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Hunter-Gatherer Culture Change and Continuity in the Middle Holocene of the Cis-Baikal, Siberia
Abstract
Boreal forest hunter-gatherers who lived in the Lake Baikal region of Siberia between 9000 and 3000 years ago left behind a rich record of mortuary and habitation sites. In this article, we employ the results of human osteological, stable isotope, and faunal analyses to formulate an hypothesis about discontinuity in the development of Cis-Baikal hunter-gatherers. These data are further used to arrive at more specific working hypotheses on contrasting subsistence, mobility, and social interaction patterns of the two cultures that inhabited the region at different times. We then provide a new model of culture change and continuity that features an intriguing 700-800-year gap between these two groups' records of occupation within a context of practically no environmental change.
... Fourth, and related to the above, the structure of any particular diet, must be inferred from the assessment of human stable isotope values in the context of stable isotope measurements available for all possible food groups and in conjunction with other available archaeological information, such as the faunal data [c.f., Katzenberg and Weber, 1999b;Katzenberg et al., 2009Katzenberg et al., , 2012Losey and Nomokonova, 2017;Losey et al., 2008Losey et al., , 2012Nomokonova et al., 2015;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2011Weber et al., , 2016aWeber et al., , 2016b. Although evaluation of diet structure of the examined units is not a goal of this analysis, our current understanding of the identified changes in diet over time is given in the "Trend description" column of Table 7. ...
... The dietary trend that has come to a sharper focus with the expansion of the Lokomotiv sample is best explained in terms of increased consumption of local fishes from the section of the Angara between Lake Baikal and the Irkut River and perhaps a few kilometers further downstream from the mouth of the latter. According to Kozhov [1950]; Weber et al., 2002, this fishery is dominated by three species only: black grayling, lenok, and taimen', accounting for 80, 15, and 5% of its volume, respectively [Weber et al., 2002]. Importantly, of these three, the black grayling population migrates between the lake and the very upper section of the Angara. ...
... The dietary trend that has come to a sharper focus with the expansion of the Lokomotiv sample is best explained in terms of increased consumption of local fishes from the section of the Angara between Lake Baikal and the Irkut River and perhaps a few kilometers further downstream from the mouth of the latter. According to Kozhov [1950]; Weber et al., 2002, this fishery is dominated by three species only: black grayling, lenok, and taimen', accounting for 80, 15, and 5% of its volume, respectively [Weber et al., 2002]. Importantly, of these three, the black grayling population migrates between the lake and the very upper section of the Angara. ...
Analyses of radiocarbon dates (all corrected for the freshwater reservoir effect) and associated stable isotope values obtained from the skeletal remains of ~560 individuals provide many new insights about Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers (HG) of the Cis-Baikal region, Eastern Siberia. The new radiocarbon evidence clarifies the culture history of the region by defining better the boundaries between the chronological (archaeological periods) and cultural (mortuary traditions) units, as well as our understanding of the transitions between them. Furthermore, differences between the four archaeological micro-regions with regard to the timing and duration of these culture historical units have come into focus for the first time. In terms of dietary patterns, the Early Neolithic foragers of the Angara and Southwest Baikal trended towards a greater reliance on aquatic foods. A similar trend was found in the Late Neolithic Isakovo group on the Angara, while the Late Neolithic Serovo group in the Little Sea trended towards an increased dietary reliance on terrestrial game. In the Early Bronze Age HG, a mosaic of dietary patterns was found: some groups experienced dietary shifts (frequently emphasizing different foods), while other groups displayed stability. Such differences were found even between close neighbours. All these results suggest significant variation in patterns of culture change within and between archaeological periods, mortuary traditions, and micro-regions. Some cultural patterns developed at a quick pace, others much more slowly; some appear to have collapsed rapidly, while others probably went through a more gradual transition to a different pattern. Additionally, this large set of radiocarbon dates allows novel insights into patterns of cemetery use: some seem to have been used continuously, others only sporadically, and some show long periods of disuse. Moreover, some cemeteries of the same mortuary tradition were apparently in use substantially earlier than others were even established. In sum, Cis-Baikal Middle Holocene HG strategies underwent a range of changes not only at the boundaries between relevant culture historical units but also within such units. New insights suggest considerable spatio-temporal variation in the nature, pace, and timing of these developments.
... Some of these zones may have been able to support specialized subsistence behaviors in prehistoric hunter-gatherer populations. The range of potential food sources for subarctic populations like Early Neolithic (EN) hunter-gatherers in Cis-Baikal is assumed to rely heavily on hunting and fishing resources (Katzenberg et al., 2010;Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., 2002;Weber et al., 2016a). EN archaeological assemblages contain varied hunting and fishing technologies (Okladnikov, 1950(Okladnikov, , 1955. ...
... Individuals analyzed for isotopic tests ( 14 C, 13 C, 15 N, and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) in previous studies have been overwhelmingly adults (e.g., Katzenberg and Weber, 1999;Weber et al., 2002;Weber et al., 2016a). Individuals who died before adulthood have been studied separately (e.g., Waters-Rist et al., 2011). ...
... Eerkens et al., 2004). They do not appear to have been accessible in a predictable distribution in sufficient volumes to have supplanted fish and game as dietary staples (Link, 1999;Weber et al., 2002). ...
Dietary reconstructions increasingly rely on Bayesian techniques such as Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transferred Signals (FRUITS). These models benefit from the use of additional isotopic proxies (¹³C, ¹⁵N, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr), which help refine proportional contributions of potentially overlapping reference groups. However, each new isotope comes with additional considerations and uncertainties. Strontium isotopes are typically discussed as recording primarily geographic information (place of origin) that can be used to infer the movements of individuals through different phases of their lives. Yet, strontium is incorporated into the body through the foods consume, as are ¹³C and ¹⁵N, raising the question of whether strontium ratios are informing primarily about movement of the individual or changes in the diet. Inferring human movement across landscape thus relies on demonstration that observed values could not have come from local sources and required inputs from other geographic regions. Contemporary biogeochemical records are necessary to resolve these possibilities. Refinements in the developmental age estimates for the specific sampling locations on human teeth enable the integration of additional isotopic data through matching of biochemical signatures obtained from dentin and enamel micro-samples. Using multi-isotopic dietary modeling allows better assessment of relative contributions to overall diet of food groups such as terrestrial large game, lake or riverine fish, seal, and plants (inner bark, willow shoots, mushrooms). Notable variability between human molars and adult bone strontium isotopic ratios has been inferred as representing the presence of non-locals at the Shamanka II cemetery. Dietary reconstruction suggests that plants are the primary variable responsible for this “mobility” indicator.
... The Middle Neolithic (MN) marks a long interruption in formal cemetery usage in Cis-Baikal, such that little is known concerning its mortuary practices. Although it is unlikely that this was a result of depopulation of the area (Weber, 2020), morphological and ancient DNA studies indicate that there is either genetic displacement between the EN and LN/EBA groups or greater admixture during the LN/EBA (de Barros Damgaard et al., 2018a, 2018bWaters-Rist et al., 2016;Weber, 1995;Weber et al., 2002;Weber and Bettinger, 2010). Additionally, it has been posited that the incoming peoples were of western (i.e. ...
... upper Yenisei) or southern (i.e. Mongolia or NW China) origin (Waters-Rist et al., 2016;Weber et al., 2002), though with little empirical support. Recent genetic analyses indicate that the LN and EBA component shows an increase in Ancient Northeast Asian (ANE) ancestry (de Barros Damgaard et al., 2018b). ...
... et al. (2012);Kucklick et al. (1996);Weber et al. (2002);Yoshii et al. al. (2012);Weber et al. (2002) ...
A considerable amount of bioarchaeological research – including AMS 14C dating and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) – has been undertaken on the hunter-gatherers from the area west of Lake Baikal, known as Cis-Baikal. No such work has previously been reported for the east side of the lake, Trans-Baikal. Here, we present new radiocarbon dates and isotopic results for twenty individuals from the Fofanovo cemetery, located along the Selenga River on the southeast coast of Lake Baikal.
Once corrected for an old carbon effect using regression equations developed for Cis-Baikal, the radiocarbon results form 4 chronological clusters: 1) Late Mesolithic (LM), around 7950 cal BP (n = 3); 2) Late Neolithic (LN), between ca. 6000 and 5500 cal BP (n = 5); 3) LN to Early Bronze Age (EBA), between ca. 4900 and 4500 cal BP (n = 2); and the largest cluster 4) later EBA, around 3700 cal BP (n = 10). The LM Cluster 1 dates indicate that formal cemetery use in Trans-Baikal may have begun earlier than in Cis-Baikal. Clusters 2 and 3 reveal a previously unidentified LN component to the cemetery. Additionally, the EBA Cluster 4 appears to be largely synchronous with the EBA in Cis-Baikal.
As a group, the Fofanovo individuals are isotopically distinct from the Middle-Holocene hunter–gatherers in the microregions of Cis-Baikal, exhibiting a combination of low δ13C values (−19.4 ± 0.9‰) but high δ15N values (15.2 ± 0.8‰). This likely reflects the distinctive isotopic ecology of the lower Selenga River, combined with use of aquatic resources from Lake Baikal itself. While further sampling is needed to test its robustness, a statistically significant difference between the LN (n = 6) and EBA (n = 11) was found, suggesting a greater reliance on the seasonal resources of the Selenga River during the EBA.
Further analyses on these and other individuals from the cemetery are planned and will undoubtably provide additional insights into hunter-gatherer subsistence adaptations and dietary variation in Trans-Baikal, highlighting both differences and similarities with those of Cis-Baikal.
... The establishment and use of EN cemeteries distributed throughout Cis-Baikal may evidence group fissioning (Okladnikov, 1950(Okladnikov, , 1955Weber, 1995;Weber et al., 2002). EN population expansion may also have led to the development of special use cemeteries related to changing social structure. ...
... Attempts at using modern reference materials initially had limited success in providing an isotopic baseline for Cis-Baikal (Katzenberg and Weber, 1999;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2011. Anthropogenic influences rendered many samples unusable and hinted that there may have been significant changes to aquatic ecosystems as a result of both pollution and dam construction. ...
... bulk, protein, lipids) determine the isotopic proxy signal (Ambrose and Norr, 1993;Tieszen and Fagre, 1993). Siberian hunter-gatherers, anticipated to have protein-rich diets (Katzenberg and Weber, 1999;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2011, should be excellent candidates for collagenbased studies such as incremental dentin analysis. Plant foods high enough in protein to impact collagen studies were thought to be available in only small quantities; however, recent modeling efforts on agrarian populations in Europe (Bickle, 2018), have underestimated contributions from low-protein sources. ...
Re-examination of the relationships between diets as inferred isotopically and grave goods in light of new data has revealed the importance of parental investment for Early Neolithic populations in Cis-Baikal, Siberia. The Kitoi Culture developed and maintained a flexible but expensive broad-spectrum subsistence strategy. Moderately high extrinsic risk factors produced periodic famines and metabolic stress evidence in skeletons. The small-scale efforts of parents to support their offspring through increased breast milk and plant food provisioning led to a restructuring of subsistence priorities with ramifications for group structuring over the course of centuries.
... Ainsi, de nombreuses recherches basées sur les isotopes stables ont été effectuées pour déterminer la paléodiète de la population de la Sibérie. Les régions étudiées couvrent la Cis-Baïkalie avec la Léna Supérieure ( (Katzenberg, Weber 1999, Weber et al. 2002, 2011, Katzenberg et al. 2009, Katzenberg et al. 2012, la Sibérie du Sud ), la Sibérie de l'Ouest (Marchenko 2015), la steppe forestière de Baraba (Privat et al. 2005), le bassin de Minousinsk (Svyatko et al. 2013, Svyatko 2014) et les montagnes de l'Altaï (O'Connell et al. 2003). Toutefois, aucune analyse isotopique n'a été menée dans le Nord-Est de la Sibérie et notamment en Iakoutie. ...
... Le chien moderne a des valeurs similaires à celles du chien préhistorique de la Léna Supérieure (δ13C = -19.1‰ ; δ15N = 9.7‰) (Weber 2002) et exactement les mêmes qu'un loup néolithique (δ13C = -20.2‰ ; δ15N = 9.7‰) de la région de Baïkal (Losey et al. 2011) qui atteste que son régime alimentaire était basé sur des animaux terrestres. ...
... The modern dog has similar values to the prehistoric dog from Upper Lena (δ13C = −19.1‰; δ15N = 9.7‰) (Weber et al., 2002); and exactly the same as a Neolithic wolf (δ13C = −20.2‰; δ15N = 9.7‰) from the Baikal region (Losey et al., 2011) which indicates that its diet was based on terrestrial animals. ...
Située à l'interface de la biologie et des sciences humaines, l'anthropologie de l'alimentation est un domaine privilégié de l'étude des sociétés anciennes. Restituer l'alimentation du passé dans toute sa complexité et diversité ne peut se faire que grâce au croisement des diverses sources disponibles. Traditionnellement, l'alimentation des populations passées est étudiée par les historiens (sources écrites) et les archéologues (sources matérielles), mais aujourd'hui, le développement des techniques d'analyses biologiques des échantillons humains offre de nouvelles façons d'aborder cette problématique. Nous avons choisi le cas d'étude de la Iakoutie, l'abondance de données historiques et ethnographiques fournissant un cadre contextuel solide, et des tombes découvertes dans le pergélisol permettant l'accès non seulement au mobilier et aux repas funéraires, mais aussi à des échantillons biologiques très bien conservés. L'étude de l'alimentation des Iakoutes, éleveurs de chevaux et de bovins, s'inscrit dans l'histoire de la colonisation européenne et illustre donc la transition d'un mode de vie traditionnel vers un mode de vie dominé par l'économie de marché, et ce dans un environnement particulier où la température peut atteindre -71°C en hiver. Le territoire, étalé sur trois millions de km2, englobe des biotopes variés avec des vallées et des lacs riches en pâturages en Iakoutie Centrale et en Viliouï, et des régions montagneuses moins propices à l'élevage dans le Nord, où la chasse est toujours restée une source importante de l'alimentation. Nos objectifs sont de reconstituer l'évolution de l'alimentation des Iakoutes et de déterminer ses particularités régionales ainsi que celles de ses catégories sociales (telles que déterminées par le mobilier retrouvé dans les tombes) et sexuelles. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, nous avons confronté les données de plusieurs sources : 1. La synthèse des sources historiques, de documents de l'administration russe - dont certains inédits -, ainsi que de récits de voyageurs et de descriptions ethnographiques du XVIIe au début du XXe siècle, qui attestent que l'alimentation des Iakoutes est basée principalement sur les produits d'élevage de chevaux et de bovins, la chasse, la pêche et la cueillette servant de source de nourriture d'appoint suivant les régions. Ils témoignent de la multiplicité de produits laitiers et de la consommation de divers végétaux. Une transformation profonde de la société après l'arrivée des Russes est due à la sédentarisation des Iakoutes qui a mené au développement de l'élevage de bovins et la réduction du nombre de chevaux. Le commerce a introduit de nouveaux aliments. Enfin, l'agriculture instaurée par les Russes remplace progressivement la cueillette et la préparation du cambium des arbres, utilisé jusqu'alors comme farine. 2. L'étude du mobilier archéologique (restes alimentaires, leurs contenants et accessoires à fumer) déposé dans plus de 150 tombes couvrant une période courant du XVe au début du XIXe siècle souligne le rôle important des offrandes alimentaires (viande et produit laitier) dans le rite funéraire avant la christianisation en masse au XIXe siècle. [...]
