THE LAST HUNTER-GATHERERS AND EARLY FARMERS OF THE MIDDLE SOUTHERN BUH RIVER VALLEY (CENTRAL UKRAINE) IN VIII–V MILL. BC

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Dmytro Kiosak ◽  
Nadiia Kotova ◽  
Willy Tinner ◽  
Soenke Szidat ◽  
Ebbe H Nielsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Valley ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Ceramic Bearing ◽  
Early Farmers ◽  
Late Mesolithic

ABSTRACT A new series of 19 radiocarbon dates provides new insights on the human settlement activity in central Ukraine. The paper presents data from the Early Holocene until the establishment of Trypillian mega-sites in the late Vth mill. BC. Our new dates from a long sequence of the site of Melnychna Krucha refine the chronology of the Middle and Late Mesolithic and local ceramic-bearing “Buh-Dniester” culture. Additional dates were obtained on bones from Linear Pottery culture sites and Trypillian sites of stages A3 and B1.

scholarly journals Potential interactions between Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers in the Western Mediterranean: The geochronological data revisited

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0246964
Author(s):  
Thomas Perrin ◽  
Claire Manen
Keyword(s):  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Potential Interaction ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
Geochronological Data ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Varied Range ◽  
Potential Interactions ◽  
Late Mesolithic ◽  
Early Phases

In the Western Mediterranean, the Neolithic mainly developed and expanded during the sixth millennium BCE. In these early phases, it generally spread through the displacement of human groups, sometimes over long distances, as shown, for example, by the Impressa sites documented on the northern shores. These groups then settled new territories which they gradually appropriated and exploited. The question of their potential interaction with groups of Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers living in the area prior to their arrival is therefore crucial. Were their encounters based on conflict and resistance or, on the contrary, on exchange and reciprocity? Many hypotheses have been put forward on this matter and many papers written. Before we can consider these potential interactions however, we must first ascertain that these different human groups really did meet—an implicit assumption in all these studies, which is, in reality, much less certain than one might think. The population density of the Late Mesolithic groups varied greatly throughout the Mediterranean, and it is possible that some areas were relatively devoid of human presence. Before any Neolithization scenarios can be considered, we must therefore first determine exactly which human groups were present in a given territory at a given time. The precise mapping of sites and the chronological modeling of their occupation enriches our understanding of the Neolithization process by allowing high-resolution regional models to be developed, which alone can determine the timing of potential interactions between Mesolithic and Neolithic groups. Various international research programs have recently produced several hundred new radiocarbon dates, based on selected samples from controlled contexts. The geochronological modelling of these data at the scale of the Western Mediterranean shows contrasting situations, probably related to different social and environmental processes. These results suggest that we should consider a varied range of Neolithization mechanisms, rather than uniform or even binary models.

Paleocoastal Landscapes, Marginality, and Early Human Settlement of the California Islands

2019 ◽  
pp. 59-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy E. Gusick ◽  
Jon M. Erlandson
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Northern Channel Islands ◽  
Permanent Settlement ◽  
History Of ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene ◽  
Research Intensity

If the California Islands were marginal for human settlement, why were several of them occupied more or less continuously since Terminal Pleistocene or Early Holocene times? The earliest human history of California's Islands is clouded by sea level rise, coastal erosion, dune building, and differential research intensity. Nonetheless, Paleocoastal sites are abundant on the Northern Channel Islands and Cedros Island, suggesting that they were optimal habitat for early hunter-gatherers, with ample food, freshwater, mineral, and other resources to sustain permanent settlement. Worldwide on islands where late Pleistocene or early Holocene human colonization occurred, climate shifts and massive landscape changes caused by postglacial sea level rise require detailed reconstructions of paleogeography and paleoecology to assess the potential productivity or marginality of islands or archipelagos.

scholarly journals Genomic and dietary transitions during the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in Sicily

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke S. van de Loosdrecht ◽  
Marcello A. Mannino ◽  
Sahra Talamo ◽  
Vanessa Villalba-Mouco ◽  
Cosimo Posth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Early Farmers ◽  
Late Mesolithic

AbstractSouthern Italy is a key region for understanding the agricultural transition in the Mediterranean due to its central position. We present a genomic transect for 19 prehistoric Sicilians that covers the Early Mesolithic to Early Neolithic period. We find that the Early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (HGs) are a highly drifted sister lineage to Early Holocene western European HGs, whereas a quarter of the Late Mesolithic HGs ancestry is related to HGs from eastern Europe and the Near East. This indicates substantial gene flow from (south-)eastern Europe between the Early and Late Mesolithic. The Early Neolithic farmers are genetically most similar to those from the Balkan and Greece, and carry only a maximum of ∼7% ancestry from Sicilian Mesolithic HGs. Ancestry changes match changes in dietary profile and material culture, except for two individuals who may provide tentative initial evidence that HGs adopted elements of farming in Sicily.One-sentence summaryGenome-wide and isotopic data from prehistoric Sicilians reveal a pre-farming connection to (south-) eastern Europe, and tentative initial evidence that hunter-gatherers adopted some Neolithic aspects prior to near-total replacement by early farmers.

