Abstract The funerary practices of the archaeological cultures that settled in the Alsace Plain (eastern France) during the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the regional Middle Neolithic have long been perceived as relatively homogeneous. This view has been challenged since the 1990s, following the identification of regional variability that led to the definition of three funerary ‘facies’. The substantial increase in the number of inhumation burials now calls for a reassessment of this model, integrating newly available data from Alsace, together with evidence from well-preserved sites in neighbouring regions. The results reveal a greater degree of variation than previously recognised and allow the identification of several funerary ‘sub-facies’ within the broader facies already defined. This variability, expressed through body orientation and position, grave-pit layout, and artefacts associated with the deceased, cannot be correlated with biological sex or age at death. Its repeated occurrence within specific areas suggests the existence of social dynamics operating at a distinct scale from that of archaeological cultures, defined through ceramic styles. These patterns, shared by segments of the population, may reflect the persistence of social units rooted in particular territories that expressed forms of belonging through different funerary gestures, while simultaneously sharing a wider Danubian identity. By showing that regional funerary variability frequently transcends chrono-cultural divisions based on ceramic styles and, in some cases, corresponds with differences observed in other domains (e.g. domestic architecture, subsistence strategies), this study contributes to questioning once more the perception of archaeological cultures as coherent social entities.
Abstract We present here the extraordinary find of an Early Neolithic mass deposition of headless human bodies at the LBK settlement site of Vráble-Veľké Lehemby. While various scientific analyses are under way, we present the archaeological context of this find and preliminary osteological and taphonomic observations. We discuss these in the light of a patterned and meaningful depositional complexity in Vráble, which embeds into a larger corpus of human remains in ditches surrounding LBK settlements in central Europe. Furthermore, we discuss the significance of the find for the overall discourse on the crisis at the end of the LBK period with regard to the role of violence and the nature of Early Neolithic cosmologies.
Abstract Substantial pits of Mesolithic date are being recognised with ever greater frequency in lowland Britain and adjacent regions of continental Europe. Often without associated artefactual or faunal assemblages, but containing complex fill sequences, the purpose of these pits has proved difficult to establish. Here, we present the results of excavation on what is to date the largest cluster of substantial Mesolithic pits discovered in the British Isles, at Linmere, Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire. An important assemblage of faunal material was recovered from the pits. This, the morphology of the features, their landscape setting adjacent to a spring-fed stream system, and analogy with other large pit systems, are used to support an argument that these were pit-fall traps used in the hunting of the largest herbivores of the time: aurochs (wild cattle). Aggregation and feasting are implied by the character of this activity. Recuts in the partially silted pits, often containing deposits of animal bone, are linked to notions of spiritual reciprocity and commemoration. The creation and subsequent engagement with these pits is seen as tied into the construction and maintenance of social relations at scale (though gathering and consumption), along with matters of place-making, and relationship work with animals and spirits/meta-persons.
Abstract Neolithic developments in central Europe cannot be adequately described through narratives of large-scale sweeping migrations and uniform sociocultural transformations. With such accounts, diversity and hybridisation are commonly relegated to the frontiers, whereas the inner landscapes are portrayed as homogeneously transformed. This paper highlights the biases that sustain this broad-brush image and, drawing on regional case studies, presents the increasing evidence that challenges it. Inhabitants of persistent enclaves maintained distinctive material representations, subsistence strategies, and hypothetically retained specific biological ancestry long after the surrounding regions had adopted the trajectories emphasised in conventional Neolithic schemes. Building on these observations, the paper introduces the concept of inner peripheries: regions situated among the canonical core zones, yet only loosely integrated into their networks. Shaped by specific environmental constraints and social processes, these inner peripheries constituted a structurally important component of broader Neolithic dynamics in central Europe and should not be sidelined. The concept provides a framework for understanding how alternative pathways of development coexisted with more conventional narratives and thus offers a necessary corrective to prevailing interpretative models.
Abstract This report presents 50 AMS radiocarbon dates from wood charcoal samples extracted from newly uncovered Neolithic settlement layers at the archaeological site of Amzabegovo (Sveti Nikole, North Macedonia). It constitutes the largest radiocarbon dataset from a Neolithic site in North Macedonia. The calibrated dates span 6391–5635 cal BC (95.4%), falling within the Early and Middle Neolithic. With an inferred occupation onset potentially as early as 6391–6236 cal BC (95.4%), Amzabegovo provides the earliest securely dated Neolithic settlement layers in the Ovče Pole catchment area and serves as an important chronological reference point for Early Neolithic expansion in the Vardar River basin. The consideration of the radiocarbon dates from the American excavations led by Marija Gimbutas in 1969–1970 highlights both the possibilities and the limitations of juxtaposing the old and new datasets. Future analyses of the archaeological stratigraphy and material from Amzabegovo hold the potential to offer insights into the Neolithic period in the southern Balkans and beyond, with the new radiocarbon dates significantly enhancing our understanding of the region’s chronological developments.
