Hunter-Gatherer Pottery and Charred Residue Dating: New Results on Early Ceramics in the North Eurasian Forest Zone

Radiocarbon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 1033-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sönke Hartz ◽  
Elena Kostyleva ◽  
Henny Piezonka ◽  
Thomas Terberger ◽  
Natalya Tsydenova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Upper Volga ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Ceramic ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Upper Volga Region

This article discusses 18 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from the peat bog sites Sakhtysh 2a, Ozerki 5, and Ozerki 17 in the Upper Volga region. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the emergence and dispersal of early ceramic traditions in northern Eurasia and their connection to the Baltic. With 1 exception, all dates were obtained from charred residue adhering to the sherd. A possible reservoir effect was tested on 1 piece of pottery from Sakhtysh 2a by taking 1 sample from charred residue, and another sample from plant fiber remains. Although a reservoir effect was able to be ruled out in this particular case, 4 other dates from Sakhtysh 2a and Ozerki 5 seem too old on typological grounds and might have been affected by freshwater reservoir effects. Considering all other reliable dates, the Early Neolithic Upper Volga culture, and with it the adoption of ceramics, in the forest zone of European Russia started around 6000 cal BC.

scholarly journals The Early and Middle Neolithic in NW Russia: radiocarbon chronologies from the Sukhona and Onega regions

10.4312/dp.8 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Henny Piezonka ◽  
Nadezhda Nedomolkina ◽  
Marina Ivanishcheva ◽  
Natalya Kosorukova ◽  
Marianna Kulkova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Information ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
14C Dating ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Russian North ◽  
European Forest ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
The Baltic

The onset of the Neolithic period in the Russian North is defined by the emergence of pottery vessels in the archaeological record. The ceramics produced by mobile hunter-gatherer-fisher groups in the north-eastern European forest zone are among the earliest in Europe, starting around 6000 cal BC. After the initial mosaic of local styles in the Early Neolithic, including sparsely decorated wares and early Comb Ware, the Middle Neolithic period, starting in the 5th millennium cal BC, saw the development and spread of larger, more homogenous typological entities between the Urals and the Baltic, the Comb-Pit and Pit-Comb wares. Absolute chronologies, however, are still subject to debate, due to a general lack of reliable contextual information. Direct 14C dating of carbonised surface residues (‘food crusts’) on pots can help to address this problem, as it dates the use of the pottery; but if aquatic foods were processed in the vessels, the respective radiocarbon ages can appear to be too old due to the freshwater reservoir effect. In this pa­per, we discuss the radiocarbon chronologies of four important stratified archaeological complexes in the region between Lake Onega and the Sukhona basin, Berezovaya Slobodka, Veksa, Karavaikha, and Tudo­zero. A growing series of dates, including AMS dates, sheds new light on the onset and further periodisation of the Early and Middle Neolithic in this important area between Eastern Fennoscandia, Central Rus­sia and the Far North-East of Europe, although problems concerning the absolute chronology of the initial Neolithic remain.

scholarly journals Freshwater reservoir effect and the radiocarbon chronology of the cemetery in Ząbie, Poland

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Pospieszny
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Large Lakes ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology

In the 3rd millennium BC an island on the Łańskie Lake in north-eastern Poland was seasonally settled by a group of people practicing a syncretic burial ritual, exhibiting indigenous and foreign patterns. They left behind a small cemetery consisting of at least six graves. 14C dates made for samples of human bones until 2009 did not coincide with the expected age of the graves. Under a new pilot program in 2010–2013, a series of radiocarbon measurements was made for the human bones and an artefact of red deer antler, along with analyses of the stable isotopes ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the collagen. The results indicate a significant proportion of freshwater food in the diet, which caused the radiocarbon dates to be too old due to the freshwater reservoir effect (FRE). Based on the dating of the antler, unaffected by FRE, and comparative analysis, the reservoir offset for one of the graves was estimated to 740 radiocarbon years. The results, although limited by a low number of investigated humans and animals, indicate indirectly a specialization in the exploitation of local water resources. Such an economic strategy seems to be characteristic for the societies inhabiting the coasts of the Baltic Sea and littoral zones of large lakes in the Final Neolithic and at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.

scholarly journals The Early and Middle Neolithic in NW Russia: radiocarbon chronologies from the Sukhona and Onega regions

