Late Neolithic

This paper presents the results of new research on two sarsen stones, known as the Cuckoo Stone and Tor Stone, both former standing stones that lie on opposite banks of the River Avon and straddle the eastern border of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. Geochemical analysis indicates that both stones were probably transported to their present site from West Woods on the Marlborough Downs in north Wiltshire, a source that likely also supplied the large sarsen monoliths at Stonehenge. The paper examines the geological conditions necessary for the formation of sarsen across the site of the present-day Salisbury Plain to address the apparent absence of natural sarsen in the area. The results are integrated with those of archaeological fieldwork from nearby contemporaneous sites to suggest that the Cuckoo Stone and Tor Stone were probably introduced into the Stonehenge landscape in the early part of the Late Neolithic period, ie, contemporary with Phase 1 of Stonehenge and some 400-500 years before the construction of the principal sarsen settings at the monument. Visibility analysis indicates that the two stones were probably intervisible and likely to have formed part of a planned landscape and were positioned to create a formal portal to the Stonehenge area on either bank of the River Avon.

Drawing on modelling of age at death in skeletal remains, this article unveils hitherto unrecognized demographic patterns in the Nordic Corded Ware complex. This population formed part of the European Corded Ware complex that has been linked to disruption observed in the archaeological and genetic record. The newly developed methods of transition analysis 3 (TA3) and death rate ratio (DRR) were used to process skeletal data from 67 individuals deriving from single, double, and multiple graves in Scandinavia. The results disclose a high proportion of immature individuals aged less than twenty years. Attrition, however, complies with a demography with high age-nonspecific mortality, and this may connect to stressors such as epidemic diseases and endemic warfare. Compared to the partly contemporaneous Pitted Ware complex and the succeeding Late Neolithic-earliest Bronze Age period, the Nordic Corded Ware burials overall point to robust population growth, especially in the later period. This in turn aligns with a sedentary lifestyle rather than a mobile pastoral economy. Shortdistance seasonal movements could fit in but cannot yet be measured. Recent genetics have demonstrated biological input in the female line from populations such as Funnel Beaker, Pitted Ware, and herders of the steppe forest zone: the remarkable tallness of Nordic Corded Ware individuals may well be an effect of such admixture. The burials moreover evidence a distinct adult male sex bias, which diminishes over time along with the growth in the number of buried females and young individuals. Judging from investment in graves and grave goods, immatures were highly valued. The scale of social status operates independently of age. Alongside the revealed Nordic Corded Ware demography and the burial and material record more broadly, this could indicate social inequality based on kinship and warrior values.

Globalisation is characterised not only by long-distance
exchange by commodities and people, but also by a microbial
unification of the world (une unification microbienne du
monde), as was described by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie in the
1970s. Proof of microbial unification can be seen through
the dramatic consequences of the Black Death in the 14th
century CE as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still
fresh in our memories. Contemporary globalisation which
pushed forward and was boosted by industrialisation in
the 19th century, resulted in modernisation and scientific
advances. It also increased socioeconomic differences within
and between states and populations. Countries that pushed
industrial development generally represent today’s strongest
economies, which also exhibit the highest life expectancies
at birth. For Sweden, the phenomenon resulted in a drastic
decrease in infant mortality and a simultaneous increase in
average adult male statures (180.5 cm) as Sweden transformed
from a poor agricultural to an industrialised society with one
of the world’s highest income rates per capita (GDP) today.
At the same time, Malawi, a country with one of the lowest
GDP in the world, has average adult male statures 15 cm lower
than those in Sweden. Thus, globalisation has substantially
affected several different parameters of health and lifeways,
both for individuals as well as for overall populations.
Although on a lesser scale, the intercommunity contact and
development associated with the transition to the Bronze
Age share many traits with contemporary globalisation. This
phenomenon – which Helle Vandkilde coined ‘bronzization’
– is, thus, potentially cojoined with several changes in
living conditions for both single individuals as well as for
populations throughout Europe. Through recent advances
in biomolecular archaeology and osteological analyses
of pathological lesions, demography and stature, in the
following I explore how bronzization affected health and
lifeways in southern Scandinavia over the transition of the
3rd to 2nd millennium BCE.

