Abstract: Determining the degree to which humans relied on coastal resources in the past is key for understanding long-term social and economic development, as well as for assessing human health and anthropogenic impacts on the environment. Prehistoric hunter–gatherers are often assumed to have heavily exploited aquatic resources, especially those living in regions of high marine productivity. For the Mediterranean, this view has been challenged, partly by the application of stable isotope analysis of skeletal remains which has shown more varied coastal hunter–gatherer diets than in other regions, perhaps due to its lower productivity. By undertaking a more specific analysis of amino acids from bone collagen of 11 individuals from one of the oldest and best-known Mesolithic cemeteries in the Mediterranean, at El Collado, Valencia, we show that high levels of aquatic protein consumption were achieved. By measuring both carbon and nitrogen in amino acids, we conclude that some of the El Collado humans relied heavily on local lagoonal fish and possibly shellfish, rather than open marine species. By contrast to previous suggestions, this study demonstrates that the north-western coast of the Mediterranean basin could support maritime-oriented economies during the Early Holocene.

Abstract: For more than 25 years, I have been involved in field research on the Neolithic in the Netherlands, trying to understand how people lived and how society evolved in this time and place. The major research problem is the transition from a purely hunting and gathering to a fully agrarian society: in what time trajectory and how and why this transition took place. Although I have a great interest in theoretical-level explanations of this fundamental socioeconomic change, daily research practice is, however, a more basic archaeological craftmanship. One can construct nice explanatory models for big problems in huge areas, but such models need to be tested or at least to be related to evidence. This requires detailed and reliable data, derived by controlled scientific investigation from sites that, in their turn, have to be discovered and selected. Thus, our research practice is a struggle with fundamental things, like site location, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, establishment of local subsistence, raw material acquisition and procurement, site functions within settlement Systems, and even more basic: the identification of house plans from post clusters, absolute and relative dating, and a critical application of middle range or archaeological formation theory. Yes, we have a corpus — for outsiders, possibly impressive — of hard archaeological evidence from well-documented contexts, but I experience more and more the restrictions of our primary sources for making assessments about the people that left the relics, realizing also how easily we can uncritically favor those interpretations that fit our theories. And then: how representative are our sites, restricted in number and confined to certain microregions? This chapter will deal with this quest for field evidence. I very well realize that all efforts of the team involved should end up in a nice explanatory model, a sequence of positive and negative feedback, in which technological and agrarian innovation, demographic developments, and social and environmental changes all play their part. But it is not postprocessual scepticism that makes me feel

Abstract: Open‐air sites represent a fundamental proxy of the Early Holocene adaptive systems in the Iberian Peninsula. However, its research potential for the study of human–environmental interactions has been minimally explored. In this work, we present the results of an integrated research programme focused on open‐area excavations at the Mesolithic site of Arenal de la Virgen (Alicante, Spain). Novel multi‐scalar geoarchaeological and archaeo‐stratigraphic studies, coupled with featured‐based palaeobotanical analysis, were used to design an extensive radiocarbon dating programme and produce different Bayesian chronological models. Our results distinguish two different Mesolithic occupation phases, dating to 9.3–9.1 and 8.6–8.3k cal a bp respectively, consisting of combustion features and lithic scatters. The comparison of occupational dynamics with the nearby palaeoecological records of Salines and Villena indicated that both Mesolithic phases occurred under relatively stable environmental conditions. The second Mesolithic phase, however, ended during the onset of the 8.2k cal a bp climatic event, when sedimentation processes shifted from soil formation to accretion of aeolian sands. We demonstrate that the end of the Mesolithic occupations at Arenal de la Virgen coincides with the cessation of radiocarbon‐dated activity in other open‐air Postglacial sites in the central Mediterranean region of Iberia.

Abstract: This paper heeds the broader societal calls for decolonisation in Britain and Ireland, and seeks to apply various strands of decolonial practice within the context of Mesolithic archaeology; a subfield which has seen little postcolonial reflection to date. We question the historic interactions between Mesolithic archaeology and colonial hegemony, and argue that Mesolithic research continues to reinforce these hegemonies today. This occurs simultaneously within Europe, and on the inter-continental scale. With this in mind, we explore areas of Mesolithic research practice that hold potential to shift this dynamic, and contribute to the deconstruction of colonially rooted power imbalances. In doing so, our focus falls upon the ethics of ethnographic analogy, and the ontological turn within Mesolithic Studies.