Abstract Recent advances in ancient DNA and isotope analysis have enabled archaeologists to detect migration events in the distant past. Yet, novel approaches evaluating the cultural impact of these migrations are lacking. As a result, archaeologists continue to debate problematic culture-historical scenarios in which migrants rapidly supplant passive indigenous communities. This study outlines a bottom-up, quantitative approach to prehistoric migrations. This approach uses Bayesian chronological modelling to investigate whether migrating and indigenous communities co-existed. In addition, a novel probabilistic comparison of ceramic technology traces whether cultural knowledge is exchanged between potters in these communities. This approach is applied to the emergence of Corded Ware communities in the Netherlands during the 3rd millennium BC. The outcomes demonstrate that this process was not a rapid replacement of indigenous groups by migrants, as sometimes stated. Instead, migrants likely co-existed with indigenous communities for centuries, learned ceramic production from them, and incorporated this knowledge into the production of characteristic Corded Ware ceramics. Furthermore, the outcomes suggest this scenario was likely commonplace for prehistoric migration in the 3rd and 4th millennia BC. As such, this study provides new approaches and insights which enable archaeologists to shed light on prehistoric migration, talk back to archaeogenetics on an equal footing, and contribute to broader societal debates on migration.
Excavations at the Iron Age site of Worlebury hillfort during the mid-late 19th century revealed a large number of human skeletal remains, interpreted as victims of a ‘massacre’. Reanalysis of these remains, combining AMS dating, osteological, aDNA, histotaphonomy, and isotope analysis, has enabled a re-evaluation of this hypothesis. AMS dating lends support to the notion that many of these individuals may have died during a single episode, while osteological analysis has identified significant evidence for perimortem trauma, and the histology supports a short period between death and deposition. The genetic data suggest that the human remains represent a group with biological links through the maternal line and connections to another nearby site, while the isotope values are consistent with a local population, consuming animals raised in a salt-marsh environment like the Severn Estuary. Our results demonstrate the value of returning to often unpromising antiquarian collections using an integrated suite of modern analytical approaches.
Late Iron Age and Early Roman human depictions are often thought to display stylistic influences from European La Tène art and, later, Roman classical art. However, with the analysis of metal figurines attributed to the period, many reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, this paper argues that some of these artefacts could include stylistic influences from an earlier wooden tradition, which appears to originate in the Bronze Age. This paper therefore presents a new hypothesis regarding the development of anthropomorphic art in later Iron Age Britain, whilst also highlighting the importance of contributions of data from the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The discovery of Middle Bronze Age field systems at Fengate, to the east of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire (Pryor 1980), in the 1970s, was hugely significant for Bronze Age studies in eastern England. Since then, gravel quarry excavations along the western edge of the East Anglian Fens – several of which have become vast, long-running landscape projects – have shaped our understanding of the region’s prehistory. This paper will examine new evidence from the (comparatively) ‘upland’ region of East Anglia, to the south and east of the Fens – primarily through two case study landscapes: South Cambridgeshire (along the Cam Valley) and East Norfolk (the Bure and Yare/Wensum Valleys). Both areas have seen extensive archaeological investigation over the past 15 years and offer new perspectives on the region’s Bronze Age, where land division and settlement context appear different to that of the Fenland and where burial rites display a diversity that has until recently been largely unrecognised. Recent and upcoming publication of these landscapes highlights the need for up-to-date synthesis and review of the region’s Middle Bronze Age evidence, and accordingly, the wider East Anglian context is also briefly considered here, in the hope of providing stimulus for further research and analysis.
The source of material for Group XX stone artefacts is reassessed using extant geological and petrological information and complemented with new field and artefact pXRF analyses. Our reassessment of extant archaeological and petrological data supports earlier conclusions that a possible origin for Group XX stone tools is in the Charnwood Forest area, just north of Leicester. Based on petrographic evidence, this source is now considered to lie within the geological Bradgate Formation. This formation is exposed in a broad, U-shaped band around the eastern and southern fringes of Charnwood Forest where the Ediacaran volcanic tuff rocks form rugged exposures penetrating the overlying Triassic sandstones and mudstones. A new study of Group XX artefacts at museums in Cambridge, Leicester, Lincoln, and Sheffield revealed a number of distinct morphologies, two of which lead us to suggest that they represent axehead templates that are likely to have derived from specific design and manufacturing, rather than from ad-hoc extraction or loose material selection and random shaping. New pXRF data are used to supplement existing information and similarities in immobile large ion lithophile and high field strength element concentrations between both artefacts and exposures, presenting the possibility that the immediate area near the Windmill Hill exposure of the Bradgate Formation, at Woodhouse Eaves, is close to, or indeed contains the source of, Group XX material.