The southeastern Caspian Sea, which archaeologists call the coastal zone, like many other areas of the Fertile Crescent, experienced significant changes in the structure of human societies on the cusp of the Neolithic Revolution in the early Holocene. Although archaeologists have been unable to establish a link between the end of the Mesolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic in the region, based on the current information, we now know that hunter-gatherers arrived in the area ca. 15,000 years ago. This marked one of the most important cultural events in human societies on the cusp of sedentism. One of the caves that has been studied as evidence of the presence of humans during the Mesolithic period is Kamarband (“Belt”) Cave. It is considered one of Iran's most beautiful caves, attracting hunter-gatherer groups as settlers around 14,300 years ago. The cave was excavated by Carleton Coon between 1949 and 1951, and the description of his excavations during that time have fascinated readers for decades. Nevertheless, while Coon's excavations at Kamarband Cave shed new light on the cultural epochs of the cave dwellers, they led to numerous ambiguities in understanding the chronological sequence of societies that existed in this cave for a variety of reasons. Over the past 70 years, archaeologists have not been able to accurately evaluate the cultural and social evolution of cave-dwelling human societies due to confusion in Coon's excavation data. Therefore, a team of Iranian archaeologists re-excavated in limited and untouched parts of Kamarband Cave in 2021, managing to resolve some of the ambiguities in Coon's chronology. Apart from the archaeological values of Kamarband Cave, recent excavations by the archaeological team have collected other valuable data, which will be addressed in other articles. This article primarily encompasses a chronological assessment of Kamarband Cave based on new data.

The building tradition in southern Scandinavia underwent a dramatic change in the centuries from the middle of the Late Neolithic (LN) to the end of the Early Nordic Bronze Age (NBA). This development is particularly evident in the archaeological record from Jutland, Denmark, that offers interesting insights into, among other things, the transition from the two-aisled to the three-aisled building tradition (from LN II-NBA III, 1950-1100 BCE). Currently, there are multiple examples of excavated houses dating to LN II and NBA I that demonstrate experimentation with the three-aisled architectural style while the two-aisled tradition was still dominant. There are several examples of houses that combine both architectural styles, a form of hybrid house style, as well as houses built in a fully developed three-aisled style from this transitional period, which spans from LN II (c.
1950 BCE) until the start of NBA II (c. 1500 BCE). After this date, almost all longhouses were built in the three-aisled style. The three-aisled longhouses from NBA II and the beginning of NBA III (1500-1200 BCE) tend to be monumental in size. In Jutland, most of these are built in the timber-intensive bole-walled technique. Whereas the large two-aisled longhouses from LN and NBA I seem to be concentrated in the central and eastern parts of southern Scandinavia, the monumentalisation of house construction moved westwards to Jutland in NBA II. Central and south Jutland in particular stand out with their concentration of large three-aisled bole-walled houses that were contemporary with a network of barrow lines that represented important prehistoric routeways. There is thus a clear link between monuments and political influence.

A dezena de sítios conhecidos na Plataforma do Mondego (Fig. ) distribui-se, deste modo, entre quatro sítios de habitat abertos (Folhadal, Outeiro dos Castelos de Beijós, Quinta da Assentada e Quinta das Rosas), duas ofi cinas de talhe (Carri-

The article deals about the rescue archaeological excavation in Trmice by Ústí nad Labem in the north-western Bohemia, especially about two sunken objects (the workshop or cottage and the grain pit) both dated to the Culture of Globular Amphorae (around 3000 BC), at the end of middle Eneolithic period , implicates the rare occurrence of these structures whole in region Bohemia.

