Spearheading into the Neolithic: Last Foragers and First Farmers in the Dinaric Alps of Montenegro

Abstract

This article presents a summary of new evidence for the Mesolithic in the Dinaric Alps of Montenegro. The region is one of the best areas in south-eastern Europe to study Early Holocene foragers and the nature of the transition to Neolithic lifeways at the end of the seventh and the beginning of the sixth millennium cal BC thanks to the existence of biodiverse landscapes and numerous karstic features. We argue that harpoons found at two different sites in this regional context represent a curated technology that has its roots in a local Mesolithic cultural tradition. The continued use of this standardized hunting tool kit in the Neolithic provides an important indication about the character of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. We also use this regional case study to address wider questions concerning the visibility and modes of Mesolithic occupation in south-eastern Europe as a whole.

A snapshot of Late Mesolithic life through death: An appraisal of the lithic and osseous grave goods from the Castelnovian burial of Mondeval de Sora (Dolomites, Italy)

“…Lastly, long and slightly curved antler tines showing evidence of use as knapping tools are unique for the Italian peninsula. Antler implements similar to those documented in the Mondeval burial appear in the Balkans during the second half of the VII millennium BCE [84] and are known in the Scandinavian region [58,85,86]. Their presence within the burial goods of Mondeval is totally coherent with the evidence of the use of the punch and pressure techniques for the extraction of laminar and lamellar products documented through the study of lithic items from the burial.…”

Mobility and Social Change: Understanding the European Neolithic Period after the Archaeogenetic Revolution

“…In accordance with the fission and fusion models discussed above, the establishment of "Neolithic ways of life" is a complex process with many locally and regionally distinct histories, in which, from an archaeological point of view, migrants and locals and new and old traditions interacted in different ways (e.g., for southeastern Europe: Borić et al 2019;Borić and Schulting 2017;Orton 2012;Orton et al 2016;Tringham 2014). This variability of practices that we know from the archaeological record cannot be explained by looking solely at aDNA data.…”

“…The package-like appearance of different traits of material culture, settlement organization, and subsistence practices is often taken as a main argument for a more massive migration model (Çilingiroğlu 2005;Özdoğan 1998Shennan et al 2015). Other colleagues instead highlight continuities from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic period, most clearly visible in the lithic technologies, as arguments for local adaptation or at least as a basis to argue for a Mesolithic contribution to early farming communities (Borić et al 2019;Cummings and Harris 2011;Kind 1997;Mateiciucová 2008;Tillmann 1993).…”

The Iron Gates Mesolithic in a Regional Context

“…On the other hand, micro-retouched bladelets were recorded in the Iron Gates Mesolithic, but many other elements characteristic of the Black Sea region (e.g., bullet cores) were not (Kozłowski, Kozłowski 1982;Kozłowski 2009). Along with the spread of technological innovations, the exchange network for non-utilitarian objects was being revived, as evidenced by numerous finds both in the Iron Gates and the Adriatic zone (Bori≤, Cristiani 2019). Within the latter, Vrbi≠ka Cave in Montenegro documents worked cyprinid teeth which originated from the Danube Bori≤ et al 2019).…”

“…Along with the spread of technological innovations, the exchange network for non-utilitarian objects was being revived, as evidenced by numerous finds both in the Iron Gates and the Adriatic zone (Bori≤, Cristiani 2019). Within the latter, Vrbi≠ka Cave in Montenegro documents worked cyprinid teeth which originated from the Danube Bori≤ et al 2019). Intensive (maritime) communication has also been confirmed in the Aegean (Sampson 2014), so we should not rule out the possibility that the Eastern Mediterranean communication zone at one point included the Balkans, as suggested (but still not confirmed) by data from the Iron Gates Mesolithic.…”