... A few decades of stable isotope research on Middle Holocene huntergatherers in the Cis-Baikal region, Eastern Siberia, permits fine scale investigations of dietary change across time and space (Katzenberg and Weber, 1999;Katzenberg et al., 2009Katzenberg et al., , 2010Katzenberg et al., , 2012Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2011Weber et al., , 2016Weber et al., , 2020. In this research, we focus on the Little Sea Microregion (Fig. 1) and the shift between the Serovo (ca. ...
... Ancient DNA and dental nonmetric data suggest the Serovo and Glazkovo were genetically continuous populations (Mooder et al., 2010;Waters-Rist et al., 2015), although this continuity might be less pronounced than previously thought (Moussa et al., 2020). However, there are also changes between mortuary traditions, including the appearance of copper alloy and polished nephrite artifacts, larger Glazkovo cemeteries, new pottery styles, fewer graves with multiple burials, an increase in exotic and labourintensive objects, different orientations of individuals in graves, and increased heterogeneity in grave good distribution between Glazkovo individuals (Weber, 1995;Weber et al., 2002;Weber and Bettinger, 2010). ...
... Research exploring the extent and nature of cultural continuity and change between the Serovo and Glazkovo has received less attention than the more dramatic changes seen between earlier cultural transitions (e.g., the Early Neolithic vs. Middle/Late Neolithic) (McKenzie, 2010;Shepard, 2012;Weber et al., 2002). Shepard (2012); Shepard et al. (2016) has proposed that the change from Serovo to Glazkovo 1 These start and end dates are modelled before present (BP) highest posterior distributions (HPD) specific to the LN Serovo and EBA Glazkovo in the Little Sea Microregion, using results from trapezium models (see Weber et al., 2020). ...
Research on Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers from the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia has yielded many insights into their dietary and mobility patterns. A large dataset of stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope values, when paired with freshwater-reservoir corrected carbon-14 dates, allows us to conduct fine-scale investigations into dietary change. Our Small Cemeteries Project has increased the sample of Late Neolithic (LN) Serovo individuals, and Ol'khon Island burials, allowing for new investigations into changes between the Serovo and subsequent Early Bronze Age (EBA) Glazkovo mortuary traditions in the Little Sea Microregion. This is important because research exploring the extent and nature of cultural continuity and change between these mortuary traditions has received less attention than more pronounced earlier transitions. We use stable isotope data from 134 adolescents and adults to explore (1) temporal changes in δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values across the Serovo and Glazkovo mortuary traditions, and (2) differences in stable isotope values between individuals buried on Ol'khon Island vs. the Mainland. During Serovo times, Islanders and Mainlanders were eating somewhat different diets, with the former consuming more seal and the latter more shallow-water fish. Glazkovo Islanders maintained a broadly similar diet to their Serovo Islander predecessors suggesting the continued existence of a specialized group of Island seal hunters. After ~4100 calBP, and the arrival of the Glazkovo mortuary tradition in the Little Sea Microregion, there is the appearance of a new group of Mainlanders consuming a diet with low δ¹⁵N (≤ 14.6‰) and/or low δ¹³C (≤ ˗19.0‰) values unlike anything seen previously. This diet included less lake fish and seal and more terrestrial herbivores. Previous research has shown that many Mainland Glazkovo individuals with this new diet were non-local. Our study finds that just over half of Glazkovo Mainlanders have a low δ¹³C or δ¹⁵N value and they are found in all cemeteries with multiple individuals. This suggests such individuals, many of which were non-local, were fully incorporated into local social groups. Further increasing the sample of LN and Island individuals is needed to better establish these findings; nonetheless, our research highlights the diversity in Middle Holocene adaptive strategies in the Little Sea Microregion.
... More generally, analysis of grave goods from Shamanka II indicates that Kitoi populations appear to have acquired several important new technologies, including powerful composite hunting bows, and a range of new fishing implements that supported exploitation of aquatic resources (Weber, submitted). Notable disparities in the quantity and diversity of Kitoi grave goods may point to emerging social differentiation (Weber et al., 2002;Weber and Bettinger, 2010), while the deeper continuity in other bone and lithic artefact types suggests that it was essentially local Mesolithic populations who were central to these developments (Weber, 1995;Savel'ev, 2001;McKenzie, 2009). ...
... The rich fisheries of the Angara River, which remain open throughout the winter months, appear to have encouraged the emergence of a range of either new or more morphologically variable fishing devices, including nets and sinkers, new type of harpoons and leisters, as well as composite fish-hooks (Bazaliiskii, 2010;Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., submitted). Nephrite wood-working tools were also in widespread use at this time, and could have been used to construct range of mass capture facilities, including fish weirs, fences and basketry traps (Weber et al., 2002;Bazaliiskii, 2010;Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., 2011, Weber, submitted). Intensive fishing -practised either individually or in larger coordinated groups -could also have offered rich and reliable harvests. ...
... Several kinds of Kitoi social dynamics may also have encouraged pottery adoption, such as the use of pots to create rich and nutritious dishes (involving costly-to-produce oils, fats and lipids) that could be prepared and shared out at aggregations, generating social debts, and perhaps leading to seasonal cycles of competitive feasting (Hayden, 2009(Hayden, , 2012. The mortuary record of Kitoi society -which had already acquired the technological means to harvest abundant quantity of fish -also contains abundant evidence for emerging status inequalities (Weber et al., 2002;Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber, submitted), and such feasting events could potentially have served as a central sociopolitical strategy within these trans-egalitarian communities (Hayden, 2009(Hayden, , 2012. On the other hand, pottery may simply have been attractive in more routine domestic contexts. ...
In the early Holocene, Mesolithic hunter-gatherer communities inhabiting the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia were participating in a series of important cultural changes. These included the establishment of large cemeteries in the Angara Valley and on the Southwest shores of Lake Baikal, culminating in the formation of the distinctive Early Neolithic Kitoi cultural pattern ca. 7560 cal. BP. Around the same time, the appearance of clay pots in a few Kitoi graves and at some contemporary habitation sites marks the formal transition to the Early Neolithic, which is defined in Russian archaeology by the emergence of pottery (and not the transition to farming). Little is known about how this early pottery was used, and why it was first adopted into the region. This pilot-study presents lipid-residue analysis of a selection of sherds from the oldest and relatively well-dated pottery assemblage in the Cis-Baikal region, which was recovered from the Gorelyi Les habitation site. The results indicate that the pots had been used to process a broad spectrum of food resources, including ruminants, fish and plants, and possibly resin and other by-products derived from pine trees, suggesting that the vessels were being used as general-purpose cooking containers. We conclude that there is scope for a much larger-scale investigation of diversity and change in prehistoric pottery use in Cis-Baikal, and that this research would improve current understandings of the diet, health and subsistence strategies of the Kitoi and other prehistoric populations.
... The results of zooarchaeological research in the LBR, summarized by Losey and Nomokonova (2017), indicate that roe deer and red deer were the most economically significant mammals during this period, which means strong anthropogenic pressure on the deer population, on the one hand, and the need to cope with limited food resources and look for alternatives, on the other hand. Archaeological finds representing the material culture of the Kitoi people show a broad spectrum of technological innovations, including the bow-and-arrow, clay pots, fishing nets, new types of leisters and harpoons, fish lures, composite fishhooks, green nephrite tools and a range of spearheads, daggers and knives morphologically more variable than during the LM phase (Weber et al., 2020;Weber et al., 2002. These innovations undoubtedly helped Kitoi groups coping with the above problems for almost 900 years, but were not able to prevent the collapse of the Kitoi culture. ...
... 6660-6060 cal. yr BP) are still under discussion (Tarasov et al., 2007(Tarasov et al., , 2017Weber et al., 2020;Weber et al., 2002;White and Bush, 2010). Growing stress well confirmed by intensive bioanthropological studies (see Weber et al. (2020) for discussion and references) under rapidly changing environmental conditions in the Baikal region was proposed as a possible driving factor (see Tarasov et al. (2017) for discussion and references). ...
... More frequent cases of extreme weather events and deeper and longer snow cover, which made winter hunting difficult and caused hunger and disease -these are just a few examples of what could have happened. By contrast, the LN inhabitants of the region, who lived in smaller and very mobile groups, keeping contact with each other and making better use of the existing aquatic food resources were better adapted to these environments and even experienced population growth during the LN/EBA interval (Weber et al., 2002. ...
Past research has greatly improved our understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes in the Lake Baikal Region, but at the same time has indicated intra-regional variations in this vast study area. Here we present a new AMS-dated late glacial-middle Holocene (ca. 13,500-4000 cal. yr BP) pollen record from Lake Ochaul (54°14′N, 106°28′E; altitude 641 m a.s.l.) situated in the less-studied area of Cis-Baikal and compare reconstructed vegetation and climate dynamics with the published environmental history of Trans-Baikal based on the pollen record from Lake Kotokel (52°47′N, 108°07′E; altitude 458 m a.s.l.). Although both records show comparable major long-term trends in vegetation, there are considerable differences. Around Ochaul the landscape was relatively open during the Younger Dryas stadial, but forest vegetation started to spread at the late glacial/Holocene transition (ca. 11,650 cal. yr BP), thus ca. 1000 years earlier than around Kotokel. While in both regions taiga forests spread during the early and middle Holocene, the marked increase in Scots pine pollen in the Kotokel record after ca. 6800 cal. yr BP is not seen in that from Ochaul, where birch and coniferous taxa, such as Siberian pine, larch, spruce and fir, dominate, indicating different environmental conditions and driving forces in both study regions. However, the pollen data from Ochaul emphasizes that the Cis-Baikal area also saw a continuous increase in forest cover and in the proportion of conifers over birch trees and shrubs during the early-middle Holocene, which may have contributed to a decrease in the number of large herbivores, the main food resource of the Early Neolithic hunter-gatherer groups. This and rather abrupt reorganization of atmospheric circulation, which affected atmospheric precipitation distribution resulting in thicker and longer-lasting snow cover, may have led to a collapse of Early Neolithic Kitoi populations ca. 6660 cal. yr BP followed by a cultural "hiatus" in the archaeological records during the Middle Neolithic phase (ca. 6660-6060 cal. yr BP). The results stress the importance of sub-regional palaeoenvironmental studies and the need for a representative network of well-dated, high-resolution sediment archives for a better understanding of environmental changes and their potential impacts on the hunter-gatherer populations in the archaeologically-defined micro-regions.
... predicated upon the knowledge of potential sources of food and drinking water and the ability to distinguish them isotopically. Previous studies have analysed substantial collections of modern and archaeological faunal samples to create an isotopic baseline for 'Cis-Baikal', the region to the west of the lake (Katzenberg et al., 2012;Katzenberg and Weber, 1999;Weber et al., 2002). Due to the distinctive isotopic ecologies of Lake Baikal and its surrounding rivers (discussed in detail in 3.2 and in SI), it is possible to evaluate the contribution of aquatic resources in more detail than is usually possible for freshwater systems. ...
... There is extensive archaeological and isotopic evidence for reliance on fishing along with ungulate and seal hunting (Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2011. Net-impressed EN pottery offers indirect evidence of net fishing technology. ...
... Isotopic data (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) are available for a range of terrestrial and aquatic fauna from Cis-Baikal (Katzenberg and Weber, 1999;Katzenberg et al., 2012;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2011. Most of the aquatic fauna derive from Lake Baikal, the Little Sea, and Angara micro-regions, with only a few results available for the Upper Lena. ...
The Lake Baikal region of southern Siberia has a rich mortuary record that has provided the most comprehensive isotopic database for palaeodietary studies of north-temperate hunter-gatherers in the world, permitting more detailed reconstructions and finer-grained research questions than are usually possible. Building on previous work, this study contributes new δ13C, δ15N, and AMS radiocarbon dating results from the cemeteries of Verkholensk (n 1⁄4 44) in the Upper Lena River micro-region and Ulan-Khada (n 1⁄4 19) in the Little Sea micro-region. Our results reveal that the Late Neolithic (LN, 5570–4600 cal BP) individuals at Verkholensk exhibit higher δ15N values than in the Early Bronze Age (EBA, 4600–3700 cal BP), suggesting a shift to a more terrestrial diet, possibly in response to climate- induced environmental changes. In addition, EBA individuals at Verkholensk differ in both δ13C and δ15N from those at the nearby site of Obkhoi, suggesting territorial divisions at a surprisingly small scale, although there is a diachronic component that needs to be considered, highlighting the need for additional work on freshwater reservoir corrections for the Upper Lena micro-region. The Ulan-Khada EBA results are consistent with the ‘Game-Fish’ and ‘Game-Fish-Seal’ dietary patterns previously identified in the Little Sea micro-region. The now substantial Little Sea micro-region EBA dataset—— allows for more subtle differences in diet to be identified, namely that EBA females with Game-Fish-Seal diets for the whole of the Little Sea sample display significantly lower mean δ13C values than their male counterparts, providing some of the first evidence for sex-based dietary distinctions in Lake Baikal.
A small number of δ13C and/or δ15N outliers were identified at both Verkholensk and Ulan-Khada that may support previous suggestions of individual mobility between the Upper Lena and Little Sea micro-regions. Exploratory use of δ18O isotopes in bone collagen offers a novel line of support for this scenario, confirming a number of independently identified outliers.
