The introduction of pottery vessels to Europe has long been seen as closely linked with the spread of agriculture and pastoralism from the Near East. The adoption of pottery technology by hunter–gatherers in Northern and Eastern Europe does not fit this paradigm, and its role within these communities is so far unresolved. To investigate the motivations for hunter–gatherer pottery use, here, we present the systematic analysis of the contents of 528 early vessels from the Baltic Sea region, mostly dating to the late 6th–5th millennium cal BC, using molecular and isotopic characterization techniques. The results demonstrate clear sub-regional trends in the use of ceramics by hunter–gatherers; aquatic resources in the Eastern Baltic, non-ruminant animal fats in the Southeastern Baltic, and a more variable use, including ruminant animal products, in the Western Baltic, potentially including dairy. We found surprisingly little evidence for the use of ceramics for non-culinary activities, such as the production of resins. We attribute the emergence of these sub-regional cuisines to the diffusion of new culinary ideas afforded by the adoption of pottery, e.g. cooking and combining foods, but culturally contextualized and influenced by traditional practices.
Shell middens, or shell-matrix deposits, occur in large numbers across the coastlines of the world from the mid-Holocene (ca. 6000-5000 cal BC) onwards, often forming substantial mounds. However, they become smaller, rarer or absent as one goes back into earlier periods, suggesting a worldwide process of economic intensification. Since sea level was generally much lower during these earlier periods, a critical question is the extent to which mounded shell middens could have accumulated on now-submerged palaeoshorelines, and if so, how they were affected by the potentially destructive impact of sea-level rise. Further, and important to modern practice, it is essential that archaeologists consider how such sites can be discovered through underwater investigation. Here we offer a proof of concept that shell middens can survive submergence and can be detected, using systematic investigation of a rare example of a confirmed underwater shell midden at the Mesolithic site of Hjarnø (ca. 5300-4300 cal BC) in Denmark. We
We propose a new relative shore-level curve for the Aarhus Bugt area, an embayment in eastern Jylland, Denmark, based on a compilation of published and new radiocarbon ages of organic material. Lakes existed in the area during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene. Lake level rose gradually until the region was inundated by the sea at c. 9000 cal. years BP. The relative sea level reached a high stand at about 6000 cal. years BP, when the local relative sea level was c. 3 m above present-day mean sea level. The Aarhus Bugt area was inundated by the sea later than the Limfjord area in northern Jylland, but earlier than the Lillebælt region in southern Denmark. The shore-level curves for these areas differ partly because the glacio-isostatic uplift was more pronounced in the Limfjord area than farther south and partly because the northern regions were inundated by the sea earlier than the southern areas.
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