic residues of over 1,000 pottery vessels from hunter-gatherer-fisher and early agricultural sites across Northern Europe from the Lower Rhine Basin to the Northeastern Baltic. Here, pottery was widely used by hunter-gatherer-fishers prior to the introduction of domesticated animals and plants. Overall, there was surprising continuity in the way that hunter-gatherer-fishers and farmers used pottery. Both aquatic products and wild plants remained prevalent, a pattern repeated consistently across the study area. We argue that the rapid adaptation of farming communities to exploit coastal and lagoonal resources facilitated their northerly expansion, and in some cases, hunting, gathering, and fishing became the most dominant subsistence strategy. Nevertheless, dairy products frequently appear in pottery associated with the earliest farming groups often mixed with wild plants and fish. Interestingly, we also find compelling evidence of dairy products in hunter-gatherer-fisher Ertebølle pottery, which predates the arrival of domesticated animals. We propose that Ertebølle hunter-gatherer-fishers frequently acquired dairy products through exchange with adjacent farming communities prior to the transition. The continuity observed in pottery use across the transition to farming contrasts with the analysis of human remains which shows substantial demographic change through ancient DNA and, in some cases, a reduction in marine consumption through stable isotope analysis. We postulate that farmers acquired the knowledge and skills they needed to succeed from local hunter-gatherer-fishers but without substantial admixture

Flesh or fish? First results of archaeometric research of prehistoric burials from Sakhtysh IIa, Upper Volga region, Russia

Graves and their human remains not only shed light on burial customs and social structures of past populations, but also constitute an excellent archive of prehistoric environmental and living conditions. Especially 13C/15N isotope analysis has recently opened up promising perspectives for reconstructing changes in diet and their social, cultural and economic background. Such investigations have been started on material from the Stone and Early Metal Age hunter-gatherer cemetery of Sakhtysh IIa in the Upper Volga region of Central Russia, where 15 burials associated with the early Lyalovo culture (5th mill. calBC) and 57 graves of the Volosovo culture (4th – 3rd mill. calBC) have been excavated. In this paper, we present new AMS dates and isotopic data from four burials, two from the earlier and two from the later group. The results are discussed against the background of existing dates from Sakhtysh IIa burials and compared with information from other burial sites of Northern Europe

Dietary 14C reservoir effects and the chronology of prehistoric burials at Sakhtysh, central European Russia

We present a robust radiocarbon (14C) chronology for burials at Sakhtysh, in European Russia, where nearly 180 inhumations of Lyalovo and Volosovo pottery-using hunter-gatherer-fishers represent the largest known populations of both groups. Past dating attempts were restricted by poor understanding of dietary 14C reservoir effects (DREs). We developed a DRE correction approach that uses multiple linear regression of differences in 14C, δ13C, and δ15N between bones and teeth of the same individuals to predict DREs of up to approximately 900 years. Our chronological model dates Lyalovo burials to the early fifth millennium BCE, and Volosovo burials to the mid-fourth to early third millennium. It reveals a change in the subsistence economy at approximately 3300 BCE, coinciding with a reorientation of trade networks, and dates the final burial to the early Fatyanovo period, the regional expression of the Yamnaya/Corded Ware expansion. Our approach is applicable when freshwater 14C reservoir effects are poorly constrained and grave goods cannot be dated directly

Поселения Амнинского культурного типа в контексте раннего неолита севера Западной Сибири

Purpose. The Stone Age settlement of Amnya I in North-Western Siberia represents the northernmost hunter-gatherer-fisher fort in Eurasia. Dating back to the beginning of the 6th millennium BC, this unique site enables the study of key innovations of the Neolithization process in the taiga zone, such as defensive structures, early pottery, and an increase in polished tools including arrowheads. Results. The Amnya cultural type also includes the nearby Kirip-Vis-Yugan-2 settlement, which shows close similarities with Amnya I in material culture however lacks fortifications. To follow up open questions, work on Amnya type sites was resumed in 2019. Plans of the sites, their layout and stratigraphy were clarified, and first palaeoenvironmental data was received. Radiocarbon dating of stratified contexts at Amnya I confirmed its Early Neolithic age. The settlement of Amnya II located just 50 m east of the fortifications was also dated. Originally attributed to later, Eneolithic times, the two new AMS dates date back to the beginning of the 6th millennium BC, indicating that Amnya I and II existed broadly contemporaneously. Palaeoenvironmental studies based on drillings in the adjacent peat bog show that at the time of settlement at Amnya I and II open water existed on the south of the hill fort, and the Amnya River was flowing on the north side. Thus, this place was comfortable for living and provided good conditions for fishing. Botanical macro-remains from cultural layers at Amnya I show that during the existence of the settlement, along with pine, deciduous trees – birch and alder, have grown in the area of the site, indicating a warmer climate, compared to current conditions. Conclusion. The studied archaeological settlements show the case of Neolithic innovations which testify to formation of special social structures and, most likely, appearance of the new population in the taiga zone of Western Siberia at the turn of 7th – 6th millennium BC. © 2021 Novosibirsk State Technical University. All rights reserved.The work was carried out as part of the program of fundamental scientific research of the State Academies of Sciences for 2013–2020, the project “Ancient and Medieval cultures of the Urals: regional features in the context of global pro-cesses” (registration number: AAAA-A16-116040110036-1), the German Research Community (DFG) (Cluster of Excellence ROOTS at Kiel University), and the state mission of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation “Regional Identity of Russia: Comparative Historical and Philological Studies” (topic no. FEUz-2020-0056). The authors would like to thank Yasmin Dannath (Institute of Pre-and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, Germany) for identifying the botanical macro-remains