Palaeoenvironmental conditions and human activity in the vicinity of the Grodzisko fortified settlement (central Europe, Poland) from the late‐Neolithic to the Roman period

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariusz Gałka ◽  
Piotr Kołaczek ◽  
Thomas G. Sim ◽  
Klaus‐Holger Knorr ◽  
Przemysław Niedzielski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Palaeoenvironmental Conditions

scholarly journals Ancestors of domestic cats in Neolithic Central Europe: Isotopic evidence of a synanthropic diet

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (30) ◽  
pp. 17710-17719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Krajcarz ◽  
Maciej T. Krajcarz ◽  
Mateusz Baca ◽  
Chris Baumann ◽  
Wim Van Neer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Isotopic Signature ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Domestic Cats ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Early Farmers

Cat remains from Poland dated to 4,200 to 2,300 y BCE are currently the earliest evidence for the migration of the Near Eastern cat (NE cat), the ancestor of domestic cats, into Central Europe. This early immigration preceded the known establishment of housecat populations in the region by around 3,000 y. One hypothesis assumed that NE cats followed the migration of early farmers as synanthropes. In this study, we analyze the stable isotopes in six samples of Late Neolithic NE cat bones and further 34 of the associated fauna, including the European wildcat. We approximate the diet and trophic ecology of Late Neolithic felids in a broad context of contemporary wild and domestic animals and humans. In addition, we compared the ecology of Late Neolithic NE cats with the earliest domestic cats known from the territory of Poland, dating to the Roman Period. Our results reveal that human agricultural activity during the Late Neolithic had already impacted the isotopic signature of rodents in the ecosystem. These synanthropic pests constituted a significant proportion of the NE cat’s diet. Our interpretation is that Late Neolithic NE cats were opportunistic synanthropes, most probably free-living individuals (i.e., not directly relying on a human food supply). We explore niche partitioning between studied NE cats and the contemporary native European wildcats. We find only minor differences between the isotopic ecology of both these taxa. We conclude that, after the appearance of the NE cat, both felid taxa shared the ecological niches.

scholarly journals Human impact and population dynamics in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: Multi-proxy evidence from north-western Central Europe

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1596-1606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingo Feeser ◽  
Walter Dörfler ◽  
Jutta Kneisel ◽  
Martin Hinz ◽  
Stefan Dreibrodt
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Relative Population ◽  
Erosion History ◽  
North Western

This paper aims at reconstructing the population dynamics during the Neolithic and Bronze Age, c. 4500–500 cal. BC, in north-western Central Europe. The approach is based on the assumption that increased population density is positively linked with human activity and human impact on the environment, respectively. Therefore, we use archaeological 14C dates and palaeoenvironmental data from northern Germany and south-western Denmark to construct and compare independent proxies of human activity. The latter involves relative quantification of human impact based on pollen analysis and soil erosion history inferred from summarizing of dated colluvial layers. Concurring patterns of changes in human activity are frequently recorded on a multi-centennial scale. Whereas such multi-proxy patterns are interpreted to indicate relative population changes, divergent patterns are discussed in the context of proxy-related uncertainties and potential biases. Patterns of temporal distribution of increasing and decreasing human activity are understood as ‘boom and bust’ phases in population density/size. Based on the comparison of the three proxies, we identify five phases of growing (boom) and four phases of decreasing (bust) population. The boom phases date to ca. 4000–3500, 3000–2900, 2200–2100, 1450–1300 and 1000–750 cal. BC. The bust phases to ca. 3200–3000, 2400–2300, 1650–1500 and 1200–1100 cal. BC.

The orientation of rondels of the Neolithic Lengyel culture in Central Europe

Antiquity ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (318) ◽  
pp. 910-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emília Pásztor ◽  
Judit P. Barna ◽  
Curt Roslund
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Neolithic Europe

AbstractThe rondels – circular earthworks of late Neolithic Europe – have a repeated form highly suggestive of deliberate design and symbolism. The concentric ditches are cut by two, three or most often four causeways at right angles. Here the authors investigate the orientation of the causeways in 51 rondels belonging to the Lengyel culture and conclude that they correlate well with the sunrise. The idea of a solar cult receives some corroboration from patterns on contemporary pottery.

scholarly journals Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Žegarac ◽  
L. Winkelbach ◽  
J. Blöcher ◽  
Y. Diekmann ◽  
M. Krečković Gavrilović ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Structure ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Status Differences

