Abstract: This paper explores how Early Holocene climate changes in the Western Mediterranean would have affected Late Mesolithic settlement distribution and subsistence strategies in Iberian Peninsula, thereby giving rise to various adaptive scenarios. The current radiocarbon data set concerning the Neolithisation process has revealed the rapidity of the spread of farming in Iberia. Considering both the implications of the last hunter-gatherers’ adaptation strategies and the population dynamics of agro-pastoral communities, we address the migration patterns underlying the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition. In conclusion, we propose that the initial colonization process was the result of two successive and spatially heterogeneous migrations: Maritime Pioneer Colonization and targeted migration to places favorable to the new economic system.

Abstract: The shell middens of Brittany provide the last evidence of a Mesolithic way of life along the French Atlantic facade. This is partly a result of Holocene marine transgressions that prevent easy access to earlier coastal settlements. Nevertheless, the dependence on the sea seen in the Late Mesolithic seems to be a consequence of a long-established exploitation system. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures in human bone reflect a dominance of marine protein, while the zooarchaeological components of shell middens show a high species richness of exploited marine resources. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction suggests that more or less the whole range of resources exploited was accessible in the immediate vicinity of the sites. Seasonal aspects of the utilised and potentially available subsistence resources, along with stable isotope and lithic data, raise the possibility of restricted mobility for these populations, within relatively limited territories. The impression of extreme dependence of these coastal populations on the seashore might have been a key factor in their final disappearance, whether this is viewed as replacement or acculturation. Indeed, the Mesolithic communities of Brittany could have been caught between rising sea-levels and the arrival of Neolithic communities from the east and the south.

Abstract: This useful survey aims to bring a vast amount of research and data on the Mesolithic and early Neolithic of eastern Europe to a wider English speaking audience. It consists in the main of a series of regional overviews, each presented by a specialist from that territory. They discuss important and recently excavated sites, and present radiocarbon sequences. The book also contains broader theoretical articles, and syntheses of important issues and approaches which cover the entire eastern European region.

Abstract: This article presents an overview of the interdisciplinary study of skeletal remains from Late Mesolithic and Middle Neolithic sites in the Lower Rhine Basin. The combination of archaeological, physical anthropological and chemical analysis has led to a better understanding of the treatment of the dead, demographic parameters and diet of the populations during the transition from forager to farmer in this area. Burial ritual was variable during this whole period, with an above-ground treatment of corpses alongside the burial of deceased. The physical anthropological study has revealed that the sites were inhabited by family groups. Stable isotope analyses have indicated that immigrants were sometimes present and that diet varied per population. Intersite variation in diet is explained by the exploitation of the local habitat. Intrasite variability in diet can be influenced by cultural and social factors as attested by the burial traditions and the isotope study of provenance. It is posited here that the Neolithisation process was not as unambiguous as in some other parts of Europe, but diverse with small-scale variations at the site level.

Abstract: Summary In this paper, we attempt to shed light on a probable cause of cultural change via a new avenue of approach. In brief, the paper represents a micro-study that addresses the Ahrensburgian culture group during the close of the Late Palaeolithic in north central Europe, and its relationship to the Hensbacka group found in central Bohuslan on the coast of western Sweden. Although we do not disagree that environmental conditions are a ‘prime mover’ of cultural change, we hold that it is not the only ‘mover’. In addition, we also discuss the distinct possibility that the term ‘microlithization’ cannot be used as a synonym for the Mesolithic. The foundation of our micro-study is based on interdisciplinary concepts from the fields of archaeology, economic anthropology, geosciences, and marine zoology.

Abstract: The systematic analysis of the 14C radiocarbon dating series of the Neolithic and the following geometric Mesolithic allows establishing a well defined chronocultural sequence. From this basis we can define an early beginning for the Iberian Neolithic in the second fourth of the VIth millennium cal BC overlapping with the end of the Mesolithic. From this point and up to the end of the millennium we define three phases for the Early Neolithic: a starting one with the possibility of "pioneer movements", the middle one with the formation of the pottery domains, and the final one of diversification.

Abstract: At the heart of this study are the early Neolithic chambered tombs of the Irish Sea zone, defined as west Wales, the west coast of northern Britain, coastal south and western Scotland, the western isles and the Isle of Man, and the eastern coast of Ireland. In order to understand these monuments, there must be a broader consideration of their landscape settings. The landscape setting of the chambered tombs is considered in detail, both overall and through a number of specific case studies, incorporating a much wider area than has been previously considered. Cummings investigates the background against which the Neolithic began in the Irish Sea zone and what led to the adoption of Neolithic practices, such as the construction of monuments. Following on from this, she considers what the chambered tombs and landscape can add to our understanding of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. This volume aims to incorporate landscape analysis into a broader understanding of the Neolithic sequence in this area and beyond. It will provide an introduction to the Mesolithic and Neolithic of the Irish Sea zone, as well as a summary of previous work on this subject. It also offers a starting point for future research and a better understanding of this area.

