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The rock art of the north-western peninsula is an important manifestation of prehistoric culture, to which a lack of chronological clarity presents itself as one of its greatest research challenges. Some depictions of weapons or idols, which are rare, can be excluded from this generalized situation, but can be found having a direct correlation within the archaeological record. The main objective of this present study is to publicize new sites with idoliform figures in the north-western peninsula. The findings presented here are a new site with "Peña Tú" motifs, two places with representations of cylindrical idols, and a possible idol plaque. These new groups are of great interest, since they become part of the set of this type of (particularly rare) motifs in the art of the northwest and allow for the discussion of certain aspects concerning the chronology of that artistic cycle. The presence of these figures is particularly illustrative because it reproduces a type of iconography characteristic of other peninsular regions, but adapted to the techniques and patterns of representation typical of Atlantic rock art. In addition, it gives an account of the extensive network of contacts throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, where not only material elements are exchanged, but cultural concepts also flow. El arte rupestre del noroeste peninsular es una importante manifestación cultural prehistórica, que presenta como uno de sus mayores retos de investigación la indefinición cronológica. De esta generalizada situación se pueden excluir algunas representaciones de armas o ídolos, las cuales son escasas, pero encuentran correlato directo en el registro arqueológico. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es dar a conocer nuevas estaciones con figuras idoliformes en el noroeste peninsular. Los hallazgos presentados aquí son una nueva estación con un motivo tipo “Peña Tú”, dos estaciones con representaciones de Ídolos cilindro, y un posible ídolo placa. Estos nuevos grupos resultan de gran interés, ya que vienen a engrosar la nómina de este tipo de motivos (particularmente escasos) en el arte del noroeste y permite discutir ciertos aspectos sobre la cronología de ese ciclo artístico. La presencia de estas figuras es especialmente ilustrativa, pues reproduce un tipo de iconografía característica de otras regiones peninsulares, pero adaptadas a las técnicas y pautas de representación propias del Arte Rupestre Atlántico. Además, da cuenta de la extensa red de contactos, a lo largo de la península ibérica y Europa, dónde no solo se intercambian elementos materiales, sino también fluyen conceptos de tipo cultural.

Данная работа посвящена введению в научный оборот материалов раскопок поселения Еленовка-3, расположенного на северо-западе Приморья. На поселении был раскопан котлован небольшого жилища прямоугольной в плане формы с выделенным входом. Керамический материал представлен обломками лепных плоскодонных сосудов простых баночных и горшковидных форм с венчиком, имеющим налепной валик. Сосуды орнаментировались преимущественно оттисками зубчатого штампа. Каменный инвентарь включает единичные изделия, относящиеся к нескольким категориям: рубящие орудия, наконечники стрел, абразивы, грузило, лощило. Обнаруженный комплекс относится к позднему неолиту, но не имеет прямых аналогий с известными культурами в регионе. Наибольшее сходство он обнаруживает с материалами памятников, расположенных в Северном Приморье, в долине р. Большой Уссурки. Отмечается, что керамические комплексы этой группы памятников обладают схожими чертами с керамикой вознесеновской культуры Нижнего Амура, а также имеют ряд признаков, сближающих их с комплексами приханкайского варианта зайсановской культуры Приморья. Авторами отмечается, что сочетание элементов разных гончарных традиций в морфологии и орнаментации комплексов данных памятников является следствием контактов представителей разных культурных групп. Делается вывод о необходимости проведения дальнейших исследований памятников позднего неолита в северных районах края., This article is devoted to the introduction into scientific circulation of materials from the excavations of the settlement Elenovka-3, located in the North-West of Primorye. At the settlement was excavated pit of a small dwelling rectangular in plan with a distinguished entrance. The ceramic material is represented by fragments of molded flat-bottomed vessels of simple jar and pot-shaped forms with a rim having a molded roller. Vessels were ornamented mainly with impressions of a serrated stamp. Stone inventory is represented by single items belonging to several categories: chopping tools, arrowheads, abrasives, sinker, polishing. This complex belongs to the Late Neolithic, but has no direct analogies with known cultures in the region. He finds the greatest similarity in the materials of sites located in Northern Primorye, in the valley of the river Bolshaya Ussurka. It is noted that the ceramic complexes of this group of sites have similar features with the ceramics of the Voznesenovskaya culture of the Lower Amur, and also has a number of features that bring them closer to the complexes of the Khanka Lake-side variant of the Zaisanovskaya culture of Primorye. The authors note that the combination of elements of different pottery traditions in the morphology and ornamentation of the complexes of these sites is the result of contacts between representatives of different cultural groups. It is concluded that it is necessary to conduct further studies of the Late Neolithic sites in the northern territories of the region.

The paper deals with the complex analysis of the stone equipment of the Kedrovy Mys-1 site associated with the Poludensky tradition, classical for the Trans-Urals, dated to the Late Neolithic period. On the basis of typologi-cal and functional analyses, aimed at the study of tool shapes and identification of their correlation with the func-tional purpose, specifics of the stone industry of the Poludensky complex have been determined. The tools manu-factured at the site of Kedrovy Mys-1 were produced from the materials from the valley of the river Miass, situated behind the Ilmensky ridge, approximately 20–25 km away from the site. Dominant materials are phtanitoids and sealing-wax green jade; these quality materials were scarce, so that local chalcedonies were used. The stone industry based on the prismatic flaking was aimed at the production of plates as the feedstock for the tools. For the production of tools, preference was given to the medium-width plates, with a little use of small plates. A fea-ture of the complex is represented by the tools indicating the existence of the insert technique, such as plates with the rounded back and face, chamfered tips, “triangle”, and unretouched plates used as knives. Mainly blunting retouching, and sometimes sharpening, was used for the plate processing from the back side. A cutter spalling as the tool shaping technique was used occasionally. No cutters were found. Typologically identified tools are repre-sented by arrow tips, end scrapers, piercers, borers, scrapers on the flakes and nucleus cleavage, chopping tools, abrasives, and a retoucher. Specifics of the Poludensky toolset of the Kedrovy Mys-1 site allows suggestion that during this period of the site the main activity of the population was concerned with food processing — meat cut-ting and catch processing. This is evidenced by the predominance of the knives for meat/fish cutting. The propor-tion of tools used for the production of wooden equipment is quite small, which is probably due to the sampling, although morphologically it is very prominent. In the meantime, the presence of tools for processing of skin, stone, bone, and for repair of ceramics indicates a full cycle of the production activity ensuring efficient adaptation in the lake system environment.

La dalle gravée dite de Crampoisic (Saint-Mayeux) fut extraite d’un filon de métadolérite et intégrée au centre de la paroi d’une chambre funéraire de type allée couverte. Le monument était encore entouré d’un tertre peu élevé au moment de la fouille conduite en 1906 par M. Baudouin, mais sera détruit en 1940. La dalle est reconnue avec ses gravures en 1974 par P. Brouté qui la recueille. L’ensemble iconographique peut être scindé en deux entités. La première est malheureusement tronquée et au surplus égalisée par piquetage au Néolithique. La seconde, centrée sur le support, présente une gravure complexe comportant deux motifs superposés, aux contours quadrangulaires. Le motif inférieur est cerné de cupules périphériques internes. Le motif du dessus, qui empiète sur le précédent, révèle deux paires de protubérances circulaires (« seins ») et deux motifs courbes en relief réalisés au-dessous, respectivement composés de quinze petites capsules assimilables aux « perles » d’un collier ; l’ensemble est recouvert de « chevrons » juxtaposés. Des agencements comparables seront recherchés au nord et au sud de la Bretagne. The engraved slab known as Crampoisic (Saint-Mayeux, near the Plussulien Neolithic quarries) was extracted from a dolerite vein and integrated into the centre of the wall of a funerary chamber of the gallery grave type. The monument was still surrounded by a low mound at the time of the excavation carried out in 1906 by M. Baudouin, but was destroyed in 1940. The slab was recognized with its engravings in 1974 by P. Brouté who collected it. The engraved iconographic set is divided into two entities. The first one is unfortunately truncated and moreover the surface was reshaped by picketing in the Neolithic period. The second, centred on the monolith, presents a complex engraving comprising two superimposed motifs with quadrangular contours. The lower motif is configured with internal peripheral cup-marks. The other motif, which encroaches on the previous one, shows two pairs of circular protuberances (“breasts”) and two curved motifs below, respectively composed of fifteen small capsules similar to the "pearls" of a necklace; the whole is covered at the top with juxtaposed “chevrons”. Comparable arrangements will be sought in the north and south of Brittany.

International audience; The aim of this paper is twofold: first, we strive to find routes of flint supply that may have been used systematically on the northern Alpine Foreland during the fourth millennium BCE, based on the origin of the siliceous raw materials; second, these routes will be interpreted as a part of cultural entanglements. Using the sedimentary microfacies method for sourcing the raw materials of artefacts recovered in prehistoric sites makes it possible to study the provenances of large series’ pieces in a non-destructive manner. Besides insights into the economy of flint raw material supply practices of single precisely-dated sites, this cross-regional comparison allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the economic relations and thus the mobility pattern of the respective settlement communities in different time periods. The method used for raw material sourcing is described in Affolter et al., 2021 (this issue) in detail. In this paper, we present as a first research step new raw material determinations from four Late Neolithic wetland sites on the northern Alpine Foreland that encompass several dendrochronologically-dated settlements: Twann Bahnhof (3838–3532 BCE) and Sutz-Lattrigen Hauptstation innen/Hafen (3827–3566 BCE) at Lake Biel and Hornstaad Hörnle IA (3919–3902 BCE) as well as Sipplingen Osthafen A and B (3919–3904 and 3857–3817 BCE) at Lake Constance. Thanks to the precise dating of the settlements and the finds deriving from the respective stratigraphic layers, not only regional differences but also transformations over time in raw material supplies can be approached with an extraordinarily high temporal resolution. Hence, this article demonstrates the interpretative potential of flint provenance determination to study the spatial mobility of prehistoric settlement communities. In addition to the presentation of previously unpublished materials, the aim here is to show an initial approach to the study of spatial mobility and entanglements using flint data, which is to be expanded in the future.

Статья посвящена анализу сосудов с меандром из комплекса позднего неолита поселения Водопадное-7, относящегося к малоизученному на сегодняшний день юго-восточному варианту зайсановской культуры. Даётся подробное описание морфологических и технологических особенностей сосудов, их параметров, а также орнаментальных схем. Проводится сравнительный анализ керамики с меандром из комплекса поселения Водопадное-7 с материалами других памятников зайсановской культуры. Наибольшее сходство, выражающееся в формах сосудов, технике нанесения орнамента и его композиции, прослеживается с комплексами приханкайского варианта. Но, в отличие от сосудов с меандром на приханкайских памятниках, изделия на поселении Водопадное-7 не выделяются в отдельную категорию парадной посуды., The article is devoted to the analysis of pottery with a meander ornament from the Late Neolithic complex of the Vodopadnoe-7 settlement, which belongs to the southeastern group of the Zaisanovka cultural, which has been little studied to date. A detailed description of the morphological and technological features of the vessels, their parameters, as well as ornamental schemes is given. A comparative analysis of ceramics with a meander ornament from the complex of the Vodopadnoe-7 settlement with materials from other sites of the Zaisanovka cultural is carried out. The greatest similarity, expressed in the forms of vessels, the technique of applying the ornament and its composition, can be traced with the complexes of the Khanka Lake-side variant. But unlike the vessels with a meander ornament at the Khanka Lake-side sites, the items at the Vodopadnoe-7 settlement are not classified as a separate category of ceremonial utensils.

