Abstract: Human demography research in grounded on the information derived from ancient DNA and archaeology. For example, the study on the early postglacial dual-route colonisation of the Scandinavian Peninsula is largely based on associating genomic data with the early dispersal of lithic technology from the East European Plain. However, a clear connection between material culture and genetics has been lacking. Here, we demonstrate that direct connection by analysing human DNA from chewed birch bark pitch mastics. These samples were discovered at Huseby Klev in western Sweden, a Mesolithic site with eastern lithic technology. We generated genome-wide data for three individuals, and show their affinity to the Scandinavian hunter-gatherers. Our samples date to 9880-9540 calBP, expanding the temporal range and distribution of the early Scandinavian genetic group. We propose that DNA from ancient mastics can be used to study environment and ecology of prehistoric populations.

Abstract: Archaeogenetic research over the last decade has demonstrated that European Neolithic farmers (ENFs) were descended primarily from Anatolian Neolithic farmers (ANFs). ENFs, including early Neolithic central European Linearbandkeramik (LBK) farming communities, also harbored ancestry from European Mesolithic hunter gatherers (WHGs) to varying extents, reflecting admixture between ENFs and WHGs. However, the timing and other details of this process are still imperfectly understood. In this report, we provide a bioarchaeological analysis of three individuals interred at the Brunn 2 site of the Brunn am Gebirge-Wolfholz archeological complex, one of the oldest LBK sites in central Europe. Two of the individuals had a mixture of WHG-related and ANF-related ancestry, one of them with approximately 50% of each, while the third individual had approximately all ANF-related ancestry. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for all three individuals were within the range of variation reflecting diets of other Neolithic agrarian populations. Strontium isotope analysis revealed that the ~50% WHG-ANF individual was non-local to the Brunn 2 area. Overall, our data indicate interbreeding between incoming farmers, whose ancestors ultimately came from western Anatolia, and local HGs, starting within the first few generations of the arrival of the former in central Europe, as well as highlighting the integrative nature and composition of the early LBK communities.

Abstract: Zhokhov Island in the Siberian High Arctic has yielded evidence for some of the most remote prehistoric human occupation in the world, as well as the oldest-known dog-sled technology. Obsidian artefacts found on Zhokhov have been provenanced using XRF analysis to allow comparison with known sources of obsidian from north-eastern Siberia. The results indicate that the obsidian was sourced from Lake Krasnoe—approximately 1500km distant—and arrived on Zhokhov Island c. 8000 BP. The archaeological data from Zhokhov therefore indicate a super-long-distance Mesolithic exchange network.

Abstract: This paper presents new results of stable isotope analysis made on human and animal bones from Mesolithic–Neolithic sites (9500–5200 cal BC) in the Central Balkans. It reconstructs dietary practices in the Mesolithic and documents the development of new subsistence strategies and regional differences during the process of Neolithisation. We achieved these insights into dietary changes by analysing bone collagen δ13C (n = 75), δ15N (n = 75) and δ34S (n = 96) and comparing stable isotope data of Mesolithic–Neolithic communities from the Danube Gorges with the data of the first farmers who lived outside of the Gorges in the Central Balkans. The Bayesian model was employed to evaluate the relative importance of different animal proteins in human diet. Results bring a new overview and highlight important chronological and regional differences. They suggest that Late Mesolithic humans included more anadromous and potamodromous fish in their diet, which is consistent with archaeozoological evidence. On the other hand, differing from archaeozoological data, the model also points to a greater reliance on terrestrial carnivores (dogs) in the Late Mesolithic diet, a pattern that can be also explained by other dietary and environmental factors. In the Transitional and Neolithic period in the Gorges, some individuals have consumed fewer aquatic resources and favoured more terrestrial products. However, one site in the Gorges represents an exception—Ajmana, where we have the earliest farmers in this region since their subsistence economy was mainly oriented toward terrestrial products. Furthermore, results shows that Neolithic individuals inhumated at sites outside of the Danube Gorges in the Balkans had dietary patterns that vary in both terrestrial and freshwater resources, indicating that early farming communities had a diversified diet linked to a local natural environment. Comparative data finally indicates regional differentiations associated with locally available resources but also related to the traditions of prehistoric communities and to specific economic innovations.