AbstractTwenty-four palaeogenomes from Mokrin, a major Early Bronze Age necropolis in southeastern Europe, were sequenced to analyse kinship between individuals and to better understand prehistoric social organization. 15 investigated individuals were involved in genetic relationships of varying degrees. The Mokrin sample resembles a genetically unstructured population, suggesting that the community’s social hierarchies were not accompanied by strict marriage barriers. We find evidence for female exogamy but no indications for strict patrilocality. Individual status differences at Mokrin, as indicated by grave goods, support the inference that females could inherit status, but could not transmit status to all their sons. We further show that sons had the possibility to acquire status during their lifetimes, but not necessarily to inherit it. Taken together, these findings suggest that Southeastern Europe in the Early Bronze Age had a significantly different family and social structure than Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies of Central Europe.

scholarly journals Nordic and Celtic: religion in southern Scandinavia during the late bronze age and early iron age

1990 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 329-343
Author(s):  
Marianne Görman
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Sources Of Knowledge ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
The Bronze Age

By means of modern archeological research it is today possible to gain much information even from non-written material, This paper covers the late bronze age and early iron age, ca. 1000 B.C. —O. It is based on material from Denmark, the Southwest of Sweden, and the Southeast of Norway. This region formed a cultural unity since the sea bound the area together. Our main sources of knowledge of Nordic religion during this time span are votive offerings and rock-carvings. During the bronze age and early iron age the Nordic peasant population had intensive contacts with the Southeastern and Centralparts of Europe. A great quantity of imported objects bear evidence of widespread connections. The inhabitants of the Nordic area not only brought home objects, but also ideas and religious conceptions. This is clearly reflected in the iconography. The cultures with which connections were upheld and from which ideas were introduced were those of Hallstatt and La Tène. They were both Celtic iron age cultures prospering in Central Europe at the same time as the late bronze age and early iron age in the Nordic area. This means that the new symbols in the Nordic area come from a Celtic environment. Consequently, Celtic religion such as it may be found in the pre-Roman period, can clarify the meaning of the conceptions, linked with these symbols.

scholarly journals ROMAN POTTERY FROM AN INTENSIVE SURVEY OF ANTIKYTHERA, GREECE

2011 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 47-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Quercia ◽  
A. Johnston ◽  
A. Bevan ◽  
J. Conolly ◽  
A. Tsaravopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Functional Aspects

Recent intensive survey over the entire extent of the small island of Antikythera has recovered an episodic sequence of human activity spanning some 7,000 years, including a Roman pottery assemblage that documents a range of important patterns with respect to land use, demography and on-island consumption. This paper addresses the typological and functional aspects of this assemblage in detail, and also discusses Roman period Antikythera's range of off-island contacts and affiliations.

The North Carpathians at the beginning of the Migration Period

Antiquity ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (247) ◽  
pp. 376-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karol Pieta
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Migration Period ◽  
The North ◽  
Danube Region ◽  
Przeworsk Culture ◽  
And Migration ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Late Roman

The problem of identification of the earliest Slavic settlement in central Europe drew researchers’ attention to the archaeological finds of the Late Roman and Migration periods. The simple hand-made pottery of this period in the northern Danube region showed a certain formal resemblance to the vessels of Early Slavic cultures, which provoked the idea of a direct time connection between the first wave of the Slav expansion from the east and the horizon of the preceding Germanic settlement in this territory. A find group from northeast Slovakia, known mainly from the small settlement at Presov (Chropovský 1962; Točík 1965; Chropovský & Ruttkay 1985), the ’Prešov‘ type, seemed to provide the geographical connection of this ethnic shift. However, different opinions were also expressed, pointing to a possible relationship with the Late Przeworsk culture milieu (Budinský-Krička 1963: 36–7), or connecting the genesis of the Prešov finds with the development of local settlement of the Later Roman period (Lamiová-Schmiedlová 1969: 478; Kolník 1980: 202). Investigations in the North Carpathian area has provided new evidence during the last few years enabling a first evaluation of its settlement.

scholarly journals Indo-Europeanization – the seven dimensions in the study of a never-ending process

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 155-175
Author(s):  
Harald Haarmann
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Caspian Region ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Ending Process ◽  
European Populations

This contribution focuses on the multifaceted process of Indo-Europeanization which started out, in the Pontic-Caspian region, with the formation of a distinct ethno-cultural epicenter, the Proto-Indo-European complex. Since the late Neolithic, the Indo-Europeanization of Europe and parts of Asia produced various scenarios of contact and conflict. Altogether seven dimensions are highlighted as essential for the study of the contacts which unfolded between Indo-Europeans and non-Indo-European populations (i.e. Uralians, Caucasians, ancient populations in southern and central Europe). Selective aspects of cultural and linguistic fusion processes during the Neolithic and subsequent periods are discussed, and the controversial term ‘migration’ is redefined.

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