Статья представляет собой опыт сравнительного анализа комплексов и культур раннего и позднего неолита Верхней Колымы, Чукотки и Камчатки. Это вариант определённого комплексного анализа развития каменной индустрии, эколого-экономических систем, образа жизни, элементов развития социума и мировоззрения на основе имеющихся в настоящее время данных. Определяются возможные хронологические этапы, а также характерные черты раннего и позднего неолита. В статье уделяется внимание вопросам и проблемам новаций, инноваций, трансформаций, культурных трансляций в эпоху раннего и позднего неолита, а также в процессе перехода от одного периода исторического развития к другому. В соответствии с этапами исторического развития предлагаются варианты формирования эколого-экономических систем (континентальной и приморской) в экстремальных условиях Севера. Рассматривается вопрос взаимодействия и взаимовлияния технико-типологических традиций комплексов и археологических культур Верхней Колымы, Чукотки и Камчатки, а также сопредельных территорий Якутии и Аляски., Article contains the experiment of comparative analysis the complexes and cultures of the Early and Late Neolithic of the Upper Kolyma, Chukotka and Kamchatka. This is variant the complex analysis the development the stone industry, ecology-economic systems, way of life, elements the development of society. It’s define the possible of chronological phase, typical elements of the Early and Late Neolithic of the regional. The article gives the matter the questions and problems of novation’s, innovations, transformations, the cultural transmission in the development Early and Late Neolithic process and crossing from the one period historical development to another. In correspond with these periods of the historical development to project the variants of form ecology-economic systems (continental and maritime) in the North extremely conditions. Talk about questions of the interrelation the stone industry traditions complexes and archaeological cultures of the Upper Kolyma, Chukotka and Kamchatka and contiguous territory of Yakutia and Alaska.

The purpose of this paper is the detailed study of one of the excavations that has marked the evolution of Fontbouïsse of MITRA III located in Garons (Gard, France) whilst focussing on the development and the disappearance of enclosures in the south of France. The site located near to a site known as Puech Ferrier, an unpublished enclosure of MITRA III excavated in 2011, was first excavated in 2012 within the framework of preventive archaeology. This exploration of a 5000 m ² surface revealed the southern part and the entrance of an installation delimited by at least two ditches which succeed one another, dating to a period between the 27th and 24th centuries BC that includes the development of the culture of Fontbouïsse, the Campaniforme (Bell Beaker) and the emergence of the early Bronze (BA2). A network of three concentric ditches, the innermost enclosure being the oldest, makes up the first enclosure, where an interruption in the ditches allows access to the site. A later much larger wider and deeper ditch cuts across the first enclosure. The paper focusses on the study of this ditch and its fill, which is the only enclosed site dating to the Late Neolithic in the south of France. Observed over nearly 90 m, this ditch delimits the southern part of the site. It contains fragments of mudbrick over a silty ashy layer the anthracological spectrum of which contains mainly by oak. Based on the results of stratigraphic and soil micromorphology, a phased filling of the ditch can be proposed. Micro-and macroscopic characterization of the earthen elements found in the ditch have specified the nature of the cob and wattle and daub and the demolished structure they came from. The findings reveal that the ditch remained open for a relatively short period of time, after which a cob structure, perhaps a wall, was installed, the base of which is preserved in a portion of the ditch. The ditch was then filled in by the destruction of another earthen and wood structure. This architecture could have been used to strengthen the monumental aspect of the enclosure, the hypothesis being that it copied a layout observed on other Fontbuxien settlements. A violent fire subsequently destroyed this ditch-wall enclosure and a possible adjoining building. Following on from this event, the ditch was re-dug before being filled in after the site is abandoned. The exact dating of the ditch and the destruction of the earthen wall remain imprecise. Some elements found in the lower ditch fill date to the first phase of the Fontbouïsse culture. They stylistically refer productions from the plain of Hérault and Gard. However, the destruction of the earthen architecture is dated by radiocarbon analysis and pottery found in the upper layers and the discovery of a sherd with international style decoration gives a later dating range of between 2450 and 2250 cal. BC. This enclosure and its destruction constitute a milestone in Fontbouïsse and Late Neolithic chronology. Its foundation and destruction occur within a short space of time. The events that occurred during the history of MITRA date the initial foundation and development of the concentric enclosures and the site''s total overhaul, which happened shortly before its abandon. The entrance identified at Mitra III, the new ditch with its earthen architecture that cut across the first enclosure around 2500 cal. BC questions our knowledge of the development and disappearance of enclosures at a pivotal period (Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age) in southern France., Localisées non loin du site de Puech Ferrier et de l’enclos inédit de Mitra II fouillé en 2011, les enceintes de Mitra III situé à Garons (Gard) ont fait l’objet d’une première campagne de fouille préventive en 2012. L’exploration sur une superficie de 5 000 m² a révélé la partie méridionale et une porte d’un établissement délimité par au moins deux systèmes de fossés d’enclos qui se succèdent au cours d’une période qui connait le développement du Fontbouïsse, l’impact Campaniforme et l’émergence du plein Bronze ancien (BA2), soit entre le 27e et 24e s. av. J.-C. L’article traite spécifiquement de l’étude d’un imposant fossé plus large, plus profond et de plan plus anguleux que ceux du premier système d’enceinte dont il vient condamner l’accès. Il a été observé sur près de 90 mètres linéaires et délimite le sud de l’établissement. Il présente un puissant niveau de comblement constitué d’éléments d’architectures en terre crue en connexion partielle, surmontant une couche limono-cendreuse dont le spectre anthracologique est très largement dominé par le chêne. Sur la base des résultats de l’analyse stratigraphique, micromorphologique et une caractérisation micro et macroscopique des éléments de terre crue, il est possible de caractériser la dynamique de comblement et la nature de l’architecture en lien avec ce système de délimitation., Sendra Benoit, Onfray Marylise, Di pascale Ambre, Orgeval Maxime, Bruxelles L. Étude d’un fossé et d’architectures en terre fondés au milieu du 3e millénaire av. J.-C. sur le plateau des Costières (Garons, Gard, France) . In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 116, n°3, 2019. pp. 479-513.

Recent excavations for the Army Basing Programme on the periphery of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site have revealed extensive evidence of Early, Middle and Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity, including a causewayed enclosure, burials, occupation, pit groups, henges, post alignments and circles. Several of these either incorporate or refer to features of the landscape such as solution hollows, dry valleys, hilltops and rivers, as well as to astronomical phenomena. An appraisal of this evidence alongside other recent programmes of research around Stonehenge suggest an accreting pattern of development of this landscape that begins in the 38th century BC, and which throws new light on the location and meaning of several of the ceremonial earthworks, including Stonehenge itself.

The chapter presents the results of the research project conducted by the team of archaeologists from Adam Mickiewicz University at the World Heritage site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. The section of this large Neolithic settlement located in the uppermost part of the south eminence of East mound is named the Team Poznań Connection (TPC) Area and was excavated in the years 2012-2017. The unearthed stratigraphic sequence is dated to the period from ca. 6350 to 6000 BC. The project led to the discovery of nine Late Neolithic houses with associated built-in structures and numerous burials. The paper outlines the most important discoveries in house architecture, burial practice, and material culture. The research has contributed significantly to a better understanding of the last centuries of the settlement’s occupation, as well as enhanced our knowledge of the Near Eastern Neolithic. This paper provides an overview of the major transformations of Neolithic lifeways in this period. In addition to architecture, the organization of space, burial practices, and material culture, the changes also affected farming, husbandry practices, landscape exploitation, procurement of raw materials, exchange patterns, demography, and social organization. The paper also provides an overview of the Hellenistic settlement as well as the Ottoman burial ground located above the Neolithic strata. 6 27 Treasures of Time: Research of the Faculty of Archaeology of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

В статье исследуется традиция изображения листьев на днищах сосудов в древних культурах Приморья. Авторами составлен сводный список археологических памятников края, в комплексах которых зафиксированы сосуды с изображениями листьев на днищах. В научный оборот вводятся новые данные, обобщаются наработки исследователей по указанной проблеме, предпринимается попытка проследить эволюцию оригинальной традиции в Приморье. Анализ имеющихся публикаций показал, что изображения листьев на днищах сосудов достаточно редки и встречаются на памятниках позднего неолита и эпохи палеометалла Приморья. Зафиксировано два способа нанесения изображений: оттиск реальных листьев и их прорисовка. Отмечается, что появление данной традиции связано с миграциями населения зайсановской культуры позднего неолита на территорию Приморья из сопредельных территорий современного Китая и Кореи. Обосновывается участие зайсановцев в культурогенезе других групп населения. В работе отдельно поднимается вопрос о появлении изображений листьев на днищах сосудов, который интерпретируется различными исследователями с двух позиций: технологической и ритуальной. Указывается, что внимания заслуживают обе точки зрения. В конце статьи авторами делается вывод, что традиция изображения листьев на днищах сосудов выступает одним из археологических маркеров, объединяющим культуры Азиатско-Тихоокеанского региона и позволяющим прослеживать миграционные маршруты и культурные связи в период III—I тыс. до н.э., The paper examines the tradition of depicting leaves on the bottoms of vessels in the ancient cultures of Primorye region. The authors compiled a consolidated list of archaeological sites in the region, in the complexes of which images of leaves were recorded on the bottoms of vessels. New data are introduced into the scientific circulation, the developments of researchers on this problem are generalized, and an attempt is made to trace the evolution of the original tradition in Primorye region. An analysis of the available publications showed that images of leaves on the bottoms of vessels are quite rare and are found on sites of the Late Neolithic and the Paleometal Epoch of Primorye region. Two ways of applying images of leaves have been recorded — an imprint of real leaves and their drawing. It is noted that the emergence of this tradition is associated with the migration of the population of the Zaisanovskaya culture of the Late Neolithic to the territory of Primorye from the adjacent territories of modern China and Korea. The participation of the people of Zaisanovskaya culture in the cultural genesis of other groups of the population is substantiated. In paper separately raises the question of the appearance images of leaves on the bottoms of vessels, which is interpreted by various researchers from two positions: technological and ritual. It is noted that both points of view deserve attention. At the end of the paper, the authors conclude that the tradition of depicting leaves on the bottoms of vessels is one of the archaeological markers that unites the cultures of the Asia-Pacific region, and allows tracing migration routes and cultural ties in the period from the 3rd millennium BC to the 1st millennium BC.

Significance We undertook an ancient genomic DNA investigation of large animal remains dated ∼5,200 y B.P. from the Tibetan Plateau. We provide compelling evidence that the present-day low-latitude tropical inhabitants Bos gaurus and Dicerorhinus sumatrensis once roamed as far north as the margin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) during the late Neolithic, pushing the historical gaur distribution from ∼29°N to ∼34°N. Further multidisciplinary exploration indicates that a high summer temperature in the late Neolithic might have facilitated the northward expansion of these tropical animals to the NETP, which enriched the biodiversity of wildlife and contributed to the exploration of the Tibetan Plateau as one of the last habitats for hunting game in East Asia., Local wild bovids have been determined to be important prey on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP), where hunting game was a major subsistence strategy until the late Neolithic, when farming lifestyles dominated in the neighboring Loess Plateau. However, the species affiliation and population ecology of these prehistoric wild bovids in the prehistoric NETP remain unknown. Ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis is highly informative in decoding this puzzle. Here, we applied aDNA analysis to fragmented bovid and rhinoceros specimens dating ∼5,200 y B.P. from the Neolithic site of Shannashuzha located in the marginal area of the NETP. Utilizing both whole genomes and mitochondrial DNA, our results demonstrate that the range of the present-day tropical gaur (Bos gaurus) extended as far north as the margins of the NETP during the late Neolithic from ∼29°N to ∼34°N. Furthermore, comparative analysis with zooarchaeological and paleoclimatic evidence indicated that a high summer temperature in the late Neolithic might have facilitated the northward expansion of tropical animals (at least gaur and Sumatran-like rhinoceros) to the NETP. This enriched the diversity of wildlife, thus providing abundant hunting resources for humans and facilitating the exploration of the Tibetan Plateau as one of the last habitats for hunting game in East Asia.