Abstract: Empirical and model data are used to re-assess the patterns of dietary change across the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe. A step-shift in bone collagen δC values can be observed among coastal populations in Great Britain and parts of southern Scandinavia c. 4000/3900 cal BC, reflecting the rapid introduction of farming. Regional and local variations are evident, and there is a clear geographical trend in the use of marine resources by Neolithic populations across north-west Europe. Our findings suggest that the δC value of bone collagen may not accurately reflect the proportion of seafood in a diet where the diet included significant quantities of marine bivalves, such as oysters. This also has implications for calculating the marine reservoir contribution to the C ages of human bones.

Abstract: The Neolithisation of the Northern Italy is particularly interesting since archaeological data show dynamics of interaction between the last hunters and the early farmers of the region. In this paper the authors present the results of use-wear and residues analyses carried out on an assemblage of trapezes from one of the key-sites of the Neolithisation in the Adige Valley: Gaban rockshelter. The functional data have been compared and discussed with other strands of archaeological evidence available for the region.

Abstract: Results of M. Litt thesis This Masters thesis sought to review the evidence we have for the Mesolithic communities who inhabited the six counties – Clare, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo – in the west of Ireland for approximately 4000 years, from c. 8000–c. 4000 cal BC (Driscoll 2006). The aims of this thesis were to understand the character of the early prehistoric period in the six counties west of the Shannon; to understand how people inhabited and utilised the landscape; to establish any degree of variability between the coast and the interior; and to establish any degree of regionality in the material culture. The overall intention was to interpret the evidence in terms of a social archaeology of the period. The evidence gathered from both the research in the National Museum and the 16 weeks of field-walking has shown that evidence for the Mesolithic in the west has in some areas gone unrecognised, while in other areas it has been over-estimated. A belief in the paucity of the archaeological record for the period can easily become a self-fulfilling prophesy: as no one is out there actually investigating the period, it is left unknown. In areas such as Lough Gara (Counties Sligo and Roscommon) and Lough Allen (Counties Leitrim and Roscommon) – both of which witnessed a drop in lake levels after drainage schemes – this thesis has shown that the extent of the previous available evidence has been overlooked. The fieldwork at Lough Allen has shown that there is extensive evidence available to be researched, with 97 new find spots of either single finds or lithic scatters identified. What the evidence from these two lakes highlights is the serious bias at play in the known distribution of the Mesolithic evidence in the west – where lakes have been drained, much evidence can be found, but this creates a bias against areas away from the shores, such as the hinterland of the lakes, as well as against lakes where no drainage has taken place. Looking at the distribution of coastal sites in the west compared to inland sites, it is clear that only the tip of the iceberg of coastal sites has been realised, with only four definite coastal sites along the 1000km of coastline. Importantly, with lower relative sea levels in the Mesolithic, three of these four may have been a few kilometres from the coast at the time. What must be borne in mind when looking at the distribution map for coastal sites along the 1000km stretch of coastline is, firstly, the lack of research in these areas, and secondly, the fact that the Mesolithic site at Ferriter’s Cove, Co. Kerry was initially noted by a find of a Neolithic artefact (Woodman et al. 1999). Therefore, we must be wary of seeing these as blank areas in Mesolithic inhabitation of the landscape. It should be considered that Mesolithic communities were all along the coast, but we are as yet unable to identify this inhabitation. What also has to be contended with is that the rise in relative sea levels over the period of 4000 years will have buried many costal sites. But, as at Belderrig, Co. Mayo, those higher up on the shore can be identified with time and perseverance – and some luck. This thesis has argued that a landscape approach is a useful way of understanding early prehistoric communities. By adopting a dwelling perspective (sensu Ingold 2000), we can situate the communities in the landscape, and understand that these communities had complex relations with the world around them. The evidence of the variety of platforms that were constructed and used in the Mesolithic in Ireland (e.g. Fredengren 2004; Little 2005) suggests that these communities were actively engaged with the landscape, and actively transforming the landscape. Rather than seeing the landscape as a backdrop to activities, the idea of the taskscape (Ingold 2000) unites the communities with the plants and animals, and the topography with the temporality of the landscape. While we do not need to argue that the Mesolithic communities were clearing large patches of woodland (why would they have needed to?), the evidence suggests that there was more involved

Abstract: The study of lithic raw material procurement can contribute to the study of ancient networks. Petrographic analysis combined with systematic mapping of raw material outcrops has been conducted in Moravia and adjacent territories by A. Přichystal over a period of more than three decades. Combined with well excavated (including wet-screening) and 14C (radiometric) dated sites,allows us to study changes in the distribution networks of raw materials during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.

Abstract: Regional surveys in Greece have only rarely identified Mesolithic sites, which consist typically of small, unobtrusive scatters of microlithic artifacts. Recently, a site location model was used along with targeted surveys to identify Mesolithic sites in the Argolid, Epirus, and the Sporades, and the results suggest that the Mesolithic may have been overlooked in some early surveys because, in part, the characteristic features of Mesolithic assemblages were unknown at the time. Using lithic assemblages from published sites as a guide, a re-study of lithics from a regional survey in the Southern Argolid (1979–83) was undertaken to determine if some small undated lithic sites from that survey were Mesolithic. Seven probable Mesolithic sites were identified, and the spatial distribution of the sites suggests that a logistical land-use foraging strategy was used in the Argolid during the Mesolithic.

