Osadnictwo późnomeozolityczne na stanowisku 29 w Kopanicy, gm. Siedlec

Kopanica, site 29, is situated on the eastern edge of a former glacial trough, which now channels the Obra River north, and the latitudinal Warsaw-Berlin ice marginal valley. 2003 archaeological excavations at the site revealed evidence of intensive Late Mesolithic settlement. Trenches located on the sandy and gravel fluvial terrace of the Obra and in the zone of biogenic sediments yielded a substantial flint assemblage and remains of a dwelling structure sunken into the ground. The structure was radiocarbon dated owing to a fragment of a burnt animal bone from the fill deposit. The radiocarbon date coincides with the results of technological and typological analyses of the flint inventory. The Mesolithic settlement at the site can accordingly be attributed to a stay of a group representing the Chojnice–Pieńków (post-Maglemose) culture in the second half of the Atlantic period

Analiza środowiskowych uwarunkowań lokalizacji osadnictwa ze starszej i środkowej epoki kamienia na Pojezierzu Lubuskim. Zastosowanie drzew klasyfikacyjno-regresyjnych

The article presents results of the study of environmental variables influencing location of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic settlement in Pojezierze Lubuskie. A new method of predicting archaeological sites location has been suggested, based on classification and regression trees (CART), including nine natural variables. A detailed model has been designed illustrating dependency between these natural variables and intensity of prehistoric activity. The study, results have been also presented on the map, which systematisies and presents, in a coherent manner, a model of human presence in Palaeolithic and esolithic periods

Osadnictwo mezolityczne w południowej części Pojezierza Łagowskiego

Despite a growing recognition of late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic settlement in recent years, the area of Pojezierze Łagowskie still represents one of less known regions of western Poland, both in terms of Old and Middle Stone Age settlement and reconstruction of of contemporary environmental conditions. The article provides results of technological, typological, functional analyses, as well as that of raw materials used in stone industry of Mesolithic communities occupying sites 13 and 16 in Wilenko. Majority of functional tools is characterised by use-wear traces, which should be interpreted as results of variability of meat, bone, antler, and leather processing activities or game hunting. In the article an attempt has been made to reconstruct environmental conditions, on the basis of the results of pollen analysis

New evidences for core processing of non-flint, lithic materials in the Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Poland

In the Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic core processing in Poland was dominated by flint raw materials. The present paper considers the occurrence of non-flint assemblages at the sites Lubrza and Ludowice (Polish Lowland). The focus is on recognition of petrographic studies, technology, typology and use-wear of inventories from both sites. The collections contain debitage, cores and different kinds of tools. As a result the identification of granite, sandstone, quartzite, gneisses, mudstones, slates and single minerals of quartzes and feldspars was established. The use-wear analysis brought good results only in case in porphyry artefacts. The described analyses are accompanied by a review of European non-flint assemblages from Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites and discussion of the role of this type of raw material in core processing

Pristop k poenotenju in raznolikosti zbirov lončenine: Primer keramike zahodne kulture Tripolje v južnem medrečju Buga in Dnepra v času 4100–3600 pr. n. št.

This paper questions the cycling nature of the unification and diversity of pottery forms through a case study of ceramics of the Western Tripolye culture in the Southern Bug and Dnieper interfluve in modern Ukraine. We identified the cultural cycle representing the transition from more unified ceramic assemblages to more diverse ones, and then back to more unified assemblages. This cultural cycle is disturbed by the increase in the diversity of pottery sets at three of ten subsequent time periods we have analysed. The obtained results are discussed in frames of deterministic explanations and the dynamic behaviour of complex systems.V članku se sprašujemo o ciklični naravi poenotenja in raznolikosti keramičnih oblik s pomočjo študijskega primera lončenine iz zahodne tripoljske kulture na območju južnega medrečja Buga in Dnepra v sodobni Ukrajini. Prepoznali smo kulturni cikel, ki predstavlja prehod iz bolj poenotenih keramičnih zbirov k večji raznolikosti ter prehod nazaj k bolj enotnemu zbiru. Ta kulturni cikel zmoti naraščanje raznolikosti lončeninskih zbirov v treh od desetih zaporednih časovnih obdobjih, ki smo jih analizirali. Dobljene rezultate obravnavamo v okviru determinističnih razlag in dinamičnem vedenju kompleksnih sistemov