Trabajo presentado en la 26th EAA Virtual Annual Meeting (European Association of Archaeologists), celebrada online del 24 al 30 de agosto de 2020., This contribution will present the results of the study of the Late Neolithic pottery documented during the excavation of the “Dolmen 4” of the Guidoiro Areoso islet, that is located in Arousa bay (Pontevedra), one of the most important archaeological areas in the Prehistory of Galicia. The site was in constant use from 4600 BC to 800 BC, which includes diverse funerary and ceremonial uses. This study, focuses on the reconstruction of the vessels’s "life" (their manufacture, use and reject), has two basic methodological blocks: one is based on the archeological features of the pottery and another that focus on analytical work. The archaeological part of the study includes the analysis of the morpho-technical features of the pots, their spatial distribution at the site and the type of context in which they were found. The analytical work included archeometric techniques like XRF, XRD, FTIR-ATR, thermochemistry and solid’s colorimetry, allowing us to complete the information about the first steps of the pots biography related to their manufacture. The results of this research will provide us a better understanding of the funerary ritual of this megalithic burial from a material and sociocultural point of view. In addition, a comparative study with other sites in the NW Spain will allow us to start the characterization of the Late Neolithic pottery of the region, a matter that is still poorly addressed

В 2008 г. Сахалинским государственным университетом были проведены охранные раскопки на памятнике Кашкалебагш-5, расположенном на северо-восточном побережье Сахалина. По результатам раскопок была выделена кашкалебагшская археологическая культура. Несмотря на наличие данных радиоуглеродного анализа, данная культура была отнесена к довольно широкому хронологическому диапазону. Считается, что так называемая кашкалебагшская культура представлена поселениями, состоящими из полуподземных жилищ округлой формы и погребения в одном из них. Также существует мнение, что орудийный набор рассматриваемой культуры является типологически выдержанным, а керамические сосуды выполнены в рамках одной гончарной традиции. В настоящей статье предпринята попытка переосмысления результатов раскопок на поселении Кашкалебагш-5, а именно данных о котловане жилища № 1 и погребении в нём. Были проанализированы данные радиоуглеродного анализа, планиграфия и стратиграфия этих двух объектов, а также часть вещественного материала. Проведённый анализ археологических данных выявил ряд несоответствий в результатах раскопок, что позволило говорить о разновременности и разной культурной принадлежности котлована жилища и погребения в нём. Установлено, что жилище было построено в середине XI — начале VIII в. до н.э., а одиночное захоронение в его заброшенном котловане было сделано на более чем 300 лет позднее, в рамках V— IV вв. до н.э. Временные и культурные различия котлована жилища и захоронения, кроме радиоуглеродного датирования и стратиграфической фиксации, подтверждает и наличие развала сосуда c горизонтальными рядами прямых и волнообразных гребенчатых оттисков, который типологически отличается от выделяемой в кашкалебагшской культуре керамики. Данный развал полностью тождественен сосудам какорминской группы эпохи палеометала северо-востока Приамурья, бытовавшей в VIII—IV вв. до н.э. Развал сосуда соответствует гончарным традициям урило-польцевского населения Амура и не имеет ничего общего с керамическими комплексами о-вов Сахалина или Хоккайдо., In 2008, Sakhalin State University carried out excavations at the Kashkalebag-5 site located on the northeast coast of Sakhalin. Based on those excavations the Kashkalebagsh archaeological culture had been allocated. Despite the availability of radiocarbon analysis data, this culture was dated within a rather wide timeframe spanning through the Late Neolithic, Final Neolithic, and the Epi-Jomon period. Researchers believed that the so-called Kashkalebagsh culture represented by settlements from semi-underground circular dwellings and a burial in one of them. In addition, they pointed out that tool assemblages are typologically uniform complexes, and ceramic vessels are made in a consistent pottery tradition. This article attempts to rethink the results of excavations on the Kashkalebagsh-5 site, namely the published data on the pit-house No.1 and the burial. We have analyzed the data from radiocarbon analysis, planigraphy and stratigraphy of these two objects, as well as part of the artifacts. The repeat study of excavation materials revealed a number of inconsistencies that permitted to pronounce differences in chronology and cultural attribution of the semi-underground dwelling and the burial within. The bearers of the Kashkalebagsh culture had built the dwelling in the timeframe from the middle of 11th century to the beginning of 8th century BC. The solitary burial in the abandoned semi-subterranean dwelling came to being more than 300 years later, in the time limits of 5-4th centuries BC. The presence of inscribed vessel fragments typologically different from the main body of attributed to Kashkalebagsh culture ceramics also confirms the temporal and cultural differences between the semi-subterranean dwelling and the burial, in addition to radiocarbon dating and stratigraphy. The vessel with horizontal rows of straight and wavy lines is identical to ceramics from the Kakorma group of the Paleometal Age in North-Eastern Priamurye, which existed in the 8-4 centuries BC. This vessel is fully consistent with the pottery traditions of the Uril-Pol’tse population of Amur region and has nothing to do with ceramic complexes of Sakhalin or Hokkaido. For the first time on Sakhalin, the archaeological site that dates from the beginning of second half of 1st millennium BC yielded a uniquely recorded object associated with the Amur population. Until now, a vague evidence of the mainland population reaching out to Sakhalin in the Paleometal Age has been dated to a later time than the burial in the Kashkalebag-5 site.

Рассматриваемая в этой работе коллекция происходит с поселения эпохи позднего неолита(культура Боян-Болинтинеану) открытого в 2003 году при раскопках фракийской крепости Хелис (IV-III до н.э.) в археологическом заповеднике Сборьяново, Северо-Восточная Болгария. Коллекция, собранная с 2003 до 2018 года включительно, насчитывает 2070 артефактов. Превалирующая их часть сделана из кремневого сырья серого, темно-серого или желтовато-серого цвета, с множеством темных и светлых пятен, а также большим количеством чужеродных вкраплении и микротрещин в структуре материала. Источниками этого материала являются, по всей вероятности, холмы и корыта речек вокруг места поселения, где и по сей день можно найти природный кремень этого типа. Единичные экземпляры исследованной коллекции сделаны из лудогорского (добруджского) кремня, который характерен для энеолитического времени этой части Болгарии, и прилагающей к ней части Румынии. Вне зависимости от появления единичных экземпляров, сделанных из лучшего, но более тяжелого для обработки сырья, в целом технология производства кремневых орудий, а также тип орудий и следы износа на них остаются полностью неолитическими. Функциональный анализ указывает на значительное превалирование орудий, связанных со скотоводством и охотой над земледельческими орудиями, факт известный также по исследованиям других неолитических поселений. Результаты настоящей работы могут быть использованы для сравнения в процессе изучения хозяйства в позднем неолите, и выяснения отдельных аспектов хронологии и развития кремневых индустрий на рубеже неолита и энеолита.

The anthropological study of the megalithic ossuaries is frequently hampered by the excessive fragmentation and anatomical disconnection of bone remains, which is an obstacle when it comes to making reliable population characterizations. For this reason, the dentition is presented as a viable source of study due to a better conservation against other skeletal elements, offering in addition valuable information about the lifestyles of ancient populations. The collection of the ossuary of the dolmen of La Cabaña, located in Sargentes de la Lora, Burgos, is studied by applying a series of paleo-stomatological indicators commonly used in dental anthropology. The results reflect dietary patterns typical of incipient agricultural societies, with certain consumption of cariogenic foods, but also suggest the use of wild and livestock resources. On the other hand, no major differences have been detected between permanent and decidous dentition, which could suggest similar consumption habits between both age groups. El estudio antropológico de los osarios megalíticos se ve frecuentemente obstaculizado por la excesiva fragmentación y desconexión anatómica de los restos óseos, lo cual supone un impedimento a la hora de realizar caracterizaciones poblacionales fiables. Por esta razón, la dentición se presenta como una fuente de estudio viable debido a una mejor conservación frente a otros elementos esqueléticos, ofreciendo además información valiosa acerca de los modos de vida de poblaciones antiguas. Los datos obtenidos en el dolmen de La Cabaña reflejan patrones dietarios propios de sociedades incipientemente agrícolas, con cierto consumo de alimentos cariogénicos, pero también sugieren el aprovechamiento de recursos silvestres y ganaderos. Por otro lado, no se han detectado diferencias significativas entre dentición permanente y decidua, lo que sugiere hábitos de consumo similares entre ambos grupos de edad.

This article analyses the funerary sequence of a mega­lithic monument in the Northern Meseta, “Los Zumacales” dolmen (Simancas, Valladolid). This site was previously dat­ed to around the first half of the 4th millennium cal BC. Now, twelve radiocarbon dates by AMS, obtained from human bones, selected among the minimum number of individuals represented in the ossuary, are presented. The Bayesian mod­eling of these new dates offers a chronological framework for this site between 3846-3756 and 3627-3550 cal BC (1σ), which overlaps with the first regional megalithic funerary series. It has also been possible to detect that most of the dates are concentrated in the first third of the 4th millennium cal BC, revealing a probably more intense use in its early stage. The analysis has also made it possible to identify an individual deposited at the beginning of the Chalcolithic period, something which, while considering the possibility of an incorrect date, would mean the recognition of a later reuse not previously documented. Se analiza la secuencia temporal funeraria de un monu­mento megalítico de la Meseta Norte, el dolmen de Los Zu­macales (Simancas, Valladolid), fechado anteriormente en torno a la primera mitad del IV milenio cal AC. La secuencia se basa en 12 nuevas dataciones radiocarbónicas por AMS obtenidas mediante huesos humanos, seleccionadas a partir del número mínimo de individuos representados en el osario. El modelado bayesiano de las fechas define un marco tempo­ral de uso entre 3846-3756 y 3627-3550 cal AC (1σ), coinci­dente con las primeras series funerarias megalíticas regionales. La concentración de la mayoría de las dataciones del IV mi­lenio cal AC revela que la utilización del dolmen fue proba­blemente más intensa en su primera etapa. Además, el análi­sis ha identificado un individuo depositado al inicio del Calcolítico, algo que, sin dejar de considerar que la fecha sea errónea, supondría el reconocimiento de una reutilización pre­histórica de la que nada se conocía hasta ahora.