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 122-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henny Piezonka ◽  
Nadezhda Nedomolkina ◽  
Marina Ivanishcheva ◽  
Natalya Kosorukova ◽  
Marianna Kulkova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Information ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
14C Dating ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Russian North ◽  
European Forest ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
The Baltic

The onset of the Neolithic period in the Russian North is defined by the emergence of pottery vessels in the archaeological record. The ceramics produced by mobile hunter-gatherer-fisher groups in the north-eastern European forest zone are among the earliest in Europe, starting around 6000 cal BC. After the initial mosaic of local styles in the Early Neolithic, including sparsely decorated wares and early Comb Ware, the Middle Neolithic period, starting in the 5th millennium cal BC, saw the development and spread of larger, more homogenous typological entities between the Urals and the Baltic, the Comb-Pit and Pit-Comb wares. Absolute chronologies, however, are still subject to debate, due to a general lack of reliable contextual information. Direct 14C dating of carbonised surface residues (‘food crusts’) on pots can help to address this problem, as it dates the use of the pottery; but if aquatic foods were processed in the vessels, the respective radiocarbon ages can appear to be too old due to the freshwater reservoir effect. In this pa­per, we discuss the radiocarbon chronologies of four important stratified archaeological complexes in the region between Lake Onega and the Sukhona basin, Berezovaya Slobodka, Veksa, Karavaikha, and Tudo­zero. A growing series of dates, including AMS dates, sheds new light on the onset and further periodisation of the Early and Middle Neolithic in this important area between Eastern Fennoscandia, Central Rus­sia and the Far North-East of Europe, although problems concerning the absolute chronology of the initial Neolithic remain.

A multiproxy record of sedimentation, pedogenesis, and environmental history in the north of West Siberia during the late Pleistocene based on the Belaya Gora section

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Vladimir Sheinkman ◽  
Sergey Sedov ◽  
Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh ◽  
Elena Bezrukova ◽  
Dmitriy Dobrynin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
West Siberia ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Partial Recovery ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Mis 3 ◽  
The North ◽  
Mis 5

Abstract Recent revision of the Pleistocene glaciation boundaries in northern Eurasia has encouraged the search for nonglacial geological records of the environmental history of northern West Siberia. We studied an alluvial paleosol-sedimentary sequence of the high terrace of the Vakh River (middle Ob basin) to extract the indicators of environmental change since Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 6. Two levels of the buried paleosols are attributed to MIS 5 and MIS 3, as evidenced by U/Th and radiocarbon dates. Palynological and pedogenetic characteristics of the lower pedocomplex recorded the climate fluctuations during MIS 5, from the Picea-Larix taiga environment during MIS 5e to the establishment of the tundra-steppe environment due to the cooling of MIS 5d or MIS 5b and partial recovery of boreal forests with Picea and Pinus in MIS 5c or MIS 5a. The upper paleosol level shows signs of cryogenic hydromorphic pedogenesis corresponding to the tundra landscape, with permafrost during MIS 3. Boulders incorporated in a laminated alluvial deposit between the paleosols are dropstones brought from the Enisei valley by ice rafting during the cold MIS 4. An abundance of eolian morphostructures on quartz grains from the sediments that overly the upper paleosol suggests a cold, dry, and windy environment during the MIS 2 cryochron.

THE WORLD’S OLDEST POTS: ON THE DISPERSAL OF THE CERAMIC INNOVATION AMONG EURASIAN HUNTER-GATHERERS SINCE THE LATE GLACIAL PERIOD

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-78
Author(s):  
Henny Piezonka ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Southern China ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
The Baltic

The earliest ceramic vessels of the world have been produced in southern China by Late Glacial hunter-gatherers in the remote times around 18,000 calBC. Over the following millennia the new technology became known among forager communities in the Russian Amur region, in Japan, Korea, Transbaikalia and ultimately appeared also in the Urals and in eastern and northern central Europe. Contrary to common views of pottery as part of the “Neolithic package”, the Eurasian hunter-gatherer ceramic tradition is an innovation that developed completely independent of other Neolithic traits such as agriculture, animal husbandry and sedentary lifestyle. The paper explores the chronological sequence of the appearance of hunter-gatherer ceramic vessel production on the basis of radiocarbon dates in northern Eurasia from the Pacific coast to the Baltic and outlines promising methodological approaches that currently play a role in researching this much-discussed topic.