During the last decade, the early prehistory (Paleolithic and Mesolithic) of the island of Crete and other Aegean islands has received serious study due to new data that has revised the traditional narrative of the development of these islands and reconsideration of the nature and extent of early seafaring. Similarly, the Neolithic period on Crete should be reconsidered in terms of
relative and absolute dating. The preliminary study of the ceramic material from the recent excavations in the Pelekita Cave, near Kato Zakros directly confronts the chronological issues of the Neolithic period on the
island (and within the wider context of the Aegean) and is highlighted here.

Vala comum é qualquer lugar, sem referência como local de inumação,
no qual corpo(s) de pessoa(s) sem identificação são enterrados juntos em uma cova ou vala. Estes lugares podem ter dimensões variadas e frequentemente serem utilizados como um mecanismo para ocultar crimes podendo representar também espaços de anos de abandono institucional com aqueles que não têm direito a uma sepultura individual. O termo materializa a exceção, a evidência de violações de direitos humanos ao não possibilitar o direito a um sepultamento digno conforme compreendido por cada cultura e/ou grupo (...)

search A 20. századi magyar régészet kiemelkedő alakja, aki elsősorban az i. e. 6-5. évezred, az újkőkor és a rézkor időrendjével, társadalmi viszonyaival kapcsolatban alkotott maradandót, de ösztönző szerepe volt a régészet és a természettudományok, elsősorban a geofizika és az archeometria kapcsolatának fejlődésében is.

Biological migration found out by the analysis of Sr in dental enamel and in the bones of the skeletons was compared with the migration found out by means of petrographical analysis of Neolithic pottery, and by distinguishing the non-local pottery from local production. By means of petrographical method, 6 imports were determined in the set of 27 samples from graves containing ceramic vessels -possible non-locals (27/76, 37/76, 66/78, 70/79, 79/79, 83/80, i.e. 22% migration). Seven graves were analysed at the same time (18/75, 19/75, 27/76, 36/76, 69/78, 70/79, 81a/79) by means of both the methods, by Sr analysis from skeletons and by petrographical analysis of pottery. The non-locals were determined, mutually independently, by means of Sr analysis in five graves (45/77, 67/78, 69/78, 70/79, 81a/79), and by petrographical analysis of pottery in two graves (69/78, 70/79). The young female in Grave 27/76 was determined as a non-local only petrographically. On determining the pottery of local origin it is still impossible to exclude a non-local in 50% of the graves. According to our comparison, the efficiency of the method of petrographical analyses of pottery could be 50%.

The figurines of four dwarf discovered in an excavation that followed an
illegal research in the area of Vasiloudi in Thessaloniki and the peculiarity
of their form gave rise to an exploration of the relations between the peoples of the Mediterranean and the social and economic conditions prevailing in the Macedonia at the end of the Archaic period.
These figurines in the form of naked dwarfs, with round head, large eyes, round wide nose, thick lips and calm face, seem to adopt many of the characteristics of the Egyptian deities Bes and Phta, but they are adapted to the social habits of the
Greeks. The particular form of the dwarf seems to have been bequeathed the Greeks by the Phoenicians, through Egyptian forms of amulet that were widespread in
the Mediterranean during that time period.
The acuity Greek spirit during that era, though recently compare to Egyptian and Eastern cultures, was influenced and enriched by Egyptian and Eastern iconographic themes, it seemngly empowered imported demondeities such as the Egyptian god Bes. It adapts them however, to its own character by assimilating them and turning the wild bearded sad form
into a clean face round figure with calm features. However, the Egyptian
properties as protectors of motherhood and children have been preserved.
The discovery of the specific type of figurines-vessels in Macedonia at burials dated at the end of the 6th-beginning of the 5th BC, as well as the discovery of other luxury objects imported from the wider Mediterranean region, give the image of an extensive network of trade relations and transactions of the cultures in the Mediterranean basin.
In conclusion, we could say that in Macedonia during the Archaic period there was a particular mobility in luxury goods trading, which we find throughout the Mediterranean. There was also brainstorming (of ideas and opinions), which supports the argument that Macedonia was not socially or commercially isolated, as had been believed prior to the excavations of the rich cemeteries of that era.