Druga polovina 5. i veći deo 4. milenijuma pre nove ere na centralnom Balkanu označava se kao period prelaza iz kasnog neolita (tj. vinčanske kulture) u rani eneolit, i eneolitski period. Na osnovu značajnih promena u obrascima naseljavanja i veličini naselja, u pogrebnoj praksi i u materijalnoj kulturi, smatra se da je tokom prelaznog perioda došlo do razvoja novih obrazaca u društvenim odnosima i organizaciji, u ekonomiji i proizvodnji i u ideologiji postvinčanskih zajednica, koje su, za razliku od prethodnih velikih, dugotrajnih naselja, počele da osnivaju manje, relativno kratkotrajne naseobine, uglavnom na prethodno nenaseljenim lokacijama. Različiti faktori su predloženi kao pokretači ovih transformacija - društveni sukobi, invazije sa strane, klimatske promene, te pad raspoloživih prirodnih resursa i nedovoljno hrane. Za razmatranje eventualnih klimatskih promena tokom eneolita ne postoje nikakvi podaci, a doskora se veoma malo znalo i o ekonomiji zasnovanoj na biljkama i životinjama u postneolitskom periodu. Najjasnije formulisan zaključak o uzrocima raspada kasnoneolitskog društva, koji nalazi i najviše potpore u arheološkim saznanjima, jeste taj da su vinčanske zajednice dostigle granice održivosti zajedničkog života (u sociološkom smislu), što je dovelo do "fisije" i fragmentacije velikih zajednica na manje grupe. Sličan model kasnoneolitsko-ranoeneolitskih društvenih promena predložen je i za Karpatski basen - "popuštanje" društvene kohezije kao odgovor na moguće društvene tenzije. Pored promena i novih trendova koje nastupaju početkom i tokom eneolita na centralnom Balkanu, primetan je i visok stepen sličnosti/kontinuiteta u pojedinim aspektima života; na primer, pored manjih, razvijaju se i velika, dugotrajna eneolitska naselja, poput onih na lokalitetima Bubanj i Velika Humska Čuka u južnoj Srbiji. Dok su ovi i drugi aspekti eneolitskih zajednica u izvesnoj meri poznati i istraženi, proizvodnja hrane je doskora bila velika nepoznanica. Do sada je pak zooarheološki i arheobotanički istraženo nekoliko eneolitskih lokaliteta, a nova iskopavanja na Bubnju donela su važne podatke o uzgajanju i upotrebi domaćih biljaka i životinja. Iako su podaci i dalje skromni, posebno oni o poljoprivrednim aktivnostima, sada je ipak moguć uvid u pojedine aspekte proizvodnje hrane. U ovom radu smo do sada prikupljene zooarheološke i arheobotaničke podatke sa Bubnja razmotrili u širem geografskom i hronološkom kontekstu tako što smo uporedili saznanja o uzgajanju i upotrebi životinja i biljaka sa do sada analiziranih kasnoneolitskih i eneolitskih nalazišta na teritoriji Srbije. Uporedna analiza pokazala je da su iste vrste domaćih životinja - goveda, ovce/koze i svinje - gajene i u neolitu i u eneolitu. S druge strane, ostaci ovaca i koza i svinja su, spram govečeta, zastupljeniji u uzorcima sa eneolitskih nalazišta. Utisak je, stoga, da je značaj ovaca i koza, kao i svinja, bio veći u eneolitu, što je važna razlika u odnosu na kasni neolit, tokom kog je goveče bilo dominantno. Postoje, međutim, i izuzeci od ovog opšteg zapažanja; na primer, na nalazištu Vinča - Belo brdo, relativni odnos ekonomski najznačajnih domaćih životinja je manje-više isti tokom oba perioda. Takođe, na kasnoeneolitskom nalazištu Kudoš-Šašinci, većina ostataka pripada domaćem govečetu. Preliminarni zaključak je da generalno ujednačena slika karakteristična za kasni neolit postaje raznovrsnija tokom eneolita i javljaju se jasne regionalne i hronološke razlike u pogledu značaja domaćih životinja. Arheobotanički podaci pokazuju da se spektar gajenih vrsta na nalazištima kasnog neolita i eneolita u Srbiji uveliko preklapa, te da osnovne kulture poznate iz neolita - jednozrna i dvozrna pšenica - ostaju osnov poljoprivredne proizvodnje i tokom eneolita. I ovde se, međutim, kao i kod domaćih životinja, uočavaju moguće razlike između lokaliteta. Recimo, u kasnoeneolitskom sloju Gomolave zabeležena je veća količina ječma, što je za sada jedini slučaj kako za neolit tako i za eneolit, jer se ječam na drugim analiziranim lokalitetima iz ovih perioda javlja samo u tragovima. Podaci sa Bubnja ukazuju na mogući rast u važnosti mahunarki, tačnije sočiva, od ranog ka kasnom eneolitu, te manje značajnu ulogu dvozrne pšenice kroz vreme, ali je broj ostataka izuzetno Mali za čvrste zaključke. Dok relativno nepromenjen izbor gajenih vrsta kroz kasni neolit i eneolit ističe kontinuitet, donekle su vidljive potencijalne razlike između lokaliteta u stepenu proizvodnje pojedinih poljoprivrednih kultura. Moguće je da dolazi do promene u metodama i intenzitetu zemljoradnje, a vrlo verovatno u vezi sa promenama u stočarstvu, recimo u pogledu potrebe za proizvodnjom stočne hrane ili varijacijama u veličini površina pod usevima ili onim namenjenim za ispašu. Uvid u ove i slične aspekte proizvodnje hrane u eneolitu zahteva znatno veću količinu podataka od one koja je sada na raspolaganju. In the central Balkans, the period from the second half of the 5th through the mid-3rd millennium BC is known as the Eneolithic. The earlier part of this period has been described as the transition between the Late Neolithic and Early Eneolithic and the time of transformations-societal, economic and ideological. Prevailing understanding of the archaeological record from this period is that the remarkable shifts in the settlement system reflect disintegration of the Neolithic society. What effect did this have on food economy? This question has not yet been addressed using the direct evidence of food production and consumption from archaeological sites. Although such evidence is scarce, it has in recent years been enlarged through new excavations, including those at the long-lasting site of Bubanj in southern Serbia. This paper combines the archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological datasets from Bubanj and examines the integrated evidence from a broader chronological and geographical perspective using the information from other Eneolithic and, also, Late Neolithic sites in Serbia. A picture of agricultural diversity emerges, perhaps reflecting diachronic changes in the production methods and choices. These may have been driven by the social and ecological factors that led to the cultural transformations during and after the transitional period.

Статья посвящена описанию комплексов ретушированных наконечников стрел, обнаруженных в нижней части заполнения неолитических жилищ памятника Водопадное‑7. Специфика расположения наконечников в слое позволяет говорить о хранении их в ёмкостях-колчанах. В статье приведены результаты морфотипологического анализа наконечников из двух колчанов, а также сравнительного анализа их с образцами, найденными на памятнике вне комплексов. Выявлено общее и особенное в составе наконечников обоих колчанов, установлены сырьевые предпочтения. Ранее на территории Дальнего Востока и Сибири колчаны обнаруживали только в погребальных или ритуальных комплексах, находка их в жилищах является первой в Приморском крае и позволяет судить о составе и особенностях охотничьего снаряжения неолитического населения региона., The article is devoted to describing of retouched arrowheads complexes found in the lower part of Neolithic dwelling-pit filling at Vodopadnoye-7 site. The specifics of the arrowheads deposition in the layer let us suggest they were stored in a quiver-like container. The results of morphological and typological analysis of the arrowheads from two quivers, as well as comparative analysis of them from samples found at the site beyond the complexes are presented in the article. Similarities and differences between the arrowheads set in both quivers were identified, preferences in raw material use were defined. Earlier at the territory of Far East and Siberia quivers were found in burial or ritual complexes only, but in dwellings “quivers” were found for the first time in Primorsky region. The finding let us estimate the contents and specifics of hunting equipment used by the Neolithic population of the region.

Throughout northern Europe, thousands of burial mounds were erected in the third millennium BCE. Starting in the Corded Ware culture, individual people were being buried underneath these mounds, often equipped with an almost rigid set of grave goods. This practice continued in the second half of the third millennium BCE with the start of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. In large parts of Europe, a ‘typical’ set of objects was placed in graves, known as the ‘Bell Beaker package’. This book focusses on the significance and meaning of these Late Neolithic graves. Why were people buried in a seemingly standardized manner, what did this signify and what does this reveal about these individuals, their role in society, their cultural identity and the people that buried them? By performing in-depth analyses of all the individual grave goods from Dutch graves, which includes use-wear analysis and experiments, the biography of grave goods is explored. How were they made, used and discarded? Subsequently the nature of these graves themselves are explored as contexts of deposition, and how these are part of a much wider ‘sacrificial landscape’. A novel and comprehensive interpretation is presented that shows how the objects from graves were connected with travel, drinking ceremonies and maintaining long-distance relationships.

This paper reconstructs the diet and lifeways of Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic farming groups in the Cantabrian Region (northern Spain) using human remains found at Los Avellanos I and II (Alfoz de Lloredo, Cantabria). A bioarchaeological study was conducted, alongside radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analyses (?13C, ?15N, ?34S) of human (n =7) and animal (n =3) bone collagen. Both caves were used as a burial location between the 4th and 3rd millennium cal. BC. Taphonomic analysis of the human remains shows post-depositional activity within both sites after the burial. The ?13C and ?15N results show that the prehistoric individuals ate a pre-dominantly terrestrial diet, with animal protein from meat and likely dairy products being an important resource. Despite the proximity to the coastline, the ?13C and ?15N values demonstrate that marine resources were not being consumed in any great quantity by these Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic individuals. The ?34S results show heterogeneity among the people buried in both caves. The majority of individuals had higher ?34S values typical of living in coastal areas, but three individuals had lower ?34S values, indicative of living further inland for at least some of their lives, suggesting human mobility between inland and coastal areas. This study is part of BGR’s Doctoral dissertation, supervised by ABMA and MRGM. This research is funded by the research projects of the Spanish Economy, Industry and Competitiveness Ministry HAR2016-75605-R (Cambio global, respuestas locales: impacto del cambio clim ́atico en las sociedades terminales de cazadores recolectores y el inicio de las economías productivas) to MRGM and HAR2017- 84997-P and Santander Talent Atraction for Research (STAR1) to ABMA. The authors would like to thank Consejería de Universidades, Igualdad, Cultura y Deporte of the Cantabrian Regional Government for allowing the study and sampling of the remains from Los Avellanos I and II. Thank you also to R. Onta ̃n ́on, A. Chauvin and the Museum of Pre-history and Archaeology of Cantabria (MUPAC) for providing access to their facilities, as well as the use of pictures of the archaeological ma-terials curated. We also wish to express our gratitude to I. Varela and C. Revilla (IBBTEC, University of Cantabria) for the use of their laboratory facilities to carry out the collagen extraction and for laboratory assis-tance. Finally, we also thanks to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that improved the manuscript.

The Late Neolithic period in Upper Mesopotamia is generally associated with a surge in human settlement, in terms of their number, geographic distribution, and or- ganizational complexity. In archaeological discussion, the “advanced farming village” is often seen as the logical “end product” of the agricultural transformations that began in the Early (“Pre-Pottery”) Neolithic. However, the complex later prehistoric landscape did not emerge overnight. Current evidence suggests that this profound transformation took about one and a half millennia, and showed much localized variability. Over the past de- cades, regional surveys have resulted in a rich body of evidence that stimulates the explo- ration of long-term trends in settlement through the Neolithic period. Here we present a synthesis of this exploration. We highlight some important methodological and concep- tual challenges to interpreting these data, and we point out a number of possible shifts in the ways Late Neolithic communities inhabited the landscape.

In the last years, the re-examination of old finds, some casual discoveries and recent excavation works allowed us to update our knowledge on the latest phases of the Neolithic and Eneolithic in Friuli. The increasing data at our disposal do not allow to present an organic picture yet, but it depicts a vast occupation area characterised during the Late Neolithic by a Padan cultural influence, whilst during the Eneolithic significant signs of connections with the transalpine and especially the Balkan worlds have emerged.

This article summarizes the current state of research on the flaked stone assemblages from the Late Neolithic site Alsónyék‒Bátaszék, Tolna district. The raw material distribution of the nearly 6100 pieces that make up the stone tool assemblage is the focus of this paper, with a particular emphasis placed on the dominance of the local raw material. The research addresses the question of the method of procurement of the lithic raw material in the case of this enormous, extended Neolithic site. To supply an answer, basic geoarchaeological research was necessary. To that end, a field survey aimed at detecting those geological formations and lithic variations convenient for knapping was undertaken. The results of the survey reported in the second part of this paper help in our understanding of the selection strategy of the ancient knapping specialists. From these strategies, it is possible to recognize the cultural tradition and raw material manipulation of this Late Neolithic community and, in a wider sense, the southeastern group of the Lengyel culture

From the earliest excavations on the territory of the central Balkans and up to today, Late Neolithic pottery assemblages have remained one of the most important contributors to our knowledge of the past. To a certain extent, the burned Late Neolithic horizons left a great number of the architectural details preserved in the archaeological record, along with various artefacts, of which pottery makes up the largest part. However, due to the fact that the majority of pottery vessels and sherds were subjected to temperatures that were higher than those they were initially fired in the manufacturing process, decoration makes up a minority of the archaeological record of the central Balkans and, unfortunately, we usually deal with plain assemblages. Therefore, it is not surprising that the discovery of one vessel that has a small preserved portion of applied painted decoration, unearthed from a burned building structure in the latest horizon at the site of Plocnik, introduced a whole new set of questions. Importantly, this instance further emphasises that when deconstructing prehistoric paradigms, our interpretation sometimes must go beyond observation.

This paper focuses on the re‐ analysis of a feature from the Late Neolithic Hamangia cemetery at Cernavodă – Columbia D (Constanţa County, Romania), excavated at the middle of the last century. The analysis took place in several stages : processing of archaeological information, anthropological re‐ evaluation, combination of the two sets of data, and interpretation. The sample of the re‐ analysed human osteological material includes 11 fragmentary crania and several dozens of other cranial and postcranial remains. Two of the crania present interesting characteristics : one was cut, broken, with a postmortem trepanation, and was polished, while the other bears the traces of a benign tumoral cyst. Another skull fragment bears traces of postmortem burning. In addition to human remains, this feature yielded a pig mandible, freshwater mussel shells, a bolder, a pottery sherd and a fragment of a stalactite/ stalagmite., Lucrarea este concentrată pe reanalizarea unui complex din cimitirul neolitic Hamangia de la Cernavodă – Columbia D (jud. Constanţa, România), cercetat arheologic la mijlocul secolului trecut. Analiza a parcurs mai multe etape : procesarea informaţiilor arheologice, reevaluarea antropologică, combinarea şi interpretarea celor două seturi de date. Eşantionul scheletic uman re‐ analizat este format din 11 calote craniene şi alte câteva zeci de resturi craniene șI postcraniene. Două calote prezintă caracteristici deosebite ; una a fost decalotată, ruptă, trepanată postmortem şi şlefuită, iar alta prezintă urmele unui chist benign tumoral. La acestea adăugăm un fragment cranian cu urme de arsură (incinerare postmortem). Pe lângă resturi scheletice umane, complexul a conţinut şi o mandibulă de porc, scoici de apă dulce, o piatră, un fragment ceramic şi un fragment de stalagmită/ stalactită., Kogălniceanu Raluca, Simalcsik Angela. Cernavodă – Columbia D puzzle : the Skull Complex. In: Materiale şi cercetãri arheologice (Serie nouã), N°14 2018. pp. 33-75.

