A drowned Mesolithic shell midden complex at Hjarnø Vesterhoved, Denmark and its wider significance

Astrup, Peter Moe; Benjamín, Jonathan; Stankiewicz, Francis; Woo, Katherine; McCarthy, J.; Wiseman, Chelsea; Baggaley, Paul; Jerbić, Katarina; Fowler, Madeline; Skriver, Claus; Bailey, Geoff

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106854

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Havnemark (Price et al 2018), Hjarnø (Astrup et al 2021), Horsens Fjord and Tempelkrog (Olsen et al 2017;Olsen et al 2009). Our ΔR estimates range from -380±50y (Horsens Fjord 988-818cm) to -170±55y (Asnaes Havnemark), suggesting that Nekselø (ΔR -234±61y) could be fairly typical.…”

Section: Marine Reservoir Effects (Mres)mentioning

confidence: 66%

Productivity of the eelgrass biotope and the resilience of fisher-hunter-gatherers in prehistoric Denmark

Meadows,

Fischer

2024

Preprint

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In the shallow coastal waters of the Danish archipelago, eelgrass (Zostera marina) forms extensive and extremely productive stands, which support food webs that are isotopically distinct from those based on the primary productivity of marine phytoplankton. The isotopic signatures of eelgrass and phytoplankton food webs explain much of the variation in δ13C, δ15N and δ34S values in marine vertebrate remains recovered from prehistoric coastal sites in Denmark. Isotope data from human and dog remains reflect the overwhelming importance of the eelgrass biotope to the fisher-hunter-gatherer (FHG) subsistence during the Late Mesolithic Erteb&oslashlle epoch (~7400-5800 cal BP). By recognising eelgrass and pelagic resources as isotopically distinct, we obtain more accurate diet reconstructions and dietary14C reservoir effect corrections for Erteb&oslashlle individuals. Longstanding research issues, including technology, palaeodemography, and the resilience and sustainability of the FHG economy need to be reassessed in view of the isotopic signature and productivity of the eelgrass biotope in Danish waters. Eelgrass productivity is also pertinent to comparisons between Erteb&oslashlle and Neolithic economies in Denmark, and between FHG adaptations in Denmark and neighbouring regions, and may be key to understanding the much-discussed delay in the transition to farming.

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Section: Marine Reservoir Effects (Mres)mentioning

confidence: 66%

Productivity of the eelgrass biotope and the resilience of fisher-hunter-gatherers in prehistoric Denmark

Meadows,

Fischer

2024

Preprint

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“…Continuous monitoring with repeat visits over a period of years to promising intertidal localities is also likely to be necessary and to prove rewarding, given the episodic nature of burial and exposure of material on the shoreline. Many of the most famous underwater sites in Europe were first brought to the attention of archaeologists because of finds periodically exposed and observed at low tide, thanks to repeated visits over a period of years, notably in Israel (Galili et al, 1993(Galili et al, , 2020 and Denmark (Astrup et al, 2021;Bailey et al, 2020b).…”

Section: Intertidal Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the past decade, there has been growing interest in both themes, marked by collected papers in special issues of journals or edited volumes. All fall predominantly under one theme or the other, concerned either with shell middens and coastal archaeology above modern sea level (Bailey et al, 2013;Balbo et al, 2011;Bjerck et al, 2016;Gutiérrez-Zugasti et al, 2016;Roksandic et al, 2014), or with the archaeology of submerged landscapes (Bailey et al, 2017Benjamin et al, 2011;Evans et al, 2014;Fischer and Pedersen, 2018;Flemming et al, 2014Flemming et al, , 2017Harff et al, 2016). In combining articles about both themes in one collection, our aim is to bring these two themes into a closer relationship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The techniques of investigation and the types of archaeological sites and materials discovered under water are very different from those on land. Despite the accelerating pace of submerged landscape archaeology in recent years and many thousands of finds recovered from drowned landscapes in Europe and North America, underwater shell middens are almost unknown, although a small number are now beginning to be discovered (Astrup et al, 2020(Astrup et al, , 2021Cook Hale et al, 2018. Nevertheless, the principles unifying these apparently disparate themes are quite simple and revolve around two facts: the dominating impact of sealevel change throughout human history; and the relative attractions of coastal regions for human settlement and dispersal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coastal prehistory and submerged landscapes: Molluscan resources, shell-middens and underwater investigations

Bailey

Hardy

2021

Quaternary International

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“…The recent use of micro‐geoarchaeological techniques in the marine environment has opened new ways of investigating submerged sites. For example, investigations of Mesolithic shell middens in Northwestern Europe combined geophysical survey, coring, excavation and microscopic techniques to distinguish between cultural and natural processes of shell accumulation and characterize taphonomic processes that affect the preservation and visibility of underwater archaeological deposits (Astrup et al, 2021; Ward & Maksimenko, 2019; Ward et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microarchaeological approach to underwater stratigraphy of submerged settlements: A case study of Atlit‐Yam Pre‐Pottery Neolithic site, off the Carmel Coast, Israel

et al. 2023

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The investigation of submerged archaeological sites faces numerous logistical challenges in the recovery of stratigraphic sequences and, as a result, is often restricted to surface deposits limiting the application of geoarchaeology. This paper outlines a new integrated field and microanalytical methodological protocol to investigate deep stratigraphic sequences (up to 2 m) within the submerged Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) site of Atlit-Yam (9267-7970 cal. B.P. [calibrated years before the present]). A new coring method for the extraction of deep underwater stratigraphy was developed to extract three cores: two between architectural remains within the site and one outside the site. The cores were analysed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, phytolith and pollen analysis and archaeological micromorphology to detect anthropogenic signals and undertake paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Our results indicate anthropogenic evidence at 95 cm depth based on the presence of heat-altered sediments, high phytolith concentrations and micromorphological observations of archaeological remains. Radiocarbon analysis indicates the oldest anthropogenic layers date to the Mid Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) and Late PPNB (9859-9323 cal. B.P.), bearing implications for reassessing the emergence of the first coastal Neolithic villages in the Mediterranean. Our integrated field and multiproxy micro-geoarchaeological protocol offers a new approach to detecting and studying submerged archaeological sites worldwide.

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A drowned Mesolithic shell midden complex at Hjarnø Vesterhoved, Denmark and its wider significance

Cited by 19 publications

References 42 publications

Productivity of the eelgrass biotope and the resilience of fisher-hunter-gatherers in prehistoric Denmark

Productivity of the eelgrass biotope and the resilience of fisher-hunter-gatherers in prehistoric Denmark

Coastal prehistory and submerged landscapes: Molluscan resources, shell-middens and underwater investigations

Microarchaeological approach to underwater stratigraphy of submerged settlements: A case study of Atlit‐Yam Pre‐Pottery Neolithic site, off the Carmel Coast, Israel

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