Abstract: It is a common assumption that – compared with the Mesolithic – the adoption of Neolithic lifeways was accompanied by a higher risk of infection and the development of epidemic diseases. Such a hyp...

Abstract: The ancient lake Duvensee in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, is one of the prime locations in northern Europe for early Holocene research. Archaeological sites on the former lakeshore provide vivid il...

Abstract: This paper investigates how former hunter-gatherers living along the southern North Sea coast in NW Europe adapted to long-term and short-term climatic and environmental changes at the beginning of the Holocene. It is argued that contemporaneous hunter-gatherers repeatedly changed their hunting equipment in response to changing climate and environment, not just for functional reasons but mainly driven by socio-territorial considerations. Based on a Bayesian analysis of 122 critically selected radiocarbon dates a broad chronological correlation is demonstrated between rapid changes in the design and technology of stone projectiles and short but abrupt cooling events, occurring at 10.3, 9.3 and 8.2 ka cal BP. Combined with the rapid sea level rises and increased wildfires these climatic events probably impacted the lifeways of hunter-gatherers in such a way that they increasingly faced resource stress and competition, forcing them to invest in the symbolic defense of their social territories.

Abstract: ...................................................................................................... 3 Preface ........................................................................................................ 5 Aknowledgements ...................................................................................... 7

Abstract: This article presents a summary of new evidence for the Mesolithic in the Dinaric Alps of Montenegro. The region is one of the best areas in south-eastern Europe to study Early Holocene foragers and the nature of the transition to Neolithic lifeways at the end of the seventh and the beginning of the sixth millennium cal bc thanks to the existence of biodiverse landscapes and numerous karstic features. We argue that harpoons found at two different sites in this regional context represent a curated technology that has its roots in a local Mesolithic cultural tradition. The continued use of this standardized hunting tool kit in the Neolithic provides an important indication about the character of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. We also use this regional case study to address wider questions concerning the visibility and modes of Mesolithic occupation in south-eastern Europe as a whole.

Abstract: For over 120 years, the shell middens of western Scotland and the series of open-air sites on Oronsay have been the focus of debate in European Mesolithic studies. This paper challenges the significance of Oronsay in light of results from the geophysical survey and test-excavation of a new limpet and periwinkle shell midden dated to the late 5th or start of the 4th millennium cal BC at Port Lobh, Colonsay that offers fresh evidence to re-evaluate critically the role of Oronsay and coastal resources in island settlement models ahead of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. Test excavations recovered a marine molluscan assemblage dominated by limpet and periwinkle shells together with crab, sea urchin, a fishbone assemblage composed mainly of Gadidae, some identifiable bird and mammal bone, carbonised macroplant remains, and pumice as well as a bipolar lithic assemblage and coarse stone implements. Novel seasonality studies of saithe otolith thin-sections suggest wintertime tidal fishing practices. At least two activity events may be discerned, dating from the late 5th millennium cal BC. The midden could represent a small number of rapidly deposited assemblages or maybe the result of stocastic events within a more extended timeframe. We argue that alternative research questions are needed to advance long-standing debates about seasonal inter island mobility versus island sedentism that look beyond Oronsay to better understand later Mesolithic occupation patterns and the formation and date of Oronsay middens. We propose alternative methodological strategies to aid identification of contemporaneous sites using geophysical techniques and lithic technological signatures.

Abstract: The Mesolithic period in the Cantabrian region, a coastal area located in northern Spain, is characterised by a marked increase in the human use of coastal resources in comparison with previous periods, resulting in the formation of so-called “shell middens”. Archaeological investigations have provided insights into the formation processes of these shell middens, as well as long-term changes in human exploitation of different marine resources and the relationship of foraging strategies to past climate changes. However, efforts to reconstruct the key environmental factor governing coastal subsistence and foraging resilience, the seasonal availability and use of different marine resources, have been limited in the region and, indeed, across coastal Mesolithic Europe more widely. Here, we use stable oxygen isotope analysis of Phorcus lineatus (da Costa, 1778), one of the most widespread molluscs in northern Iberian mesolithic coastal sites, in order to determine the season in which humans collected key coastal resources at the site of EL Mazo (Llanes, Asturias). We demonstrate that P. lineatus was exclusively collected in late autumn, winter and early spring. An experimental programme, in which modern P. lineatus specimens were collected in situ over the course of three years, established that relative meat yield varied within this species throughout the annual cycle, with higher relative meat yield during colder months. We argue that mollusc collection patterns were driven by a cost-benefit principle during the Mesolithic in the Cantabrian region and human populations had intimate knowledge of the seasonal developmental cycles of exploited marine taxa. This also highlights the importance of developing intra-annual records of resource use and climate change if coastal foraging is to be properly understood in prehistory.