The end of Neolithic is in western Serbia marked with a specific type of sites not known in other parts of the central Balkan area. These are small tell-like mounds, usually up to 50 m in diameter, called Obrovac-type settlements (meaning – surrounded by a ditch) according to the toponyms of some of them. The main argument in previous interpretations concerning the origin and function of the mounds was the necessity for local inhabitants to adapt to marshy and floodplain environment of the Macva region (western Serbia). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to use the results of the recently conducted geoarchaeological coring in carefully selected locations on- and off-the sites to obtain a preliminary picture of the palaeoenvironment of western and north-western Serbia as well as to explore the implications for the formation of these enigmatic settlements. We first provide an overview of the geographical and pedological history of the region; this is followed by a detailed description of the research aims and methods. Finally, we present and discuss the results of geoarchaeological coring at six selected Obrovac-type sites.

espanolIV. milurtekoaren erdialdea eta K.a. III. milurtekoaren artean datatutako aire zabaleko bi kokalekuren indusketa arkeologikoren emaitzak biltzen ditu. Errioxan, Ebro ibaiaren eskuinaldean, populaketa mota honen inguruan argitaratutako froga bakarrak direla esan dezakegu. Bi kokalekuek ezaugarri berdinak dituzte neurriari, antolaketari eta kokapen-irizpideei dagokienez, eta ohikoak ziren ezaugarri horiek megalito handiak eraikitzen zituzten gizarte segmentarioetan. Azken Neolitoa-Kalkolitoa eta Kalkolitoa-Antzinako Brontze Aroaren arteko trantsizioko kultura materialeko elementuak dituzte, hurrenez hurren, 14C datazio bidez testuingurua finkatuta. Hala eta guztiz ere, profil arkeologikoetan aldeak nabari ditzakegu sorrerari eta haietako bakoitzean garatu zituzten jarduerei dagokienez, “zulo-zelaietarako” dinamiken baitan. Hilobi megalitikoekin eta barrunbeetako leku bizigarriekin alderatuta, herrixka sinkronikoetan esku-hartze gutxiago egin denez, beharrezkoa izan da informazioa dibertsifikatzea, hala, komunitate horietako profil zehatzagoak lortu ahal izateko. espanolSe presentan los resultados de la excavacion arqueologica de dos asentamientos al aire libre fechados entre mediados del IV y III milenio cal BC, practicamente los unicos testimonios publicados de este tipo de poblamiento en la margen derecha del rio Ebro en La Rioja. Ambos presentan caracteristicas comunes en su tamano, organizacion y criterios de emplazamiento, propios de las sociedades segmentarias constructoras de grandes megalitos. Poseen elementos de cultura material de transicion del Neolitico Final-Calcolitico y Calcolitico-Bronce Antiguo, respectivamente, contextualizados por dataciones 14C. A pesar de ello, sus perfiles arqueologicos tienen diferencias en la concepcion y las actividades que en cada uno se desarrollaron, dentro de las dinamicas que se suponen para los “campos de hoyos”. El deficit de intervenciones en poblados sincronicos frente a sepulcros megaliticos y contextos habitacionales en cavidad, hace necesario diversificar la informacion para obtener perfiles mas ajustados de estas comunidades. EnglishWe present the results of the archaeological excavation in two open-air settlements dated between the middle of the IV and III millennium cal BC, practically only published testimonies in the right margin of the Ebro River (La Rioja, Spain). Both show common characteristics in their size (2-2.5 ha), organization and location criteria in an intermediate fluvial terrace, characteristics of segmental societies that built megaliths; also because the low number of archaeological materials that suggest a temporary and recurrent occupation. The settlement of Igay (Varea-Logrono, Spain) is chronologically located in the Late Neolithic (4750 ± 30 BP, 3637-3382 cal BC 2σ); the structural record is formed by 15 pits (storage pits, furnace, post hole and other indeterminate pits). Geometrical and retouching flat cover coexist as elements of lithic industry transition to the Chalcolithic, which could be placed ca. 3500 cal BC. Pottery are related to the Cameros megalithic stations, 20 km away and with evident contextual and chronological relation. The settlement is explained by the temporary exploitation of the resources in Ebro River fertile plain, with agricultural and hunting activities evidenced by hand querns and lithic arrowheads, respectively. Los Cascajos (Granon, Spain) site is an open-air Chalcolithic settlement with an appreciable organization in disposition of the 32 negative structures documented. Approximately, 47% are combustion structures; the rest are interpreted as pits storage, post holes, indeterminate pits and a possible hut. Two almost continuous ditches delimit the nuclear area, inscribed on a small hill. In the archaeological site there are elements of transition to the Early Bronze Age, especially in the pottery repertoire. The lithic industry technique is laminar and with foliaceous; the absence of sickle and hand querns elements is striking, but in the settlement metal processing is present. The site is located chronologically at advanced Chalcolithic, dating 4097 ± 36 BP (2866-2498 cal BC 2σ); it anticipates the features of regional Early Bronze Age (ca. 2400 cal BC) without an abrupt rupture. The deficit of interventions in synchronic settlements in front of megalith tombs and cavity contexts requires diversifying the information at a regional scale to obtain more adjusted profiles of these communities.

В статье обобщаются результаты исследований, проведенных автором и другими специалистами, по проблеме присутствия культуры шаровидных амфор (далее КША) на территории Верхнего Понеманья. В соответствии с подходом М. Шмит, разработанным для восточноевропейских комплексов культуры, в рассматриваемом регионе идентифицированы «чистые» и «синкретические» материалы КША. К первой группе отнесены могильники КША, кремнедобывающие шахты и сопутствующие мастерские в Среднем Пороссье, а также отдельные находки кремневых четырехгранных шлифованных топоров и долот. Во вторую группу включены материалы неманской культуры и локальных групп круга шнуровой керамики с элементами, генетически восходящими к КША. Черты КША прослеживаются главным образом в орнаментации керамики. Присутствие отдельных групп населения, традиций КША в Верхнем Понеманье относится ко второй четверти III – первой четверти II тыс. до н.э. Распространение элементов КША в регионе осуществлялось в результате непосредственных контактов носителей различных культурных традиций или опосредованно через другие культуры, которые уже испытали влияние КША. В качестве потенциальных источников распространения элементов КША рассматриваются среднеднепровская культура и приморская (жуцевская) культура. В настоящее время приоритетными исследовательскими задачами являются уточнение хронологии распространения КША в регионе, установление роли КША в социально-экономических трансформациях сообществ III – начала II тыс. до н.э., The paper discusses the problems of the Globular Amphora Culture (hereinafter the GAC) in the Upper Neman region. According to the proposition of M. Shmyt the sources related to the GAC have been divided in two groups. The first group is made up of the so-called pure sources i.e. the materials directly related to the GAC although hypothetically at times. It includes cemeteries, flint mines and workshops as well as finds of the quadrangular ground flint axes and chisels. The second group comprises so-called syncretic sources associated with the broad understood GAC traditions. The traits genetically linked to the GAC could be identified in materials of the Neman Culture as well as the local groups of the Corded Ware culture’s Range. The presence of the GAC people and traditions in the area in question is dated to the second quarter III – first quarter II BC. Two main forms of transfer the GAC traditions have been distinguished. Firstly, the Upper Neman region was the territory of the direct contacts between the GAC people and the local populations. Secondly, the GAC elements had been distributed in the synthesized forms. The major source of the synthesized GAC traits was the Rzucewo Culture as well as the Middle Dnieper Culture. The prospects of the archaeological research are discussed. On the current stage of the research, the issue of the chronology of the GAC traditions spreading in the area in question requires a more detailed study. Top priority should also be given to a thorough investigation of the GAC role in the socio-economic transformation of the Upper Neman population in the III – the beginning II mill. BC.

Статья обобщает все известные на сегодняшний день источниковые данные по неолитической маханджарской культуре на территории лесостепного Притоболья. Публикуются как разрозненные архивные данные материалы поселений Убаган 2, 3, 5, Усть-Суерка 4 и ряда других, так и результаты новых археологических работ на таких памятниках, как поселения Кочегарово 1, Ташково 1, что позволяет значительно расширить периферию маханджарской культуры до северной границы лесостепной зоны Притоболья. Западная граница периферии требует уточнения дальнейшими работами. Прослеживается географическая зависимость в распространении материалов в составе памятников с другими неолитическими культурами. На основании имеющихся абсолютных дат и фиксации фактов совместного залегания керамики делаются выводы о сосуществовании маханджарских комплексов в Притоболье с носителями ранненеолитических (козловской и кошкинской) и поздненеолитических (полуденской и боборыкинской) керамических традиций в период с конца раннего по середину позднего неолита. Предполагается, что распространение маханджарской культуры в лесостепной зоне шло путем включения ее носителей в среду местных обитателей посредством социальных связей. Включение маханджарских древностей лесостепного Притоболья в корпус источников позволяет расширить представления о культурогенезе и миграциях в конце раннего неолита., The paper summarizes all currently known source data on the Neolithic Mahanjar culture in the forest-steppe Tobol region. Both scattered archival data materials from Ubagan 2,3,5, Ust-Suerka 4 and several others and the results of new archaeological works on such settlements as Kochegarovo 1 and Tashkovo 1 are published, which allows a significant expansion of the periphery of the Mahanjar culture to the north boundaries of the forest-steppe zone of the Tobol region. The western boundary of the periphery requires further work. The author traced geographical dependence in the distribution of materials in the composition of monuments with other Neolithic cultures. Based on the available absolute dates and the fixation of some facts of ceramics stratification, conclusions are drawn about the coexistence of Mahanjar complexes in the Tobol region with carriers of early Neolithic Kozlovskaya and Koshkinskaya and Late Neolithic Poludenskaya and Boborykinskaya ceramic traditions from the end of early Neolithic to the mid of late Neolithic. It is assumed that the spread of the Mahanjar culture in the forest-steppe zone proceeded by including its carriers among the local inhabitants through social ties. The inclusion of the Mahanjar antiquities of the forest-steppe Tobol region in the corpus of sources allows us to expand our understanding of cultural genesis and migrations at the end of the early Neolithic.

The dolmen of Carrascal (Sintra, Portugal) was discovered at the end of the 19th century. The human bones housed in the Museu dos Serviços Geológicos (Lisbon) were re-analysed in the scope of a research program that is investigating the past lifeways of Late Neolithic populations from the central and southern regions of Portugal. Recent fieldwork under the scope of the Recovery and Valorisation project of the monument undertaken by the Sintra Municipality allowed constructional aspects of the tomb to be clarified, and the recovery of further osteological and archaeological remains. The radiocarbon dates obtained from the human bones enable us to assign this monument to an initial phase of the funerary practices associated with megalithic monumentality in Western Iberia. The assemblage comprised a minimum of 9 adults (both sexes) and 5 non-adults. Evidence of infectious disease, degenerative and metabolic changes, and a remodelled trepanation performed on a right parietal bone were noted. The dental remains yielded particularly interesting information regarding non-masticatory use of teeth, in form of chips and notches in anterior teeth. The data were compared with other collections exhumed from coeval tombs to obtain insights into the health status and behaviours of these prehistoric populations., El dolmen de Carrascal (Sintra, Portugal) fue descubierto a finales del siglo XIX. Los restos óseos humanos depositados en el Museu dos Serviços Geológicos (Lisboa) han sido re-analizados con un programa que investiga el estilo de vida de las poblaciones del Neolítico Final de las regiones del centro/sur de Portugal.Según los recientes trabajos de campo enmarcados en el proyecto de Recuperación y Valorización del monumento llevados a cabo por el Municipio de Sintra, estos han permitido clarificar aspectos de la construcción y la recuperación del material osteológico y arqueológico.Los datos de radiocarbono de los restos óseos humanos nos permiten encuadrar las prácticas funerarias en una fase inicial del megalitismo en el oeste de la península ibérica. La colección comprende un mínimo de 9 adultos (ambos sexos) y 5 no adultos.Se han observado evidencias de enfermedades infecciosas, cambios degenerativos, alteraciones metabólicas y una trepanación remodelada realizada en un parietal derecho.Los restos dentales ofrecen información particularmente interesante con respecto a otros usos no masticatorios de los dientes. Esto se manifiesta en forma de astillas y agujeros en los dientes anteriores.Estos datos han sido comparados con otras colecciones contemporáneas de Portugal con el objetivo de observar la salud y el comportamiento de estas poblaciones prehistóricas.

