Search

The Northern European Mesolithic is well known for the manufacture of composite tools and weapons for specialised purposes. A composite implement recovered from the Early Holocene site of Krzyż Wielkopolski 7 in Poland, dated to the Preboreal/Boreal transition, raises questions about expediency versus efficiency in the fabrication of these artefacts. Here, the authors characterise its materials and production: a bone splinter mounted on a shaft of pine wood, secured with bast ligatures coated in birch bark tar. While the manufacture of the implement's individual components can be characterised as ‘expedient’, the finished implement is, however, complex, efficient and durable.

Acknowledgements: The authors thank G. Marciani and O. Jöris for comments on archaeology; C. Jeong, M. Spyrou and K. Prüfer for comments on genetics; M. O’Reilly for graphical support for Fig. 5 and Extended Data Fig. 9; the entire IT and laboratory teams at the Department of Archaeogenetics of MPI-SHH for technical assistance; M. Meyer and S. Nagel for support with single-stranded library preparation; K. Post, P. van Es, J. Glimmerveen, M. Medendorp, M. Sier, S. Dikstra, M. Dikstra, R. van Eerden, D. Duineveld and A. Hoekman for providing access to human specimens from the North Sea (The Netherlands); M. D. Garralda and A. Estalrrich for providing access to human specimens from La Riera (Spain); J. Górski and M. Zając for providing access to human specimens from Maszycka cave; C. Di Patti for providing access to human specimens from San Teodoro 2 (Italy); P. Blaževičius for providing access to the Donkalnis human remains and the new radiocarbon dates; the Italian Ministry of Culture and Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Provinces of Verona, Rovigo, and Vicenza for granting access to the human remains of Tagliente 2; F. Fontana, who carries out investigations of the Riparo Tagliente site (Italy); the Friuli Venezia Giulia Superintendency for providing access to the human tooth Pradis 1; and the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Provinces of Barletta-Andria-Trani and Foggia for providing access to the Paglicci human remains. This project has received funding by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements no. 803147-RESOLUTION (to S.T.), no. 771234-PALEoRIDER (to W.H.), no. 864358 (to K.M.), no. 724703 and no. 101019659 (to K.H.). K.H. is also supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG FOR 2237). E.A. has received funding from the Van de Kamp fonds. PACEA co-authors of this research benefited from the scientific framework of the University of Bordeaux’s IdEx Investments for the Future programme/GPR Human Past. A.G.-O. is supported by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-22558). L. Sineo, M.L. and D.C. have received funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) PRIN 2017 grants 20177PJ9XF and 20174BTC4R_002. H. Rougier received support from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of CSUN and the CSUN Competition for RSCA Awards. C.L.S. and T. Saupe received support from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (project no. 2014-2020.4.01.16-0030) and C.L.S. received support from the Estonian Research Council grant PUT (PRG243). S. Shnaider received support from the Russian Science Foundation (no. 19-78-10053)., Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.

The research around the palaeo-lake of Gebel Ramlah has revealed the presence of numerous remains of Late Neolithic occupation. One such site – E-16-02 – was excavated in 2018 and delivered unique evidence pointing to the specific style of life of human groups here in the later Neolithic. In the light of the available evidence, it seems that the occupation was seasonal and the site was visited several times. Its main feature was an oven, carefully designed and regularly cleaned as it served for cooking food during subsequent visits to the place. The remaining features were occasionally constructed during each stay. The distribution of flint artefacts, chaotic, unpatterned, without visible places of flint processing and lacking clear links with features and remains of pottery vessels also indicate multiple visits to the site. This pattern is obviously different to that recognized during the Holocene climatic optimum when the extent of the settlements was substantially larger accompanied by a diversity of features indicating a stable, long-lasting occupation (Al Jerar Unit)

Human history has been shaped by global dispersals of technologies, although understanding of what enabled these processes is limited. Here, we explore the behavioural mechanisms that led to the emergence of pottery among hunter-gatherer communities in Europe during the mid-Holocene. Through radiocarbon dating, we propose this dispersal occurred at a far faster rate than previously thought. Chemical characterization of organic residues shows that European hunter-gatherer pottery had a function structured around regional culinary practices rather than environmental factors. Analysis of the forms, decoration and technological choices suggests that knowledge of pottery spread through a process of cultural transmission. We demonstrate a correlation between the physical properties of pots and how they were used, reflecting social traditions inherited by successive generations of hunter-gatherers. Taken together the evidence supports kinship-driven, super-regional communication networks that existed long before other major innovations such as agriculture, writing, urbanism or metallurgy.