Abstract: Sedimentological, palynological, and micropalaeontological studies carried out throughout the first half of the Holocene, during the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition in the Bay of Brest (i.e. 9200–9...

Abstract: Until recently, every industry with geometric microliths in Central Asia has been classified as Mesolithic solely on the basis that this technology appeared quite late in the region. The situation was further complicated by the absence of absolute dates for Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites from this region. Recent research has proved a clear association between the earliest geometric microliths in Central Asia and the Upper Paleolithic Kulbulakian culture (Shugnou, layer 1; Kulbulak, layer 2.1). The most comprehensive archeological collection in Central Asia that documents the shift from the production of non-geometric microliths (backed bladelet, Arzheneh points) to geometric microliths (scalene triangles) in a very early chronological context is Dodekatym-2 site. The main morphometric characteristics of the Central Asian Upper Paleolithic geometric microliths correspond to the development of the Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic of the Near East (Masraquan cultures) and the Middle East (Zarzian culture). The absolute dates available for the Dodecatym-2 site are older than presently known ones for the early Epipaleolithic Levantine industries with geometric microliths, thus making it possible to conclude that Central Asia was at least one of the microlitization origin centers.

Abstract: This article offers a new look at the stratigraphy and chronology of Mesolithic and Neolithic deposits at Lepenski Vir, particularly based on newly available Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating and aDNA genomic evidence. It focuses on a detailed analysis of several key contexts for which new radiocarbon dates are available while at the same time reviewing taphonomic and age-offset problems when dating human remains and other materials affected by the aquatic reservoir effect in the Danube Gorges area. The robust chronological evidence as well as available stratigraphic data overwhelmingly show that the start of the main and iconic phase of the occupation of this site, represented by the architecture of trapezoidal buildings and sculpted sandstone boulders, should unequivocally be dated to the period of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the last two centuries of the seventh millennium cal BC. At this time, local forager populations of distinct hunter-gatherer genetic ancestry came into contact and mixed with incoming Neolithic, farming populations of north-western Anatolian genetic ancestry, based on the available genomic data but also supported by studies of material culture traditions. The article deals directly with the recent criticism of this chrono-stratigraphic model for Lepenski Vir.

Abstract: The emergence of separate cemeteries for disposal of the dead represents a profound shift in mortuary practice in the Late Neolithic of southeast Europe, with a new emphasis on the repeated use of a specific space distinct from, though still often close to, settlements. To help to time this shift more precisely, this paper presents 25 dates from 21 burials in the large cemetery at Cernica, in the Lower Danube valley in southern Romania, which are used to formally model the start, duration of use and end of the cemetery. A further six dates were obtained from four contexts for the nearby settlement. Careful consideration is given to the possibility of environmental and dietary offsets. The preferred model, without freshwater reservoir offsets, suggests that use of the Cernica cemetery probably began in 5355–5220 cal BC (95% probability) and ended in 5190–5080 cal BC (28% probability) or 5070–4940 (67% probability). The implications of this result are discussed, including with reference to other cemeteries of similar age in the region, the nature of social relations being projected through mortuary ritual, and the incorporation of older, Mesolithic, ways of doing things into Late Neolithic mortuary practice.

Abstract: Excavations at the site of Langley’s Lane, Bath and North-East Somerset, have revealed an important sequence of Late Mesolithic activity focused around an active tufa spring. The sequence of activity starts off as an aurochs kill and primary butchery site. Culturally appropriate depositional practices occur through the placement of a selection of bone in the wetland of the spring and the digging of pits around the spring margins. The spring at Langley’s Lane continued to be visited and more animal bone and lithic material was placed in the wetland. Finally, visits to the site involved yet more formalized activity in the form of pit digging and the creation of a stone surface. Activities such as these are difficult to locate in the archaeological record and Mesolithic ritual activity rare, making this a site of some significance to studies of Mesolithic NW Europe.