Contact across long distances is evident in the Neolithic of the Near East, whether driven by social networks, exchange links, or movement of individuals or populations. Movement of material, such as obsidian, can elucidate these processes but is often studied within a bounded world that places Mesopotamia at the center. This paper focuses on links that cut across the traditionally imposed boundaries between Northern Mesopotamia and the Caucasus. While Armenia is one of the world's most obsidian-rich landscapes, reports of Armenian obsidians in Northern Mesopotamia are scarce. The confirmation (or lack thereof) of these rare reports has important consequences regarding the movement of people, material, and information out of the Caucasus. As discussed here, all but one report either cannot be corroborated or are demonstrably erroneous. For one archaeological site, data processing methods led to overlaps in the signals for different obsidian sources. For another site, one element used in source identification suffered from unsystematic error. For other sites, data and key details went unpublished at the time. To corroborate past work that had identified Armenian obsidian at Domuztepe, 66 artifacts were newly sourced by electron microprobe analysis and confirmed by portable X-ray fluorescence. This sample was biased toward artifacts potentially from Armenia. Our analyses revealed that 15 artifacts match Pokr Arteni, one of the most used obsidian sources in Armenia. For reasons not yet clear, obsidian was brought to this Late Neolithic settlement over a distance of 670 km linearly and > 800 km on foot. Additionally, there are artifacts from four other sources in the Kura-Araxes basin, lending extra support to movement of materials, if not people, between the Caucasus and Domuztepe. Furthermore, there are similar patterns in the two chemical varieties of Pokr Arteni obsidian at Domuztepe and at a Late Neolithic site in Armenia, Aratashen, potentially reflecting similar processes or behaviors at this source.

The hypogeum necropolises of Saran/Les Tombeaux in Chouilly (51, Marne) have been the subject of many publications. No synthesis exists of the successive discoveries made between 1806 and 1956. The existing literature and archives concerning the hypogeum necropolises of La Grifaine and Les Ronds Buissons in Chouilly (Marne) were compiled to provide an overview. The artefacts were inventoried in sets, for each hypogeum, room by room, although precise artefact locations were never recorded. The graves and artefacts can be dated to the second half of the 4th millennium cal. BC. In 2015, an archaeological investigation was conducted in the necropolis by the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). The hypogea found in 1922 were re-excavated and explored, and three new hypogea were also discovered nearby. The newly completed site map now shows eleven hypogea, thus ranking this site among the largest hypogeum necropolises in the Marne region (51, France). The three hypogea recently discovered at La Grifaine apparently have only one chamber each but, at the same site, the five best-documented hypogea have two chambers and an antechamber. This layout is comparable to those of Les Mournouards 3 in Le Mesnil‑sur‑Oger and Le Mont‑Aimé I and II in Coligny (Val‑des‑Marais). These regional comparisons highlight the existence of a hypogeum group, different from that in Les Marais de Saint‑Gond, located immediately to the west, where there are no hypogea with two burial chambers. In the current state of knowledge, these differences seem to correspond more closely to cultural facies or social behaviours than to distinct chronological phases. La synthèse des publications, des archives et le récolement des collections du Musée d’Épernay permettent de présenter un état des connaissances sur les nécropoles d’hypogées des Ronds Buissons et de La Grifaine (anciennement appelée Saran/ Les Tombeaux), à Chouilly (Marne). La nécropole des Ronds Buissons est très mal documentée, tandis que la reprise de la documentation permet de présenter les architectures et le mobilier des huit hypogées découverts à La Grifaine entre 1806 et 1922. En 2015, un diagnostic mené par l’INRAP a permis de renouveler les connaissances sur le site grâce à la redécouverte des hypogées ouverts en 1922 et à la découverte de trois nouveaux hypogées. Le mobilier, attribué au Néolithique récent, a pu être pour partie localisé par hypogée, salle par salle, permettant de reconstituer ainsi des ensembles. Un premier plan d’ensemble du site est proposé. La nécropole de La Grifaine compte 11 hypogées, ce qui la place au rang des plus grandes et des plus importantes nécropoles d’hypogées du département de la Marne. À La Grifaine, quatre hypogées présentent deux chambres et une antichambre selon un plan comparable à celui des Mournouards 3 du Mesnil‑sur‑Oger et du Mont-Aimé I et II à Coligny (Val‑des‑Marais). Ce type d’architecture à deux chambres et une antichambre semble se répartir uniquement le long de la Côte des Blancs. Ce type est absent à l’ouest, autour des marais de Saint‑Gond, où on connaît pourtant plus de 120 hypogées ne comportant qu’une seule chambre. Les mobiliers de ces deux types d’architecture funéraire apparaissent typo-technologiquement contemporains. Ces différents types d’architecture funéraire pourraient correspondre à des faciès culturels, ou bien à des fonctionnements sociaux différents.

International audience; "Flaked-tool technology can provide insights into social and cultural changes and interregional connections. This study of changing tool production covers the Upper Palaeolithic to the Late Neolithic in the Yakutia region of eastern Siberia. This region is home to the Palaeolithic Dyuktai complex, the Mesolithic Sumnagin complex and Neolithic traditions; it thus enables a better understanding of the material culture of these societies in Siberia and improves our knowledge of the complex migration processes towards the New World." (source éditeur)

The article deals with debating questions regarding research of the Boborykino archaeological culture. It gives a brief overview of historiography and characteristics of a unique Neolithic phenomenon of North Eurasia. The basis of sources for research of the Boborykino culture consists of more than 50 settlements in the Middle Trans-Urals. The paper emphasizes originalities of the Boborykino culture in pottery technology and typology. Boborykino pottery differs from other Neolithic Ural complexes. Similar pottery and objects for worship, as well as some peculiarities in ceramic production technology, have been found in Neolithic complexes of North Mesopotamia. Therefore, we may conclude that the formation of the Boborykino culture is the result of migration. The main features of the Boborykino culture remained almost untouched for more than one thousand years. It is extremely difficult to trace the internal dynamics of the Boborykino culture and its contacts with indigenous population. All this leads to the conclusion that the Boborykino culture is conservative by nature. Over the last years new data were excavated in North Kazakhstan and Baraba forest-steppe region (Autodrome 2/2, Borly). New settlements are located outside of the main Boborykino cultural area. However, their material culture has significant typological similarity with the sites of the main Boborykino culture area. That is why we can assume that their populations have common origin from the Near East and we can determine the direction of migration paths. Migrants occupied vacant lands between indigenous settlements. Peaceful colonization of vast territories led to the discrete nature of cultural genesis. The idea of the genesis of culture is connected to the understanding of culture. Ornamental compositions of ceramics and objects for worship become a source of interpretation of the Boborykino culture. The ornaments are treated as texts. Transcript of the ornaments is based on the analysis of geographical conditions, form of economy, social relations. The semantics of ornaments is revealed by the context. In this case, it is more important than the text. The main topics of the ornament reflect the ideas of water, rain, earth, grain and serpents, and give ground to associate them with the cult of fertility. New results of carbon analysis of Boborykino antiquities confirmed the proposed earlier dating of the culture within the end of the V — the end of the IV millennium BC.

Interpretations of prehistoric enclosures worldwide have varied from those that see the primary role of enclosures as defensive features to others that explore the symbolic, ritual, social, and ideological dimensions of separating space into an inside, an outside, and an in-between. Such evidence and interpretative accounts are inevitably linked to wider anthropological discussions on modes of social interaction and reproduction in the past, whether altruistic or predatory, and evolutionary narratives regarding changes in the level of intergroup violence over the course of human history. Growing evidence indicates that many Neolithic settlements in Europe were enclosed by a complex system of ditches, ramparts, and palisades. We present a case study from the central Balkans at the Neolithic Vinča culture site of Oreškovica-Selište in Serbia, dated to the last centuries of the sixth millennium BC, where recent geophysical surveys, stratigraphic excavation, and accelerator mass spectrometry dating document the existence of an early enclosed settlement with multiple enclosure features. We interpret these features as defensive and discuss the social dynamics that led to the founding and abandonment of this short-lived occupation in the context of other contemporaneous settlements in the Balkans.

During Late Prehistory adornments worked out of variscite are widely used as prestige items all over Europe. The archaeological record of centre-south-west Northern Spanish Meseta is an ideal case study to fully reconstruct the chaîné opératoire from 1. Mining at Aliste area (Palazuelo de las Cuevas and other nearby mines), 2. adornment manufacturing at the production locii of Quiruelas de Vidriales sites, 3. Adornment consumption in about 30 tombs and settlements from Late Neolithic to Copper Age in the nearby areas to the mining and manufacturing places. This paper analyses the techno-typological features, scale and organisation of variscite adornment production patterns along time. Results allows to argue about a craft tradition born during the Late Neolithic that keep up its techno-tyopological features as grew up on intensity, concentration and most likely specialisation of the production during the Copper Age. Los adornos de variscita son un tipo de artefacto empleado en distintos contextos de la Prehistoria reciente de buena parte de Europa Occidental y de forma general son interpretados como elementos de prestigio. El registro arqueológico del centro-sur-oeste de la Meseta Norte Española ofrece un caso de estudio ideal para reconstruir al completo su cadena operativa: 1) minería en Palazuelo de las Cuevas y otros lugares de la comarca de Aliste, 2) manufactura en los asentamientos de Quiruelas de Vidriales y en otros yacimientos y 3) consumo en una treintena de tumbas y poblados del Neolítico Final y el Calcolítico de las comarcas circundantes. Así, en este artículo se analizan las características tecno-tipológicas, escala y organización de la producción de adornos de variscita y sus continuidades y transformaciones con el paso del tiempo. Los resultados nos permiten hablar de una tradición artesana originada en el Neolítico Final la cual mantuvo sus rasgos tecno-tipológicos esenciales mientras crecieron la intensidad, la concentración y, probablemente, la especialización de su producción en el Calcolítico.

The Laja Alta rock shelter paintings (Jimena de la Frontera, Spain) are the clearest existing testimony of sailing vessels from ancient times in the western Mediterranean. The majority opinion of the research has dated the naval scene in the first or the end of the second mill. BC. This article offers new reproductions and data for a better understanding of the figures represented. Based on the results obtained, we propose a different hypothesis. The absolute dates confirm that the rock shelter was used in the IV-III mill. cal. BC., the Late Neolithic and Copper Age. It was a time of important community transformations. Besides, others datas (types of figures, cultural context, pigment analysis by optical reflectance and superposition of figures) do not deviate from the results dates. The topographical distribution indicates that the boats occupy a central position in the rock shelter. Thus, the boats are the main theme of the paintings of Laja Alta and the rest of the motifs are determined by the naval scene. This conclusion has important historical implications for the transfer of technologies, goods and ideas that shaped the societies of the Late Neolithic and Copper Age of the Western Europe and North Africa. Las representaciones esquemáticas del abrigo de Laja Alta (Jimena de la Frontera, España) son el testimonio más claro de la existencia en la antigüedad de embarcaciones a vela en el Mediterráneo occidental. Mayoritariamente se han venido adscribiendo al I o finales del II milenio a.C. Este artículo ofrece nuevos calcos y datos para una mejor comprensión del conjunto de motivos del abrigo. Entre los resultados obtenidos planteamos cuestionar la anterior cronología. Las dataciones absolutas confirman su frecuentación entre el IV-III milenio a.C., durante el Neolítico Reciente y Calcolítico del sur de Iberia. Una época de importantes transformaciones en la región. Además, el resto de resultados obtenidos son leídos en términos de datación relativa (tipos de motivos, su contexto cultural, análisis de pigmentos mediante reflectancia óptica y superposición de figuras), no apartándose de las dataciones obtenidas. La distribución espacial de las figuras indica que los barcos ocupan el centro de la cavidad, son el tema principal de Laja Alta, el resto está determinado por la escena naval. Esta conclusión tiene implicaciones históricas para la transferencia de tecnologías, bienes e ideas que dieron forma a las sociedades del Neolítico Reciente y la Edad del Cobre de Europa occidental y norte de África.

