Garnys: An underwater riverine site with delayed Neolithisation in the southeastern Baltic

Piličiauskas, Gytis; Pranckėnaitė, Elena; Matiukas, Aldas; Osipowicz, Grzegorz; Peseckas, Kęstutis; Kozakaitė, Justina; Damušytė, Aldona; Gál, Erika; Piličiauskienė, Giedrė; Robson, Harry K.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104232

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…In the East Baltic, seal-hunting (presumably on ice floes) was important (Lõugas 2017) but there are few coastal sites in this period, other than those relying more on lagoonal and freshwater resources (Bērziņš et al 2022; Bērziņš et al 2016; Piličiauskas et al 2017; Piličiauskas et al 2015). Stationary fishing technology was widely used inland (Piličiauskas et al 2023), but without dense eelgrass stands, perhaps marine fish could not be harvested efficiently until the late medieval period (Orton et al 2011).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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