Abstract: This paper focuses on the spatial distribution of bone tool production waste from two Mesolithic sites in Sweden, Ringsjoholm and Strandvagen, with well-preserved faunal remains including bone and ...

Abstract: Only a limited number of radiometric dates for the Final Palaeolithic and the first half of the Mesolithic are available from the southeastern Baltic. This paper presents eight new Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (14C AMS) ages of osseous artifacts housed at the Kaliningrad Regional Museum of History and Art. These artifacts include one piece of worked reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) antler, three axes of the so-called Lyngby type, one bone point, one uniserial harpoon, one so-called bâton perce antler shaft, and one slotted bone. All the samples were successfully dated and yielded five Late Pleistocene and three Early Holocene ages, including the hitherto earliest age for human occupation in the Eastern Baltic. The dates include not only a surprisingly early date for a bone point (for this region), but also some dates that contradict expected ages based on traditional typological assessment. Our study significantly adds to the still small number of existing absolutely dated artifacts from the region and proposes new ways of viewing the Final Palaeolithic and Early Mesolithic chronology in the southeastern Baltic.

Abstract: Southern Scandinavia experienced significant environmental changes during the early Holocene. Shoreline displacement reconstructions and results from several zooarchaeological studies were used to describe the environmental changes and the associated human subsistence and settlement development in the Hano Bay region of southern Sweden during the Mesolithic. GIS-based palaeogeographic reconstructions building on shoreline displacement records from eastern Skane and western Blekinge together with a sediment sequence from an infilled coastal lake were used to describe the environmental changes during five key periods. The results show a rapid transformation of the coastal landscape during the Mesolithic. During this time, the investigated coastal settlements indicate a shift towards a more sedentary lifestyle and a subsistence focused on large-scale freshwater fishing. The development of permanent settlements coincided with an extended period of coastline stability and the development of rich coastal environments in a more closed forest vegetation. This study provides a regional synthesis of the shoreline displacement, coastal landscape dynamics and settlement development during the Mesolithic. It also demonstrates a new way of combining zooarchaeological and palaeoecological approaches, which can produce multi-faceted and highly resolved palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in a wide range of settings.

Abstract: The first discoveries of mummified carcasses of the woolly rhinoceros, mammoth, horse, roe deer and other animals were made at a depth of 12 m in the course of mining work at an ozokerite mine near the village of the Starunia. In 1929 an expedition of the Academy of Arts and Sciences from Krakow, when investigating the mine at a depth of 17 m, found the remains of 3 more woolly rhinoceroses. There were also numerous bones of small vertebrates (rodents), artichokes, numerous insects, beetles, parasitic worms, fleas, butterflies, spiders, snails, vascular plants, seeds and branches of dwarf birch, alder, and other representatives of tundra flora. In March 1977, after the earthquake in the Vrancha Mountains (Romania), the first and still the only mud volcano in the Carpathians, which added an entirely new “ note “ to the Starunia paleontological location , arose on the ozokerite deposit. In the 1970s-80s several dozen remains of ancient man from the late Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods were discovered. In 2004-2009, two Ukrainian-Polish expeditions were organized. The results of both expeditions were published in 2005 in the book «Polish and Ukrainian Geological Studies (2004-2005) at Starunia – the area of discoveries of Woolly Rhinoceros» and the scientific collection «Interdisciplinary Studies (2006-2009) at Starunia (Carpathian Region, Ukraine). The main achievements are set forth in 17 articles and relate to the geological environment, geomorphology, lithology, stratigraphy and paleography of the Holocene deposits, their palynological and paleobotanical characteristics, chronostratigraphy and environmental changes during the period of the late Pleistocene and Holocene, and also research by methods of electric probe, gravity and microgravity survey, geochemical analysis, microbiological characteristics and bitumen of Quaternary deposits. An important result was the discovery of the most productive area where the remains of giant mammals and even Pleistocene Cro-Magnon could still be found at depths. All the numerous interdisciplinary research of Polish and Ukrainian scientists confirms the uniqueness of Starunia on a global scale, requiring the preservation and further study of the paleontological finds and of the only mud volcano in the Carpathians. Such findings can onlybe made by organizing the Starunia International Ecological and Tourist Center «Geopark Ice Age».