... Bulk data for carbon ( 13 C), and nitrogen ( 15 N), indicate dietary variability and the need for refined temporal resolution prior to their use in support of behavioral inferences for hunter-gatherers at the Shamanka II cemetery in Cis-Baikal, Siberia (Katzenberg and Weber 1999;Weber et al. 2002). Recent studies at Shamanka II using short-turnover bones and long-bone sub-sampling have demonstrated that fish consumption was increasing within populations during the early Neolithic (EN) (Weber et al. 2016a). ...
... Efforts to demonstrate links between social hierarchies during life and differential burial treatment in death (e.g., Linderholm et al. 2015;Privat et al. 2002) using dietary isotopes and graves inferred as holding status or value (inclusion of such goods as nephrite rings and axes), have proved inconclusive (Scharlotta et al. 2016). As a result, questions remain regarding how observable variability in the mortuary record (i.e., differential distribution of prestigious grave goods) came into being and was perpetuated through two phases of cemetery activity over a period of 1300 years (Bazaliiskii 2003;Bazaliiskii 2010;Scharlotta et al. 2016;Weber 1995;Weber et al. 2002). Uncertainty regarding the underlying forces driving the variability and inequality observed in early Neolithic mortuary assemblage, suggests that more individualized aspects of nutrition are likely involved. ...
... Mortuary assemblages in Cis-Baikal have long been identified as having tremendous variance in grave good quality, quantity, and unequal distribution (Okladnikov 1950;Okladnikov 1955). Later work expanded upon regional culture histories and developed models for social inequality and cultural complexity amongst these hunter-gatherer populations (Bazaliiskii 2003;Weber 1995;Weber et al. 2002). Similar types of complexity have been observed in Paleolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherer populations (O'Shea and Zvelebil 1984;Price and Brown 1985;Vanhaeren and d'Errico 2005). ...
Reconstructing individual dietary histories at Shamanka II, an Early Neolithic (7000–5700 cal. BP) Kitoi hunter‐gatherer cemetery in Cis‐Baikal, Siberia, revealed surprising intra‐population variability in childhood diets. Stable isotope (SI) analytical data produced by micro‐sampled first molars identified changes in both the timing and rate of weaning for different individuals. Further examination within the framework of a high‐resolution radiocarbon chronology identified shifting practices between two phases of cemetery use, and additional links with mortuary treatment that indicates differences relating to group and/or family structure. The differential treatment of infants, correlated with the complex hunter‐gatherer social structure, and subsequent burial treatment evident at this cemetery are investigated in light of regional dietary trends.
... While mixed C 3 /C 4 signals were dominant in some other sites, abundant animal remains, fish bones, and fruit remains have been unearthed from these sites, suggesting that humans might have consumed a diverse range of foods, including rice, millet, and livestock, and still adopted hunting-gathering activities as an important subsistence strategy during this period (Zhang et al., 2003;Guo et al., 2016). In the Lake Baikal region of Eastern Eurasian Steppes, CIRHBC data are dominated by mixed C 3 /C 4 signals, indicating that humans obtained food resources primarily through hunting and fishing, with a limited contribution of plant foods (Weber et al., 2002(Weber et al., , 2011. CIRHBC data from most sites of 6000-4000 a BP in Western SSRs mainly exhibit C 3 signals, though mixed C 3 /C 4 signals are present in some sites in the Caucasus Mountains. ...
... In Central Eurasian Steppes, relatively low δ 13 C values and high δ 15 N values of human bone collagen suggest that hunting/fishing, rather than agriculture, was the dominant subsistence strategy from 6000 to 5000 a BP (Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute et al., 2016). In the Lake Baikal region, human foods were still primarily sourced from aquatic resources, whereas the contribution of crops in human diets was negligible (Weber et al., 2002(Weber et al., , 2011. In Eastern SSRs, CIRHBC in sites dated to 6000-5000 a BP were dominated by C 4 signals, indicating that the weight of millet crops in human diets was further improved and millet crops became a staple food in northern China. ...
The innovations of agricultural production and their extensive dispersal promoted the transformation of human livelihoods and profoundly influenced the evolution of human-land relationships in late prehistoric Eurasia. The Steppe and Silk Roads (SSRs) played important roles in the transcontinental exchange and dispersal of cereal crops and livestock related to agricultural innovation across Eurasia before the Han Dynasty (202 BC to AD 220), while the geographical-temporal variations in prehistoric subsistence in relation to the spread and exchange of cereal crops and livestock originating from different areas of Eurasia still remain unclear. In this paper, we explore these issues based on the review and analysis of published archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and carbon-stable isotope data from human bones from Neolithic-Early Iron Age sites in areas along the SSRs, with a comparison to updated results based on radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA analyses. Our results suggest that humans engaged in hunting game, while foxtail/broomcorn millet cultivation gradually became the primary subsistence strategy in Eastern SSRs from 10,500 to 6000 a BP. In contemporaneous Western SSRs, humans mainly cultivated wheat/barley and raised sheep/goats, cattle, and pigs. Trans-Eurasian exchange, which is reflected by the mixed utilization of wheat/barley and millet, emerged in the south-central Steppe during 6000–4000 a BP, while millet cultivation and pig husbandry became the dominant livelihoods in most areas of Eastern SSRs. During 4000–2200 a BP, Silk Roads became the major passageway for trans-Eurasian exchange, the interactive development of oasis agriculture and pastoralism facilitated intensive human settlement in the Central Silk Roads, and subsistence strategies substantially changed with significant geographical differences in Eastern SSRs, while subsistence in some areas of Western SSRs was evidently affected by the introduction and adoption of millet crops after 3000 a BP. The geographical-temporal variations in subsistence in the SSRs from the Neolithic to Early Iron Age were primarily affected by the prehistoric dispersal of farming groups across Eurasia, which was accompanied by the spread of cereal crops/livestock, while the impacts of climate change still need to be further evaluated.
... variable, and this variability may be related to variation in human subsistence behavior (Losey et al., 2012;Losey and Nomokonova, 2018.;Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., 2002). Based on archaeological and modern data, Losey et al. (2012) postulate that lakeshore fisheries provided a stable source of resources year-round. ...
... On the basis of cemetery number and distribution, it has been proposed that EN groups were more densely concentrated than LN groups, particularly in the Angara micro-region (Weber and Bettinger, 2010). Furthermore, isotopic examination of diet indicates that fish constituted a greater proportion of the diet in the EN than the LN (Weber et al., 2002;Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., 2011Weber et al., , 2016aWeber et al., , 2016b. Changes in adult bone rigidity, femoral shape, osteoarthritis, and muscle markers are consistent with higher workloads and terrestrial mobility in the EN than the LN-EBA (Lieverse et al., 2013(Lieverse et al., , 2016Stock and Macintosh, 2016;Lieverse et al., 2011;Stock et al., 2010). ...
This study explores growth (increase in size) and development (change in structure and function) in Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal hunter-gatherer populations to evaluate chronological and regional variation in developmental health and juvenile behavior using post-cranial Cross-Sectional Geometry (CSG). It also evaluates whether sexual differences in size and habitual behavior were evident by the end of adolescence. Age and body size standardized femur, tibia, and humerus midshaft CSG are used to test for differences between Early Neolithic (EN) and Late Neolithic (LN) juveniles from different micro-regions. Regression of these measures on radiocarbon date tests for differences within archaeological periods.
EN individuals younger than 16 years, particularly those from the Angara River Valley, exhibit lower measures of cross-sectional size/ rigidity than LN juveniles. EN individuals older than 6 years, especially those from the Southwest Baikal had less circular lower limbs and higher humerus percent cortical area than LN individuals. Age standardized cross sectional size/ rigidity decline throughout both the EN and the LN, suggesting decrease in body size during both archaeological periods, whereas changes in femur shape are consistent with increases in juvenile mobility throughout the EN. By the end of adolescence, sexual dimorphism is emerging but not fully established in lower and upper limb robusticity and shape.
The lower cross-sectional area and bending rigidity support higher levels of developmental stress in the EN compared to the LN period, whereas less circular lower limb indices suggest higher terrestrial mobility in the EN. These differences may reflect may a higher risk of resource scarcity in the EN, which resulted in higher mobility and greater involvement of juveniles in harvesting aquatic resources. Declines in body size within both archaeological periods emphasize the cyclical nature of developmental stress, perhaps due to declines in resource abundance. The presence of incipient sexual dimorphism by the end of adolescence is consistent with individuals beginning to assume adult roles.
... It had been a real cultural collapse: the deep, sudden economic conversion of the majority of the Kitoi population to different food resources, accompanied by an accelerated degradation of social links and disordered dispersion (Kuzmin 2007b). ¶ The Late Neolithic cultures that after 6 ka repopulated the region (Isakovo, Serovo, Glazkovo) had different toolkits associated mostly with land hunting (Weber et al. 2002) and different subsistence and diet, mobility patterns, social and political relations and genetic af liation. ** They were possibly coming from the Yenisei region in the context of the increasing mobility and domino * The toolkit includes microliths for composite tools: shanks for shhooks and prismatic blades for harpoons, daggers, spears and knives (Weber et al. 2002). ...
... ¶ The Late Neolithic cultures that after 6 ka repopulated the region (Isakovo, Serovo, Glazkovo) had different toolkits associated mostly with land hunting (Weber et al. 2002) and different subsistence and diet, mobility patterns, social and political relations and genetic af liation. ** They were possibly coming from the Yenisei region in the context of the increasing mobility and domino * The toolkit includes microliths for composite tools: shanks for shhooks and prismatic blades for harpoons, daggers, spears and knives (Weber et al. 2002). † To the idea of some authors, the pottery-making of the initial Neolithic didn't appear in the Cis-Baikal region through a migration carrying a complex of new technologies but was incorporated as local innovation into a cultural sphere in technological continuity with the lithic complexes of the aceramic Late Upper Paleolithic of the region (Tsydenova 2015). ...
... However, these numbers have since increased somewhat due to continued fieldwork. More information about Baikal hunter-gatherer cemeteries can be found in a few recent reviews in English (Bazaliiskii 2003(Bazaliiskii , 2010Weber 1994Weber , 1995Weber and Bazaliiskii 1996;Weber et al. 2002) and ...
... and several generalizing accounts(Lieverse et al. 2011; Losey and Nomokonova 2017;Weber 1995;Weber and Bettinger 2010; Weber and McKenzie 2003;Weber et al. 2002;Weber et al. 2010;.Our current views on the subject, summarized below, emphasize the multiple changes in the cultural patterns and recognize similarities between the Early Neolithic (EN) and Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age cultures (LN-EBA) in addition to key differences, which were at the center of our attention earlier:Late Mesolithic: incipient cemeteries, hunting, some fishing and sealing, small, dispersed, and mobile population, limited social differentiation.Early Neolithic: cemeteries, hunting, fishing and sealing, large, unevenly distributed population, physical and physiological stress, differential mobility, substantial social differentiation.Middle Neolithic: no cemeteries, hunting, some fishing and sealing, small,Outram et al. dispersed, and mobile population, limited social differentiation.Late Neolithic: cemeteries, hunting, fishing and sealing, larger and evenly distributed population genetically different from EN, moderate physical and physiological stress, moderate mobility and social differentiation.Early Bronze Age: cemeteries, hunting, fishing and sealing, large and evenly distributed population genetically continuous with LN, moderate physical and physiological stress, moderate mobility and social differentiation.Linguistic supplement toDamgaard et al. 2018: Early Indo-European languages, Anatolian, Tocharian and Indo-Iranian AUTHORS Guus Kroonen 1,3 , Gojko Barjamovic 2 , and Michaël Peyrot 3 . AFFILIATIONS 1 Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. ...
Ancient steppes for human equestrians
The Eurasian steppes reach from the Ukraine in Europe to Mongolia and China. Over the past 5000 years, these flat grasslands were thought to be the route for the ebb and flow of migrant humans, their horses, and their languages. de Barros Damgaard et al. probed whole-genome sequences from the remains of 74 individuals found across this region. Although there is evidence for migration into Europe from the steppes, the details of human movements are complex and involve independent acquisitions of horse cultures. Furthermore, it appears that the Indo-European Hittite language derived from Anatolia, not the steppes. The steppe people seem not to have penetrated South Asia. Genetic evidence indicates an independent history involving western Eurasian admixture into ancient South Asian peoples.
Science , this issue p. eaar7711
... Культуросодержащие горизонты 3 и 4, где из домашних животных представлен лишь северный олень, достаточно близки между собой по возрасту и, вероятно, относятся к железному веку и средневековью, о чем свидетельствуют как типы керамики, так и анализ техноморфологии каменного и костяного инвентаря. В частности, железным веком датируется керамика карабульского типа [Макаров, Быкова, 2011], который на территории Восточной Сибири длился в период 2800-1600 л. н. [Weber, Link, Katzenberg, 2002]. Фрагмент бронзового изделия в археологической коллекции к. г. 5 позволяет отнести зафиксированные здесь комплексы к бронзовому веку. ...
... рис. 4) [Kielland, 2001;Ben-David, Shochat, Adams, 2001, 2002European Bison … , 2015]. При этом данные о содержании изотопов азота (см. ...
Аннотация. На примере изучения видового состава голоценовых ориктоценозов и изо-
топного состава костных останков Alces americanus и Equus ferus археологического ме-
стонахождения Усть-Кеуль I (Северное Приангарье) проведена реконструкция условий
обитания древних животных. Изотопный состав δ
13C и δ15N коллагена зуба лошади из
культуросодержащего горизонта 10 (10–11 тыс. л. н.) свидетельствует о преобладании в
ее рационе питания травянистых растений преимущественно c типом фотосинтеза С3,
произрастающих в степи и/или лесостепи. В более поздние эпохи, от неолита до насто-
ящего времени, здесь доминировали таежные условия. Рацион питания лосей из гори-
зонтов 9–2 состоял из лесной (таежной) растительности, среди которой существенную
часть составляли мхи, лишайники, водные и полуводные растения и грибы, причем доля
их в диете животных возрастала в периоды голоценовых климатических минимумов.
... . However, differences in major Y haplogroup, subsistence strategy, social structure, and cranial morphology between the two cultures, along with a significant timing gap of 153 approximately 800 years, raise the possibility of discontinuity (Weber et al., 2002;Movsesian 154 et al., 2014;Kılınç et al., 2021). This implies an alternative scenario that the Serovo-Glazkovo 155 population formed elsewhere without a direct contribution from the Kitoi one and replaced it. ...