Newgrange, the Neolithic monument and centerpiece of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage complex, is a high-profile example of prehistoric societies’ observation of, and reverence for, solar events. Comparatively little is known about how these concepts were remembered by those using Newgrange over subsequent millennia. While excavations have uncovered large quantities of later material culture, debate continues about what these subsequent activities represent. We combine zooarchaeological, radiocarbon, and isotopic evidence to assess the nature and seasonality of human–animal–environment relationships at Newgrange. Results show a concentration of feasting activity, focused on pigs, dating to 2600–2450 BC and indicate that most pigs were slaughtered shortly after a period of rapid, pannage-fueled weight gain. This seasonal specificity indicates feasting likely occurred in the weeks around the winter solstice and suggests that, centuries after passage tomb construction ended, practices at Newgrange continued to focus on the general winter solstice timeframe. We also connect a unique isotopic signature for mast (tree nuts) with pannage husbandry, a pattern that should allow for reinterpretation of archaeological pig diets and human–woodland relationships across Europe.
Sheath-ends are poorly represented in works regarding weaponry of the Cimmerian period (10th–7th century BC), despite forming an important component, particularly among the melee weapons of the time. There are several reasons for this neglect: until recently, the number of known sheath-ends was quite small, thus making it impossible to speak of types, variants or cultural affiliations; also, most of the previously published sheath-ends are spread over a large territory and were published many decades ago. Therefore, some of them may be unknown to researchers due to the age of publications, as well as linguistic and cultural barriers. Over the past few years, a larger number of new sheath-ends has emerged. Some of them belong to previously known types, others are completely new. Their analysis is here conducted using the comparative method. The total number of sheath-ends now known makes it possible to begin a discussion about their types, chronology and origins, which will undoubtedly develop as new finds appear.
Africa has the oldest artefacts and evidence for fire. It is where Homo sapiens evolved and developed novel technologies before dispersing into the rest of the world some 70ka ago. There is, however, no reliable evidence in Africa for artificial shelters and dwellings older than 20ka. This paper sets out to understand why such basic architecture appears so late in a continent with great environmental variation and a deep history of innovation. The approach combines evidence from micro and macro scales of analysis. The micro scale uses ethnoarchaeological studies of Africa’s small circular houses to examine how and why gender separates their occupants both spatially and through their access to food stores. At the macro scale, the absence of food stores among Africa’s extant hunters and gatherers is predicted from environmental factors that apply to the whole continent. Without food storage there are no significant dwellings. I then turn to the archaeological evidence for the appearance of dwellings and storage from Africa and the Levant, a contiguous region where huts are known at 23ka. The evidence for dwellings in Europe is then considered. While dwellings are earlier here than in Africa and the Levant none are reliably older than 32ka. They are found with evidence for food storage. The paper explores the implications of this chronological framework for a major transition in hominin evolution that, before agriculture, involved intensification in subsistence combined with storage, and a novel architecture of gendered spaces now found worldwide.
Mesolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers manufactured many kinds of composite tools, among them a variety of adzes and axes with antler, bone, stone or wood heads and other insets. The adzes and axes were constructed from two or three parts, sometimes including a fixed or a separate one- or two-part intermediate piece between handle and blade. These sleeves were made of different raw materials and shapes. This paper presents new results on wooden sleeves, especially the one-part sockets, which seem to have been used exclusively by the Mesolithic and Neolithic foraging cultures in Europe. Sleeves from 15 sites in Germany, Latvia, Poland and Russia are described and discussed. Attention is drawn to the use of roots and burrs (burls) which were utilised for the sleeves, illustrating the detailed technical and material knowledge of these post-glacial populations.
The period between 450 and 350 BC is regarded as a time of significant social change during the European Iron Age, with numerous processes of transformation, instability, conflict, and mobility unfolding across the European continent. However, in contrast to other episodes of abrupt social transformation, this period has received considerably less attention: it has been understood as a starting point or a sudden change but not usually researched in its own right. The present study begins by reviewing different European archaeological contexts, exploring how this century is usually interpreted as a significant break. Next, the focus will shift to a specific region, north-west Iberia, in order to identify changes in patterns of occupation and social dynamics. The primary objective is to examine the shift that occurred around 400 BC, identify any common pattern or trend across different regions, and assess long-term consequences. Finally, I propose a series of interpretations at different scales, aiming to raise some possible hypotheses for understanding the development of this brief yet eventful period.