scholarly journals The Freshwater Reservoir and Radiocarbon Dates on Cooking Residues: Old Apparent Ages or a Single Outlier? Comments on Fischer and Heinemeier (2003)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 1403-1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P Hart ◽  
William A Lovis
Keyword(s):  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

Fischer and Heinemeier (2003) present a hypothesis that the freshwater reservoir effect produces old apparent ages for radiocarbon dates run on charred cooking residues in regions where fossil carbon is present in groundwater. The hypothesis is based in part on their analysis of dates on charred cooking residues from 3 inland archaeological sites in Denmark in relation to contextual dates from those sites on other materials. A critical assessment of the dates from these sites suggests that rather than a pattern of old apparent dates, there is a single outlying date—not sufficient evidence on which to build a case for the freshwater reservoir effect.

scholarly journals Freshwater Reservoir Effect in 14C Dates of Food Residue on Pottery

Radiocarbon ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Fischer ◽  
Jan Heinemeier
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

Radiocarbon dates of food residue on pottery from northern European inland areas seem to be influenced significantly by the freshwater reservoir effect (“hardwater” effect) stemming from fish and mollusks cooked in the pots. Bones of freshwater fish from Stone Age åmose, Denmark, are demonstrated to be 100 to 500 14C yr older than their archaeological context. Likewise, food residues on cooking pots, seemingly used for the preparation of freshwater fish, are shown to have 14C age excesses of up to 300 yr. It is probable that age excesses of similar or even larger magnitude are involved in food residue dates from other periods and regions. Since this effect cannot, so far, be quantified and corrected for, 14C dating of food residue, which may potentially include material from freshwater ecosystems, should be treated with reserve.

The Patterns of Neolithization in the North Eurasian Forest Zone: A Comment on Hartz et al. (2012)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (01) ◽  
pp. 201-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaroslav V Kuzmin
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Russian Plain ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
The North

Recently, an article was published in this journal (Hartz et al. 2012), presenting new data on the age of early ceramics in eastern Europe (in particular, the central Russian Plain) and discussing the issues related to the appearance of pottery (i.e. Neolithization) in this region, with wider implications of the results for northern Eurasia. I was one of the reviewers of this paper, which is acknowledged by the authors. However, despite my numerous remarks and comments, many of them were not taken into account. As a result, the work by Hartz et al. (2012) suffers from several flaws; here I point them out and briefly discuss the issue of the Neolithization of Eurasia.

scholarly journals Modelling the Neolithic dispersal in northern Eurasia

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Dolukhanov ◽  
Anvar Shrukov
Keyword(s):  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
East European Plain ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
North West ◽  
East European ◽  
The North ◽  
Rate Of Spread ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Comprehensieve lists of radiocarbon dates from key Early Neolithic sites in Central Europe belonging to the Linear pottery Ceramic Culture (LBK) and early pottery-bearing cultures in the East European Plain were analysed with the use of the x2 test. The dates from the LBK sites form a statistically homogeneous set, with a probability distribution similar to a single-date Gaussian curve. This implies the rate of expansion of the LBK in Central Europe being in excess of 4 km/yr. Early potter-bearing sites on the East European Plain exhibit a much broader probability distribution of dates, with a spatio-temporal trend directed from the south-east to the north-west. The rate of spread of pottery-making is in the order of 1 km/yr, i.e., comparable to the average expansion rate of the Neolithic in Western and Central Europe.

The Patterns of Neolithization in the North Eurasian Forest Zone: A Comment on Hartz et al. (2012)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaroslav V Kuzmin
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Russian Plain ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
The North

Recently, an article was published in this journal (Hartz et al. 2012), presenting new data on the age of early ceramics in eastern Europe (in particular, the central Russian Plain) and discussing the issues related to the appearance of pottery (i.e. Neolithization) in this region, with wider implications of the results for northern Eurasia. I was one of the reviewers of this paper, which is acknowledged by the authors. However, despite my numerous remarks and comments, many of them were not taken into account. As a result, the work by Hartz et al. (2012) suffers from several flaws; here I point them out and briefly discuss the issue of the Neolithization of Eurasia.

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