An Early Holocene Lithic Assemblage from Dibé Rockshelter, South-Central Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Hila Ashkenazy ◽  
Yonatan Sahle
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Similar Reduction ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
South Central ◽  
Siliceous Rocks

Abstract The dearth of securely dated assemblages in the Horn of Africa limits a comprehensive understanding of human adaptation across the Early Holocene. This paper presents results from initial analyses of lithic material from Dibé rockshelter in the Arsi lowlands, Ethiopia. Radiocarbon dates confirm occupation of Dibé rockshelter by hunter-gatherers directly following improved climatic conditions marking the onset of the Holocene. Microliths dominate both the surface and excavated sub-assemblages. Micro-burins and Levallois items are present, although more frequent as surface finds. Regionally available siliceous rocks were extensively exploited, with greater variety in the older occupation layers signifying differential access to raw material sources and/or wider foraging ranges. Largely similar reduction patterns and toolkits across the sampled sequence imply continuity in lithic tradition. This, coupled with the total absence of finds commonly associated with early food production, suggests that Dibé was abandoned during one of the abrupt arid episodes of the Early/Mid-Holocene.

From Hunters to Herders

2021 ◽  
pp. 249-269
Author(s):  
Friederike Jesse
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Sheep And Goats ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Libyan Desert ◽  
Over Time

The Nubian past cannot be fully understood without knowledge of occupation in the Libyan Desert west of the Nile. Hunter-gatherers occupied Nubia’s western hinterland during the Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Pottery and different pastoral adaptations featuring cattle, sheep, and goats appeared during the Middle Holocene. Cattle-centered behavior is evident: cattle largely dominates the economic and social life. Changing networks of contact and interaction are apparent over time. Depopulation of the region due to increasing aridity started earlier in the north, the southern Western Desert of Egypt, than in the south Libyan Desert of today’s Sudan where conditions for human settlement remained favorable in some areas up to the 1st millennium bce.

Bison remains from a Lake Agassiz spit complex in the Swan River valley, Manitoba: depositional environment and paleoecological implications

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 829-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Nielsen ◽  
Eugene M. Gryba ◽  
Michael C. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Depositional Environment ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Geological Significance ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Swan River

Fossil bison remains have been recovered from gravels on an extensive spit complex situated between the Upper and Lower Campbell levels of Lake Agassiz in Swan River valley, western Manitoba. Three bone samples yielded radiocarbon dates of 10 300 ± 200 years BP (BGS-617), 9500 ± 150 years BP (BGS-840), and 9400 ± 125 years BP (BGS-887). These are the first dates obtained outside the southern basins of Lake Agassiz for the beginning of the Campbell phase.Local geomorphological evidence and the radiocarbon dates indicate that both Campbell beaches formed within a relatively short time during the Campbell phase. Aside from their geological significance, the bison remains and their depositional context are important for interpreting early Holocene ecology and Paleo-Indian occupation of the Swan River valley.

Mesolithic mortuary ritual at Franchthi Cave, Greece

Antiquity ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 69 (263) ◽  
pp. 270-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Burial Practices ◽  
Mortuary Ritual ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Southern Greece ◽  
Mesolithic Burials

Mesolithic sites are rare in the Aegean, and Mesolithic burials are uncommon throughout Europe. The Mesolithic human remains from Franchthi Cave, that remarkable, deeply stratified site in southern Greece, offer a rare glimpse into the burial practices of early Holocene hunter-gatherers of the Mediterranean.

scholarly journals Resultantes geo-hidroecológicas do ciclo cafeeiro (1780-1880) no médio vale do rio Paraíba do Sul: uma análise quali-quantitativa

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Marcelo Eduardo Dantas ◽  
Ana Luiza Coelho Netto
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Source Area ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
Sedimentation Rates ◽  
Economic Cycle ◽  
Drought Period ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Valley Fills

The coffee cycle represented a period of intense morphodynamic activity, proceeding by a general deforestation. On the Paraíba do Sul Middle Valley, this economic cycle lasted 100 years aproximately (1780-1880). Historical documents, radiocarbon dates and volumetric measurements of the valley fills correlated from the coffee time, have provided informations on the environmental impact, particularly associated with climatic and hidro-erosive processes both on the hillslopes and fluvial domains. Deforestation introduced a drought period up to 6 months and also to an increasing frequency of intense rainstorms, particularly in the summer. Along the Piracema river valley, sedimentation rates attained about 70.000m³km/year. Transfering this volume to the source-area on the hillslopes, it gives an estimate relief downwearing around 7,5 cm depth, resulting on the removal of the organic rich A horizon and showing so, the catastrophic effect of this economic activity, resulting in an extremely wasted degraded landscape.

New optical and radiocarbon dates from Ngarrabullgan Cave, a Pleistocene archaeological site in Australia: implications for the comparability of time clocks and for the human colonization of Australia

Antiquity ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 71 (271) ◽  
pp. 183-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno David ◽  
Richard Roberts ◽  
Claudio Tuniz ◽  
Rhys Jones ◽  
John Head
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Optically Stimulated Luminescence ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Rock Shelter ◽  
Human Colonization

The human settlement of Australia falls into that period where dating is hard because it is near or beyond the reliable limit of radiocarbon study; instead a range of luminescence methods are being turned to (such as thermoluminescence at Jinmium: December 1996 ANTIQUITY). Ngarrabullgan Cave, a rock-shelter in Queensland, now offers a good suite of radiocarbon determinations which match well a pair of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates — encouraging sign that OSL determinations can be relied on.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document