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Neolithic farmers or Neolithic foragers? : Organic residue analysis of early pottery from Rakushechny Yar on the Lower Don (Russia)

Bondetti, Manon ; González Carretero, Lara ; Dolbunova, Ekaterina ; McGrath, Krista ; Presslee, Sam ; Lucquin, Alexandre ; Tsybriy, Viktor ; Mazurkevich, Andrey ; Tsybriy, Andrey and Jordan, Peter LU orcid , et al. (2021) In Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 13(8).
Abstract
The emergence of pottery in Europe is associated with two distinct traditions: hunter-gatherers in the east of the continent during the early 6th millennium BC and early agricultural communities in the south-west in the late 7th millennium BC. Here we investigate the function of pottery from the site of Rakushechny Yar, located at the Southern fringe of Eastern Europe, in this putative contact zone between these two economic ‘worlds’. To investigate, organic residue analysis was conducted on 120 samples from the Early Neolithic phase (ca. mid-6th millennium BC) along with microscopic and SEM analysis of associated foodcrusts. The results showed that the earliest phase of pottery use was predominantly used to process riverine resources.... (More)
The emergence of pottery in Europe is associated with two distinct traditions: hunter-gatherers in the east of the continent during the early 6th millennium BC and early agricultural communities in the south-west in the late 7th millennium BC. Here we investigate the function of pottery from the site of Rakushechny Yar, located at the Southern fringe of Eastern Europe, in this putative contact zone between these two economic ‘worlds’. To investigate, organic residue analysis was conducted on 120 samples from the Early Neolithic phase (ca. mid-6th millennium BC) along with microscopic and SEM analysis of associated foodcrusts. The results showed that the earliest phase of pottery use was predominantly used to process riverine resources. Many of the vessels have molecular and isotopic characteristics consistent with migratory fish, such as sturgeon, confirmed by the identification of sturgeon bony structures embedded in the charred surface deposits. There was no evidence of dairy products in any of the vessels, despite the fact these have been routinely identified in coeval sites to the south. Further analysis of some of the mammalian bones using ZooMS failed to demonstrate that domesticated animals were present in the Early Neolithic. Nevertheless, we argue that intensive exploitation of seasonally migratory fish, accompanied by large-scale pottery production, created storable surpluses that led to similar socio-economic outcomes as documented in early agricultural societies. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
volume
13
issue
8
article number
141
pages
16 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85111270791
  • pmid:34777611
ISSN
1866-9565
DOI
10.1007/s12520-021-01412-2
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dfe207c5-2fd5-407c-bbd4-6dd60c1862a4
date added to LUP
2021-08-18 14:05:33
date last changed
2022-07-06 08:35:30
@article{dfe207c5-2fd5-407c-bbd4-6dd60c1862a4,
  abstract     = {{The emergence of pottery in Europe is associated with two distinct traditions: hunter-gatherers in the east of the continent during the early 6th millennium BC and early agricultural communities in the south-west in the late 7th millennium BC. Here we investigate the function of pottery from the site of Rakushechny Yar, located at the Southern fringe of Eastern Europe, in this putative contact zone between these two economic ‘worlds’. To investigate, organic residue analysis was conducted on 120 samples from the Early Neolithic phase (ca. mid-6th millennium BC) along with microscopic and SEM analysis of associated foodcrusts. The results showed that the earliest phase of pottery use was predominantly used to process riverine resources. Many of the vessels have molecular and isotopic characteristics consistent with migratory fish, such as sturgeon, confirmed by the identification of sturgeon bony structures embedded in the charred surface deposits. There was no evidence of dairy products in any of the vessels, despite the fact these have been routinely identified in coeval sites to the south. Further analysis of some of the mammalian bones using ZooMS failed to demonstrate that domesticated animals were present in the Early Neolithic. Nevertheless, we argue that intensive exploitation of seasonally migratory fish, accompanied by large-scale pottery production, created storable surpluses that led to similar socio-economic outcomes as documented in early agricultural societies.}},
  author       = {{Bondetti, Manon and González Carretero, Lara and Dolbunova, Ekaterina and McGrath, Krista and Presslee, Sam and Lucquin, Alexandre and Tsybriy, Viktor and Mazurkevich, Andrey and Tsybriy, Andrey and Jordan, Peter and Heron, Carl and Meadows, John and Craig, Oliver}},
  issn         = {{1866-9565}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences}},
  title        = {{Neolithic farmers or Neolithic foragers? : Organic residue analysis of early pottery from Rakushechny Yar on the Lower Don (Russia)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01412-2}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s12520-021-01412-2}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}