Neolithic ceramic spoons – indicators of dietary distinctiveness in the eastern Adriatic Neolithic?

Abstract

Among the rich and diverse archaeological finds collected at more than fifty known Neolithic sites in the entire area of the eastern Adriatic and its hinterland, ceramic spoons comprise a group of very rare and almost marginalised items. Only eight examples, discovered in the northern and central Dalmatia region (hinterland of Zadar and πibenik), at open-air Neolithic sites known to date to the Middle and Late Neolithic. Based on current research and in accordance with the available archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from Neolithic sites in the eastern Adriatic region, this paper poses a question about the connection of ceramic spoons with the dietary habits of Neolithic communities in the eastern Adriatic.

Molluscan benthic communities at Brijuni Islands (northern Adriatic Sea) shaped by Holocene sea-level rise and recent human eutrophication and pollution

“…However, species associated with algae ( Pusillina spp., Bittium spp., Vexillum ebenus, Mangelia stosiciana, Haminoea hydatis ) increase in relative abundance ( Figure 8 ). Although this change from a vegetation- to a bryozoan-dominated seafloor coincides with the beginning of human settlements, limited agriculture, and early fishing activities in this region in the mid-Neolithic ( Bralic, 1990 ; Horvat, 2015 ; Šoštarić and Küster, 2001 ), benthic assemblages and sediment composition are still largely unaffected by human impacts. Community changes can rather be ascribed to natural long-term environmental shifts resulting from deepening ( Asioli et al, 1996 ; McKinney, 2007 ).…”

“…Exploitation by fishermen started early in history in the Neolithic age approx. 4000 BC ( European Commission, 2017 ) as fish, mussels and shellfish were popular trading goods and important food sources for early settlers ( Forenbaher and Miracle, 2005 ; Horvat, 2015 ; Jackson et al, 2001 ). Harbour, ship traffic and insufficient waste water management are the main causes for pollutants in the northern Adriatic Sea ( Howarth, 2008 ; Pearson and Rosenberg, 1978 ).…”