Abstract: Hazelnuts were an important foodstuff for Early to Mid-Holocene (Mesolithic) hunter-gatherers all over North-western and Central Europe, mainly thanks to their high fat content, the fact that they are easy to collect and process and produce high areal yields. Based on an extensive and well-dated dataset of charred hazelnut shells, collected on Mesolithic camp-sites from the western Scheldt basin (W Belgium), in this paper the availability of this food resource is studied. Unlike other North(west) European regions, the decline in the exploitation and consumption of hazelnuts in the Scheldt basin appears to start early, from the mid-Boreal period onwards. The available high-resolution pollen and anthracological records indicate that this is presumably related to the rapid and substantial expansion of oak, creating a shady environment which was less favourable for hazel. This paper further examines the impact as well as the possible response of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to this drastic change in subsistence resources, which arose on top of other challenges during the Boreal, such as increased drought and forest fires, abrupt cooling around 9.3 ka and the possible influx of groups from the adjacent drowning North Sea basin. Human responses possibly ranged from increased mobility, over intensified exploitation of other edible plants to increased fish consumption. The paper ends with emphasizing the importance of high-resolution paleoecological studies on a local/regional level as well as the systematic fine-meshed recovery of plant remains, such as charred hazelnut shells, from archaeological sites.

Abstract: Abstract This article focuses on the Mesolithic record of northeastern Italy, one of the key European regions for studying the last prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups. Most specifically, it aims to compare the rich Early and Late Mesolithic evidence, trying to shed some light on the shift between these two periods. Such a topic is approached at a regional scale, that is to say, by comparing the overall record and trying to identify similarities and divergences concerning different aspects of past lifeways such as settlement strategies, technology, exploitation of faunal resources, ornamental traditions and burial rituals. Overall, by providing an updated regional synthesis, the presented data highlight aspects of continuity and discontinuity between these two periods and contribute significantly to the debate concerning the modalities in which this transition took place in Southern Europe.

Abstract: Abstract In the Western Mediterranean Basin, the last hunter-gatherer societies fall within a chronological range between the 9th and 5th millennia cal. BCE, that is, between the cold oscillation of the Younger Dryas and the Holocene climatic optimum, before disappearing under the expansion of the first Neolithic societies. The variability in cultural expressions is very high, as shown by the variability in the lithic industries, a technical field which, from a historiographical point of view, is the preferred approach of archaeologists to address these issues. However, convergences in technical choices or typological features show the existence of major currents of diffusion and exchange between many of these Mesolithic groups. But the discussion of these cultural dynamics requires knowing precisely the absolute chronology of these groups and the detailed characteristics of their material productions. The aim of this article is so to re-examine the chronocultural organization of the Mesolithic of the Western Mediterranean, especially the first part of it, roughly from the middle of the 10th millennium cal. BCE to the middle of the 6th, on the basis of a critical revision of the absolute dates.

Abstract: Abstract Studies on prehistoric osseous barbed points have relied heavily on typology in linking presumed types to broader techno-complexes, and for making chronological inferences. The accumulation of both new finds and of radiocarbon dates obtained directly on such artefacts, however, has revealed that (i) shape variability defies neat typological divisions, and that (ii) chronological inferences based on typology often fail. To further query these issues and to better understand the design choices and cultural evolutionary dynamics within this artefact class, we present a 2D open-outline geometric morphometric analysis of 50 directly dated Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene osseous barbed points primarily from northern and western Europe. The results indicate that (a) different components (tip, base, and barbs) of these artefacts were subject to varying design constraints and that (b) there is no clear-cut distinction between Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic point traditions. Different techno-functional components evolved at various rates while specimens assigned to the same type and/or techno-complex are only occasionally morphologically similar. The results reflect a relatively low level of normativity for this artefact class and likely a repeated convergence on similar design elements. We propose that interpretations linked to cultural dynamics, individual craft agency, and repeated convergence on locally optimal designs may offer more satisfying avenues for thinking about the barbed points of this period.

