The past in the past in the mortuary practice of hunter-gatherers: an example from a settlement and cemetery site in northern Latvia

Abstract

-During excavations of burials at Zvejnieki in northern Latvia, it

New Aspects of the Mesolithic-Neolithic Cemeteries and Settlement at Zvejnieki, Northern Latvia

“…Tooth beads in the double burial 319-320 are all perforated by drilling technique (Larsson 2006) and do not show any marked use-wear. Drilling is the predominant technique used to perforate beads in the early stage of the cemetery, with the earliest example found in burial 170, dated to 8150±80 BP (OaxA-5969), 7454-6836 cal BC.…”

“…The excavation at Zvejnieki has revealed one of the largest Stone Age burial concentrations known in northern Europe (more than 300 burials, comparable to sites such as Skateholm in southern Sweden (Larsson 1993, Vedbaek in Denmark (Albrethsen & Petersen 1975), and Olenii Ostrov in Karelia (Gurina 1956), as well as other concentrated burial sites in Germany, Poland, and southern Finland. We do not know how many individuals were buried at Zvejnieki.…”

“…Drilling is the predominant technique used to perforate beads in the early stage of the cemetery, with the earliest example found in burial 170, dated to 8150±80 BP (OaxA-5969), 7454-6836 cal BC. Later, other techniques are applied, and the youngest evidence of this technique can be found in burial 164, dated to 5230±95 BP (Ua 15544), 4322-3803 cal BC (Larsson 2006). Soon after this, amber beads and pendants replaced tooth beads.…”

“…In this case, a single species, elk, is represented. This, too, is unusual, since the typical practice is to use several species for this type of ornament by the feet (Larsson 2006).…”

“…A previous study has shown that children up to the age of about two years were buried with beads having evidence of considerable use-wear. This wear is too progressed to have been produced during the lifetime of a child and has been interpreted as the gear of an adult placed in the grave with a child (Larsson 2006). In contrast, older children are often buried with beads that show little or no sign of use-wear.…”