Klaipėdos universitetas

This paper discusses one of the most characteristic hunter-gatherer osseous implements — the

The search for sites inhabited by humans of the Late Palaeolithic to Mesolithic period on the coasts of Lithuania is closely related to the coastal and underwater relicts of the Early Holocene and palaeo-watercourses. This article presents the results of coastal, underwater and seismic seabed surveys. The estuaries of the rivers of the Late Mesolithic period could have been at the present seabed level at a depth of 30 m or even deeper. The watercourse sites of the Littorina Sea stage are in shallow coastal waters. At the latitude of Šventoji, Palanga, Klaipėda, Juodkrantė and the area of the Nemunas palaeo-estuary, the seabed was explored with side-scan sonar and by diving. An artefact from the Early Neolithic period has been found in the coastal area next to Klaipėda, and underwater, at a depth of 14.5 m, a relict tree stump has been detected. Two sites at a depth of 10–12 m can be associated with the relict Danė watercourse containing the preserved fragments of relict landscapes. During marine seismic survey, the probable Smeltalė River palaeo-watercourse was detected, and three sites of the former watercourses found to the south of Klaipėda could be the traces of the Dreverna palaeo-river estuary. This area has good prospects as regards the search for Early Mesolithic period settlements. The underwater survey showed no traces of human activity. A further search for the Stone Age sites would be more promising in locations where palaeo-landscapes have survived adjacent to the palaeo-watercourses.

This paper presents new bioarchaeological data obtained during the re-analysis of human skeletal materials from the Early–Middle Neolithic Kretuonas 1 graves, excavated in 1980. The re-analysis of 6 inhumation burials revealed the earliest-known cases from Lithuanian archaeological material to show signs of perimortem cut-marks left on human bones. An evaluation of the first cases of perimortem human bone cut-marks in the broader European archaeological context allowed us to argue that different burial practices existed in Early–Middle Neolithic communities in the present territory of Lithuania. What is more, we argue that different people received different mortuary practices, and that their cadavers were handled in distinct ways.

The Neolithic site of Priedaine in Jūrmala was excavated on a small scale in 2007–2008, yielding an assemblage of Comb Ceramics, along with unique wooden implements and fragments of pine-lath fishing structures. The environment and subsistence resources are indicated by plant macrofossil remains and a small faunal collection. Located by a palaeolake and also very close to the sea, the site, dated to c. 3700–3500 cal BC, would have been oriented towards aquatic resource exploitation. However, it had a wider range of functions, as indicated by the evidence of flint and amber processing.

This paper discusses the most important ancient amber tubular beads from the Zvidze settlement in the Lake Lubāns wetlands, and their analogies in the forest zone of Eastern Europe. Special attention is paid to specific forms of amber bead: cylindrical, beads with a thickening in the middle part, rounded, arched diamond-shaped and other archaic beads, long and short barreltype, spool-type, beads with oval pinched cross-cuts, and spherical beads. Analogies of amplified amber beads (with a thickening in the middle) have been found in the very wide area of the forest zone of Eastern Europe (Konchanskoe, Repistche, Tudozero, and so on). A review of the Zvidze tubular amber beads allows us to consider that some bead types (barrel-shaped, spherical, diamond-shaped) are more widespread in the ancient world.

This paper reviews the Neolithic period in Ukraine. First, the author analyses what the term ‘Neolithic’ actually means in Ukraine. The paper demonstrates the absence of a universal definition for Neolithic, through a review of some ‘Western school’ archaeological traditions. The term Neolithic is de-emphasised in relation to the study of early cereal cultivation in Ukraine, providing a general understanding of the concept. The paper introduces the main archaeological Neolithic cultures of Ukraine, by presenting their chronological frameworks, areas of distribution and key characteristics. Particular attention is paid to the main chronological pitfalls in the region.

During excavations at the cemetery at Zvejnieki in northern Latvia in the 1960s and 1970s, more than 300 graves were excavated. At new excavations from 2005 to 2009, a double grave was found. Burial 316, a female, had an arrangement of amber pendants from the waist to the knee, while Burial 317, a male, had some beads around the head and around the lower legs. The double grave 316–317 proved to be the most richly furnished grave in the cemetery in terms of amber pendants. It has been dated to about 4000 calibrated BC. The double grave is located in the eastern part of the cemetery, where other graves of the same age with amber objects were situated.

Freshwater fish could provide the stable resource base that made possible permanent settlement in lake basins during the Mesolithic and Neolithic in the eastern Baltic region, but the utilisation of this resource required the development of a body of cultural knowledge and techniques for fishing in different seasons, corresponding to the changes in environmental conditions and the behaviour of fish. This paper examines Stone Age fishing techniques from a seasonal aspect, in the light of ethnographic accounts of traditional fishing.

The authors discuss the archaeozoological indicators for horse domestication, and come to a conclusion that a considerable increase of horse remains, accompanied by a presence of other certainly domesticated species could be one of them. With such a situation we have to do in Ayakagytma ‘The Site’, Uzbekistan, where in the Early Neolithic layers dated to 8000–7400 cal. BP, a share of horse remains reach 30–40%. It would suggest the earliest horse domestication known today.

The Taosi late Neolithic site is located in Shanxi Province in north-central China. Three decades of excavation have unearthed storage pits, dwellings, and many artifacts, identified as the Taosi culture type (4300 to 3900 BP). Recent excavations led to the discovery of the tombs of chiefs of the Early Taosi period, and the largest walled-town in prehistoric China. A semicircular foundation built in about 4100 BP along the southern wall was also discovered. The design of the raised terrace within it would have permitted observations of sunrise at specific dates along the eastern horizon. Here we report on what has been learned about this fascinating site, and analyze its astronomical features and function.