Post-Pleistocene climatic improvement in the Northern Hemisphere after ca. 9550 BC allowed human populations to recolonize large parts of North Africa in what is today the Sahara Desert. In the Egyptian Western Desert, the beginnings of human occupation date as early as ca. 9300 BC. Occupation continued until the middle of the third millennium BC when final desertification of the area no longer afforded human occupation. The settlement of the Neolithic cattle and sheep/goat herders developed along with the rhythm of alternating wet and dry climatic oscillations. One of the areas occupied intensively during the early and middle Holocene was Gebel Ramlah. Pastoral populations established their settlements around the shores of a paleo-lake adjacent to a rocky massif, to exploit the local savannah environment. During most of the Neolithic, they buried their dead dispersed outside of their settlements. Only during the Final Neolithic (after ca. 4600 BC) did they place them exclusively in cemeteries. Of six Final Neolithic cemeteries investigated at Gebel Ramlah to date, one is entirely unprecedented, not only in North Africa but also globally at such an early date. For just under 200 years (ca. 4500–4300 BC), it served exclusively for the inhumation of infants who died around (perinate) or shortly after the time of birth (neonate). Thirty-two burial pits contained skeletal remains of 39 individuals, not only infants but also at least two adult females accompanied by perinates/neonates. Older children (> 3 years) were interred at a nearby cemetery that primarily comprised adults.

In 2003 a rich Early Mesolithic peat bog site was discover in Western Poland and subsequent interdisciplinary project let to recognise the site as one of the richest North European Plain occupation from the point of view of the organic materials it delivered. A set of technological and typological analyses of find material, supplemented by palaeoenvironmental studies and almost 50 AMS radiocarbon datings suggest an affinity of the Mesolithic occupation with the early Duvensee/Komornica culture with probable short episode of the Maglemose culture group presence in the Boreal period. A considerable number of organic artefacts made on the spot accompanied by the Early Mesolithic lithic assemblage allow a direct on-the-spot confrontation of traces recorded on bone and antler tools and on production wastes with lithic assemblage that served for their manufacturing on different stages of the production cycle. In order to verify which tools and in what ways served for elaboration of bone and antler a selected sample of flint artefacts were subjected to micro-wear analysis. As a result a number of typologically different tools were identified, used especially for scraping. Single tools only were used for cutting, reaming, grooving, chiseling and drilling. Not always it goes along with the technological observations made during the analysis of antler and bone tools itself. Picks and flake axes, numerous within the lithic assemblage, were relatively often used for nicking in the process of antler tools' manufacturing. Technological analysis of organic material reveals that bone and antler tool manufacturing was a specialized chain of operations but not all the stages of production are manifested in the analysed material.

Rzucewo culture is a unique Late Neolithic/Early Bronze phenomenon related to some extent to exploitation of marine resources. For years these people were called seal hunters due to numerous faunal remains found in their settlements located on the southern Baltic Sea coast. It is also known for intensive procurement and processing of amber. Rzucewo culture groups left numerous flint assemblages produced mainly of locally collected flint pebbles with the help of splintered technique. Technology of flint production was very simple and uniform from site to site. Eponymous Rzucewo site delivered several thousand lithics with tool group dominated by simple retouched flakes and scraping tools like end-scrapers, scrapers and side-scrapers along with groovers and perforators, notches and truncations. The inventory itself does not show differences as compared to other Rzucewo culture sites and certainly is rooted in the older Funnel Beaker culture lithic tradition. Additionally, two specific features distinguish Rzucewo culture inventory form other Neolithic industries. First is the presence of tools with re-colored red surfaces that were later polished. These were not only small axes or chisel-like tools but also pebbles of raw material, and variety of other tools. Second is a specific polish observed with bare eye along the working edges of scraping tools and very often also reddish-yellowish in color. Genesis of that polish is not clear but may be related with amber processing. What is obvious in both cases, red ochre seems to be an important factor, perhaps of symbolic nature. The paper discusses results of technological, typological and traceological considerations aiming to shed light on the genesis of above phenomenon. It also attempts to evaluate whether this polish was of any importance for the subsistence or reflects extra-utilitarian cultural behavior.

Fish remains have been discovered at seven Mesolithic sites located mainly in central and northern Poland, an area that is known as the Lakeland of the Polish Lowland. Based mainly on the results of the identification of fish remains uncovered during the excavations at the Site 7 in Krzyz Wielkopolski (Western Poland), the conclusions were made on the locality and technique of fishery. The fish taxa represented show that the fishing showed that the fishing economy during the Mesolithic period was focused on nearby freshwater rivers and lakes. At that time, people fished primarily for Cyprinids, pike and perch. According to the archaeological finds, the basic fishing tools used by the Mesolithic communities were spears, harpoons and rods with hooks. The small fishes recovered were most probably caught by fishing traps or nets, but such artifact finds are very rare in the Polish Lowland. This paper summarises the current data on Mesolithic fishery in the Polish Lowland based mainly on the data from the Site...

The discovery of a cryptotephra (nonvisible volcanic horizon) in a windblown sand archaeological site in Poland highlights how luminescence and tephrostratigraphy may combine to better refine the chronology of such sites. In this study we identify a cryptotephra horizon which on the basis of major and minor element geochemistry and an OSL age of 2.3 ± 0.1 ka is correlated to the Glen Garry tephra. The different methodological strengths of OSL and tephrostratigraphy may be harnessed to counter the limitations of a single approach to produce a more secure chronology. Although in this study the tephra deposition event is shown to post-date the archaeological activity, the methodological approach is clearly demonstrated. Further investigations will reveal if cryptotephra layers are commonly preserved in such environmental settings. If this is so then future applications of this approach may prove to be more widely applicable.