The discovery contexts, primarily limited to long-used and perturbed collective burials, the lack of clear evidence from settlement sites, and the limited number of radiocarbon dates make the interpretation of the Bell Beaker phenomenon in Sardinia problematic. As in other European regions, fundamental aspects remain unresolved, such as the chronology of its initial phases, the reasons for its spread, the nature of its interactions with local Chalcolithic cultures, and its cultural significance. Research has shown that the Sardinian Bell Beaker developed through the integration of two main components: a western one of Franco-Iberian origin and a Central European one. This study presents a comprehensive review of the phenomenon in light of recent findings.

I contesti di rinvenimento, limitati principalmente a tombe di lunga durata e perturbate, la mancanza di chiare evidenze in ambito abitativo e il numero limitato di datazioni al radiocarbonio, rendono  problematica l'interpretazione del fenomeno Campaniforme in Sardegna. Come in altre regioni europee, rimangono irrisolti aspetti fondamentali quali la cronologia delle fasi iniziali, le ragioni della sua diffusione, la natura delle sue interazioni con le culture calcolitiche locali, il suo significato culturale. Le ricerche hanno evidenziato che il Campaniforme sardo si è sviluppato dall'integrazione di due componenti principali: una occidentale di origine franco-iberica e una centro-europea. Questo studio presenta una revisione complessiva del fenomeno alla luce delle recenti acquisizioni.

This article comprises a brief report on the 2023 excavations of an extensive Eneolithic cemetery undertaken as a UCL collaboration with colleagues from the Muzeul Județean Satu Mare. The site represents the largest cemetery of the Middle Eneolithic Bodrogkeresztúr culture in Romania and has yielded extensive grave finds, including items of gold and copper.

The present study was part of the interdisciplinary research project entitled “Bevölkerungsgeschichte des Karpatenbeckens
in der Jungsteinzeit und ihr Einfluss auf die Besiedlung Mitteleuropas”, funded by the DFG from 2010 to
2014. The focus of this study is the population history of 6th–5th millennia cal BC Neolithic and Copper Age period
of the Carpathian Basin, focusing predominantly on the territory of present-day Hungary. Here, the results of a large
interdisciplinary project – aimed to perform ancient DNA analyses (uniparentally inherited mitochondrial DNA and
Y-chromosome) on human remains – and the conclusions thereof on population history of the study area are presented.
The comparative population genetic analyses reveal not only a massive migration of the first farming communities
(Starčevo-Körös-Criș culture) from the same Anatolian Neolithic populations of related genetic substrate but also the
predominant continuity of their maternal lineages over the studied two millennia. The sign of hunter-gatherer resurgence
was detectable only up to a small proportion in the second half of the 6th millennium cal BC. The genetic
complexity of the populations under study was influenced by smaller scale population genetic events. New paternal
lineages, arriving at the beginning of the 5th millennium cal BC to the western Carpathian Basin, lived on, along with
the maternal lineages, into the mid-5th millennium cal BC. This characterised a Late Neolithic population, which
became genetically stronger linked to the eastern part of the region than the populations of the preceding centuries.
The study is completed by a review of the the latest results gained by genome-wide analyses of ancient populations.
These essentially support the assumptions made by mitochondrial DNA analyses but also refine some of our
previous conclusions.

