Recent refinements in radiocarbon sampling procedures have enabled a more robust absolute chronology for the Mesolithic in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt area of northwest Europe. These refinements have ...allowed for a new chronological sub-division of the Early and Middle Mesolithic periods. Results of this research have indicated that the Middle Mesolithic period was bound by two Early Holocene cooling events, one at 9300 cal. BP and the other at 8200 cal. BP. These results enable a critical evaluation of the role of chronological precision in the investigation of contemporaneity between abrupt climate change and hunter–gatherer sociocultural change. In this paper we focus on the variable chronological resolution of the Early to Middle and Middle to Late Mesolithic transitions in the RMS area, and the role of this variable resolution in our ability to investigate the contemporaneity of these two transitions with different Early Holocene abrupt cooling events. This paper highlights two central challenges facing archaeological investigations of the relationships between climate and culture change: first, the requirement of tight chronological overlap between climate and culture change events and consideration of leads and lags in ecosystem and subsequent human responses to climate change; second, the equifinality problem and the separation of the impact of gradual from punctuated environmental change on human societies.
► Revised radiocarbon chronology for the Mesolithic in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt area. ► The Middle Mesolithic was bound by two Early Holocene abrupt cooling events. ► Variable chronological resolution for contemporaneity of climate and culture change. ► Problems of evaluating impact of gradual versus punctuated environmental change.
Lacking well-dated fifth millennium Mesolithic evidence and based on a consensus that late Mesolithic Britain was isolated from the continent, discussion of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition has ...focused on the centuries around 4000 BC. This discourse has over-simplified complex neolithisation processes. New, high-quality evidence from 460,000 lithics found at Bexhill, Sussex, SE England, helps to redress this. Here, well-dated Mesolithic microliths (5500–4300 BC) may demonstrate continental links with neolithised communities. Alongside other sites, this offers exciting opportunities to contribute to debates on an isolated late Mesolithic during the transition. As a result, this work also provides additional explanations of new evidence proposing European influences on British Neolithic DNA. Instead of an isolated island, with this lithic evidence, we propose that the late Mesolithic Britain was culturally connected to the neolithised continent in the fifth millennium. Therefore, the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition of Britain was a longer, more complex, and nuanced process than previously thought.
The Coneybury ‘Anomaly’ is an Early Neolithic pit located just south-east of Stonehenge, Wiltshire. Excavations recovered a faunal assemblage unique in its composition, consisting of both wild and ...domestic species, as well as large quantities of ceramics and stone tools, including a substantial proportion of blades/bladelets. We present a suite of new isotope analyses of the faunal material, together with ancient DNA sex determination, and reconsider the published faunal data to ask: What took place at Coneybury, and who was involved? We argue on the basis of multiple lines of evidence that Coneybury represents the material remains of a gathering organised by a regional community, with participants coming from different areas. One group of attendees provided deer instead of, or in addition to, cattle. We conclude that the most likely scenario is that this group comprised local hunter-gatherers who survived alongside local farmers.
Rendez-vous dans la forêt: Chasseurs et agriculteurs à l’‘Anomalie‘ de Coneybury, de Kurt J. Gron, Peter Rowley-Conwy, Eva Fernandez-Dominguez, Darren R. Gröcke, Janet Montgomery, Geoff M. Nowell, et William P. Patterson L’Anomalie‘ de Coneybury est une fosse du néolithique ancien située juste au sud-est de Stonehenge. Des excavations révélèrent un assemblage faunique unique par sa composition, consistant à la fois en espèces sauvages et domestiques ainsi qu’en de grandes quantités de céramique et d’outils en pierre, y compris une proportion substantielle de lames et lamelles. Nous présentons une série de nouvelles analyses d’isotopes du matériel faunique ainsi qu’une détermination de sexe par ADN ancien et reconsidérons les données fauniques publiées pour poser la question: Que s’est-il passé à Coneybury et qui était impliqué? Nous argumentons, en nous appuyant sur de multiples sources d’indices que Coneybury représente les vestigesmatériels d’un rassemblement organisé par une communauté régionale avec des participants venant de divers endroits. Un goupe parmi les présents a fourni du cerf au lieu, ou en plus, de bétail. Nous en concluons que le scénario le plus plausible est que ce groupe comprenait des chasseurs-cueilleurs locaux qui survivaient aux côtés des agriculteurs locaux.