Animal husbandry in the Early and Middle Neolithic settlement at Kopydłowo in the Polish lowlands: a multi-isotope perspective

The aim of this article is to examine the isotopic characterisation of domestic animals as it relates to birthing location and seasonality, diet, pasturing pattern, foddering and climatic conditions of herding and to determine variation between these aspects of cattle and caprine husbandry of the Neolithic Linearbandkultur (LBK) and Trichterbecherkultur (TRB) communities from Kopydłowo in Kujavia—one of the major centres of early farming in the European lowlands. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was undertaken on faunal bone collagen; carbon, oxygen and strontium isotope ratios were measured from tooth enamel. Isotopic signatures may have been caused by different strategies of management of herds of these animal species. Different and more widely distributed carbon, nitrogen and strontium isotopic data for TRB cattle in comparison with its LBK counterparts is indicative of the exploitation of increasingly diverse ecological zones and more varied pastoral practises. The distribution of oxygen isotope values on caprine tooth made it possible to recognise herding seasonality. Irrespective of the chronology, cattle, sheep and goats kept by the inhabitants had C3 plant-based diet

Human consumption of seaweed and freshwater aquatic plants in ancient Europe

During the Mesolithic in Europe, there is widespread evidence for an increase in exploitation of aquatic resources. In contrast, the subsequent Neolithic is characterised by the spread of farming, land ownership, and full sedentism, which lead to the perception of marine resources subsequently representing marginal or famine food or being abandoned altogether even at the furthermost coastal limits of Europe. Here, we examine biomarkers extracted from human dental calculus, using sequential thermal desorption- and pyrolysis-GCMS, to report direct evidence for widespread consumption of seaweed and submerged aquatic and freshwater plants across Europe. Notably, evidence of consumption of these resources extends through the Neolithic transition to farming and into the Early Middle Ages, suggesting that these resources, now rarely eaten in Europe, only became marginal much more recently. Understanding ancient foodstuffs is crucial to reconstructing the past, while a better knowledge of local, forgotten resources is likewise important today

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

Materials from the Stone Age From Ostrów Lednicki and its immediate surroundings

The aim of this article is to analyze several hundred primeval artifacts (329 flints, 3 stone tools and 9 pieces of Neolithic pottery), which were found during excavations on Ostrów Lednicki and the burial ground in Dziekanowice. The above mentioned artifacts were found on a secondary deposit, in early medieval layers or in objects, and in a primaeval layer, which was detected in the immediate vicinity of Lednica Palatium. This significantly influences the interpretation options and only allows chronological and taxonomic classification of the artifacts with characteristic technological and typological features. 4 flint artifacts were connected with the Late Paleolithic stage of penetration of Ostrów Lednicki and its immediate surroundings, i.e. a part of a massive endscraper, a tanged point, a part of a shaft of a tanged point and of a backed piece. Because of the presence of tanged points, it is highly probable that the analyzed collection can be connected with flint manufacturing of the Świderska culture community. Ostrów Lednicki and its surroundings were also penetrated by Holocene hunter-gatherers, which is indicated by the presence of 14 Mesolithic flint artifacts. In the majority of cases they were cores, often microlithic, highly exploited. There were also single tools, such as a slender backed piece and two scrapers. Three stone artifacts can be clearly connected with the Neolithic — two hatchets made from fine-crystalline sandstone and a quartzitic broadax as well as several pieces of pottery. In the case of the pottery, 5 pieces should be connected with the presence of the Late Band Pottery Culture on Ostrów Lednicki, while 4 with the Funnel Beaker Culture communities. The remaining flint artifacts can only be generally associated with the Stone Age