The results of research on the human remains and artefacts recently discovered at Heaning Wood Bone Cave, Cumbria, UK are reported. A programme of radiocarbon dating has established that the human remains include the earliest so far discovered in northern Britain, the ‘Ossick Lass’, which date between 9290 and 8925 cal BC. The cave was used for burial during three phases in prehistory: one individual dating to the Early Mesolithic, four to the Early Neolithic and two to the Early Bronze Age and is thus an important addition to our developing knowledge about the deposition of human remains in caves in north-west Europe at these dates. Genomic analysis has established that all but one of the sampled individuals were biologically female. Osteological and taphonomic analysis shows that, in each phase, the burial practice seems to have been successive inhumation of the recently deceased body into the vertical entrance of the cave. Artefacts associated with the burials include perforated periwinkle shell beads radiocarbon dated to the Early Mesolithic, a small assemblage of worked stone, including diagnostically Early Neolithic pieces, and sherds of Early Bronze Age Collared Urn pottery.
This paper presents excavation results from Nyabusora, northern Tanzania, conducted by M. Posnansky and W.W. Bishop (1959) and M. Posnansky (1961). Only preliminary reports have previously been published. It synthesises the site’s history, incorporating previously unpublished analyses and information from Posnansky’s original field notes, and presents new 2014 field survey results and new archival research. Nyabusora holds particular significance as the only Early to Middle Stone Age (ESA/MSA) site in the region to have yielded both lithic and faunal remains, which gain new relevance in light of recent developments in ESA/MSA archaeology in eastern Africa. Nyabusora’s ‘Sangoan’ lithic assemblage is now largely decontextualised and associated finds have been lost, so this study presents the only available lithic and faunal analyses, alongside interpretations of the stratigraphic sequence and site. Such stratified assemblages are exceptionally rare and are generally attributed to the Middle Pleistocene. This research enhances understanding of Plio-Pleistocene landscape evolution in the Kagera River and western Lake Victoria-Nyanza Basin. It contributes important new data on ESA/MSA lithic variability and, via ongoing investigations by Basell within the Kagera catchment, offers huge potential for clarifying Middle Pleistocene palaeoenvironments.
The aim of this paper is to provide an in-depth study, including both invasive and non-invasive chemical analyses, and lead isotope analysis, of one of the northernmost Early Neolithic copper flat axeheads in Europe, the Öja axehead from west Sweden. In addition, we present an updated catalogue of the early copper axeheads found in Sweden. Our analyses suggest that the copper used to manufacture the Öja axehead originates from eastern Serbian ore sources, confirming previous studies on other Early Neolithic metal finds from southern Scandinavia. Comparing our results with the current understanding of copper production and circulation across the continent during the 5th and 4th millennium BCE, important new questions emerge concerning early copper mining in south-east Europe and the production and consumption of early copper artefacts in Europe and Scandinavia.
This contribution provides a chronological overview which is the result of a research programme carried out over the last few years in Normandy and which is based, among other things, on recent discoveries made in this region during developer-funded excavations. The overview looks phase by phase at the different characteristics of the Middle Neolithic in Normandy, and sets them against the wider context of the Neolithic transition of north-west France. The geographical area covered by this study encompasses the margin of the Armorican Massif in the west and the sedimentary basins between the Armorican Massif and the Seine Valley in the east. The chronology used in this study largely refers to the sequence established in France and is discussed on the basis of absolute dates (in cal BC) for the sake of transparency. The main objective of this publication is to connect the recent advances made on either side of the Channel, in particular with regard to the chronology of the various Neolithic groups. By presenting our British colleagues with the current state of research in our area of study we want to spark discussion and develop new collaboration.
Where are the missing long barrows of eastern England? Do they exist as the original earthwork form of cropmark long enclosures? Or do these represent a distinct tradition? To explore this, geophysical surveys were carried out on the region’s rare surviving long barrows. Comparable signals suggest that most long enclosures are indeed likely to have been long barrows. Other morphological factors, however, differ from long barrows elsewhere and, coupled with evidence from excavation, suggest different origins and histories. Ditches may have been markedly secondary rather than primary features, for example, and other elements hint at Continental connections. However it originated, the form appears to have subsequently emerged as a symbol in its own right and been expanded to cursus dimensions.