Ein Treffen im Wald: Jäger und Bauern an der Coneybury-„Anomalie”, von Kurt J. Gron, Peter Rowley-Conwy, Eva Fernandez-Dominguez, Darren R. Gröcke, Janet Montgomery, Geoff M. Nowell, und William P. Patterson Die Coneybury-„Anomalie“ ist eine frühneolithische Grube, die unmittelbar außerhalb von Stonehenge gelegen ist. Ausgrabungen erbrachten ein Ensemble von Tierknochen, dessen Zusammensetzung einzigartig ist und sowohl aus Wild- wie aus Haustieren besteht, sowie eine große Anzahl an Keramik und Steinwerkzeugen, einschließlich einer substanziellen Anzahl an Klingen. In diesem Beitrag legen wir eine Reihe neuer Isotopenanalysen der Tierknochen gemeinsam mit Geschlechtsbestimmungen durch aDNA vor und bewerten die publizierten Daten zur Fauna neu, um die Frage zu stellen: Was geschah in Coneybury und wer war involviert? Auf Grundlage mehrerer Beweisführungslinien sprechen wir uns dafür aus, dass Coneybury die materiellen Hinterlassenschaften einer Zusammenkunft repräsentiert, die von der örtlichen Gemeinschaft organisiert wurde und Teilnehmer aus verschiedenen Regionen umfasste. Eine Gruppe unter den Anwesenden steuerte Hirsch statt oder zusätzlich zu Rind bei. Wir folgern, dass das wahrscheinlichste Szenario ist, dass diese Gruppe lokale Jäger-Sammler umfasste, die zeitgleich mit den lokalen Ackerbauern (über-) lebte.
Un encuentro en el bosque: cazadores y agricultores en la “anomalía” de Coneybury por Kurt J. Gron, Peter Rowley-Conwy, Eva Fernandez-Dominguez, Darren R. Gröcke, Janet Montgomery, Geoff M. Nowell, y William P. Patterson La “anomalía” de Coneybury es un fosa adscrita al Neolítico inicial situada al sureste de Stonehenge. Las intervenciones arqueológicas han recuperado un conjunto faunístico único en su composición, formado tanto por especies domésticas como salvajes, al igual que por una gran cantidad de cerámicas e industria lítica, incluyendo una sustancial proporción de láminas y laminitas. En este artículo presentamos un conjunto de nuevos análisis isotópicos de fauna, junto con la determinación del sexo a partir de los análisis de ADN y reconsideramos los datos faunísticos publicados para plantear la cuestión: ¿qué ocurrió en Coneybury y quién estuvo involucrado? En base a las múltiples líneas de evidencia, argumentamos que Coneybury representa los restos materiales de una reunión organizada por una comunidad regional, con participantes procedentes de distintas áreas. Uno de los grupos participantes aportó venados en lugar de, o además de, ganado. Concluimos que el escenario más probable es que este grupo estuviese compuesto por cazadores-recolectores que sobrevivieron junto a las comunidades de agricultores locales.
The Great Hungarian Plain was a crossroads of cultural transformations that have shaped European prehistory. Here we analyse a 5,000-year transect of human genomes, sampled from petrous bones giving ...consistently excellent endogenous DNA yields, from 13 Hungarian Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron Age burials including two to high (~22 × ) and seven to ~1 × coverage, to investigate the impact of these on Europe's genetic landscape. These data suggest genomic shifts with the advent of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, with interleaved periods of genome stability. The earliest Neolithic context genome shows a European hunter-gatherer genetic signature and a restricted ancestral population size, suggesting direct contact between cultures after the arrival of the first farmers into Europe. The latest, Iron Age, sample reveals an eastern genomic influence concordant with introduced Steppe burial rites. We observe transition towards lighter pigmentation and surprisingly, no Neolithic presence of lactase persistence.
En este artículo damos a conocer por primera vez las ocupaciones humanas del Mesolítico reciente del yacimiento de la Balma del Barranc de la Fontanella (Vilafranca, Castelló). A partir del análisis ...de la industria lítica, la fauna, el adorno y la sedimentología se realiza un análisis de las características de este yacimiento y se contextualiza tanto a nivel local (Comarca del Maestrat/Maestrazgo) como del Mediterráneo Ibérico. Además, la comparación de las dataciones de este conjunto con el resto de los yacimientos mediterráneos permite profundizar en los debates sobre la duración de cada una de las fases y sus relaciones tanto con el Mesolítico antiguo como con la llegada del Neolítico a esta zona montañosa. Los datos obtenidos permiten concluir que La Fontanella estuvo ocupada en las dos fases del Mesolítico reciente, que posiblemente funcionó como un asentamiento secundario orientado a la caza y que una parte de la misma (los ciervos) seria transportada a otro lugar.