Abstract: Hearth-pits are some of the most common archaeological features documented in open-air Mesolithic sites, especially in coversand areas of NW Europe. However, very few geoarchaeological studies have addressed their formation, function and relationship with occupation surfaces. This work introduces new interdisciplinary investigations on the sediments of the Mesolithic open-air site of El Arenal de la Virgen (SE Iberia). A selection of five hearth-pits from two different occupation phases (Phase 1: 9.3-9.1 cal ka BP and Phase 2: 8.6-8.3 cal ka BP) has been analysed using stratigraphy, texture, soil chemistry, micromorphology, petrography and OSL and TL analyses. Combustion traits of the carbonate rock assemblages preserved in the sediments of the hearth-pits have also been investigated and compared to reference and experimental data from local geogenic materials. Our results allowed us to discuss the anthropogenic origin and taphonomy of the hearth-pits studied and approach their function. The structures from Phase 1 are interpreted as a possible oven and a dumping feature linked to single/occasional use events. In contrast, for hearth-pits from Phase 2, we propose they were related to combustion and dwelling areas subject to recurrent occupation episodes and disturbance. Finally, our sedimentary and soil data revealed existing favourable paleoenvironmental conditions during the Mesolithic occupation of the site characterized by increased moisture, temperature and vegetation cover, in contrast to the Pleistocene and Middle Holocene periods pre- and post-dating the human settlement. This work highlights the potential of integrating geoarchaeological and contextual evidence to clarify the factors involved in the formation of hearth-pits and infer intra-site occupation patterns.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-023-01794-5.

Abstract: Abstract The coastal areas of Southeast Norway underwent dramatic environmental changes throughout the Mesolithic period. Continuous postglacial land uplift/isostatic rebound lead to retreating shorelines turning former seabed into coastal hinterland. While archaeological research lately has focused on the coastal and marine orientation of Mesolithic groups in the region, their interaction with the wooded coastal hinterland is little researched. This article explores shifting human–environment relations connected to these long-term changes. The starting points are nine archaeological sites in the Oslo fjord region, from which the artefact material shows that they were coast based in the earlier Mesolithic. They all have yielded radiocarbon dates from structures, mostly hearths, with later Mesolithic datings. At these later times, the sites had turned into elevated hinterland locations. First, the archaeological context and sample material of these later dates are discussed; on this basis, it is suggested that these later dates, earlier interpreted as impaction of forest fires, indicate the use of elevated hinterland locations in the Mesolithic. Second, this article explores the relevance of the wooded hinterland for the Mesolithic groups of the region, including animated beings, wayfinding practices and the possible function of these hinterland locations as potential practical and cosmological anchor points and strategic points in a communication system. It is argued that the study of the use of the hunter-fisher-gatherers’ interaction with the wooded and rocky coastal hinterland is needed to achieve a holistic understanding of their involvement and socializing with their world.

Abstract: Abstract The site Zamostje 2, located in Sergiev-Posad district of Moscow (Russia) on the west bank of the Dubna River, has provided two Mesolithic and one Early Neolithic occupations dated from 7000 to 5400 cal BC. Thanks to the waterlogged environment, the site has an exceptional preservation. The site has yielded fishing screens, fishing fences, wooden fishing traps, and several small cordage remains elaborated with plant fibres, pine bark floats, fragments of paddles, and other wooden objects. In this work, we present the study of the fragments of cordage and fishing nets with the objective of providing new insights into the production and use of implements made of plant fibres. We have characterized the production process by analysing the morphological and technical characteristics by carrying out experimentation with plant fibres in order to obtain reference material to recognize them at an archaeological level. The analysis of 82 knots and 23 fragments of strings has allowed to determine that they were elaborated with single threads from 0.5 to 1.5 mm thick, which is noticeably smaller than most examples from other sites. All of them were elaborated with woody bast fibres.

Abstract: Cal Sitjo is a new archaeological sequence located in a chert-rich region of the NE Iberian Peninsula, in the town of Sant Martí de Tous (Anoia, Barcelona). The area has undergone significant anthropisation and several archaeological sites (e.g., Vilars de Tous), quarries and workshops for the exploitation of chert (e.g., La Guinardera) have been documented, corresponding to different periods. The abundance of chert made this region an almost obligatory passageway for hunter-gatherer communities such as those occupying the nearby cliffs of Cinglera del Capelló (Capellades), located at a direct distance of 15 km, as well as an ideal settlement for later farming communities. Discovered in 2019, the first excavation campaign was carried out in the fall of 2020. Dates have been obtained from a known sequence of around 8 m, providing a chronological framework that ranges from the Mesolithic to the Middle Neolithic. The preliminary results of this excavation have brought to light lithics, ceramics and charcoals from the Neolithic levels (Levels 3 and 4), and faunal, lithic and charcoal remains from the Mesolithic levels (cleaning section). Our preliminary results confirm that this sequence is an ideal location for a diachronic study of the evolution from the last hunter-gatherers to the first farmers, from a paleoenvironmental and technological perspective, as well as in terms of chert management and distribution in a territory with a great abundance of this raw material.

