First isotope analysis and new radiocarbon dating of Trypillia (Tripolye) farmers from Verteba Cave, Bilche Zolote, Ukraine

Lillie, Malcolm; Budd, Chelsea; Potekhina, Inna; Price, Douglas; Sokhatsky, Mykhailo; Nikitin, Alexey G.

doi:10.4312/dp.44.18

Cited by 13 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…7b). Acknowledging the overall paucity of biogenic Sr isotopic composition data produced so far, such low values do not seem common in Central Europe as shown in compilation of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios obtained with different methods in this and the previous studies [75][76][77][78][79][80][81]83,84,86,87 (Fig. 8).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 52%

“…Different approaches have been applied towards establishing regional biogenic Sr background. Analyses of rocks, plants, bones, dental enamel, soils or water have been used [75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86] . While bones are very susceptible to diagenesis, plants, soils and water are likely to be influenced by anthropogenic activity (e.g.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments

Kowalik

Anczkiewicz

Wilczyński

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Mobility of people and goods during the Upper Paleolithic has proven difficult to reconstruct given the relative rareness of remains. nevertheless, archaeological contexts like the Late pleistocene horizon of Borsuka cave (Southern poland) represent a unique opportunity to explore patterns of objects' transportation across central europe. We investigated the origin of four ornaments made of european elk (Alces alces L.) incisors recovered at Borsuka cave-the oldest known burial site in poland, possibly a child grave. Laser-ablation plasma source mass spectrometric analyses of trace elements and Sr isotopic compositions revealed that one elk was roaming within a geologically uniform area while the others changed their pastures during their lifetimes. the non-local origin of the elk teeth is inferred from their exotic Sr isotopic compositions and the lack of evidence for the presence of elk in this territory during the pleistocene. instead, the elks' Sr isotopic composition show good agreement with sites near the Austria-Slovakia border region and northern Hungary, ~250 km away from the study site. We argue that the artefacts were most likely brought to Borsuka cave by humans or by a network of exchange, so far never reported in the time range 32.5-28.8 ka cal BP for Southern Poland. Burial practices involving deposition of grave goods emerged all over the European continent during the Upper Palaeolithic 1-6. Child burials are rare 6 and particularly valuable since they shed light on the role that children played in hunter-gatherer communities of that time 4. Burials of individuals as young as 4 years old 1 or even newborns 4 associated with elaborated funerary rituals such as the use of ornaments 4 , and artefacts requiring elaborate work and time to be produced 3,6 suggest that children were regarded as valuable members of the Palaeolithic communities 1-4. Borsuka Cave in southern Poland potentially is one of such exceptional graves which provides a unique insight into the activity of humans north of the Western Carpathians territory during the Early and Mid-Upper Palaeolithic (35-20 ka uncal BP). Few Aurignacian and Gravettian settlements have been uncovered within this time range and the cultural affiliation of archaeological material from Borsuka Cave remains problematic 7. Radiocarbon dates of pendants and of faunal remains from Borsuka Cave point to the Gravettian (Pavlovian) cultural period. On the other hand, the zooarchaeological record, the pendants production method and its typology have clear analogies with the Aurignacian archaeological record between 34 and 29 ka uncal BP in Lower Austria and Moravia 8-11. The Aurignacian culture in southern Poland, dated at 34-30 ka uncal BP is documented in Obłazowa and Mamutowa Caves (Fig. 1a), where diagnostic lithic tools along with human bone fragments were found 8,12-14. Thus, Borsuka Cave assemblage may represent the most recent vestige of the Aurignacian tradition north of the Western Carpathians where it lasted several thousand years longer than in the Carp...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 52%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments

Kowalik

Anczkiewicz

Wilczyński

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…To date no other human sample in the study region has produced comparatively depleted δ 15 N values , although her value is in keeping with agragrian communities such as Trypillia (e.g. Lillie et al 2017). Burial 19 has previously been analysed for dietary isotope analysis, and the original depleted δ 15 N value led the authors to suggest the possibility of a misidentified faunal sample 64).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The precise chronology of the Dnieper Rapids region has received detailed review (Gokhman 1966, Telegin 1968, 1973, Telegin and Potekhina 1987, Telegin et al 2002, also Biagi et al 2007, and periodization in Ukraine has been refined with the integration of recent AMS radiocarbon dates (Lillie et al 2009(Lillie et al , 2017Nikitin et al 2010Nikitin et al , 2017. Currently, phases of burial activity are represented for the Epipalaeolithic (c. 10,200-8000 cal BC), Mesolithic (c. 7300 cal BC), Neolithic (c. 5500-5000 cal BC), and Eneolithic periods (c. 4400 cal BC) (Lillie et al 2009;Telegin et al 2002), but, given the heterogeneity in terms of prehistoric activity in Ukraine, refining the exact boundaries of the periods remains a complex issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuation of fishing subsistence in the Ukrainian Neolithic: diet isotope studies at Yasinovatka, Dnieper Rapids

Budd

Potekhina

Lillie

2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Yasinovatka is one of around 30 prehistoric cemetery sites of fisher-hunter-foragers located along the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine. Dating to c. 5540-4930 cal BC, the skeletal remains at Yasinovatka suggest that around sixty-eight individuals were interred at the cemetery, during three broad phases of interment: A-type burials (c. 5540-4930 cal BC), Ƃ1 pit burials (c. 5550-4750 cal BC), and Ƃ2 pit burials (c. 4980-4460 cal BC). The burials are characterized, in part, by the inclusion of a number of Mariupol-type plates of boar tusk, in addition to deer tooth pendants, Unio shells, knife-like flint blades, Cyprinidae teeth, sherds of Neolithic pottery, and significant deposits of ochre in the later burial pits. Here we analyse δ 13 C and δ 15 N values for 50 human bone collagen samples from the site. The majority of the isotope results show a fisher-hunter-forager population reliant predominantly on freshwater aquatic proteins, which is in keeping with previous dietary isotope studies in the area. Two individuals however have δ 15 N values that are clearly depleted when compared with the main population; these reflect dietary protein intakes based on plant and animal terrestrial resources rather than the predominant focus on aquatic resources. Notably, the δ 13 C values of these anomalous individuals are not enriched compared with the fauna samples analysed from the region; this supports the possibility that they were incomers to the area, potentially from a nearby agrarian population.

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“…1A). Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dates of humans and fauna indicate that the Trypillian occupation of VC occurs between 3950 and 3520 cal BCE (2σ) 28,29 . On the basis of the ceramic assemblages present in the cave and a sample of lower-resolution liquid scintillation 14 C dates, it is probable that occupation continued for some time into the Late Trypillia (C2) period and Early Bronze Age transition 30 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomes From Verteba Cave Suggest Diversity Within The Trypillians In Ukraine

Gelabert

Schmidt

Fernandes

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The transition to agriculture occurred relatively late in Eastern Europe, leading researchers to debate whether it was a gradual, interactive process or a colonization event. In the forest and forest-steppe regions of Ukraine, farming appeared during the fifth millennium BCE, associated with the Cucuteni-Trypillian Archaeological Complex (CTCC, 4800-3000 BCE). Across Europe, the Neolithization process was highly variable across space and over time. Here, we investigate the population dynamics of early agriculturalists from the eastern forest-steppe region based on analyses of 20 ancient genomes from the Verteba Cave site (3789-980 BCE). The results reveal that the CTCC individuals’ ancestry is related to both western hunter gatherers and Near Eastern farmers, lacks local ancestry associated with Ukrainian Neolithic hunter gatherers and has steppe ancestry. An Early Bronze Age individual has an ancestry profile related to the Yamnaya expansions but with 20% ancestry related to the other Trypillian individuals, which suggests admixture between the Trypillians and the incoming populations carrying steppe-related ancestry. A Late Bronze Age individual dated to 980-948 BCE has a genetic profile indicating affinity to Beaker-related populations, detected close to 1,000 years after the end of the Bell Beaker phenomenon during the Third millennium BCE.

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First isotope analysis and new radiocarbon dating of Trypillia (Tripolye) farmers from Verteba Cave, Bilche Zolote, Ukraine

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments

Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments

Continuation of fishing subsistence in the Ukrainian Neolithic: diet isotope studies at Yasinovatka, Dnieper Rapids

Genomes From Verteba Cave Suggest Diversity Within The Trypillians In Ukraine

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