Journal of Neolithic Archaeology
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Population Dynamics and Socio-ecological Trajectories Explain the Emergence of Farming in Late Neolithic Southeast Norway
Get PDFThis paper examines the emergence of farming in Late Neolithic Southeast Norway. A summed probability distribution of radiocarbon dates is used to infer population dynamics and together with a chronological model using dated samples from post-built houses, cultivation layers and cereal grains, it is argued that the introduction of farming was swift and caused by incoming farmers. It is further explored how a low population during the Middle Neolithic period, cause by shifting environmental conditions, was central to the rapid population shift and economic change seen in the Late Neolithic, from ca. 2200 cal BC
Vasagård – Causewayed and Palisade Enclosures of the Middle Neolithic TRB Culture on Bornholm
Get PDFAt the site Vasagård on the island of Bornholm a double causewayed enclosure dating from EN II to MN AIII is superseded by palisade enclosures constructed from the beginning of MN AV and covering a larger area. The transition from MN AIII to MN AV is dated to ca. 2900 BCE, without allowing for an intermediate period ‘MN AIV’, and regarded as a significant change in terms of artefact composition, ritual activities and possibly social organization. Within the palisade enclosures seven post circles were investigated. The material found in the postholes indicates that they are remains of cult houses, and that the rituals that took place there included destruction by burning of flint implements and other objects. Burnt, decorated daub from house walls emphasizes the special character of these buildings. The finds from Vasagård include hundreds of ‘sun stones’, small slabs of shale most of which are decorated with sun motives. Two stones with cup marks were found in contexts dating to respectively MN AIII and MN AV, indicating for the first time that cup marks were carved into stones as early as during the TRB Culture. Activities at the palisade enclosures came to an end ca. 2800BCE. On Bornholm, MN AV is followed by a later and final stage of the TRB Culture in MN BI, which is represented by the settlements Limensgård and Nordre Grødbygård and to some degree also Rispebjerg, the second site with palisade enclosures found on Bornholm
Rituals and Practices of Megalith Building: An Archaeological and Ethnographic Study of Megaliths in Oinam Village in Manipur, Northeast India
Get PDFDespite some reports of the living tradition of megalith building among a few communities in Northeast India, the rituals and practices involved in such undertakings have not been studied in detail. In this paper, I present the outcomes of an archaeological and ethnographic study of megaliths in Oinam, a village inhabited by the Poumai Naga tribe (a Tibeto-Burman ethnic community) in India’s northeastern state of Manipur. The practice of the erection of megaliths, albeit in modified forms, is also a living tradition in this village, offering avenues for multidisciplinary investigations. My survey documented and mapped 407 megaliths around Oinam, including 374 menhirs, 5 fallen menhirs, 2 slab graves, and 26 stone circles in the habitation areas and pathways descending from the village to the paddy fields. I also interviewed residents and documented the associated rituals and practices in megalith building. The study reveals that the motives behind the construction of megaliths and hosting feasts by sponsors are associated with ritual fulfilments and personal gratifications. However, while such endeavours are costly, they also bear features of economic redistribution of wealth in society and can be seen as an expression of the identity of Poumai Nagas of Oinam
Transmission of Lithic and Ceramic Technical Know-how in the Early Neolithic of Central-Western Europe: Shedding Light on the Social Mechanisms Underlying Cultural Transition
Get PDFResearch on European neolithisation agrees that a process of colonisation throughout the sixth millennium BCE underlies the spread of agricultural ways of life on the continent. From Central to Central-Western Europe, this colonisation path is characterised by one single cultural entity, the so-called Linear Pottery Culture (LBK). At the transition between the sixth and fifth millennia BCE, the LBK breaks apart into a mosaic of “post-LBK” cultural groups through mechanisms that are not entirely understood. To contribute to a better understanding of the social processes underlying this transition, we conduct an integrated analysis of the lithic and ceramic technical subsystems attributed to the LBK and the post-LBK in Middle Belgium, a region with unrivalled material evidence. We use the technical actions carried out by the early farmers to produce their lithic tool blanks and ceramics as proxies to shed light on (i) the modalities of technical know-how in intergenerational transmission, (ii) the possible exogenous influences within the technical system, and (iii) the trajectories of the social groups involved in the LBK-Blicquy/Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (BQY/VSG) transition. Our results reveal that several overlapping mechanisms were at work during this cultural transition. While lithic and ceramic general technical trends are clearly transmitted from one period to another attesting to a clear filiation between the LBK and the post-LBK, both the lithic and ceramic detailed sequences of technical actions tend to hybridise after the transition. This reveals close and prolonged interactions between groups of producers from different learning networks, most likely stemming from population mobility during the cultural transition
Tappeh Moeinabad. A Late Neolithic Site in the Varamin Plain, Iran
Get PDFTappeh Moeinabad is a high mound located in the middle of the Varamin Plain. In 2006, a systematic survey was conducted by the first author and team, followed in 2010 and 2014 by soundings and in 2018 by the investigation of a profile near these soundings. This report summarizes the results of these seasons of archaeological work, describes the remains of architecture identified, and assigns dates to the systematic survey grid. We also investigate the chronology of the soundings with reference to their pottery as well as on the basis of 14C dates. We document a very long prehistoric occupation sequence, paralleling periods Sialk I to II at Tappeh Sialk. According to our analysis, connections between Moeinabad and Tappeh Sialk were particularly close during the Sialk I,3 phase