The retreating Brunifirn glacier in the Alps of central Switzerland exposed a rock crystal extraction site exploited during the Early and Late Mesolithic. It has yielded organic objects preserved in ...the ice as well as rock crystal and quartz extraction waste, knapping debris, and tools.
Grotta d’Oriente, a coastal cave located on the island of Favignana (Sicily, Italy) is a key site for the study of the early human colonization of Sicily. Inside the cave, during different field ...excavations, three burials attributable to the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic were found. The Mesolithic Oriente B individual, directly dated at 9,377 ± 25 uncal BP, was previously assigned to HV1 haplogroup using a traditional approach. However, it is well known that PCR based methods are prone to erroneous haplotype or haplogroup determination. In order to redefine the mitochondrial lineage of this Mesolithic hunter-gatherer and explore its phylogenetic position, we target-enriched and sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of Oriente B. Moreover, we conducted a morphometric analysis to assess its phenetic affinities.
Oriente B individual was classified into U2′3′4′7′8′9 haplogroup. In Sicily, this lineage has also been found on the Upper Palaeolithic Oriente C and Early Mesolithic individuals from Grotta dell’Uzzo. Our results show significant genetic and morphological similarities in Sicilian Early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, presumably because of genetic drift processes. Furthermore, dating the emergence of the “Sicilian clade”, we speculate that Epigravettian hunter-gatherers carrying U2′3′4′7′8′9 haplogroup might be the first settlers of Sicily arrived from the Italian peninsula by the crossing of a temporary land-bridge around the Last Glacial Maximum.
•New ancient DNA data obtained from Mesolithic Oriente B.•Reveals genetic and morphological similarities among Sicilian Mesolithics.•U2′3′4′7′8′9 haplogroup linked to the early colonization of Sicily by modern humans.•A “Sicilian clade” mtDNA diverged from the European mainland 23,248 years BP.•Humans exploited a land-bridge connecting Sicily to Italian peninsula during LGM.
In Central Europe, only a few caves with ancient drawings on the walls are known. During the past years, simple lines and sketches made of charcoal or smearing traces from torches are found mainly in ...less accessible locations in some caves of the Slovak Karst. Previous attempts to date these findings were unsuccessful since the painted layers were too thin to allow sampling and enable routine AMS dating. Now the application of the small mass radiocarbon accelerator mass-spectrometry (AMS) technique developed at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) made possible successful 14C determinations for a set of cave drawings and markings from the Slovak Karst. This research confirmed the prehistoric/protohistoric nature of the drawings/sketches in Čikova Diera, Silická Ľadnica, Ardovská and Domica Caves. Moreover, this research widens the scope for prehistoric rock art dating, one of the major constrains in rock art studies.
Contemporaneity of spatially distinct activity areas at prehistoric sites is often inferred based on lithic refit connections alone. These connections are, in addition, only rarely discussed in ...detail, nor are they explicitly subjected to any form of critical assessment. In this paper, we present a combined use of Bayesian modeling of
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C-dates, raw material characterizations and lithic refitting to investigate the occurrence of interconnected artefact clusters at the Belgian Mesolithic site of Kerkhove. Besides this, a set of parameters is presented that is employed to control the reliability of the refit connections. The three proxies applied in this paper suggest that the Early Mesolithic occupation of the site was organized as two diachronic and more or less parallel alignments of artefact clusters. Based on the lithic refitting results, two scenarios can be considered to explain the formation histories of these linear arrangements. The individual artefact clusters incorporated within them were either occupied in a strictly contemporaneous manner or in a (partly) sequential manner.
Twelve pollen-inferred aridity major and minor events (S1 to S12) have been identified at Salines playa lake (SE Iberian Peninsula, 475 m asl, 38° 30′ 02″ N 00° 53′ 18″ W) from the Lateglacial to the ...Early Holocene (Boreal). These dry events consist of an increase in the aridity quotient calculated as a function of selected pollen taxa at 13.4, 13, 12.55, 12.2, 11.9, 11.45, 11, 10.6, 10.3, 10, 9.5 and 8.3 ka cal BP. These dry events correspond to the previous identified cold spells such as the Younger Dryas, as well as the 8, 7, 6 and 5 Bond events, and 11.4 and 9.3 events. This climate record highlights the complex glacial-interglacial transition in extra-tropical latitudes, with centennial-scale abrupt climate fluctuations, a signature scarcely recorded in other palaeoecological records of the SE Iberian Peninsula. This work has major implications for the study of human socio-ecological systems and resilience in SE Iberia during the Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic periods.
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