This study focuses on the coroplastic production of ancient Demetrias during the Hellenistic period. The material under study, coming from the old excavations of Arvanitopoulos (1906-1920) and from more recent investigations, is abundant with more than 700 figurines constituting the corpus of the city. This material offers important information on the construction and use of the figurines, as well as many new types. This article will present the imported moulds, the local production, and the relationship between them. Through the figurines, Demetrias seems to have had trade contacts with Attica and Boeotia, especially in the early years of its foundation. In the second half of the 3rd century BC and later, imports from the workshops of Macedonia, especially from Pella, Veroia and Thessaloniki, increased significantly. Particularly important are the relations with the workshops of Myrina and Priene, as well as with Alexandria, Cyrenaica in North Africa, and with southern Italy. Therefore, Demetrias in terms of coroplastic production becomes a purely cosmopolitan Hellenistic city with commercial contacts with the entire Mediterranean, a feature that complements the evidence of the inscribed tombstones.

This paper addresses the importance of interregional communication and exchange networks, for the sustainability of the neolithic communities of the Ionian Islands. Geochemical analysis  on a diverse array of stone artefacts (e.g., ground stone objects, ornaments, a marble vessel) unearthed at the Late Neolithic deposits (c. 5600 - 3700 cal BC) of Drakaina Cave, a small cavity within a gorge at the SE coast of Kefalonia Island, indicated the co-existence of raw materials of both local and non-local provenance. Intriguingly, the non-local artefacts originate from various sources in mainland Greece, the Aegean and the Ionian Islands. On the basis of the petrographic evidence, we discuss the involvement of the neolithic visitors of Drakaina Cave into regional and interregional networks that favoured the circulation of raw materials and products, and also provided mechanisms of social and ideological reproduction. Besides the stone artefacts, we explore other material categories uncovered at the site (e.g., chipped stones, pottery) as well. The presented evidence suggest that the landscape of Drakaina Cave, specifically the Vochynas Gorge within which the Cave is located, was a strategic locale, which has acted as a route, connecting the inland neolithic communities of Kefalonia Island with the broader Neolithic Ionian and Aegean world.

This article presents a series of recommendations for the publication of archaeological data, to improve their usability. These 12 recommendations were formulated by archaeological data experts who mined thousands of publications for different data types (including funerary practices, accelerator mass spectrometry dating, stable isotopes, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany and pathologies) during the initial construction of the Big Interdisciplinary Archaeological Database (BIAD). We also include data harmonisation vocabularies utilised for the integration of data from different recording systems. The case studies we cite to illustrate the recommendations are grounded in examples from the published literature and are presented in a problem/solution format. Though practically oriented towards the facilitation of efficient databasing, these recommendations – which we refer to as the BIAD Standards – are broadly applicable by those who want to extract scientific data from archaeological information, those who work with a specific region or theoretical focus and journal editors andmanuscript authors.We anticipate that the use of the BIAD Standardswill increase the usability, visibility, interoperability and longevity of published data and also increase the citations of those publications from which data were mined. The Standards will also help frame a unified foundation to support the continued integration of the natural sciences with archaeological research in the future.

In the light of discussions surrounding the social changes attributed to the arrival of the Corded Ware culture in central Europe, here we investigate the economic strategies of one of the cultural complexes of the immediately preceding Late Neolithic. The Cham culture of southern Bavaria is characterised by a variety of economic choices but problems remain in synthesising and combining archaeozoological and archaeobotanical evidence. Using lipid residue analysis from Cham culture pottery excavated at the unenclosed settlement of Riedling, Lower Bavaria, we succeed in identifying a dairying economy at this time. Compound-specific lipid radiocarbon dates are then combined with other samples to provide a formal estimate for the duration of activity at Riedling and the first Bayesian chronological model for the Cham culture as a whole. Although data are currently not fine-grained enough to distinguish between competing models for site permanence, we suggest that the Cham culture patter...