Under the Bog for Thousands of Years - A New Funnel Beaker Settlement near Wanna, Germany
Get PDFAn extensive drilling campaign to reconstruct a Neolithic landscape in the Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor in northwest Germany made it possible to document a cultural layer beneath a thick layer of bog peat formed by settlement activities, forest pasture or livestock grazing (site Wanna 1603). First excavations revealed finds that correspond to the typical spectrum of a settlement site. Both the typological and the absolute chronological dating, show that it was used between 3300 and 3000 cal BC and is therefore associated with the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB). This makes the site one of the few proven settlements with a preserved cultural layer in the TRB West group. In addition to the archaeological investigations, pedological, botanical and geological studies were also carried out. This made it possible to trace the development of the former coastline, the nearby wetlands and the successive covering of the site by bog peat. A large number of boreholes also made it possible to record the spatial extent of the site. Thus, landscape changes presumably triggered by human use could be identified. The temporal proximity of the settlement and land use to the changes in the landscape also indicates that the choice of settlement site was influenced by the latter. In sum, our research shows that in Wanna 1603 people of the TRB settled near a group of megalithic tombs on an island or pen insula in wetlands
Thin Section Petrography of Neolithic Pottery from Northeast India
Get PDFTwenty nine potsherds from nine Neolithic sites of Northeast India have been analysed using thin section petrography. The primary objectives of this article are to determine their provenance, to investigate the production techniques of Neolithic pottery and to understand the technical skills of the ancient potters of the studied region. Based on their mineralogical content and the composition of the matrices, the pottery samples have been classified into eleven fabric groups. The analysis of the fabrics showed dissimilarities in the processing and production of ceramics which were otherwise very similar at first sight. The dissimilarities provided indications of the clay sources and the occurrence of natural and artificial temper/inclusions, e.g., organic or inorganic substances used by the Neolithic potters of Northeast India during manufacturing processes. In all fabric groups, we found ironbearing materials which show that the ancient potters used local clay to make pottery because the soil in this region contains a high amount of ferruginous substances. The results also confirmed that the analysed pottery was probably fired below 800 °C under an oxidizing atmosphere and also revealed the use of non-plastic inclusions, such as sand, quartz and organic materials during pottery production
Seal Hunters, Fishermen and Sea-voyagers: Late Middle Neolithic (2600–2400 cal BC) Maritime Hunter-Gatherers in the Baltic Sea Archipelago at Tråsättra, Sweden
Get PDFLarge scale excavations of Neolithic settlements and cemeteries along the Swedish east coast and on the islands of Gotland and Öland in the Baltic Sea during the last 30 years have produced a large amount of new information concerning the Funnel Beaker Culture, the Pitted Ware Culture and the Battle Axe Culture. Excavations of large areas in a number of sites have given us a much deeper understanding of how these societies were organized, how people made their living and how they buried their dead. Large scale studies of palaeoecological remains, lipids in ceramics and isotopes in animal and human bones have given us new information concerning differences in diet and economy, and studies of genetic material have produced new essential knowledge of ethnic and cultural affiliations. The excavation at Tråsättra covered the whole area of a permanent hunter-gatherer settlement that can be related to the late Pitted Ware Culture, ca. 2600– 2400calBC. This gave us the opportunity to study the organization of the settlement, economy and diet, craftsmanship and ritual activities in detail. Also, finds of a large number of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic clay figurines, a cult building with ritual deposits and a small cemetery made a unique analysis of religious and ideological aspects of the hunter-gatherers in the archipelago of the eastern middle part of Sweden during the late Middle Neolithic B possible
Materialities, Space, Mind: Archaeology of Visual Cognition
Get PDFA perceptual study of different styles of prehistoric Galician ceramics (from 6000 to 2000 BP) conducted by eye-tracking, underpins the material engagement of mind by showing that the visual world fosters the entanglement between doing, seeing, and designing through history. This text examines how materializations of human practices relate to cognition and to socio-cultural contexts. By combining evidence on the relationship between material culture and perceptual reactions, our text aims to understand the entanglement between the mind, objects and the world. We apply measurable and numeric techniques, providing an archaeometric approach to cognitive topics by combining neurosciences with interpretive and reflective research. This research provides new insights into the material culture, contributes to the understanding of the relationship between mind and the material world, and accounts for the transitive engagement between the way of thinking, seeing and making things. Thus, the text contributes to an understanding of the material forces driving perception and thought
A Map of European Megaliths
Get PDFAs part of a request from the “European Megalithic Routes” organization to its Scientific Advisory Board for a comprehensive map of European megaliths, an attempt was made to produce the corresponding map using existing publications on megalithic tombs. As a result, 17409 published megalithic tombs were mapped. This endeavour forms the basis for a continuous and necessary improvement of a map of European megalithic sites, especially regarding the architectural classification of the individual megaliths