Abstract: Little is known about the final Upper Paleolithic from west of Gibraltar and south of the Tagus Valley. In contrast, data from Boreal and Atlantic times are fairly common and suggest highly diverse cultural, economic, and technological systems. Thus, there is an important hiatus for the Tardiglacial phase of human occupation in southwestern Iberia. This paper will focus on two main aspects of the Early Holocene in Iberia: the settlement and subsistence dynamics during the Mesolithic and early Neolithic of southwestern Portugal, and explanatory models for the occupational hiatus and lack of sites in the Tardiglacial and early Holocene.

Abstract: Recent survey projects in Nortern Bohemia have revealed a network of mesolithic rockshelters representing both short and long-term occupations. One long-term site (Pod zubem) and one short-term site (Pod křidlem) were selected for functional analysis of stone tools, including microscopic use-wear and residues analyses, in an effort to better understand the subsistence, economic, and seasonal activities. The results indicate that stone tools were used on a wide variety of materials at the long-term occupation site of Pod zubem, whereas at Pod křidlem, plant processing was the primary activity.

Abstract: Although broad-spectrum subsistence began during the Solutrean (ca. 20,000 ¹⁴C BP) in Cantabrian Spain, and there was much continuity in technology and settlement between the Magdalenian and Azilian, there were dramatic changes in human use of the postglacial landscapes of this Atlantic region after ca. 9,000 ¹⁴C BP. Interrupting a Terminal Paleolithic trend toward increased utilization of the montane interior of the region, the Mesolithic was mainly a coastal phenomenon. Although the Magdalenian-Azilian transition did include disappearance of cave art, the marked adaptive break came after the traditional end of the Pleistocene, with concentration of Mesolithic sites along the Holocene shore and emphasis on marine resource exploitation. An exception was the interior Basque Country, where there was significant human occupation of the upper Ebro Basin. While Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of that Ebro region were quick to incorporate Neolithic cultigens, domesticated animals, and ceramics into their lifeways—b...

Abstract: A small dating project, using single entity samples of carbonised hazelnut shells, indicates repeated occupation of a small sand dune at Verrebroek - Aven Ackers. The dates range between the Early Mesolithic and the Early/Middle Neolithic and testify of a discontinues and probably ephemeral use of the dune. The dates also allow a further refinement of the typo-chronology of the northern Belgian Mesolithic.

Abstract: Several recent lines of evidence indicate more intensive contact between LBK farmers and indigenous foragers in Central Europe (5600–5400 calBC). Strong continuity has been identified between Mesolithic and Neolithic material cultures; faunal assemblages, and isotopic analyses of diet have revealed a greater role of hunting in LBK communities; genetic analyses have suggested that the modern Central European gene pool is mainly of Palaeolithic origin. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to demographic aspects of the Neolithic transition. In our study, demographic simulations were performed to assess the demographic conditions that would allow LBK farmers to spread across central Europe without any admixture with Mesolithic foragers. We constructed a stochastic demographic model of changes in farming population size. Model parameters were constrained by data from human demography, archaeology, and human ecology. Our results indicate that the establishment of farming communities in Central Europe without an admixture with foragers was highly improbable. The demographic conditions necessary for colonization were beyond the potential of the Neolithic population. Our study supports the integrationists’ view of the Neolithic transition in Central Europe.

Abstract: Rivers and their associated wetlands and lakes form a major component in the landscape and yet discussions concerning their usage in early prehistory are rarely undertaken in Britain and Ireland. Exceptions to this have included the work on the Severn, the Shannon and the Humber estuaries. The Thames forms one of the biggest river systems within England and yet modern writers have undervalued it as a resource of early communities. The work within the Thames basin had been somewhat piecemeal with, until recently, attention being focussed primarily on the non-tidal parts of the river system. A consideration of the Mesolithic period had also not been undertaken. The relationship between hunter-gatherers and early farming communities and freshwater resources is examined within two major themes. The first is that of an economic nature (provider of sustenance and raw materials, communication, transport, choice of settlement site) and the second, experiential/symbolic (ritual deposition, sacred and burial sites, rock art). The two themes are not mutually exclusive and the points of overlap are also considered. Understanding of the archaeological record within the Thames basin is approached by the use of ethnographic analogy and archaeological comparison within a number of world regions. The ethnographic material is drawn from communities based on rivers in Australia, the Amazon basin and a number of locations in North America. The archaeological information is primarily from Europe (Britain and Ireland, the North European Plain and the Central European Uplands). Two other areas are briefly examined, namely Old World rivers (the Euphrates, the Jordan and the Nile) and a number of New World sites in North America. Attributes of the themes are drawn out from both the ethnographical and archaeological material. The Thames material is outlined and conclusions drawn in light of these attributes.