Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Pleistocene/Holocene Transition
Hunter-Gatherer Complexity
Mesolithic in Europe, Scandanavia, SW Asia, East
Asia
Pleistocene/Holocene Transition
Pleistocene Holocene
Pleistocene Mammal Extinctions
natural declines
over-exploitation by humans
habitat modification by humans
human introduction of foreign organisms
Consequences
People began to be less mobile.
Exploit a greater variety of resources.
Changes in Technology
downsizing of projectile points.
specialized hunting weapons.
versatile toolkits.
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/human_pop/human_pop.html
Mesolithic in Europe
Mesolithic forest and coastal h-gs replaced tundra
reindeer hunters around 13,000 b.p.
Not impoverished as earlier thought but rich in wildlife such
as red and roe deer, many plant foods.
Coast, estuaries very productive.
Called affluent foragers.
Distinct cultures of the Upper Paleolithic covering
areas of over 38 k sq miles, but in the Holocene
reduced to 6 k sq miles and many different zones and
territories.
European Mesolithic ended around 8,000 B.P. with the
spread of agriculture.
Discovery of a Mesolithic burial at Mezzocorona,
Trento, Italy
The modern town of Mezzocorona is located north of Trento, in the Adige valley, by the
northern margin of the Rotaliana plain, a fertile alluvial fan at the confluence of the
Noce stream and the river Adige.
http://web.unife.it/progetti/notes/emezzoc.htm
Mezzocorona burial
The burial was formed by a shallow grave,
oriented east-west; the eastern and western
walls were slightly inclined, whereas the
northern and southern ones were almost
vertical.
The northern side of the grave is bordered
by the cliff wall face and the southern side
by one fallen large rock. The deepest part
of the grave is in the middle. On the west,
the grave cut into an occupational level rich
in artifacts (flint, bones, charcoal) and on
the east, into a gravel deposit.
The burial was covered by more than forty
stones of different sizes; they were
assembled directly over the body
(particularly its upper part) and arranged to
form a small tumulus. On some of them,
there were traces of red ochre.
http://web.unife.it/progetti/notes/emezzoc.htm
Mezzocorona burial
Inside the grave, a skeleton,
probably of a female aged over 30
years, lied in a supine position. She
was oriented east-west, with her
face looking south, her hands on
the stomach and her feet slightly
on top of one another. Both here
head and feet were positioned
above her pelvic girdle. No grave
goods were present.
A preliminary analysis of the
skeleton, which was well preserved,
showed that she had lost her molar
teeth from some time as the roots
had filled in naturally.
http://web.unife.it/progetti/notes/emezzoc.htm
Mesolithic people at Mezzocorona
The occupation layers are rich in tools, microliths, cores, shatters
and flaking products.
Among tools, endscrapers, either made from blades, or ogee-shaped,
shoulder shape and nosed flakes are present.
The endscrapers obtained from flakes are short and very short. In
addition to the above-mentioned lithics there were found denticulated
flakes and blades, and notched flakes.
The burins that were present in the assemblage were characterized by
their robustness.
Furthermore triangles are well represented in the microlith
assemblage and especially the long scalene type which have a
narrow base and which are retouched on three sides.
The double-backed points are generally long.
http://web.unife.it/progetti/notes/emezzoc.htm
NW Europe & Scandinavia
http://portfolio.indy-net.co.uk/mesobrit/starcarr.html
Star Carr Artifacts
Burins
Bone “Pins”
Red deer antler head-dress Early Mesolithic, about 9,500 years old From Star Carr,
http://portfolio.indy-net.co.uk/mesobrit/starcarr.html
Oronsay Island sites
Six Mesolithic shell middens on Oronsay were
discovered in Scotland.
Studies of these sites in the 1970s provided radiocarbon
dates of 6,300 - 4,300 years BP, placing them in the late
Mesolithic period.
The material found within the middens showed that
fish was extremely important in the diet of the
communities on Oronsay.