Abstract: OBJECTIVES Diaphyseal robusticity and cross-sectional shapes of the bone tissues are influenced by mechanical loading history. It changes according to work demand on the body. It is the objective of this study to identify the shifts in the modes of subsistence, activities and mobility patterns through the comparison of the shape and strength of bone diaphyses among the Mesolithic, Chalcolithic and Harappan populations of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS For the analysis, 7 sites including 2 from Mesolithic (8000-4000 bc), 2 from Chalcolithic (2000-700 bc) and 3 from Harappan (3500-1800 bc) contexts are considered. The ratio obtained from the maximum length of the bones to their girth (at 50% or 35% from the distal end) and that from anterior-posterior and medio-lateral diameters were calculated (following Martin and Saller codes, 1957) to understand certain functional adaptations and stress markers on preserved long bones. Independent-sample T-tests and ANOVA were applied to detect mean differences of statistical significance within and between cultures. RESULTS The robusticity indices obtained from the humeri increase from the hunting-gathering phase (M/F; 19.39/18.45) to the Chalcolithic phase (M/F; 21.99/19.39) showing a slight drop in the Harappan phase (M/F; 18.58/18.37). The right humeri of Mesolithic females show a directional asymmetry of length (4.08%-5.13%) while that in males reach up to 26.09% indicating right-dominant lateralization. In the Harappan phase, females show a greater value for the right ranging from 0.31% to 3.07%. The femoral robusticity of females increases from 11.42 in hunting-gathering societies to 13.28 in Harappan times while mid-shaft of the Mesolithic population clearly shows greater loading along the anterior-posterior (A-P) plane as the index in most cases exceeds 100. There are significant differences among males and females within each group in terms of the indices but significant differences could be discerned between the Mesolithic, Chalcolithic and Harappan populations in case of tibiae, radii and ulnae only. CONCLUSION The occupation patterns certainly changed as humans became a food-producer from a hunter-gatherer. Occupations involving the extensive flexion and extension of upper limbs in the Chalcolithic period increase particularly in the Harappan phase. Sedentism gave rise to roundness of the femur and reduced the magnitude of lateralization. While equal level of mobility can be traced in case of both the sexes before the advent of agriculture, this distinction increases between the males and females in the agro-pastoral phases.

Abstract: The cemetery at Dudka was used in the Mesolithic and Para-Neolithic period. It yielded 25 graves with remains of at least 116 individuals, including 52 who were cremated. Cremation was introduced in the Para-Neolithic, c. 4200 cal BC, and was probably a locally developed custom. Most cremations are dated to the classic Zedmar period, when the number of loose human bones also increased significantly, indicating the growing role of multi-step burial rites. Cremation could have been an alternative to temporary burial, i.e. bones were cleaned of soft tissue using fire, instead of waiting for their natural decomposition. Burned remains were selected and divided like bones taken from temporary burial places, then stored for a time before final disposal in the cemetery.

Abstract: Abstract Palimpsests are ubiquitous in the open-air archaeological record. Yet, integrated intra-site research strategies of palimpsest dissection to infer occupational histories, spatial behavioural patterns and site formation processes remain scarce in the postglacial archaeology. In this work, we apply an integrated protocol of palimpsest analysis to the Mesolithic Unit IV of El Arenal de la Virgen site, radiocarbon dated in two different occupation phases (9.3–9.1 k and 8.6–8.3 k cal BP). While the archaeostratigraphic analysis identified the absence of sterile layers between both phases, the lithic refits confirmed the good preservation of the spatial properties of the assemblage. Using different point pattern analysis and geostatistical techniques, we further investigate the overall distribution pattern, the spatial correlation between lithic remains and occupation features according to different artefact categories, and the variability of spatial autocorrelation in the frequency of burnt microdebris. Our results suggest a behavioural pattern of different, and spatially recurrent, short-term camp occupation episodes. Built on explicit quantitative and reproducible standards, our research approach can be applied to other open-air sites to conduct comparative studies on open-air occupation patterns. This study underscores the importance of considering the palimpsest as an analytical unit and the need for assessing assemblage integrity and site formation processes through multidisciplinary approaches, to better characterise site occupation dynamics.