Human populations across a vast area in northern Eurasia, from Fennoscandia to Chukotka, share a distinct genetic component often referred to as the Siberian ancestry. Most enriched in present-day Samoyedic-speaking populations such as Nganasans, its origins and history still remain elusive despite the growing list of ancient and present-day genomes from Siberia. Here we reanalyze published ancient and present-day Siberian genomes focusing on the Baikal and Yakutia, resolving key questions regarding their genetic history. First, we show a long-term presence of a unique genetic profile in southern Siberia, up to 6,000 years ago, which distinctly shares a deep ancestral connection with Native Americans. Second, in the Baikal we find no direct contribution of the Early Neolithic Kitoi people to Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Serovo-Glazkovo ones. Third, the Middle Neolithic individual from Yakutia, belonging to the Belkachi culture, serves as the best source so far available for the spread of the Siberian ancestry into Fennoscandia and Greenland. These findings shed light on the genetic legacy of the Siberian ancestry and provide insights into the complex interplay between different populations in northern Eurasia throughout history.
... Ever since the original Okladnikov (1950) Middle Holocene culture history of Cis-Baikal was revised based on radiocarbon evidence (Mamonova and Sulerzhitskii, 1989;Weber, 1995;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2006Weber et al., , 2016a, it has been generally accepted that the Isakovo and Serovo mortuary traditions were contemporaneous. However, the radiocarbon evidence presented in this paper suggests the presence of some subtle microregional differences (Fig. 5). ...
Hunter-gatherer archaeology typically focusses on the details of subsistence strategies and material culture and, in the case of cemeteries, on various aspects of mortuary practices, beliefs, and social differentiation. This paper aims to look rather at patterns of change over time and space in how past hunter-gatherer cemeteries were used from Late Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age (~8600–3500 cal BP) in the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia. The approach is based on a Kernel Density Estimate methodology applied to 560 radiocarbon dates obtained for individual burials from 65 cemeteries and representing 5 distinct mortuary traditions. This enables a number of different types of analysis to be performed at different scales: (1) It is possible to examine the overall tempo of burial events at each cemetery or a group of cemeteries; (2) Within each cemetery the spatial patterns of the sequence of graves and burials can be analyzed further; (3) It is possible to compare the different cemetery-specific chronologies within the microregional or regional context; and (4) Although tentatively at this time, the spatiotemporal pattern of cemetery use over the whole region can be visualised. The spatiotemporal analysis of individual cemeteries shows that each one had its own pattern, some very distinct and clear in their characteristics, which relate to the role the cemetery played for the local group, and within the microregional or regional population. On the regional scale some broader patterns such as shifts in frequency of burial events between microregions within mortuary traditions are visible. However, at this scale the existing sampling biases require caution in assessment of the results and future fieldwork will help improve the analysis and insights. On the other hand, many of the individual cemeteries have been excavated in full and such comprehensive datasets already provide a range of entirely new and important insights into cemetery use by the Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal.
... During (Bottom) Archaeological cervids (deer) from Asia, Europe, and North America, ranging in date from the Pleistocene to the fi rst millennium ad , illustrating the great variation for terrestrial herbivores consuming C 3 plants. Data from Katzenberg (1989) , Bocherens et al. (1995) , Bocherens et al. (1999) , Iacumin et al. (2000) , Weber et al. (2002) , Bösl et al. (2006) , Eriksson et al. (2008) , Schulting and Richards (2009) , Eriksson (unpublished). NB! Diff erences in scale between plots. ...
The archaeology of death and burial provides a privileged source of insight into the lives of people in the past. This kind of archaeological feature commonly includes the material remains of the dead, containing biological information of age, sex, pathologies, DNA profiles, and isotopic signals of diet and migration. The analysis of burials also provides archaeological information about how the dead were treated as part of the mortuary ritual, which gives the archaeologist insight into ritual practice, belief, and emotional responses to death, and also speaks more generally about social relationships among the living including identity, gender, and social rank. This volume offers an introduction to all these dimensions of the archaeology of death and burial. Contributions range from historical overviews of several different significant traditions relating to burials in the history of the discipline of archaeology. Other chapters examine recent methodologies to retrieve and analyse biological information, and contemporary theoretical approaches to the study of central issues in our discipline such as the body, identity, gender, emotion, religion, and ritual. The volume has an international profile with contributions from leading scholars around the world, providing case studies from a range of different cultural contexts. The volume also recognizes the central place of ethical considerations in the excavation, analysis, and exhibition of human remains and ritual artefacts, and provides different perspectives on the ethical implications for any archaeologist working with this kind of material.
... The Holocene environmental and cultural history of the Lake Baikal region in Siberia have been the focus of intense scientific interest over recent decades, arising principally from research by the Baikal Archaeology Project (BAP) and several lake sediment coring programmes. From ~7500 to ~3500 cal yr BP the area to the west of Lake Baikal was inhabited by several hunter-gatherer groups, the Kitoi who occupied the area during the Early Neolithic, and the Serovo-Glazkovo who appeared later from the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age periods Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber, 2020;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2016Weber et al., , 2021. A key issue to emerge from this research was understanding the processes involved in the observed discontinuity in mortuary behaviour (i.e., absence of formal cemetery use) during the Middle Neolithic period (~6660-6060 cal yr BP) and whether this and other biocultural differences (e.g., genetic affinities, shifting subsistence strategies) may have had an environmental cause Tarasov et al., 2017;White and Bush, 2010). ...
The archaeological record in the Baikal region is characterised by a marked discontinuity separating different groups of hunter-gatherers within the Neolithic period. A range of sedimentary archives has been studied to investigate this issue and whether it had an environmental cause. Our focus has been on floodplain sequences from river valleys, which can augment other higher resolution records such as those from lakes. Here we report on the molluscs and small vertebrates recovered from a Holocene floodplain sequence at a remote locality (Krasniy Yar XI) in the Kirenga Valley, in the Lake Baikal region of eastern Siberia. The sequence lacked the necessary temporal resolution to adequately address this archaeological question, but it did provide a valuable radiocarbon-dated record of local floodplain pedogenesis, molluscs and vertebrates over the last ~7000 cal yr BP. Aquatic molluscs are more frequent during the early part of the record but they become scarce in the upper levels, which are dominated by land snails, especially species of Vallonia. Other noteworthy species include Vertigo microsphaera, recently discovered living in the area, and the first fossil records of V. kushiorensis, V. chytryi, and V. genesioides from the Baikal region. An exceptional feature of the molluscan record was the relatively high frequency of sinistral specimens of Cochlicopa, which occurred in 12/18 samples with a mean frequency of 9.8% (38/385). The vertebrates included specimens of southern birch mouse Sicista subtilis, unknown living in this part of Siberia with the closest records some 400 km to the southwest. These data demonstrate marked faunal and distributional shifts within the Holocene, reflecting local and regional environmental changes through time.
... En JP-1 se encuentran representadas todas las categorías de edad (Tabla 2; Figura 5), desde perinatos hasta adultos maduros. En líneas generales se destaca el perfil bimodal atricional, observado también en otras poblaciones de cazadores-recolectores (García Guraieb et al. 2015;Luna 2018;Margerison y Knusel 2002;Suby et al. 2017;Weber et al. 2002), aunque con una muy baja proporción de individuos entre el nacimiento y el primer año de vida. Entre los adultos, los porcentajes más altos se observan entre los adultos jóvenes. ...
En este estudio paleodemográfico contribuimos a la discusión sobre el impacto de la incorporación de recursos vegetales domesticados en poblaciones del sitio Jaime Prats-1, el área de entierros humanos con mayor número de individuos del centro occidente argentino. La ubicación espacial y temporal del sitio arqueológico se corresponde con el registro de cultígenos prehispánicos en la región, por lo que resulta relevante para entender la dinámica poblacional en un área de interacción entre grupos cazadores-recolectores y sociedades agricultoras. Los resultados del análisis de los perfiles de edades de muerte, el Índice de Juventud y la suma de probabilidades de los fechados radiocarbónicos disponibles, indican un pulso de crecimiento demográfico entre los 2000 y los 1500 años aP, correspondiente al período de uso del sitio. Tomando como referencia un conjunto de cazadores-recolectores contemporáneos y otro de agricultores tardíos, ambos procedentes de la región, Jaime Prats-1 ocupa una posición intermedia, de confluencia entre ambos sistemas de subsistencia.
... Thousand years ago (kya) using stratigraphic climate history data (Vorob'eva, 2010), contain archaeological materials but no pottery, while the overlying layers include pottery. 1 Identifying the distinctive aspects of adaptive strategies that set the stage for typical Holocene technology such as pottery production is challenging; the problem is linked to the development of more diverse and specialized strategies to procure more localized and diverse resources. Previous studies of Early and Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer lifeways in Cis-Baikal, based on mortuary records, have established the presence of two different adaptive strategies associated with Kitoi and Serovo-Glazkovo burial traditions McKenzie, 2003;Scharlotta, 2018;Scharlotta and Weber, 2014;Weber, 2020;Weber et al., 2002;Weber et al., 2021). The stratified and open-air assemblages of North Angara have diverse archaeological records but poor empirical data undermine analysis. ...
This paper examines Early Holocene hunter–gatherer subsistence–settlement patterns in the North Angara region, located at the northern boundary of Cis-Baikal, Siberia. The archaeological evidence, supported by radiocarbon and stratigraphic data, indicates the presence of hunting and fishing activities, resource diversification, lithic technologies, and settlement organization showing some aspects of the “collector” end of Binford's forager–collector continuum: specialized “logistical” camps and a multi-activity residential base with different patterns of resource procurement and technology. Considering paleoenvironmental conditions, this pattern can be largely explained as an attempt by hunter–gatherers to minimize the risks of seasonal deficits from fishing and game hunting in a boreal zone.
... Before paleodietary evidence can be incorporated into the discussion of regional population dynamics among southern Patagonia huntergatherers, an isotope ecology with adequate spatial resolution must be developed to serve as a frame of reference for interpretations. Ultimately, the achievable resolution of paleodietary studies hinges on the level of understanding of isotopic variability in regionally available resources (Weber et al., 2002). The natural variability in stable carbon and nitrogen distributions in ecosystems is conditioned by climatic and environmental variables, including precipitation, humidity, temperature, altitude, solar irradiance, and soil pH and nutrient availability (Heaton, 1987;Ambrose, 1991;Tieszen, 1991;Handley et al., 1999;Amundson et al., 2003;Aranibar et al., 2004Aranibar et al., , 2008Hartman and Danin, 2010). ...
The aim of this study is to assess the variability of the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of herbivores -guanaco and huemul-in southern Patagonia. The study area extends from the eastern slopes of the Andes to the Atlantic Coast between 47° and 49° S. The ultimate aim of the research was to generate an isotopic ecology with an adequate spatial resolution that allows the incorporation and development of stable isotope studies in discussions of the population dynamics of hunter-gatherers in continental Patagonia. This paper presents the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of 159 guanaco and huemul specimens, both modern and archaeological. This space was divided into three areas: Western area, Central Plateau and Eastern Area. Isotopic variability within groups was analyzed using the SIBER, from which the isotopic niches of the different groups are compared. The results show a spatial pattern of isotopic variability in herbivores, i.e. lower δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values associated with forest environments in the western end of the transect and higher values, especially δ¹⁵N, towards the east, with maximum values observed near the Atlantic coast. Our results support the stated expectations on herbivore stable isotope composition variability and its association with environmental variables in a longitudinal transect across the southern Argentinean Patagonia.
... kitojske kulture, koje je bilo u upotrebi tokom 7. i 6. milenijuma pre n.e. i koje ukazuje na veoma čudnu demografsku strukturu korisnika (broj pokopanih muškaraca u zreloj dobi daleko nadmašuje broj dece, starih i žena: Weber, Link i Katzenberg, 2002: 249 i dalje). U pomenutom grobu, inače najstarijem na celom groblju, "sahranjen" je jedan izuzetno velik i star vuk, čiji su prirodni habitat bile mnogo stotina kilometara udaljene tundre, u čijem se krilu nalazila odrubljena glava odraslog muškarca i oko čije glave su bili rasuti fragmenti skeleta drugih ljudi. ...
Considering that Max Weber?s theory of the ?men?s union (Mannerbund)? is still unsurpassed today, despite the fact that it was not syst ematically developed anywhere, the authors undertook its reconstruction from the many fragments left behind after his death, primarily in the book Economy and Society. Although Weber is rightly considered to have paid the most attention to the phenomenon of warrior communism in his discussions of the Mannerbund, a detailed analysis shows that his dealings with the warrior orgy and the warrior cult are equally important contributions.
... The Baikal Archaeology Project (BAP) unites an international and multi-disciplinary team of scholars investigating hunter-gatherer culture dynamics in the Lake Baikal Region (LBR) of Siberia with a focus on the Middle Holocene interval between ca. 8300 and 3500 cal yr BP (Weber, 1995;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2010Weber et al., , 2013Losey and Nomokonova, 2017). The new phase of the BAP (https://baikalproject.artsrn.ualberta.ca/), ...
In the current study, different geochemical and biological proxies, including pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, ostracods and molluscs, from an AMS radiocarbon-dated sediment core from Lake Ochaul (54°14′N, 106°28′E; 641 m a.s.l.) are presented and discussed. Ochaul is a fresh-water lake and an archaeological site situated ca. 100 km northwest of Lake Baikal in the upper reaches of the Lena River. The 260-cm-long sedimentary record presented here spans the Lateglacial–Holocene interval, between ca. 13,500 cal yr BP and the present. The reconstructions of the postglacial vegetation and lake system development are discussed along with the regional climate dynamics and the hemispheric-scale environmental changes. During the Allerød interstadial the region around Lake Ochaul was dominated by sparse taiga forests. Cooling during the Younger Dryas led to a more open, tundra landscape where trees formed patchy forest stands in climatically favourable environments. This facilitated a rapid spread of forests at the onset of the Early Holocene during which the study region was probably characterized by seasonally dry climate controlled by the interplay of higher insolation, lower global sea levels and remaining ice sheets in the North Atlantic region. After thermal and moisture optimum conditions and a maximum spread of forests during the Middle Holocene, continuous cooling and a trend to more open forests landscapes marked the Late Holocene. These long-term trends were interrupted by several relatively short episodes of change in the vegetation and algal records, which coincide with short-term (centennial-scale) Northern Hemisphere cooling/drying phases. This shows that the regional vegetation reacted sensitively to these climate oscillations. Six AMS radiocarbon dates of bone material of large herbivorous animals from the Ochaul archaeological site located at the northern shore of the lake provide important information about the prehistoric hunter-gatherers and indicate that activities at the site took place at ca. 27,780–27,160 cal yr BP (95% probability range) as well as during the Mesolithic (ca. 8850–8450 cal yr BP), Early, Middle and Late Neolithic (between ca. 6840 and 5490 cal yr BP) and the Iron Age (ca. 2120–1930 cal yr BP). Our results demonstrate that despite major environmental transformations following the Last Glacial Maximum, Lake Ochaul and the Malaya Anga River valley remained attractive for large herbivores and for prehistoric hunter-gatherers, even during the Middle Neolithic cultural “hiatus” (ca. 6660–6060 cal yr BP) in Cis-Baikal, as documented by the published archaeological records.