Abstract: We describe a tanged point and a blade technology from Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay, Scotland that provides further support to a Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene presence in Scotland prior to the establishment of the narrow blade Mesolithic industry. The existing evidence for a Late Pleistocene or early Holocene presence comes from isolated finds of tanged points (Tiree, Shieldig, Brodgar), undated assemblages from disturbed contexts that are most likely Late Pleistocene in date (Howburn, Kilmefort Cave), and undated assemblages containing broad blade microliths (e.g., Glenbatrick, Morton). This article provides a summary of recent excavations and the stratigraphy at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, and a detailed analysis the lithic blade blank production at the site, which is, we believe, the first application of a chaine operatoire based approach to a Scottish assemblage. The study includes comparisons with contemporary assemblages from north-western Europe. The significance of the Rubha Port an t-Seilich finds is threefold: (1) the relative large size of the assemblage that allows a technological analysis; (2) the finds partially derive from a stratified context below a narrow blade assemblage, associated with radiocarbon dates 9301-7750 cal. BP; and (3) further excavation can increase the sample size and potentially expose an in situ Late Pleistocene or early Holocene cultural horizon.

Abstract: The study of dental morphology has proven useful for reconstructing the biological profiles of ancient populations. In this work, we present the results obtained by analysing dental non-metric traits in many of the most important Mesolithic burial contexts from the Iberian Peninsula. Currently, a substantial debate is underway regarding the relationship between the different geographical areas of the Peninsula and their different chronological moments. This paper is based on a sample consisting of a minimum number of 437 previously unpublished individuals from 11 Mesolithic and Neolithic sites, whose data were compared with Italian Mesolithic and Neolithic samples and posterior Iberian groups. We analysed these data by chi-squared analysis and by calculating the mean measure of divergence biological distance measure. There were no significant differences among the different regional groups from the Iberian Mesolithic. Moreover, the Iberian Mesolithic samples differ significantly from the Italian samples. In addition, although certain Neolithic samples differ from the hunter-gatherer profile, it seems that they received important biological influence from Mesolithic groups from the Iberian Peninsula, which varies with geography, since the farmer groups from the Mediterranean area are the most distinct from the previous hunter-gatherers. Our results suggest a common biological origin for all the Iberian Mesolithic assemblages, which probably originated during the Last Glacial Maximum. In addition, this profile differs from the one observed in Italian coetaneous groups. Finally, similar to the latest aDNA studies, this study suggests that the Neolithization process of the Peninsula was heterogeneous.

Abstract: High coastal erosion rates along the beaches of the Medoc peninsula urge for the study of the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits buried under the modern dune. Those deposits are known to be exceptionally rich in archaeological remains (from the Mesolithic at least). The aggressive predation of these fossil deposits by the sea explains the urgency of exploring their content and their sedimentological history. Within these formations, the “Lede du Gurp” archaeological site located on the shore, on the administrative boundary of Soulac-sur-Mer and Grayan-et-l’Hopital, is of tremendous value for palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of the Medoc peninsula. This site has preserved remains of dense anthropic activity but also evidence of the history of the estuary’s migration before our contemporary era (i.e. recent centuries). Here we present results of new sedimentological investigations conducted as part of the LITAQ project on and around the site. Continuous and undisturbed sections several metres thick (up to 3.5 m) have been obtained by sampling (sediment slides) and coring operations in the field and studied for their lithostratigraphy (using classic and X-ray imaging coupled with spectrocolorimetry, X-ray fluorescence and grain-size analyses together with radiocarbon dating) along with simultaneous archaeological investigations. Our study refines the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the site over at least the Neolithic period and supports previous interpretations of the origin of these atypical lithofacies, i.e. the deposition of a thick Holocene sequence of clays and peats in a depression associated with karstification processes. Our new datings and observations suggest the possible occurrence of a thermokarst system during the coldest phases of the last deglaciation.

Abstract: This paper presents the latest data on the Mesolithic settlements in the Baltic Seacoast area of Lithuania. For thousands of years changing natural conditions and thedevelopment of the Baltic Sea h ...