Los adornos de variscita son un tipo de artefacto empleado en distintos contextos de la Prehistoria reciente de buena parte de Europa Occidental y de forma general son interpretados como elementos de prestigio. El registro arqueológico del centro-sur-oeste de la Meseta Norte Española ofrece un caso de estudio ideal para reconstruir al completo su cadena operativa: 1) minería en Palazuelo de las Cuevas y otros lugares de la comarca de Aliste, 2) manufactura en los asentamientos de Quiruelas de Vidriales y en otros yacimientos y 3) consumo en una treintena de tumbas y poblados del Neolítico Final y el Calcolítico de las comarcas circundantes. Así, en este artículo se analizan las características tecno-tipológicas, escala y organización de la producción de adornos de variscita y sus continuidades y transformaciones con el paso del tiempo. Los resultados nos permiten hablar de una tradición artesana originada en el Neolítico Final la cual mantuvo sus rasgos tecno-tipológicos esenciales mientras crecieron la intensidad, la concentración y, probablemente, la especialización de su producción en el Calcolítico During Late Prehistory adornments worked out of variscite are widely used as prestige items all over Europe. The archaeological record of centre-south-west Northern Spanish Meseta is an ideal case study to fully reconstruct the chaîné opératoire from 1. Mining at Aliste area (Palazuelo de las Cuevas and other nearby mines), 2. adornment manufacturing at the production locii of Quiruelas de Vidriales sites, 3. Adornment consumption in about 30 tombs and settlements from Late Neolithic to Copper Age in the nearby areas to the mining and manufacturing places. This paper analyses the technotypological features, scale and organisation of variscite adornment production patterns along time. Results allows to argue about a craft tradition born during the Late Neolithic that keep up its techno-tyopological features as grew up on intensity, concentration and most likely specialisation of the production during the Copper Age

La transition du Néolithique à l’âge du Bronze dans l’Ouest de l’Europe est marquée par de nombreux changements. Dès la fin du Néolithique, le phénomène campaniforme se répand dans la majeure partie du continent et en homogénéise les pratiques culturelles. La fin du IIIe millénaire av. J.-C. voit de plus l’avènement d’une nouvelle hiérarchisation sociale, visible dans les pratiques funéraires. En Bretagne, les découvertes récentes permettent de renouveler notre compréhension de cette période. Elles nous permettent de plus de s’interroger sur la nature des relations entretenues par la Bretagne avec d’autres régions du Nord-Ouest de l’Europe. Pour le démontrer, cet article va comparer la Bretagne avec deux autres régions richement documentées : Les Pays-Bas et le Sud de l’Angleterre. The transition between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in Northwestern Europe is marked by many changes. At the end of the Neolithic, the Bell Beaker phenomenon spreads across much of the continent and homogenizes the cultural practices. The end of the third millennium B.C. sees the introduction of a new social hierarchy, apparent in funeral practices. In Brittany, recent evidence allows us to renew our understanding of this period. Furthermore, it allows us to question the nature of the relationships maintained between Brittany and other regions of the Northwestern Europe. To demonstrate this, this paper will compare Brittany and two well documented areas: the Netherlands and Southern England.

The discovery of a child’s skeleton in a Late Neolithic well in Sweden raises again the issue of watery rituals and human sacrifice in prehistoric societies. Analysis of diatoms from the right humerus and from the surrounding sediment indicated that the child died by drowning and had not simply been disposed of in the well after death. The scenarios of accidental drowning and murder are examined to account for this discovery. The preferred hypothesis, based on a comparative study of similar finds from north-western Europe, interprets this instead as a ritual sacrifice. The use of diatom analysis to establish drowning as the cause of death adds a new weapon into the armoury of forensic archaeology.

Rad se bavi pregledom doprinosa S. Dimitrijevića poznavanju kasnoga neolitika istočne Hrvatske kroz aspekt njegova rada u Bapskoj. Taj je rad povezan sa cjelokupnim opusom Dimitrijevićeve arheološke aktivnosti u Slavoniji i zapadnom Srijemu, koji je iznjedrio, između ostalih, kronologije starčevačke i sopotske kulture., The paper discusses the contribution of S. Dimitrijević to our knowledge of the Late Neolithic in eastern Croatia through his work at Babska. The research he conducted there is connected to the entire opus of Dimitrijević’s archaeological activities in Slavonia and western Syrmia and which yielded, among other things, the chronology of the Starčevo and Sopot cultures.

The Late Neolithic flint industry in the Grand-Pressigny area (Indre-et-Loire, France) is mostly known for the specialised production of long blades from ‘livre-de-beurre’ cores and their spread over long-range supply networks extending beyond the regional framework of the producer culture. While works about the Grand-Pressigny phenomenon rarely focus on the production of flakes, they are frequently identified as used tools in Late Neolithic assemblages, both in the production and diffusion areas. The scale of diffusion of the flakes, their importance on some sites, the somewhat standardized production in large quantities integrated with the knapping of long blades, lead us to wonder whether we might have minimized the role of flakes in the phenomenon. This paper focuses on the management and use of flakes made with flint from the Grand-Pressigny area and shows the indicator potential of their study for a better understanding of the Grand-Pressigny phenomenon and Late Neolithic flint assemblages. The study also considers the contribution of flake analysis to a better understanding of the diffusion network and flint tool management. The diffusion of flakes from Grand-Pressigny area flint is part of a shift in lithic industries during the third millennium BC : domestic productions tend to become simpler while careful retouching becomes more important, especially on tools made from exogenous flint. This study, which only takes into account domestic contexts, covers an area between the Grand-Pressigny workshops in the middle basin of the Loire river (France) and Neuchâtel Lake in Switzerland. The work is based on the results of functional and technological analysis of several hundred flakes made with flint from the Grand-Pressigny area found in workshop area assemblages and 69 flakes from sites in the diffusion area. They are more precisely distributed between seven Late Neolithic assemblages all dated between 2900 and 2400 BC : Bergeresse (Abilly, Indre-et-Loire, France), Le Foulon (Abilly, Indre-et-Loire, France), Les Vignes de Saint-Blaise (Truyes, Indre-et-Loire, France), Les Vaux (Moulins-sur-Céphons, Indre, France), Le Bournadiau (Quinssaines, Allier, France), La Chaume Vieille (Saint-Parize-Le-Chatel, Nièvre, France), Chassey (Chassey-le-Camp, Saône-et-Loire, France), and Bain des Dames (Saint-Blaise, Neuchâtel canton, Switzerland). The analysis also takes into account two other assemblages in which we did not find any imported flakes : La Croix de Saint-Roch (Le Crest, Puy-de-Dôme, France) and Sous-Collachoz (Concise, Vaud canton, Switzerland). Two of the seven assemblages are situated in Abilly, close to Grand-Pressigny workshops, and allow us to document the flakes'' use and management within the production area ; the seven others are receiving-consuming sites, all located in the diffusion area ; they illustrate different steps in the diffusion networks. When flakes were easily available blanks to make tools in the production area, the microwear analysis results are limited to a narrow range of use-wear marks corresponding to specific activities. Thus, we believe that making tools with flakes was part of a tool-kit set-up strategy bringing to light a functional complementarity between all the knapping products ; this is a good example of what M.-L. Inizan called ‘ knapping economy’. The study also revealed three kinds of scenarios in the diffusion area. In a short-range diffusion area, that does not seem to exceed 150 km, flakes made with Grand-Pressigny flint can be the most numerous exogenous tools. The example of the flake stockpile from Bournadiau is a significant indication of the specific management of Grand-Pressigny flint ; it also indicates the particular position of the site within the diffusion networks. In a more distant diffusion area, flakes can represent up to 50% of the imported products. Microwear analysis shows they were used for several tasks on various materials, in the same way as the rest of the tools on the site. Imported flakes could then be managed over the long term, through edge sharpening, in the same way as the daggers and long blades. However, in some of the assemblages we also noted the total lack of imported flakes, while we find many imported long blades. We believe that this is evidence that the site was in a marginal position from the main flow within the diffusion network of Grand-Pressigny flint products., L’industrie lithique de la fin du Néolithique dans la région du Grand-Pressigny (Indre-et-Loire), est essentiellement connue pour la production de grandes lames à partir des nucléus «livre de beurre » , et leur diffusion sur un large territoire. Rarement mis en valeur par les recherches sur le phénomène pressignien, on signale pourtant fréquemment la présence et l’utilisation d’éclats en silex du Turonien supérieur de la région du Grand-Pressigny dans les assemblages du Néolithique final, aussi bien dans l’aire de production que dans l’aire de diffusion. L’ampleur de la diffusion des éclats, leur importance dans certains sites, leur production relativement standardisée, en grande quantité et intégrée à celle des grandes lames nous amènent à nous demander si nous n’avons pas minimisé leur rôle au sein du phénomène pressignien. Ce travail s’intéresse donc à l’utilisation et la gestion de ces éclats en silex du Grand-Pressigny et montre le potentiel heuristique de leur étude, pour la compréhension du phénomène pressignien et des assemblages lithiques de la fin du Néolithique. Il s’interroge aussi sur l’apport de la prise en compte des éclats importés pour comprendre la structuration des réseaux de diffusion et les modalités de gestion de l’outillage lithique. La circulation des éclats en silex du Grand-Pressigny s’inscrit dans un phénomène de transformation des industries lithiques au cours du troisième millénaire : les productions domestiques se simplifient au profit d’une gestion par la retouche soignée des produits importés. L’étude, qui ne prend en compte que les contextes domestiques, porte sur une zone qui s’étend de l’aire de production, dans la région de confluence entre la Claise et la Creuse, aux rives du lac de Neuchâtel en Suisse. Le travail se fonde sur les résultats de l’analyse techno-fonctionnelle de plusieurs centaines d’éclats en silex du Turonien supérieur issus d’ensembles de l’aire de production dans la région du Grand-Pressigny, et de 69 éclats en silex du Turonien supérieur de la région du Grand-Pressigny provenant d’ensembles de l’aire de diffusion. Ils sont plus précisemment répartis entre sept ensembles lithiques dans la zone considérée et datés entre 2900 et 2400 av. J.-C. Mais l’analyse prend aussi en compte l’étude de deux autres ensembles dont les assemblages sont dénués d’éclats importés. Deux des ensembles étudiés se situent dans la région du Grand-Pressigny et documentent la gestion et l’utilisation des éclats au sein de l’aire de production ; les sept autres sont tous des sites récepteurs de l’aire de diffusion qui se situent à différentes étapes de la diffusion. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que dans l’aire de production, alors que les éclats sont des supports très disponibles, l’éventail des stigmates reconnus sur les outils sur éclats est relativement limité et semble correspondre à des activités spécifiques. Les outils sur éclat intègrent donc une stratégie de constitution de l’outillage qui met en avant une certaine complémentarité fonctionnelle des différents produits et sous-produits du débitage «livre de beurre » et de débitages plus simples ; nous sommes ici en présence d’une véritable économie du débitage, tel qu’avait été proposé le concept par M.-L. Inizan. Dans l’aire de diffusion, trois cas de figure ont été mis en évidence. Dans une aire de diffusion régionale, qui ne semble pas dépasser une distance de 150 km des ateliers, les éclats en silex du Turonien supérieur de la région du Grand-Pressigny peuvent être les importations les plus nombreuses. L’exemple de la réserve d’éclats du Bournadiau est significatif de la gestion spécifique des produits pressigniens et elle signale une situation particulière du site au sein du réseau de diffusion. Dans l’aire de diffusion plus lointaine, les éclats peuvent représenter jusqu’à 50 % des importations pressigniennes. L’étude tracéologique montre alors qu’ils servent pour des activités et sur des matières d’oeuvre très variées au même titre que le reste de l’outillage. Les éclats importés peuvent alors faire l’objet d’une gestion sur le long terme par le biais de retouche des tranchants de la même façon que les poignards et les grandes lames. Dans l’aire de diffusion lointaine, on note toutefois l’absence d’éclats pressigniens au sein de certains assemblages, alors que les grandes lames importées sont nombreuses ; cette configuration marque, selon nous, une situation particulière du site en marge du flux principal d’approvisionnement régional en produits pressigniens., Linton Jimmy. Gestion et utilisation des éclats en silex du Grand-Pressigny au Néolithique final entre l’aire de production et le lac de Neuchâtel. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 111, n°2, 2014. pp. 291-305.