Rapportserien innefattar rapporter inom länsmuseets verksamhetsområden arkeologi, bebyggelsehistoria, byggnadsvård, kulturmiljövård, etnologi, konst-och kulturhistoria. Du kan själv ladda hem rapporter i PDF-format från länsmuseets hemsida www.lansmuseetgavleborg.se Rapporter, böcker och mycket annat kan du köpa/beställa i länsmuseets butik

Rapportserien innefattar rapporter inom länsmuseets verksamhetsområden arkeologi, bebyggelsehistoria, byggnadsvård, kulturmiljövård, etnologi, konst-och kulturhistoria. Du kan själv ladda hem rapporter i PDF-format från länsmuseets hemsida www.lansmuseetgavleborg.se Rapporter, böcker och mycket annat kan du köpa/beställa i länsmuseets butik

The source base for the Eneolithic of the forest steppe Volga region includes Eneolithic burial grounds and campsites. The data from the study of ceramics, stone, bone, metal tools, anthropological and archeozoological materials, radiocarbon dating were used. The purpose of the work is to clarify the place of materials from the Late Neolithic of the forest steppe Volga region in the process of changing the Neolithic to the Eneolithic. The results of radiocarbon dating confirmed the presence of a common time interval for the Late Neolithic – Early and Middle Eneolithic. The analysis of ceramics and stone tools showed that the Neolithic substrate is well expressed in the ceramics of the Samara culture of the early stage and, to a lesser extent, the Ivanovo stage. Stone tools keep the traditions of the Caspian culture. The influence of the forest steppe Neolithic in ceramics and stone tools of the Khvalynsk culture has not been revealed. Local Neolithic traditions are most fully represented in pottery and stone tools of the Lebyazhinka, Tok, Chekalino types. The Eneolithic features such as collared ceramics, tools made of large flint and quartzite blades, large burial grounds, cattle-breeding, copper items, stone scepter finials is associated with the Samara and Khvalynsk cultures.

This article deals with a systematic analysis of the process of transition to the New Stone Age in two adjacent regions. The characteristics of natural and climatic conditions and flint complexes of the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic periods are given. For the forested Middle Volga region, a description of dwelling structures characteristic of both periods is given. A search for analogies to the early pottery of the regions is also carried out and the probable sources of its borrowing are determined. The latest developments in the field of absolute dating of the complexes of interest and the results of analyzing the technology of ware production are taken into account. The differences in the material culture of the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic population of the forest steppe Volga region are turned out to be quite significant. The presented circumstance allows us to assume direct migration of the population to the region from areas familiar with ceramic production, which contributes to its neolithization. The continuity in the tradition of flintworking between the Middle and New Stone Ages is characteristic of the Middle Volga forests. A certain closeness is recorded in the house-building techniques of both periods. The innovation – pottery – is probably related in its origin to the population of the forest steppe zone. Taking into account a number of the above-mentioned circumstances, it is acceptable to consider the neolithization of the forested Middle Volga region as a result of the diffusion of some groups of the southern population (Еlshanka culture). They do not have a significant influence on the material culture of the aboriginal population, and the tradition of making pottery is transformed as a result of adaptation by the local population.

This study examines settlement evidence from southeastern Norway during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, revealing unique aspects of regional architectural and social organization. Notably, smaller and uniform house sizes suggest a divergence from the monumental power displays seen in southernmost Scandinavia. The uniformity in house sizes and significant spatial distances between contemporary houses imply a social structure akin to segmentary societies with symmetrical power relations, reliant on mobility and mixed subsistence practices. Changes in settlement patterns and house sizes during the Late Bronze Age could have been the result of increased social stratification or responses to population growth. Overall, the settlement patterns and house sizes in southeastern Norway reflect a society that, while connected to the broader Nordic Bronze Age world, developed distinct social and economic strategies. These findings highlight the importance of considering regional variations and responses to environmental and social challenges in prehistoric societies.

As part of a new research project and a local history research project, a team of the Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University and Archeovertex Ltd excavated a Roman village in the territory of Pilisszentiván. The settlement is located in the northwestern hinterland of the Roman town of Aquincum (today: Óbuda, Hungary) in a scarcely investigated area. The excavation brought to light two Early Roman buildings with stone foundations, a rich pottery record, several metal finds, and a building associated with workshop activities. New data on the topography of the village was also collected. The results suggest that the population of the settlement had already lived a Roman lifestyle around the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. In light of this year’s excavation, some of the results of last year’s campaign may be reconsidered.