... De esta manera, además de tener que caracterizar isotópicamente al consumidor y el factor de discriminación isotópica también resulta fundamental comprender la variabilidad isotópica de los recursos potencialmente consumidos. Este campo de estudio se denomina "ecología isotópica", entendiendo por tal a la distribución natural de valores isotópicos de distintas especies animales y vegetales y los factores de discriminación isotópica correspondientes que permiten establecer las relaciones de naturaleza trófica existentes en un ecosistema (Fry, 2006;Weber, Link & Katzenberg, 2002). El acercamiento principal, o más común, es de carácter cualitativo. ...
The main goal of this work is to celebrate more than three decades of the application of stable isotope analyses in Argentinian archaeology. We present a synthesis of the concepts, theoretical and methodological aspects and applications covering three main topics: paleodiet, paleomobility and palaeoenvironment. At the same time, we provide examples of isotopic approaches to study problems such as paleodiets in hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies, human mobility, herding strategies, food preparation and cooking, and paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic studies. This compendium will be a
useful reference for students and researchers inclined to enter this field of research. However, the cases mentioned here do not represent the state of art nor do they cover all the Argentinian regions where these studies were carried out, but rather show the thematic diversity and the way in which stable isotope analyses allow to broaden our knowledge about societies in the past.
... Ever since the original Okladnikov (1950) Middle Holocene culture history of Cis-Baikal was revised based on radiocarbon evidence (Mamonova and Sulerzhitskii, 1989;Weber, 1995;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2006Weber et al., , 2016a, it has been generally accepted that the Isakovo and Serovo mortuary traditions were contemporaneous. However, the radiocarbon evidence presented in this paper suggests the presence of some subtle microregional differences (Fig. 5). ...
Hunter-gatherer archaeology typically focusses on the details of subsistence strategies and material culture and, in the case of cemeteries, on various aspects of mortuary practices, beliefs, and social differentiation. This paper aims to look rather at patterns of change over time and space in how past hunter-gatherer cemeteries were used from Late Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age (~8600–3500 cal. BP) in the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia. The approach is based on a Kernel Density methodology applied to 560 radiocarbon dates obtained for individual burials from 65 cemeteries and representing 5 distinct mortuary traditions. This enables a number of different types of analysis to be performed at different scales: (1) It is possible to examine the overall tempo of burial events at each cemetery or a group of cemeteries; (2) Within each cemetery the spatial patterns of the sequence of graves and burials can be analyzed further; (3) It is possible to compare the different cemetery-specific chronologies within the micro-region or regional context; and (4) Although tentatively at this time, the spatiotemporal pattern of cemetery use over the whole region and can be visualised. The spatio-temporal analysis of individual cemeteries shows that each one had its own pattern, some very distinct and clear in their characteristics, which relate to the role the cemetery played within the microregional or regional population. On the regional scale some broader patterns such as shifts in frequency of burial events between microregions within mortuary traditions are visible. However, at this scale the existing sampling biases require caution in assessment of the results and future fieldwork will help improve the analysis and insights. On the other hand, many of the individual cemeteries have been excavated in full and such comprehensive datasets already provide a range of entirely new and important insights into cemetery use by the Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal.
... Our results indicate that the populations of Siberia share a relatively recent history, with none of the admixture dates detected being older than ~4,500 years. This confirms previous suggestions of recent population replacements in this region [22,100,101] and fits with other evidence of depopulation of Siberia during the LGM [21]. Modern Siberian populations are therefore not expected to be good proxies for the ancestors of the populations that settled the New World. ...
Although Siberia was inhabited by modern humans at an early stage, there is still debate over whether this area remained habitable during the extremely cold period of the Last Glacial Maximum or whether it was subsequently repopulated by peoples with a recent shared ancestry. Previous studies of the genetic history of Siberian populations were hampered by the extensive admixture that appears to have taken place among these populations, since commonly used methods assume a tree-like population history and at most single admixture events. We therefore developed a new method based on the covariance of ancestry components, which we validated with simulated data, in order to investigate this potentially complex admixture history and to distinguish the effects of shared ancestry from prehistoric migrations and contact. We furthermore adapted a previously devised method of admixture dating for use with multiple events of gene flow, and applied these methods to whole-genome genotype data from over 500 individuals belonging to 20 different Siberian ethnolinguistic groups. The results of these analyses indicate that there have indeed been multiple layers of admixture detectable in most of the Siberian populations, with considerable differences in the admixture histories of individual populations, and with the earliest events dated to not more than 4500 years ago. Furthermore, most of the populations of Siberia included here, even those settled far to the north, can be shown to have a southern origin. These results provide support for a recent population replacement in this region, with the northward expansions of different populations possibly being driven partly by the advent of pastoralism, especially reindeer domestication. These newly developed methods to analyse multiple admixture events should aid in the investigation of similarly complex population histories elsewhere.
... The modern dog has similar values to the prehistoric dog from Upper Lena (δ13C = −19.1‰; δ15N = 9.7‰) (Weber et al., 2002); and exactly the same as a Neolithic wolf (δ13C = −20.2‰; δ15N = 9.7‰) from the Baikal region (Losey et al., 2011) which indicates that its diet was based on terrestrial animals. ...
... Larger than expected δ 15 N offsets were also reported for infants from hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal (4.4‰, Weber et al., 2002) and the Midwestern United States (4‰, Fogel et al., 1989), fisher-farmers from Roman Italy (4‰, Prowse et al., 2008), and farmers of medieval England (7‰, Burt, 2013). All these offsets were attributed to the ingestion of high amounts of high trophic-level protein. ...
Studies on settlement patterns suggested that the fisher-hunter-gatherers who constructed the shellmounds (or sambaquis) scattered along the Brazilian Southeastern coast must have experienced considerable population growth by living in rich coastal settings. In this paper we assess, using stable isotopes, the weaning patterns and subadult diets of the sambaqui Jabuticabeira II (1214–830 cal BC to 118–413 cal AD) to test: 1) if weaning strategies are compatible with scenarios of high population density and 2) if there are evidences of dietary sex differences and sex-biased parental investment. Stable isotope data (δ¹⁵N, δ¹³Ccol, and δ¹³Cap) of 106 samples from 60 individuals (adults and subadults) were analyzed by combining bone cross-sectional and tooth serial-sectioning approaches to simulate a longitudinal study. Various analytical methods were used to describe weaning processes by identifying age-related changes in the diet of juveniles compared to those of adults. The isotopic results show that although exclusive breastfeeding length is variable, the introduction of a supplementary diet occurs around 6 months of age, whereas complete weaning was achieved for most children at approximately 2–3 years of age (more probably ~2.3 years of age). Little variability was observed in weaning and post-weaning diets. Differences between adult males and females suggest sex-biased dietary peculiarities. However, no clear cut difference in parental investment strategies favoring boys could be found. Because a weaning completion age of 2.3 years (and the presumed inter-birth interval that corresponds to) can be associated with slow to moderate growth, our reconstruction of weaning patterns and subadult diets of this sambaqui group partially supports a scenario compatible with high population growth.
... This small study is part of a larger PhD research project that aims to extend and investigate the life histories of Holocene hunter-gatherers in the Cis-Baikal, Siberia, Russia. For that study, sets of permanent teeth (n = 80) taken from 49 hunter-gatherers from the Cis-Baikal region are being analyzed as part of a long-term ongoing project known as the Baikal Archaeology Project (Weber and Bettinger, 2010;Weber et al., 2002Weber et al., , 2016. Before applying the microsampling method to the additional 79 prehistoric teeth, we wished to confirm the reliability and appropriateness of our method for removing soil humates from the microsamples. ...
Analyzing carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) in serial samples of human tooth dentine can aid in reconstructing life history events such as weaning and diet. As dentine does not remodel after formation, it retains the isotopic signatures of the foods ingested during a tooth's development, allowing investigation of the diet consumed during this time. Microsampling human archaeological tissues is becoming increasingly popular but no consensus has been reached on the best method to remove soil humates from such small samples. It is important to remove these humates, as they can alter collagen δ¹³C values. This study presents an adjustment to a commonly used method for removing humates from bone collagen samples, the sodium hydroxide soak. Here we compare dentine microsamples from five modern unburied teeth that received the usual 20 hour NaOH soak to microsamples from an archaeological tooth for which NaOH treatment time was reduced to 6 h. The results show that microsamples from modern material tolerate the standard NaOH treatment well despite their tiny size. In the archaeological tooth, the six hour treatment was sufficient to remove humates without damaging the collagen of the small and fragile prehistoric dentine microsamples. Even in these trial samples, the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values provide some interesting insights into dietary changes during development, underscoring the benefits of analysis at the intra-individual level.
... Faunal reconstructions were limited in the region and a zooarchaeologically-focused recovery effort at Ityrkhei, in the Little Sea micro-region of Cis-Baikal, yielded abundant fish bones (Losey et al., 2008). Flotation and fine sieving at other sites, along with extensive isotopic dietary reconstructions have also evidenced the harvesting of fish as a regionally important subsistence activity (Katzenberg and Weber, 1999;Losey et al., 2012;Novikov and Goriunova, 2005;Scharlotta et al., 2016;Weber et al., 2002;Weber et al., 2011). At present, research efforts addressed what methods and species were of importance in the social complexity observable throughout the region and the extent this dietary focus impacted regional chronologies, as fish consummation impacts old-carbon reservoir effects (Nomokonova et al., 2013;Schulting et al., 2014;Weber et al., 2016). ...
Human populations across a vast area in northern Eurasia, from Fennoscandia to Chukotka, share a distinct genetic component often referred to as the Siberian ancestry. Most enriched in present-day Samoyedic-speaking populations such as Nganasans, its origins and history still remain elusive despite the growing list of ancient and present-day genomes from Siberia. Here, we reanalyze published ancient and present-day Siberian genomes focusing on the Baikal and Yakutia, resolving key questions regarding their genetic history. First, we show a long-term presence of a unique genetic profile in southern Siberia, up to 6,000 yr ago, which distinctly shares a deep ancestral connection with Native Americans. Second, we provide plausible historical models tracing genetic changes in West Baikal and Yakutia in fine resolution. Third, the Middle Neolithic individual from Yakutia, belonging to the Belkachi culture, serves as the best source so far available for the spread of the Siberian ancestry into Fennoscandia and Greenland. These findings shed light on the genetic legacy of the Siberian ancestry and provide insights into the complex interplay between different populations in northern Eurasia throughout history.
Decapitation is a deeply rooted form of violence in human history, reflecting the backgrounds of interpersonal conflicts and the development of complex human societies. In this study, the phenomenon of decapitation and its consequences were investigated at a Neolithic Age settlement. In this study, human skeletons from the Honghe site, dated 4100 and 4400 years ago in Northeast China, were investigated. Visual examination and imaging technique were used to examine signs of decapitation. In total, there were 43 individuals that fell victim to multiple headhunting events, including 32 individuals in probably a single headhunting event, which would be the largest known headhunting activity in the Neolithic Age Asia. Moreover, headhunting victims at the Honghe site were exclusively females and juveniles, indicating the cruelty of ancient warfare. Cut marks were observed on the cervical vertebrae of five individuals, indicating that the heads were severed from the ventral side of the neck. Coupled with missing heads, cervical vertebrae at the Honghe site had cut marks from sharp tools, indicating the practice of decapitation. The cutting tools were probably the bone-handled tools with stone blades found in the Honghe area. The Honghe settlement might have been abandoned after the mass headhunting event. This is the first attempt to reconstruct the human headhunting behavior of prehistoric China. The study of headhunting culture would help not only reconstruct the history of violence in Northeast Asia but also probe into the thinking and ideology of human societies of hunter-gatherer-fishers during the Neolithic Age.
An assessment was made of the possibilities of using burial complexes to study social and cultural dynamics in the Neolithic of Baikal-Yenisey Siberia (~8.6–5 ka cal BP). The cultural-chronological scheme developed for the Middle Holocene of the Cis-Baikal as a result of the implementation of the Baikal Archaeological Project (BAP) is analyzed. It is concluded that the selective geographical coverage and insufficient attention to the materials of the campsites limited the possibilities of interpreting the BAP results and led to the creation of not quite correct periodization and the artificial phenomenon of hiatus, characterized by the absence of formal burials in the Middle Neolithic. The evolutionist approach of the BAP determined the nature of the concept, which implies a predominantly endogenous development of the Cis-Baikal cultures and does not take into account external factors. Based upon the correlation data of materials from burials and campsites of Baikal-Yenisey Siberia (which in the Neolithic was a single cultural area), the authors propose an alternative view of the dynamics of societies and cultures of local hunter-gatherers. According to it, there are four events that led to significant changes and three transitions, during which one or another cultural pattern was formed, have been identified. At the same time, the authors call for abandoning the use of the concept of “Late Mesolithic” for the beginning of Middle Holocene and propose to combine it with the Early Neolithic and we also make our proposals for filling the Middle Neolithic hiatus.
Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers (HG) of the Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia, display substantial spatiotemporal variation in adaptive strategies highlighted by several cultural transitions. These transitions are examined focusing on the role of the following factors: (1) changes in the distribution of the boreal forest; (2) technological innovations; (3) intensification of fishing; and (4) their combined impacts on subsistence and social structure. The expansion and retreat of boreal forest was important because it directly affected the distribution and abundance of large and medium terrestrial game, the core of subsistence for all Middle Holocene HG in the region. All other things being equal, expanding forests meant less game while shrinking forest meant more game and more living space for HG. The bow was crucial not only due to its technological superiority over the spear and atlatl as a game hunting weapon but also because its flexibility allowed it to work equally well for groups of any size and in any environment – forest or steppe. The much higher return rates associated with bow hunting freed enough labour to be allocated to other activities such as the intensification of fishing. Fishing and fisheries were important because they worked as a differentiating force: the more intensive the fishing, the more limited its spatial distribution and the greater the micro-regional differences between cultural patterns. Intensive fishing and game hunting pulled the adaptive strategies in two opposing directions: fishing towards differences and hunting towards similarities between groups and micro-regions. Social relations were important because they fine-tuned the social fabric to optimize the general strategy. Together, these factors account for all cultural transitions and variation documented for the Middle Holocene HG of Cis-Baikal: Transition 1 – formation of the Late Mesolithic cultural pattern with incipient formal cemeteries ~8630 cal BP; Transition 2 – replacement of the Late Mesolithic system on the Angara and in Southwest Baikal, but not in the Little Sea or on the Upper Lena, by the Early Neolithic Kitoi pattern with its very large cemeteries ~7560 cal BP; Transition 3 – collapse of the Kitoi by ~6660 cal BP followed by the formation of the Middle Neolithic pattern with no cemeteries; Transition 4 – reappearance of cemeteries ~6060 cal BP and the establishment of the Late Neolithic pattern; Transition 5 – formation of the Early Bronze Age system ~4970 cal BP; and lastly, Transition 6 – the end of the Early Bronze Age socio-economic pattern by ~3470 cal BP.
Over thirty years of stable isotope research about the breastfeeding and weaning practices of past human populations has contributed a vast amount to our understanding of infancy and childhood. The length of exclusive breastfeeding, age of weaning initiation and cessation, and types of weaning foods, are important variables affecting infant and child morbidity and mortality, and hence population demography. Stable isotope infant and child feeding (ICF) data have contributed to several debates in archaeology, including the fertility and growth of populations with different subsistence strategies. Most fundamentally, these data reveal the biological adaptations and cultural norms of breastfeeding and weaning over the last eleven thousand years. This chapter focuses on reviewing the current state of knowledge about ICF practices of 26 past forager populations and highlights two ancient groups (7500–4600 years before present) from the Lake Baikal region of Siberia. Most forager studies have found that weaning cessation occurred around three years-of-age, similar to the three to four year-old average age of weaning completion in the Siberian infants. For comparison, stable isotope data on ICF from 71 populations dating to before the post-Medieval period, that were predominately reliant on domesticated crops and/or animals, are presented. Average weaning cessation ages range from one- to five-years. The frequency of populations with an average weaning age under three years vs. three years and older is very similar in forager (<3y = 50%; ≥3y = 42%; n/a = 8%) and agricultural/pastoral populations (<3y = 48%; ≥3y = 41%; n/a = 11%). This suggests subsistence type does not directly cause different weaning lengths. Weaning cessation age also does not decrease over time. A wide array of foods have been used in the weaning process. Newer tooth dentine incremental sampling methods are revealing considerable variation in ICF practices between individuals within a population. These types of sampling methods are better elucidating other weaning variables, such as initiation, velocity, and regularity, offering considerable promise for better understanding infant and child health, survival, and lifeways. It is time to shift our attention from average weaning cessation ages to explore the causes of intra-population heterogeneity and the influence of other ICF variables.KeywordsStable carbon isotopesNitrogen isotopesBreastfeedingWeaningSiberian foragers
Introduction. The lack of known Middle Neolithic burial complexes in Baikal-Yenisei Siberia makes pottery finds from archaeological sites a key source to explore the cultural and historical situation in the region. According to AMS 14C-dates in the range of ~6,8–6,3 ka cal BP in the territory of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia, two types of ceramics are widespread — Posolsk and Ust-Belaya types. Goals. The study seeks to identify technological and cultural traditions of Middle Neolithic pottery. Materials and methods. The work examines Ust-Belaya and Posolsk type pottery samples from fifteen excavated sites of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia. The paper describes morphological and decorative patterns inherent thereto, provides technical and technological analyses following the methodology of A. Bobrinsky. The molding masses of eighteen Ust-Belaya type vessels and sixteen Posolsk type vessels have been studied with the aid of a binocular microscope. Results. In all cases, ferruginous sandy clay containing quartz sand had served as initial plastic raw material. Molding masses are characterized mainly by an unmixed one-component composition without artificial additives. In two cases, quartz grus has been identified, in another there are traces of organic matter (possibly added intentionally). Vessels of the Posolsk type have closed paraboloid forms with a weak profiling of the upper part and a sharpened bottom. The ornament is localized in the upper part of the vessel and is represented by horizontal ‘receding stick’ rows or drawn lines. The composition below ends with separate shapes, such as triangles or short vertical lines. The rim is decorated with prints of a comb stamp and has a line of round holes which is located over the line made by stick through drawing or receding techniques. The study of molding masses of sixteen Posolsk vessels demonstrates an unmixed one-component composition. In all cases, ferruginous sandy clay had been used as initial plastic raw material. The analysis of the modeling features of Middle Neolithic ceramics makes it possible to formulate hypothetical production programs of theirs. To check the latter, experiments were carried out to model the Ust-Belaya and Posolsk types of vessels. Technical and technological analyses, experiments conducted, and comparisons of models with archaeological vessels reveal technological traditions generally characteristic of Middle Neolithic pottery, such as the method of zonal patchwork modeling in combination with walls knocking out techniques, as well as the use of other vessels as base forms. So, Ust-Belaya vessels could have been completely made on such base forms, while upper parts of Posolsk vessels were profiled after removal from such forms. Knocking out tools for Posolsk ceramics included cord and carved shovels, and for Ust-Belaya type — smooth shovels sometimes wrapped with a woven net. Design patterns of the rim are also different. Conclusions. For the preparatory stage of Middle Neolithic ceramics production, there was a stable tradition of using local sandy clays without additives. The modeling principles common for the two types, along with the absence of flat-bottomed forms, reflect the same level of technological development and similar ideas about the making and functions of vessels, which does not necessarily indicate any ethnocultural closeness of culture bearers. Different traditions of morphology, techniques and decoration indicate that the pottery types belong to different populations. In Posolsk ceramics, there are autochthonous features bringing it closer to the Early Neolithic Khaita pottery. Ceramics of the Ust-Belaya type has no visible origins in the Early Neolithic of the region, which indicates its non-local origin. In addition, the materials of the campsites indicate that the bearers of these traditions had tended to choose different habitats.
Introduction. The lack of known Middle Neolithic burial complexes in Baikal-Yenisei Siberia makes pottery finds from archaeological sites a key source to explore the cultural and historical situation in the region. According to AMS 14C-dates in the range of ~6,8–6,3 ka cal BP in the territory of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia, two types of ceramics are widespread — Posolsk and Ust-Belaya types. Goals. The study seeks to identify technological and cultural traditions of Middle Neolithic pottery. Materials and methods. The work examines Ust-Belaya and Posolsk type pottery samples from fifteen excavated sites of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia. The paper describes morphological and decorative patterns inherent thereto, provides technical and technological analyses following the methodology of A. Bobrinsky. The molding masses of eighteen Ust-Belaya type vessels and sixteen Posolsk type vessels have been studied with the aid of a binocular microscope. Results. In all cases, ferruginous sandy clay containing quartz sand had served as initial plastic raw material. Molding masses are characterized mainly by an unmixed one-component composition without artificial additives. In two cases, quartz grus has been identified, in another there are traces of organic matter (possibly added intentionally). Vessels of the Posolsk type have closed paraboloid forms with a weak profiling of the upper part and a sharpened bottom. The ornament is localized in the upper part of the vessel and is represented by horizontal ‘receding stick’ rows or drawn lines. The composition below ends with separate shapes, such as triangles or short vertical lines. The rim is decorated with prints of a comb stamp and has a line of round holes which is located over the line made by stick through drawing or receding techniques. The study of molding masses of sixteen Posolsk vessels demonstrates an unmixed one-component composition. In all cases, ferruginous sandy clay had been used as initial plastic raw material. The analysis of the modeling features of Middle Neolithic ceramics makes it possible to formulate hypothetical production programs of theirs. To check the latter, experiments were carried out to model the Ust-Belaya and Posolsk types of vessels. Technical and technological analyses, experiments conducted, and comparisons of models with archaeological vessels reveal technological traditions generally characteristic of Middle Neolithic pottery, such as the method of zonal patchwork modeling in combination with walls knocking out techniques, as well as the use of other vessels as base forms. So, Ust-Belaya vessels could have been completely made on such base forms, while upper parts of Posolsk vessels were profiled after removal from such forms. Knocking out tools for Posolsk ceramics included cord and carved shovels, and for Ust-Belaya type — smooth shovels sometimes wrapped with a woven net. Design patterns of the rim are also different. Conclusions. For the preparatory stage of Middle Neolithic ceramics production, there was a stable tradition of using local sandy clays without additives. The modeling principles common for the two types, along with the absence of flat-bottomed forms, reflect the same level of technological development and similar ideas about the making and functions of vessels, which does not necessarily indicate any ethnocultural closeness of culture bearers. Different traditions of morphology, techniques and decoration indicate that the pottery types belong to different populations. In Posolsk ceramics, there are autochthonous features bringing it closer to the Early Neolithic Khaita pottery. Ceramics of the Ust-Belaya type has no visible origins in the Early Neolithic of the region, which indicates its non-local origin. In addition, the materials of the campsites indicate that the bearers of these traditions had tended to choose different habitats.
Objective:
In this study we analyze breastfeeding and weaning practices in pre-Columbian complex hunter-gatherers from the lower Paraná River basin (South America).
Materials and Methods:
We carried out bone isotope analyses concerning δ¹³C in collagen and apatite, the spacing between both carbon sources and δ¹⁵N in a sample of 23 subadult and adult individuals of both sexes recovered from Late Holocene archaeological sites, ranging from 1665 ± 45 to 680 ± 80 ¹⁴C years BP.
Results and Discussion:
The results indicate that exclusive breastfeeding continued until the age of ~2 years, and weaning probably until 4 years of age. Supplementary foods included C3 plants and probably animal fats and C4 carbohydrates. A high fractionation of 4.9‰ in δ¹⁵N values was recognized between breastfeeding infants and adult females, perhaps reflecting episodic hyper-protein diets in women linked to men's food provisioning during women's gestational/postpartum period. Additionally, male adults present a higher protein intake than females. Although this difference is not statistically significant with the current sample size, it could be a clue related to a sexual division in food procurement.
Archaeological research on Cis-Baikal Early Neolithic mortuary practices has traditionally focused on the Kitoi mortuary tradition with its rich materials known from several large cemeteries of the Angara Valley and Southwest Baikal. Assemblages that do not fit that description have attracted much less attention. Currently, in Cis-Baikal, the Little Sea microregion has the highest number of such graves. The mortuary variation displayed by this material (31 burials from 26 graves at 8 localities) allows their provisional classification into two mortuary groups: the Khotoruk Group, which shows a few similarities with the Kitoi pattern, and the Kurma Group, which does not. Both groups also share a few characteristics, primarily their “Mesolithic” character of many grave inclusions. Not a single grave of the Khotoruk Group displays a complete package of classic Kitoi mortuary pattern, giving an overall impression of being its much impoverished and limited version. It seems that while on the Angara and Southwest Baikal the Kitoi cultural pattern was going through a period of rather dynamic cultural developments, the Little Sea microregion was not much affected by these processes. The evidence suggests a fusion of a few typical Kitoi mortuary characteristics with those of local origin. Based on the set of 15 radiocarbon dates, both groups coexisted roughly at the same time and together date from 8154±153 to 7277±103 modelled cal. BP. As such, the origin of the Khotoruk and Kurma Groups appears to predate the formation of the Kitoi cultural pattern by a few centuries and their end seems to be also earlier than that of the Kitoi.
Analyses of radiocarbon dates (all corrected for the freshwater reservoir effect) and associated stable isotope values obtained from the skeletal remains of ~650 individuals provide many new insights about Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers (HGs) of the Cis-Baikal region, Eastern Siberia. The new radiocarbon evidence clarifies the culture history of the region by defining better the boundaries between the chronological (archaeological periods) and cultural (mortuary traditions) units, as well as our understanding of the transitions between them. Furthermore, differences between the four archaeological micro-regions with regard to the timing and duration of these culture historical units have come into focus for the first time. In terms of dietary patterns, the Early Neolithic foragers of the Angara and Southwest Baikal trended towards a greater reliance on aquatic foods. A similar trend was found in the Late Neolithic (LN) Isakovo group on the Angara, while the LN Serovo group in the Little Sea trended towards an increased dietary reliance on terrestrial game. In the Early Bronze Age HGs, a mosaic of dietary patterns was found: some groups experienced dietary shifts (frequently emphasizing different foods), while other groups displayed stability. Such differences were found even between close neighbours. All these results suggest significant variation in patterns of culture change within and between archaeological periods, mortuary traditions, and micro-regions. Some cultural patterns developed at a quick pace, others much more slowly; some appear to have collapsed rapidly, while others probably went through a more gradual transition to a different pattern. Additionally, this large set of radiocarbon dates allows novel insights into patterns of cemetery use: some seem to have been used continuously, others only sporadically, and some show long periods of disuse. Moreover, some cemeteries of the same mortuary tradition were apparently in use substantially earlier than others were even established. In sum, Cis-Baikal Middle Holocene HG strategies underwent a range of changes not only at the boundaries between relevant culture historical units but also within such units. New insights suggest considerable spatio-temporal variation in the nature, pace, and timing of these developments.
The Archaeology of Human Bones provides an up to date account of the analysis of human skeletal remains from archaeological sites, introducing students to the anatomy of bones and teeth and the nature of the burial record. Drawing from studies around the world, this book illustrates how the scientific study of human remains can shed light upon important archaeological and historical questions. This new edition reflects the latest developments in scientific techniques and their application to burial archaeology. Current scientific methods are explained, alongside a critical consideration of their strengths and weaknesses. The book has also been thoroughly revised to reflect changes in the ways in which scientific studies of human remains have influenced our understanding of the past, and has been updated to reflect developments in ethical debates that surround the treatment of human remains. There is now a separate chapter devoted to archaeological fieldwork on burial grounds, and the chapters on DNA and ethics have been completely rewritten. This edition of The Archaeology of Human Bones provides not only a more up to date but also a more comprehensive overview of this crucial area of archaeology. Written in a clear style with technical jargon kept to a minimum, it continues to be a key work for archaeology students.