Compared to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), evidence for potentially symbolic imagery is rare in the Late Neolithic of the Southern Levant, consisting primarily of figurines and decorated pottery. While the symbolic roles of fi gurines have occasionally been discussed, studies of decorated pottery have usually focused on developing chronologies or defirning the boundaries of archaeological cultures. In an attempt to better understand pottery symbolism this paper suggests that over the course of the Late Neolithic pottery decoration became more varied but also became simpler. These developments may refl ect an increase of symbolic ambiguity. The decline in fi gurine use over the course of the Late Neolithic similarly suggests a focus on ambiguous symbols during the later part of the period. A tentative suggestion is that this shift may be related to a change in community organization. Some early Late Neolithic sites are relatively large and each one may have comprised a single, spatially contiguous community. In the later part of the period, at least in some areas, community groups may have been dispersed across several small sites. A symbolic system emphasizing ambiguity may have facilitated the occasional interactions that were a part of such dispersed communities., Dans la région du Levant Sud, les témoins potentiels d’une imagerie symbolique sont peu nombreux au Néolithique récent, contrairement au Néolithique précéramique B, et se composent principalement de figurines et de poterie décorée. Si le rôle symbolique des figurines a parfois été abordé par les chercheurs, les études portant sur la poterie décorée ont surtout servi à la mise en place de chronologies et à la définition de cultures archéologiques. Afin de mieux comprendre le rôle symbolique joué par la poterie, le présent article suggère que le décor des céramiques s’est non seulement diversifié, mais également simplifié tout au long du Néolithique récent. Ces développements pourraient être le reflet d’une ambiguïté symbolique croissante. Une diminution de l’utilisation des figurines au cours du Néolithique récent pourrait aussi refléter une nouvelle préférence pour les symboles ambigus à la fi n de cette période. Il est possible qu’une telle transformation soit reliée à un changement dans l’organisation sociale des communautés qui est perceptible à la même époque. Au début du Néolithique récent quelques sites très étendus suggèrent l’occupation d’un espace contigu par des communautés entières, tandis que la fi n du Néolithique récent voit une dispersion des communautés entre plusieurs petits sites, au moins dans certaines régions. Un système symbolique mettant l’accent sur l’ambiguïté a pu faciliter les interactions sociales épisodiques que nécessitait une telle dispersion des communautés., Gibbs Kevin. Late Neolithic Pottery and Ambiguous Symbols in the Southern Levant. In: Paléorient, 2013, vol. 39, n°2. pp. 69-84.

The final period of Neolithic Vinča culture, which occupied wide areas in the Balkans, is characterised by large settlements, which were built, judging by the most recent investigations, according to premeditated plan. What was their purpose? Were they autonomous or part of some wider communities? How large was the territory within which people of that time defined themselves as ‘we’ and where did communities of ‘others’ begin? The objective of this work is to indicate the possibilities for studying the complexity of group identities in the Late Vinča societies. We take as a starting point the micro-region of Drenski Vis in north-western Serbia, where five Late Vinča settlements have been discovered.

The aim of this paper is to review and critically evaluate relevant archaeological evidence regarding recent claims about the social complexity of Late Neolithic societies in the Central Balkans. Theory suggests that the relevant evidence should be related to population size, economic intensification, ranking, and craft specialisation. It is concluded that, although there are indications that inequalities existed and also demographic potential for organisational complexity, there is no unambiguous evidence that institutionalised inequality in the form of complex polities such as chiefdoms or states ever developed.

Le site de Fumérian à Manduel, près de Nîmes dans le Gard (fig. 1), est un habitat en fossés accolés de la fin du Néolithique (culture de Fontbouïsse). La fouille des abords directs des fossés a livré vingt-quatre sépultures individuelles, dépourvues de mobilier mais présentant des architectures originales qui n’avaient pas encore été documentées en contexte domestique pour ce cadre chronoculturel.Les architectures se présentent sous la forme de dispositifs lithiques sommaires ou de murettes plus élaborées en dalles calcaires, qui ferment de manière latérale des fosses sépulcrales, oblongues et ajustées aux défunts. Ces partitions se trouvent toujours réalisées entre les loges sépulcrales et les fossés adjacents, c’est-à-dire qu’elles se situent au débouché de pseudo-couloirs (ou avant-fosses, ou antichambres), excavés latéralement ou obliquement à partir des parois des fossés.Le site est très érodé et il doit manquer des sépultures, cependant on remarque bien à la lecture du plan que les implantations sépulcrales forment des regroupements dont six ont pu être reconnus. Les datations semblent indiquer une durée longue pour le site et les sépultures, car les plateaux de calibration sont étirés et se succèdent sur toute la durée de la culture de Fontbouïsse et au-delà (- 2800 à - 2300). La succession relative des résultats individuels (fig. 3) permet néanmoins d’observer une progression allant du nord (enclos D : sépultures 2694 et 2677) vers le sud (enclos A : sépultures 2532, 2389, 2161 et 1062), une fréquentation longue pouvant être envisagée entre les groupes IV et V, situés en vis-à-vis, à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur du fossé de l’enclos A (fig. 5). Il n’est pas possible de déterminer si cet habitat était densément peuplé. Toutefois, au regard des indications chronométriques, le déficit de sépulture est notable, comme cela est généralement le cas pour les sites d’habitats néolithiques du sud de la France. En raison de la forte érosion, ce déficit ne peut être interprété mais il est possible de réaliser les remarques suivantes : la mise en scène telle qu’observée, à savoir celle du sous-sol, n’exprime pas d’ostentation particulière et l’étude des squelettes trahit plutôt des conditions de vie moyenne ; les sépultures concernent par ailleurs majoritairement des adultes jeunes des deux sexes, mais pas exclusivement. Rien ne trahit finalement une stratégie de recrutement particulière. De part leur conception, ces tombes agglomérées en petits groupes sont clairement attachées aux fossés, c’est-à-dire, sans doute, à des maisonnées particulières (sans préjugé de filiation biologique). Les conceptions et architectures évoquent une forme « d’hypogéïsme » individuel transféré en contexte domestique, qui inclut aussi des appels (dalles-portes, petit menhir) aux expressions mégalithiques des dolmens qui dominent alors dans l’arrière pays et toute la bordure méridionale du Massif central. Ces transferts s’émancipent du caractère strictement sépulcral en participant à un discours symbolique plus large, majorant sans doute davantage le lieu et le groupe plutôt que l’individu. À ce sujet, l’association étroite de deux défunts en particulier permet de proposer un lien sémantique vers une grande nécropole mégalithique contemporaine du sud-est de la France. The Fumérian site in Manduel, near Nîmes in the Gard department, is a settlement from the late Neolithic (Fontbouïsse culture) with juxtaposed ditches. Diggings of the close surroundings of the ditches revealed twenty four individual graves showing unacquainted architectures for this cultural and domestic context but no grave materials.The architectures are either simple structures in stone or more elaborated forms such as low walls made of limestone slabs that close sidelong the elongated and adjusted to the deceased grave pits. These divider structures are always between the grave pits and the neighbouring ditches, that is, they are at the end of the pseudo-corridor (or anti-grave pit or anti-chamber) excavated laterally or obliquely from the ditches walls. The erosion clearly affects this site and some graves must be missing. Nevertheless, while reading the emplacement map of the grave pits we can notice that they form groups, and that six of them can be recognized. The dating seems to indicate long term duration of the site and grave pits. The dating plateaux are stretched and succeed themselves during all the Fontbouisse culture (-2800 to -2300).However the succession of dating results allows us to observe a progression from the north (enclosure D: grave 2314 and 2677) to the south (enclosure A: grave 2389, 2161 and 1062) of the site. A long-term frequentation between Groups IV and V, facing each other within and outside the ditch of enclosure A, can be considered. We cannot determine if this settlement was thickly populated. However, taking into consideration chronometric data, the deficit of burials is striking as it is generally the case for the Neolithic settlements of the south of France.Because of the strong erosion, this burial deficit cannot be interpreted. Nevertheless, we can carry out the following remarks: the mise en scène as observed, namely that of the basement, is not ostentatious, and the study of the skeletons betrays average living conditions; in addition the burials concern mainly young adults of both sexes, but not exclusively. Thus we cannot determine a particular strategy concerning the deceased recruitment.The tombs design, burials agglomerated in small groups, is clearly attached to the ditches, i.e, surely with particular households (without preconceived notion on biological filiations). The designs and architectures evoke somehow an individual hypogeum transferred in a domestic context. They also refer to the megalithic expressions of the dolmens that dominate the hinterland and all the southern edge of the Massif central (flagstone-doors, small standing stone).These transfers do not strictly regard the sepulchral subject but also take part in a broader symbolic thematic, giving more space to the place and the group rather then the individuals. On this subject, the narrow association between two particular skeletons allows us to propose a semantic link towards a contemporary large megalithic necropolis of the south-east of France (Translation: A.L. Ferraz).

The aim of the study is to investigate the connections between calendar systems, large-scale feasting activities, changing representations of cosmological ideas and the formation of group identities from the Middle/Late Neolithic transition to the Early Bronze Age in Ireland. Positive strides have been made in recent decades with regard to deciphering the cosmological beliefs of Bronze and Iron Age Europe. This study argues that these cosmological beliefs, indelibly linked to the daily journey of the sun, were already present during the Neolithic. There are profound associations between calendrical structures and cosmology and it is argued that the belief systems of the Neolithic-Bronze Age were framed not only with respect to the daily journey of the sun, but also referenced relationships between seasonal change and a combination of the daily and yearly solar cycles. In this context, the study also explores why the winter solstice was an important time for large communal gatherings and feasting during the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age in the British Isles. It investigates why the mid-winter period would have been more appropriate for large-scale aggregation, as identifiable at such sites as Durrington Walls (Wiltshire) and Newgrange (Meath), than other times of the year, emphasizing the close relationship between the “natural” and “social” cycles that would have structured the rhythms of life. Connections with underlying themes of fertility and regeneration are highlighted and the “ceremonial” importance of the winter solstice as celebrating the eternal “(re-)birth of the sun” is investigated with reference to the archaeology and mythology of Newgrange and the Boyne Valley. It is also suggested that these cosmological beliefs were part of a wider European ideological system, a milieu within which these ideas, were communicated differentially at varying regional and local levels. The role of these differences, large-scale communal gatherings and changing communication patterns on the formation of group-identities is explored with reference to the changing importance of the Boyne Valley between the later Neolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age. The arrival of the ‘Beaker Phenomenon’ in the British Isles played an important role in changes witnessed in Ireland during this period. It is argued that some of the regional variance in the communication of cosmological ideas during the Neolithic and the integration of the Beaker Phenomenon into, or replacement of, pre-existing belief systems was connected with the concept that particular deities may have had greater importance within particular regions. Furthermore, the relative statuses of deities and their importance in the communication of cosmological beliefs can change across time and space. Although the Beaker Phenomenon is widely researched, the position or role of deities and their relationship with the varying levels of continuity and change manifest in the enactment of cosmological beliefs throughout Europe has not been explored. Here it is argued that the changing “cultic” role or importance of deities within a pre-existing pantheon were altered in the context of the Beaker Phenomenon and that these changes had an inherent relationship with the archery symbolism of the “Beaker Package”. 2020-07-25

The analysis of macro-botanical remains from the late Neolithic site of Vinca-Belo Brdo has provided first information on the range of crops and wild plants present at the site, and revealed their potential role as foodstuffs. The abundance and distribution of certain plant taxa across different archaeological deposits suggests to what extent they were used within the settlement. The analyzed plant remains also offer insight into the types of food consumed by Vinca residents and serve as a basis for inferring the seasonality and method of food provision/production and activities related to plant use. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177012: Society, spiritual and material culture and communications in prehistory and early history of the Balkans]

The present paper studies questions of the use of space in various ways on the basis of data obtained from a site at Sormás-Török-földek. The significance of this site lies in the fact that two enclosures were excavated here which differ in character, but which are in a close relationship physically and chronologically. They demonstrate precisely the radical change, which took place in the mode of space-use, representing two important stages of the progression as a result of which the separation of territories used for domestic and ritual activities were physically manifested.