With the “Kammerhof” development area near Bad Doberan, Rostock district, a large new residential development area has been developed in recent years. A large number of archaeological remains came to light. This also includes a Bronze Age settlement with 420 findings, most of which are pits. From one of the pits, which were found next to a presumed rectangular house floor plan, various massive pieces of clay with smooth surfaces were recovered, which indicate that this is a remnant of a building that had massive clay walls.

The article presents the results of a study of the Taskuduk site in 2023, located in the Kharabalinsky district of the Astrakhan region. These investigations were a continuation of the 2022 research. An aim of excavations was the clarify cultural layer boundaries and obtain new materials. Planographic analysis allowed the authors to determine the borders of the cultural layer. The stratigraphic analysis gave the possibility for artifact distribution. The excavations provided an increase in the information base of sources about the Late Neolithic of the Northern Cis-Caspian region. A representative collection of stone tools has significant importance. A homogeneous combination of products from different types of raw materials has been proven. The specificity of microscrapers in the Late Neolithic stone industry was established by a typological method. The adze with traces of processing and polishing was found. The unique arrow point, which is untypical for the stone industry of this region was determined. The application of technical and technological analysis as well as the thin section analysis of pottery allowed the authors to determine the recipes of ceramic pastes. A lot of vessels have an influx on the inside of the corolla. This pottery feature has analogies with the vessels of the Dzhangar and Orlovka cultures. On the base of gas chromatography analysis of the charred food crusts on ceramics the diet of ancient people was reconstructed. The study of a representative collection of animal bones provided information about the economic strategy on this site. The radiocarbon dating supports the Late Neolithic age of this site.

The goal of this paper is to report results of research of the influence that economic specifics of the Epipalaeolithic sites in the Elbrus region had on the composition of lithic industry. The traceological analysis made it possible to determine a functional variability of tools in sites dated from different age. Based on the correlation of the habitation activity index and technical, typological and traceological analyses, the sites dating after the Last Glacial maximum and to the beginning of the Holocene were preliminarily divided into three groups. At these sites, not only the percentage of retouched tools differs, but also their functional use is different. The determination of functional specificity of assemblages and economic specialization of the site is an important component of inter-assemblage comparison, especially those assemblages that existed simultaneously within a chronological cycle and were located on the same territory.

Bohusläns museum och Kontoret för Keramiska Studier presenterar här en genomgång av keramik från Bohuslän. Närmare 40 000 skärvor från över 80 förhistoriska fyndplatser har registrerats. För första gången presenteras en samlad bild över den förhistoriska keramiken i Bohuslän.

H. Meller, Codiertes Wissen damals und heute – Eine Einführung. In: H. Meller/M. Schefzik (Hrsg.), Die Welt der Himmelsscheibe von Nebra – Neue Horizonte. Begleitband zur Sonderausstellung im Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale) vom 4. Juni 2021 bis 9. Januar 2022 (Halle [Saale] 2020) 28–33.

Szegvár-Tűzköves is an outstanding site of the Hungarian Neolithic – one of the most important centres of the Late Neolithic Tisza culture. We present here the evaluation of anthracological and carpological material, studied to reconstruct the vegetation around this Late Neolithic settlement and to gain information about the assortment of cultivated plants. Studied plant material comes from soil samples systematically collected from an excavated profile that cut through various contexts within the Szegvár-Tűzköves tell site. An assemblage of 842 wood charcoal fragments indicates that in the floodplain there was hardwood floodplain woodland with oak (Quercus sp.) and elm (Ulmus sp.) dominance on higher ground and willow (Salix sp.), poplar (Populus sp.) and alder (Alnus sp.) forest in the lower elevations and along the water banks. The elevated drier areas were covered by forest-steppe vegetation, possibly similar to the field elm– pedunculate oak (Ulmus minor – Quercus robur) formations that dominate open forest steppes east of the river Dnieper today.
The total number of remains of cultivated plants was 342, of which the unidentifiable cereal (Cerealia) fragments dominated (81%). Determined grain and spikelet fork remains document the presence of several wheat species, among which spelt (Triticum spelta) dominate, while einkorn (Triticum monococcum), naked wheat (Triticum aestivum), emmer (Triticum dicococcum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are equally represented. The seeds of wild plants were rare and represented stones of possibly gathered fruits (Rosaceae) and arable or ruderal

ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA LUNDENSIASERIES ALTERA IN 8°, No 54 Mesolitiska Möten. Strandvägen, en senmesolitisk boplats vid Motala ström Tom Carlsson

Under åren 2000-2003 utfördes arkeologiska undersökningar på den mesolitiska boplatsen Strandvägen i Östra Mellansverige.

Utgrävningarna företogs längs stranden av Motala ström, men även under vattnet och tack vare de goda bevaringsförhållandena för fynd och konstruktioner kan boplatsorganisation, materiell kultur såväl som människornas relationer till varandra och till sin omvärld diskuteras.

I Mesolitiska Möten presenteras och sammanfattas resultaten från utgrävningarna. Målättningen är dock inte enbart att redovisa det empiriska materialet, utan syftet är att relatera de lokala uttrycken på Strandvägen till ett vidare, skandinaviskt och europeiskt perspektiv. Boplatsen placeras härmed inom en specifik kulturhistorisk period, närmare bestämt under tiden 5500-5000 B.C.

Detta är ytterst en bok om möten: om fysiska möten över vatten och bortom skogar, men även om immateriella möten. Om möten som rymde meningsfulla och betydelsefulla ingredienser i livet. De knöt människor samman till varandra. Man ingick i en samhörighet och ett gemensamt sätt att relatera till sin omvärld. En gemenskap som delades med människor långt bortom kända vatten och skogar.

Arkeologiska fynd, den materiella kulturen illustrerar realiteten av dessa relationer. Man skulle kunna kalla det rummets arkeologi, men ett rum med stor plats för människorna. Mesolitiska Möten hoppas att därmed kunna initiera en fördjupad dialog om vår syn på mesolitikums samhällen med ytterligare några dimensioner.

Da im vorliegenden Material zumeist nicht mehr nachvollziehbar war, ob aus den einzelnen Fundnummern die Reste eines oder mehrerer Eier vorlagen, wurde pro Komplex lediglich ein gut erhaltenes Fragment für die Vermessung ausgewählt. Sollte also eine Fundeinheit die Reste verschiedener Eier beinhalten, beugt dieses Vorgehen einer Verzerrung der Daten vor. Pro Schalenfragment wurden zunächst fünf Dickenmessungen in Bereichen ohne Membranerhaltung durchgeführt, wobei die Werte lediglich im Hundertstel-Millimeter-1 Eierschalenrest aus Fundnummer 136. 1 Die Bearbeitung der weiteren tierischen Reste dieser Grabung befindet sich aktuell in Planung und soll im Rahmen einer Qualifizierungsarbeit erfolgen.

We present a comprehensive genetic investigation of Late Neolithic (LN) and Early
45 Copper Age (ECA) populations living in the Carpathian Basin, leveraging whole genome
46 data from 125 previously unreported individuals. Using population genetics, kinship
47 analyses and the study of networks of identity-by-descent haplotype segment sharing,
48 we elucidate the social and genetic dynamics of these communities between 4800-3900
49 cal BCE. Despite changes in settlement patterns, burial practices, and material culture,
50 we document a high degree of genetic continuity. While one set of individuals we
51 analyzed from a large community cemetery was genetically diverse, another site was
52 more homogenous and closed, with numerous consanguineous relationships and
53 evidence of patrilineality and patrilocality. These results document radically different
54 kinship systems in contemporaneous ECA communities using similar material culture
55 and living only about 100 km apart.