We present genome-wide data from 40 individuals dating to c.16,900 to 550 years ago in northeast Asia. We describe hitherto unknown gene flow and admixture events in the region, revealing a complex population history. While populations east of Lake Baikal remained relatively stable from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age, those from Yakutia and west of Lake Baikal witnessed major population transformations, from the Late Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic, and during the Bronze Age, respectively. We further locate the Asian ancestors of Paleo-Inuits, using direct genetic evidence. Last, we report the most northeastern ancient occurrence of the plague-related bacterium, Yersinia pestis . Our findings indicate the highly connected and dynamic nature of northeast Asia populations throughout the Holocene.
Modern humans have inhabited the Lake Baikal region since the Upper Paleolithic, though the precise history of its peoples over this long time span is still largely unknown. Here, we report genome-wide data from 19 Upper Paleolithic to Early Bronze Age individuals from this Siberian region. An Upper Paleolithic genome shows a direct link with the First Americans by sharing the admixed ancestry that gave rise to all non-Arctic Native Americans. We also demonstrate the formation of Early Neolithic and Bronze Age Baikal populations as the result of prolonged admixture throughout the eighth to sixth millennium BP. Moreover, we detect genetic interactions with western Eurasian steppe populations and reconstruct Yersinia pestis genomes from two Early Bronze Age individuals without western Eurasian ancestry. Overall, our study demonstrates the most deeply divergent connection between Upper Paleolithic Siberians and the First Americans and reveals human and pathogen mobility across Eurasia during the Bronze Age.
The rapid spread of Numic peoples into the Great Basin about 500-700 years ago is a major anomaly in the prehistory of that region because, according to current interpretations, it occurred in the absence of major adaptive change. A review of existing evidence suggests that this view is incorrect; we propose an alternative notion of important contrasts between Prenumic and Numic adaptation in terms of the relative reliance on large game and small seeds. These contrasts explain why the Numic speakers were consistently able to expand at the expense of Prenumic groups.
Infants and children are nearly universally found to be among the most vulnerable subgroups of a population. Their health can be a sensitive indicator of the health of the population as a whole. Furthermore, repeated bouts of illness during infancy and childhood, periods of rapid development, can have lasting functional effects on the individual and the group. In this paper we provide a framework for studying infant and childhood health in archaeological populations, briefly review methods for studying infant‐childhood health in skeletal remains, and provide examples of the sensitivity and adaptive significance of this segment of the population by examining infant and childhood health at Dickson Mounds, Illinois and Wadi Haifa, Sudanese Nubia. A variety of methods are available for studying infant and childhood health in archaeological groups. Taken together, these methods can provide insights into the patterns and consequences of health in prehistory.
Inaccuracies introduced through biases in preservation are a major source of error in paleodemographic reconstructions. Although it is generally assumed that such biases exist, little is known about their magnitude. To investigate this problem, we studied age and sex differences in the preservation of skeletal remains from Mission La Purisima and a prehistoric cemetery (Ca-Ven-110). Comparison of mortality profiles obtained through analysis of skeletal remains and burial records from the mission indicates that biases in preservation can be very significant in poorly preserved skeletal collections. The Purisima burial records show that most of the people interred in the cemetery were either infants or elderly adults. The skeletal remains, in contrast, are predominantly those of young adults. The burial records and skeletal collection produced comparable sex ratios. These results show that age biases in preservation are much more important than sex biases. This conclusion is supported by data on the completeness of the skeletons from La Purisima and Ca-Ven-110. At both sites, the remains of young adults were better preserved than those of children or elderly adults, and the completeness of male and female skeletons was comparable.
The main demographic parameters of the population of South Altaians from the Mendur-Sokkon village, Ust'-Kanskii raion, Altai Republic, were studied. This population was classified as a growing one because the population's reproductive size was large (37%), the prereproductive part constituted the majority of the population (52%), and the average number of surviving children per spouse was 2.6. The population studied began to mix with other ethnic groups (mostly Russians and Kazakhs) only recently; therefore, the proportion of interethnic hybrids was only 5%. The tribal structure of the Mendur-Sokkon population was typical of all South Altaians and characterized by stringent observance of exogamous regulations. An ethnically pure core was preserved in the population. The degree of endogamy was 0.36; however, the population mostly exchanged marriage migrants within the Ust'-Kanskii raion. A study of postreproductive females revealed thar the average number of surviving children and pregnancies per female was 4.9 and 5.3, respectively; these values were lower than those in indigenous northern Siberian populations studied earlier. The high value of the Crow's index of total selection (I-tot = 0.63) was mainly accounted for by the differential fecundity component, I-f = 0.40, whereas the prereproductive mortality component (I-m = 0.16) was considerably lower than northern Siberian populations (Nganasans, Forest and Tundra Nentsi, Evens, Asian Eskimos, etc.) and closer to the values characteristic of urban human populations.
Among the issues current in Middle Holocene boreal forest archaeology in eastern Siberia over the past ten years are comparative hunter-gatherer social complexity and the existence of a gap in the human occupation record during most of the seventh millennium BP. To address these issues, well-preserved human remains from two major Cis-Baikal hunter-gatherer cemeteries that date from either side of the gap were analyzed. While both populations possessed good community health, demographic and paleopathological profiles suggest that cultural factors, including weaning age, birth spacing, and gender-based differentiation, may have played a role in pregap population decline and postgap population increase. Environmental factors were probably not prime movers in culture change. The data imply that the pregap group's demise was a result of inflexible cultural practices with which a small, mobile population could not succeed. Their very 'complexity' may have been their downfall. Postgap people flourished with their more flexible, more equitable, and possibly 'simpler' social system. These results are viewed in light of the ongoing debate on variability in hunter-gatherer social systems.
Studies of prehistoric patterns of health and disease focus on interpretations of the evidence from hard tissue remains of past peoples. These interpretations are based on observations of living peoples and the sources of stress which may be expected to leave a record in their bones and teeth. One presumed source of stress that has received wide attention in the recent literature is weaning. The process of weaning is often associated with elevated risks of infant mortality and morbidity because infants no longer receive passive immunity from their mothers, and they are exposed to new sources of infection through the weaning diet. The process of weaning has also been tied to the duration of the contraceptive effects of nursing and the return of fecundity, which in turn provides information about birth spacing and population growth. Recently some of the basic assumptions about nursing and weaning, and their effects on morbidity, mortality and population growth, have been challenged, based on new technical and cross-cultural information. It is clear from the demographic literature that some studies based on skeletal samples tend to be too simplistic in terms of the causes of infant morbidity and mortality. This paper reviews current research which relates weaning and infant mortality to health and reproduction in past populations and evaluates studies of enamel hypoplasia and bone chemistry for reconstructing infant feeding practices in the past.
Presents as assessment of changes in the climatic conditions in territory of the USSR for the end of the 20th century which will occur if the amount of carbonic acid gas in the earth's atmosphere increases as a result of burning fuel. -from Russian summary
Food webs of tropical, temperate, and arctic lakes can be characterized by the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of their constituent organisms. After assigning trophic levels using δ 15N, a broad range of δ 13C is observed at the primary consumer level in nearly all lakes. The range of δ 13C is on the order of 20 ‰ in tropical lakes Kyoga and Malawi and lakes with low dissolved inorganic carbon in temperate Canada, but is narrower in shallow lakes of the Canadian arctic. This broad range exists in ecosystems in which terrestrial inputs and/or aquatic macrophytes are often minimal. The isotopically light end of the range results from phytoplankton photosynthesis whereas the isotopically heavy end represents benthic algae photosynthesizing within an unstirred boundary layer. This range is successfully predicted by an application of a simple isotopic model for photosynthetic fractionation, originally developed for aquatic macrophytes, which uses boundary layer thicknesses reported for benthic algal communities. When benthic photosynthesis becomes light-limited in very turbid lakes of the Mackenzie Delta, then phytoplanktonic carbon dominates the diet of the primary consumers. The organisms on the primary consumer trophic level appear from their δ 13C values to harvest preferentially either planktonic or benthic algal carbon but, in temperate and arctic lakes, higher consumer levels are increasingly omnivorous. Therefore top aquatic predators often have a narrow range of δ 13C. In temperate and arctic lakes these top predators have a δ 13C near the midpoint of the range at the primary consumer level, which would result from nearly equal dependence on planktonic and benthic algal carbon. This equal dependence would not be predicted from the relative magnitude of planktonic and benthic algal photosynthesis as currently estimated in these systems.
A common procedure in paleodemography is to use mean skeletal age to estimate the expectation of life at birth in a population. This paper shows that skeletal age and expectation of life at birth are not equivalent unless the population is stationary. This assumption is not justified for most real populations. We show that mean skeletal age is approximately equivalent to the reciprocal of the birth rate and is not correlated with the death rate. Thus, the practice of inferring changes in life span and death rates from changes in mean age at death is not reliable and most conclusions of paleodemographic studies should be revised. On the other hand, skeletal age may provide high-quality information about fertility in archaeological populations. Several published paleodemographic studies are reinterpreted in light of the model presented.
The extent of marine food consumption and, by implication, coastal residence among Holocene hunter-gatherers in the south-western Cape of South Africa remains contentious. Recently, a critique of our interpretation based on results was published in this journal. We address these criticisms, remedying confusion over geography and chronology. Complicated metabolic factors likely to influence the isotopic composition of bone remain problematic. Differences in between modern and archaeological animals are shown to be due largely to the effects of fossil fuels injected into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, rather than to substantially different vegetation in the past. We believe that stable carbon isotope analyses provide a reliable record of marine food intake by prehistoric people in this area, and can be used in a relative way to distinguish individuals who ate greater or lesser quantities of such foods during their lifetimes.
As a result of exposure to low water turbulence, periphyton are enriched in 13 C compared to phytoplankton. Because of this, benthic consumers in marine coastal environments are also 13 C enriched relative to planktonic consumers. I analyzed the δ 13 C values for biota from four Canadian Shield lakes and similarly found 13 C enrichment in littoral compared to pelagic consumers. A compilation of literature data indicates that an uncoupling of carbon flows between benthic and planktonic food webs may be a characteristic feature of lakes worldwide.
Seal canines from several Neolithic and Early Bronze Age archaeological sites on Lake Baikal are analysed in the context of a modern reference collection and comprehensive information about modern Baikal seal ecology and behaviour. Our analysis, which includes determination of seasonality and age at death, reveals temporal and spatial patterns of procurement. While it probably played a secondary role in the livelihood of the three foraging cultures in the area, the Baikal seal was apparently an important part of one community's mortuary programme. We also found that observed changes in the use of seal across the Neolithic corroborate well with the discontinuity in human occupation that has been hypothesized on the basis of radiocarbon, artefactual and osteological evidence.
Studies of prehistoric patterns of health and disease focus on interpretations of the evidence from hard tissue remains of past peoples. These interpretations are based on observations of living peoples and the sources of stress which may be expected to leave a record in their bones and teeth. One presumed source of stress that has received wide attention in the recent literature is weaning. The process of weaning is often associated with elevated risks of infant mortality and morbidity because infants no longer receive passive immunity from their mothers, and they are exposed to new sources of infection through the weaning diet. The process of weaning has also been tied to the duration of the contraceptive effects of nursing and the return of fecundity, which in turn provides information about birth spacing and population growth. Recently some of the basic assumptions about nursing and weaning, and their effects on morbidity, mortality and population growth, have been challenged, based on new technical and cross-cultural information. It is clear from the demographic literature that some studies based on skeletal samples tend to be too simplistic in terms of the causes of infant morbidity and mortality. This paper reviews current research which relates weaning and infant mortality to health and reproduction in past populations and evaluates studies of enamel hypoplasia and bone chemistry for reconstructing infant feeding practices in the past. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Linear growth of the long bones has and continues to be used by osteologists as a non-specific indicator of health. Studies of past populations use cross-sectional mortality samples to construct human skeletal growth profiles as a means of inferring the overall health of the population from which the skeletal series was drawn. Although all studies recognize that the growth profiles derived from skeletal samples may not be representative of the “true” path followed by the children who survived to adulthood, only recently have there been attempts to quantitatively examine this problem. This paper addresses the issue of biological mortality bias in subadult skeletal samples, focusing specifically on reduced or retarded linear growth. We begin with an overview of the general opinion on the subject within the osteological literature. A review of the child survival literature examines the interrelationships between malnutrition, morbidity, mortality, and linear growth, considering both indirect and direct studies of survivor–non-survivor growth data. This literature suggests that mortality samples are potentially biased, with linear growth of survivors often greater than that of non-survivors. The issues of stunting (the process of becoming small) and stunted growth (being small) are discussed with respect to biological mortality bias. It is concluded, that while the potential for such a bias exists within subadult skeletal collections, the effects are likely to be small at the aggregate level and error introduced by other methodological considerations (ageing, unknown sex, sample size, preservation, quality of excavation) is likely to outweigh any such error in interpretations of past population health. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Archeologists have long assumed that transport considerations have been important in structuring various aspects of the archeological record. An optimality model, derived from the principles of evolutionary ecology, is presented to investigate the trade-off between field processing and transport for central place foragers. The model implicates (1) the time required to make a round-trip and (2) the relationship between time spent field processing and increase in the utility of the transported load as the two critical factors determining what parts of resources are likely to be returned to a residential camp.
The biostratigraphy of fossil diatoms contributes important chronologic, paleolimnologic, and paleoclimatic information from Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia. Diatoms are the dominant and best preserved microfossils in the sediments, and distinctive assemblages and species provide inter-core correlations throughout the basin at millennial to centennial scales, in both high and low sedimentation-rate environments. Distributions of unique species, once dated by radiocarbon, allow diatoms to be used as dating tools for the Holocene history of the lake.
Diatom, pollen, and organic geochemical records from site 305, at the foot of the Selenga Delta, provide a history of paleolimnologic and paleoclimatic changes from the late glacial (15 ka) through the Holocene. Before 14 ka diatoms were very rare, probably because excessive turbidity from glacial meltwater entering the lake impeded productivity. Between 14 and 12 ka, lake productivity increased, perhaps as strong winds promoted deep mixing and nutrient regeneration. Pollen evidence suggests a cold shrub — steppe landscape dominated the central Baikal depression at this time. As summer insolation increased, conifers replaced steppe taxa, but diatom productivity declined between 11 and 9 ka perhaps as a result of increased summer turbidity resulting from violent storm runoff entering the lake via short, steep drainages. After 8 ka, drier, but more continental climates prevailed, and the modern diatom flora of Lake Baikal came to prominence.