Around 90% of the fish bones found on the island
were those of the saithe or coalfish. This suggests the
occurrence of marine fishing, although neither nets or
fishhooks have been found.
http://portfolio.indy-net.co.uk/mesobrit/oronsay.html
Area of Oronsay sites
http://portfolio.indy-net.co.uk/mesobrit/oronsay.html
Shell Midden at Oronsay
http://portfolio.indy-net.co.uk/mesobrit/oronsay.html
Scandinavia
Kongemose Period (7700-6600 B.P.)
Baltic sea coast sites, along bays and near lagoons,
exploitation of marine and terrestrial resources.
Segebro settlement (larger than earlier ones) which is
now submerged in brackish water.
occupied year round, but mainly in spring and summer.
carbon isotope analysis of human bone show that fish and
sea mammals were major diet.
Scandinavia
Ertebolle Period (6600-5200 B.P.)
Culmination of Mesolithic culture, occupying coastal
settlements year round, wide range of food resources, wide
variety of tools.
Greater social complexity, such as cemetaries and more
diverse technology.
Vedbok Bogebakken cemetary had at least 22 people of
different ages buried.
extended positions.
grave goods.
some showing evidence of violent death, such as projectile
points embedded in bone.
Southwest Asia
(Mediterranean and Middle East)
Transition to more complex hunter-gatherers (14-
12,000 B.P.).
Small and highly mobile hunter-gatherer bands, found
in a wide variety of environments, variation in tool kits.
11,000 B.P. significant environmental and vegetational
changes.
more concentrated stands of wild cereal grains (emmer
wheat, barley, etc.) and nuts (almonds and pistachios).
harvestable over longer periods of time, less temperature
sensitive.
Franchthi Cave, Greece
Characterized by two new developments:
(1) the appearance of large quantities of fish bones,
particularly those of large fish;
(2) the appearance of substantially larger quantities of
obsidian from Melos as a material in the local chipped stone
industry.
These two developments were initially considered to be
closely related and to show that the inhabitants of
Franchthi Cave not only sailed to Melos (150 kms.
away) for obsidian but also fished in deep water for the
first time.
There is still no pottery or architecture.
Burial at Franchthi
The earliest burial found at Franchthi is of
Mesolithic date:
a 25-year-old male buried in a contracted position in
a shallow pit near the mouth of the cave.
The pit was covered with fist-sized stones; there
were no burial goods; the young man had died from
blows to the forehead, but he seems to have already
been suffering severely from malaria.
SW Asia
13-10,000 B.P. Kebaran cultures.
By 10,000 B.P. people began to more intensively
exploit these plant resources called the
Natufians.
exploited wild emmer and barley, nuts, gazelle
hunting also important.
larger populations, more sedentary hamlets, clear
signs of social ranking .
Important sites
Jericho
Three separate settlements have existed at or near
the current location for more than 11,000 years.
The position is on an east-west route north of the
Dead Sea.
Wild plants and animals (especially gazelles).
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfr
ey/PDF/220/220%20Jaricho.pdf
Clay modeled on human skull, Jericho ca. 9,000 BP
http://www.angelo.edu/faculty/rprestia/1301/li
st_of_illustrations1.htm
Ain Mallaha
The size of the settlement totaled about 2,000
square meters.
The houses of the settlers were between 7 and 9
meters in diameter and were very well built
which suggests that they were permanent
houses.
The inside floor of the house was about 4 feet below
the ground outside.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/eyna/hd_eyna.htm
Catal Hoyuk, Turkey
Settlement in southern Anatolia, dating from
around 7500 B.C.E. for the lowest layers.
Multiple murals and figurines are found
throughout the settlement, on interior and
exterior walls.
Also, clay figurines of women have been found
in the upper levels of the site.
Catal Hoyuk Excavations
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/
Interior of House with two
Lionesses facing each other
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/
Auroch heads on walls in houses
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/
Deity seated on a throne flanked
by two lionesses
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/
Catal Hoyuk Reconstruction
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/
Interior of House Reconstruction
http://www.catalhoyuk.com/