The appearance of the first farming groups on the North European Plain was the turning point for the Mesolithic foragers who had inhabited that region for almost 7000 years. Interrelations between these two very different communities are fascinating for archaeologists interested in the northern European Stone Age. Research at Dąbki in Poland provides elements for a discussion of the Neolithic transformation along the southern Baltic coast. Pottery from the regions inhabited by Danubian societies has been found in a hunting-gathering context (), a fact that sheds light on relations between local Late Mesolithic communities and early farmers. Imports from the Linear Pottery Culture, the Stroked Pottery Culture, the Lengyel Culture, and the Ertebolle Culture are found associated with Late Mesolithic layers, while pottery of the Bodrogkeresztur Culture is related with the local Funnel Beaker settlement. This imported pottery reflects long lasting contacts between Mesolithic and those Neolithic communi...

Rescue excavations at an artefact manufacturing site at Pęgów, Poddębice district, dated to the modern period, have produced several dozens of lumps of flint. The flint exhibits greyish and brownish bands and is macroscopically similar to the well-known banded flint occurring in the area of Krzemionki Opatowskie, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski district. Artefacts made from this tentatively named ‘Pęgów flint’ have been identified in archaeological assemblages of different chronological age in the Koło Basin. To verify whether macroscopically similar nodules and artefacts come from the same outcrop and if the artefacts made of banded flint are made of the Krzemionki Opatowskie flint, instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was conducted on samples of Pęgów flint and banded raw material from Krzemionki Opatowskie. Although most of the obtained results fall below INAA detection limits the compostion of chromium content in each sample may reflect common origin of all the analysed pieces from Pęgów. INAA data suggest that the artifacts made of banded flint were mot made from Krzemionki Opatowskie material.

As Mesolithic people living on the Baltic coast began to adopt farming in the later fifth millennium BC, imports of a new type and quality started to reach them from the south — highly decorated pots and then copper axes from the Hungary-Serbia area. With new excavations at the site of Dąbki 9 in northern Poland, the authors are able to show how high quality thin-walled shiny black vessels are travelling over 1000km in the early fourth millennium BC, bringing prestige cups and jugs to the Baltic shore.

In a prior report we described human remains from the Neolithic cemetery at Gebel Ramlah, Egypt, with evidence of purposeful tooth replacement. Two crania, which were apparently disturbed by later burials, were found to contain several teeth that had been incorrectly reinserted into the jaws. Such treatment was suggested to be unique. Recent work at the site revealed a similarly unusual find. Two adult male skeletons, evidently displaced in antiquity, also had several teeth loosened from their jaws; however, instead of attempting to reinsert them, the Neolithic gravedigger(s) placed the teeth into the right orbit of one cranium and the nasal aperture of the other. Such placement, as well as the general state of these burials, ruled out subsequent looting or taphonomic factors as causative agents. We previously speculated that tooth replacement represented an attention to detail while attempting to re-inter the remains in as complete a state as possible. This assumption may hold true for the present situation, but there are other plausible interpretations; for example, it might indicate animosity toward the individuals, an attempt at humour, or perhaps something less purposeful (e.g. they provided convenient receptacles). Whichever the case, the cemetery continues to yield heretofore unknown, and valuable, information about mortuary and other data relating to these prehistoric desert peoples. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The authors report the discovery of a cemetery of richly furnished graves in the western desert of south Egypt. Artefacts, burial rites and radiocarbon dates relate the cemetery to pastoralists practising transhumance in the later Neolithic period. The first such cemetery to be investigated, its cultural affiliations offer a pre-echo of what would become the Egyptian civilisation.

Artificial illumination is a fundamental human need. Burning wood and other materials usually in hearths and fireplaces extended daylight hours, whilst the use of flammable substances in torches offered light on the move. It is increasingly understood that pottery played a role in light production. In this study, we focus on ceramic oval bowls, made and used primarily by hunter-gatherer-fishers of the circum-Baltic over a c. 2000 year period beginning in the mid-6th millennium cal bc. Oval bowls commonly occur alongside larger (cooking) vessels. Their function as ‘oil lamps’ for illumination has been proposed on many occasions but only limited direct evidence has been secured to test this functional association. This study presents the results of molecular and isotopic analysis of preserved organic residues obtained from 115 oval bowls from 25 archaeological sites representing a wide range of environmental settings. Our findings confirm that the oval bowls of the circum-Baltic were used primarily for burning fats and oils, predominantly for the purposes of illumination. The fats derive from the tissues of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial organisms. Bulk isotope data of charred surface deposits show a consistently different pattern of use when oval bowls are compared to other pottery vessels within the same assemblage. It is suggested that hunter-gatherer-fishers around the 55th parallel commonly deployed material culture for artificial light production but the evidence is restricted to times and places where more durable technologies were employed, including the circum-Baltic.