On Academician Ridge, a site of slow sedimentation rates, Holocene diatom assemblages at the top of 10-m cores reappear at deeper levels suggesting that such cores record at least two previous interglacial (or interstadial?) periods. Nevertheless, distinctive species that developed prior to the last glacial period indicate that the dynamics of nutrient cycling in Baikal and the responsible regional climatic environments were not entirely analogous to Holocene conditions. During glacial periods, the deep basin sediments of Lake Baikal are dominated by rapidly deposited clastics entering from large rivers with possibly glaciated headwaters. On the sublacustrine Academician Ridge (depth = 300 m), however, detailed analysis of the diatom biostratigraphy indicates that diastems (hiatuses of minor duration) and (or) highly variable rates of accumulation complicate paleolimnologic and paleoclimatic reconstructions from these records.
Rich settlement and burial evidence from the Baikal/Angara region in Central Siberia provides one of the most promising opportunities in the global boreal forest for studying Holocene foragers. The Neolithic and Early Bronze Age prehistory of the region is known to western scholars only through a few English translations of the works of A. P. Okladnikov. Since the publication of Okladnikov's model, the region has witnessed large-scale archaeological fieldwork that has produced abundant quantities of new evidence. Moreover, the model has been partly invalidated by extensive radiocarbon dating. Research advances over the last couple of decades have augmented the area's previous reputation but have also revealed the need for new theoretical perspectives and modern analytical techniques.
A suite of 146 new accelerator-mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon ages provides the first reliable chronology for late Quaternary sediments in Lake Baikal. In this large, highly oligotrophic lake, biogenic and authigenic carbonate are absent, and plant macrofossils are extremely rare. Total organic carbon is therefore the primary material available for dating. Several problems are associated with the TOC ages. One is the mixture of carbon sources in TOC, not all of which are syndepositional in age. This problem manifests itself in apparent ages for the sediment surface that are greater than zero. However, because most of the organic carbon in Lake Baikal sediments is algal (autochthonous) in origin, this effect is limited to about 1000±500 years, which can be corrected, at least for young deposits. The other major problem with dating Lake Baikal sediments is the very low carbon contents of glacial-age deposits, which makes them extremely susceptible to contamination with modern carbon. This problem can be minimized by careful sampling and handling procedures.
The stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios of bone collagen prepared from more than 100 animals representing 66 species of birds, fish, and mammals are presented. The δ15N values of bone collagen from animals that fed exclusively in the marine environment are, on average, 9%. more positive than those from animals that fed exclusively in the terrestrial environment; ranges for the two groups overlap by less than 1%. Bone collagen δ15N values also serve to separate marine fish from the small number of freshwater fish we analyzed. The bone collagen δ15N values of birds and fish that spent part of their life cycles feeding in the marine environment and part in the freshwater environment are intermediate between those of animals that fed exclusively in one or the other system. Further, animals that fed at successive trophic levels in the marine and terrestrial environment are separated, on average, by a 3%. difference in the δ15N values of their bone collagen. Specifically, carnivorous and herbivorous terrestrial animals have mean δ15N values for bone collagen of + 8.0 and + 5.3%., respectively. Among marine animals, those that fed on fish have a mean δ15N value for bone collagen of + 16.5%., whereas those that fed on invertebrates have a mean δ15N value of + 13.3%. These results support previous suggestions of a 3%. enrichment in δ15N values at each successively higher trophic level. In contrast to the results for δ15N values, the ranges of bone collagen δ13C values from marine and terrestrial feeders overlap to a great extent. Additionally, bone collagen δ13C values do not reflect the trophic levels at which the animals fed. These results indicate that bone collagen δ15N values will be useful in determining relative dependence on marine and terrestrial food sources and in investigating trophic level relationships among different animal species within an ecosystem. This approach should be applicable to animals represented by prehistoric or fossilized bone in which collagen is preserved.
A number of archaeological sites on Lake Baikal revealed evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age seal hunting. A collection of 35 canines from four sites was used to develop a methodology for analysing growth increments of canine dentine for the purpose of examining aspects of prehistoric seal hunting. Results from this preliminary analysis indicate that seal hunting at these sites was a seasonal activity confined to spring and early summer. Baikal seals were probably hunted in early spring for their meat, blubber and furs, and later in the season for their meat and skins.
A sediment core recovered from Lake Baikal was studied in an attempt to elucidate the palaeoenvironmental history of an intra-continental lake under the control of last-glacial to post-glacial climatic fluctuations. The lake conditions were characterised by subdued primary production and increased turbidity conditions during the last glacial maximum. Terrestrial vegetation and the development of soil layers were reduced in the drainage areas. The deglaciation, suggested by increased terrigenous sand influx and biological productivity, took place at around 18 000 yr B.P., responding to the increased insolation in the Northern Hemisphere high latitude. The onset of wet and warm conditions at ca. 12 000 yr B.P. brought on a maximum of aquatic production and forestal expansion between 7 000 and 6 000 yr B.P. Since 5 000 yr B.P., enhanced blooming of diatoms has occurred due to an increased nutrient supply and dissolved silica input into the lake.
The paleoclimatic record from bottom sediments of Lake Baikal (eastern Siberia) reveals new evidence for an abrupt and intense glaciation during the initial part of the last interglacial period (isotope substage 5d). This glaciation lasted about 12,000 yr from 117,000 to 105,000 yr B.P. according to correlation with the SPECMAP isotope chronology. Lithological and biogeochemical evidence of glaciation from Lake Baikal agrees with evidence for the advance of ice sheet in northwestern Siberia during this time period and also with cryogenic features within the strata of Kazantzevo soils in Southern Siberia. The severe 5d glaciation in Siberia was caused by dramatic cooling due to the decrease in solar insolation (as predicted by the model of insolation changes for northern Asia according to Milankovich theory) coupled with western atmospheric transport of moisture from the open areas of Northern Atlantic and Arctic seas (which became ice-free due to the intense warming during preceeding isotope substage 5e). Other marine and continental records show evidence for cooling during 5d, but not for intense glaciation. Late Pleistocene glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere may have begun in northwestern Siberia.
Detailed siliceous microfossil records (diatoms and chrysophyte cysts) from the BDP-93-2 borehole with resolution of ca 30–120 years were obtained from Lake Baikal sediments to test the sensitivity of the Lake Baikal system to minor climate changes during the Holocene. Our new results demonstrate that the Subboreal period is characterized by the highest accumulations of diatom frustules and chrysophyte cysts in Lake Baikal sediments. The siliceous microfossil record suggests that the Holocene climatic optimum in this interior part of Asia corresponds to the Subboreal period 2.5–4.5 ka and not to the Atlantic period 4.6–6 ka. Although quite different from Holocene reconstructions for the European part of Eurasia, the Holocene sedimentary record from Lake Baikal shows good correlation with palynological and soil climatic records from southeast Siberia and Mongolia where similar responses of the terrestrial biosphere are also documented. A distinctive monospecific lamina of Synedra acus diatom species, coincident with the maximum of chrysophyte cyst accumulation during the Subboreal period, argues for the possible short-term changes of the trophic state of Lake Baikal from oligotrophic, with a cold-water diatom assemblage, to eutrophic with a thermophilic monospecific diatom flora. Comparison of diatom and cyst responses provides a key to distinguishing the humidity from temperature response in future studies of high-resolution records of Lake Baikal.
Human and non-human faunal bone from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods of Cis-Baikal were analysed for stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in order to study regional and temporal variation in diet and subsistence. Both prehistoric and modern faunal species were analysed with all fish from the modern context. Results indicate that regional variation is greater than temporal variation and can be attributed to proximity to Lake Baikal and its rich aquatic resources. Stable isotope analyses of fish and seals from Lake Baikal indicate a wide range of variation in isotope values. δ15N values for the freshwater seals of Lake Baikal average 14 ± 1·1 per mil. Freshwater fish are highly variable in the δ13C values ranging from − 24·6 per mil for the pelagic omul (Coregonus autumnalis migratorius) to − 12·9 per mil for littoral species such as ide (Leuciscus idus). Terrestrial herbivores have much lower δ15N values, ranging from 4 to 5 per mil for deer and elk. These data demonstrate that even in temperate, inland regions, there is sufficient variation in stable isotope values of various food resources to provide useful information about variation in human palaeodiet.
A review of global land vegetation 18,000, 8000, and 5000 years B.P. allowed map reconstructions of past ecosystem distribution. By collecting soil and vegetation carbon storage data from the ecological literature, the map reconstructions were then used to estimate the total organic carbon storage on land at each of these time slices. Our best estimate suggests that there was an extremely large increase in land organic carbon storage, of around 1500 Gt (with extreme outer error limits for the increase placed at around 900 and 1900 Gt, respectively) between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the early-to-mid Holocene. It seems that the world's terrestrial carbon reservoirs more than doubled in size between full-glacial and full-interglacial conditions, due to a great increase in the areas of forest and other carbon-rich ecosystems. Although there are many uncertainties in such calculations, comparing them to methods used in other published estimates, we suggest that the present estimate may represent an overall improvement in accuracy. Apparent problems in previous studies include the use of relatively few data points and a limited range of types of palaeoenvironmental evidence, the unselective use of carbon storage data from anthropogenically modified ecosystems, and the assignment of an anomalously high carbon storage to the LGM `steppe–tundra' ecosystem.
Hunter-gatherer subsistence-settlement strategies are discussed in terms of differing organizational components, "mapping-on" and "logistics," and the consequences of each for archaeological intersite variability are discussed. It is further suggested that the differing strategies are responsive to different security problems presented by the environments in which hunter-gatherers live. Therefore, given the beginnings of a theory of adaptation, it is possible to anticipate both differences in settlement-subsistence strategies and patterning in the archaeological record through a more detailed knowledge of the distribution of environmental variables.
Demographic data of genetic interest were studied in presently living population in comparison with preseding generations of Nganasans. Decrease of sex ratio in the whole population has been revealed along with the reduction of reproductive and, possibly, effective size. The number and variance of livebirths per female were 7.29 and 9.86 respectively. Crow' index of the opportunity for selection (I) and its components (Im and If) were estimated. I was found to be 1.17, whereas Im and If--1.56 and 0.18 respectively. Linear pattern of settling in the past as well as the type of migration between adjoining subpopulations depended on culture and economy of arctic reindeer hunters as well as landscape character.
This report is a third one in a series of works devoted to the genetic structure (biodemographic studies) of the Forest Nentsy. The main parameters of the population studied were as follows: the total number in seven subpopulations amounting to 1734 persons, the sex ratio 0.93, percentage of children in the group of 0 to 15 years old--39,1%, reproductive and effective sizes--29,5% and 22,0%, respectively, the mean number and variance of offspring per mating, when reproduction is completed being 2,7 (5,2). It has been shown that kin and territorial subdivision of the population contributes to the formation of conjugal pairs and migration pattern. Within-kin matings make 0,041, whereas, according to the panmixia hypothesis, this value would be 0,243. The average index of isolation for particular subpopulation is 62,7%. An exchange of migrants occurs between adjacent groups. Migration stream to the different subpopulations varies in volume and ethnic composition. Analysis of the admixture based on the pedigree isoname method has shown that the proportion of the Forest Nentsy gene contribution to their own population is 74,4%. Data on subpopulation size, patterns of matings, migration and admixture may serve as a basis to account for intrapopulation heterogeneity.
Genetic-demographic parameters (Tundra Nentsi, Forest Nentsi, and Komi) of the population of native inhabitants of the Samburg Tundra (population size, age and sex structure, sex ratio) are presented. The size of the portion of the population of reproductive age (35.5% of the total), family size (3.04), and the predominance of the portion of the population under reproductive allow us to classify this population as growing. Results of analysis of marriage structure, mixing, and migration processes in the group of Tundra Nentsi are presented. It is shown, that the gene contribution of Tundra Nentsi themselves into the population is 74%. The index of endogamy is 42.4%. The inbreeding coefficient in the population is 0.003. It is demonstrated that the average number and variance of births for Tundra Nentsi women who have passed their reproductive years are 7.55 and 11.07, respectively. Crow's index of total selection (Itot) and its components (Im, I(f)) were 0.75, 0.47, and 0.19, respectively.
The archaeological record indicates large increases in human population coincident with the emergence of food production about 10,000 years ago. The cause of the growth is unclear. Extreme views attribute the change to increases in the birth rate or to decreases in the death rate. Many argue that sedentism led to improved ovarian function and higher fertility through higher caloric intakes or reduced activity levels. Similarly, shortened lactation periods may have reduced birth spacing and increased fertility. Others attribute the rise in population to decreases in mortality, arguing that the evidence from skeletal populations indicates improvements in health and the expectation of life at birth, though others use the same evidence to argue that mortality increased. An analysis presented here draws on findings that indicate substantial increases in the survival of young children as populations switch from nomadic to sedentary lives. Projections indicate that this improvement in child survival is so critical that it may be followed by substantially larger decreases in survival at later ages, yet result in higher population growth rates and reduced expectation of life at birth. Increases in the birth rate are not necessary for population growth, even when overall mortality increases. Large increases in overall mortality can be associated with large increases in population. Because positive population growth can occur while the expectation of life at birth declines, this analysis shows that this summary statistic is not an appropriate indicator of population fitness.
The main demographic parameters of the population of South Altaians from the Mendur-Sokkon village, Ust'-Kanskii raion, Altai Republic, were studied. This population was classified as a growing one because the population's reproductive size was large (37%), the prereproductive part constituted the majority of the population (52%), and the average number of surviving children per spouse was 2.6. The population studied began to mix with other ethnic groups (mostly Russians and Kazakhs) only recently; therefore, the proportion of interethnic hybrids was only 5%. The tribal structure of the Mendur-Sokkon population was typical of all South Altaians and characterized by stringent observance of exogamous regulations. An ethnically pure core was preserved in the population. The degree of endogamy was 0.36; however, the population mostly exchanged marriage migrants within the Ust'-Kanskii raion. A study of postreproductive females revealed that the average number of surviving children and pregnancies per female was 4.9 and 5.3, respectively; these values were lower than those in indigenous northern Siberian populations studied earlier. The high value of the Crow's index of total selection (Itot = 0.63) was mainly accounted for by the differential fecundity component, I(f) = 0.40, whereas the prereproductive mortality component (Im = 0.16) was considerably lower than in northern Siberian populations (Nganasans, Forest and Tundra Nentsi, Evens, Asian Eskimos, etc.) and closer to the values characteristic of urban human populations.