A01_01

Dating the Earliest Evidence of Farming and Animal Husbandry in the Dutch Wetlands

Dreshaj M¹, Raemaekers D¹, Peeters H¹, Dee M¹

¹University Of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

The beginning of farming and animal husbandry in the Dutch wetlands has long been debated due to ambiguity in the domestication status of local species (Sus and Bos), a shortage of reliable chronologies for keystone sites, and a 300-year calibration plateau which spans the timeframe in which these developments likely occurred. As a result, the Netherlands remains a noticeably blank spot on the Neolithization map of northwestern Europe. In response, our team has conducted an extensive interdisciplinary project on the key sites, combining paleogenomics, stable isotope studies, zooarchaeology, and radiocarbon dating coupled with Bayesian modelling. Here, we report the results of a chronological study on the Swifterbant S3 and S4 sites, which contain the oldest known evidence of cereal cultivation and animal husbandry in the Dutch wetlands. Our findings draw upon the results of new paleodietary research, revealing the earliest dietary management of Sus and Bos, as well as ancient DNA confirming the presence of domestic haplotypes in cattle. To overcome the calibration plateau, we radiocarbon dated sequences of charred naked barley seeds from occupation layers across the sites and employed intricate Bayesian modelling. Our outputs significantly narrow down the temporal span achievable by individual dates and demonstrate that S3 and S4 were occupied for a remarkably short period of time. Our results indicate that farming and animal husbandry began before 4000 BCE in the Dutch wetlands, predating similar patterns in Scandinavia and the British Isles, and represent an important contribution to the debate on this transition in northwestern Europe.

A01_02

Early Maize in Eastern North America: Results from Spatial Modeling of Directly Dated Maize Macrobotanical Remains

Druggan P¹

¹Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States

Maize agriculture was ubiquitous in the Eastern Woodlands of North American at contact; however, the nature of its dispersal from Mesoamerica is unclear. Previously reported accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates at a number of sites suggested that maize was introduced approximately 2000 years ago or earlier. Understandings of maize histories in North America have recently been challenged through reanalysis of curated macrobotanical remains, demonstrating that each example of early maize was either much younger than originally reported or the samples were not maize based upon δ¹³C values inconsistent with maize. Paradoxically, while the macrobotanical record has been revised to suggest a later introduction of maize, analysis of pot sherd residues has indicated the presence of maize by 300 BC. These studies underscore the necessity of critically reevaluating our understanding of maize dispersal and the validity of legacy dates. I build upon this work by assembling a database of directly dated maize macrobotanical remains and performing regression analyses to estimate earliest maize arrival, utilizing Monte Carlo methods to incorporate chronometric uncertainty. Results support a later introduction of maize, and comparison to a database of human stable isotopic data support rapid adoption.

A01_03

Combined radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analyses on Neolithic cereal finds identifies turning points in crop dynamics (ca. 6000-3000 BC)

Antolin F¹, Martínez-Grau H², Soteras R¹, Guidobaldi G³, Jaggi M³, Wyss K³, Bernasconi S³, Hajdas I³

¹German Archaeological Institute, Natural Sciences Unit, Berlin, Germany, ²IPNA, University of Basel, , Switzerland, ³ETH Zurich, , Switzerland

The SNF-Funded AgriChange project (www.agrichange.duw.unibas.ch) intends to reconstruct agricultural decision-making processes among early farmers. The identification of moments of agricultural changes and their correlation with environmental proxies was therefore a priority for the project. For this reason, a large number of radiocarbon dates (to date, ca. 250) and stable isotope analyses (ca. 1500) were obtained, thanks to the collaboration of several archaeologists and archaeobotanists with the project. Charred cereal grains of mostly barley, naked wheat, einkorn and emmer where used. The results indicate two important moments of change around 5300 BC and around 4000 BC/3700 BC. Carbon stable isotope analyses have been used to reconstruct water availability during crop growth (as an indicator of spring precipitation) and the relationship between crop changes and carbon stable isotope ratios have been explored at a regional level. Our results indicate that scarce water availability was sometimes a limiting factor affecting crop choice in the NW Mediterranean area, while excessive precipitation might have influenced crop choice in the Alpine Foreland ca. 3600 BC. Other changes (at ca. 4000 BC) observed in the Mediterranean Area and Southern Alps do not seem to have clear correlation with carbon stable isotope values and other factors (i.e. crop pests and cultural contacts) are argued.

A01_04

Radiocarbon dating of human remains of first farming societies in the Western Alps. Tracking the evolution of Neolithic funerary customs.

Steuri N¹, Milella M², Lösch S², Szidat S^3,4, Hafner A^1,4

¹Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, Institute of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, ²Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, ³Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, ⁴Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Neolithic cist graves – known in the Western Alpine region as Chamblandes type – are usually composed by four lateral stone slabs or more rarely wooden planks, and can contain single, as well as collective burials. Due to the lack of distinctive grave goods, insights about the chronology and evolution of these funerary custom depend on extensive series of precise radiocarbon dates. In the context of our research project, we radiocarbon dated the skeletal remains of 124 individuals from 15 sites, located in western Switzerland, eastern France, and northern Italy. Our data allow doubling the number of modern radiocarbon data available for this burial type. Results suggest an almost contemporaneous emergence of the use of cist burials in the 48th century BCE on the southern shore of Lake Geneva and several Inner-Alpine valleys. The adoption of cist graves seems to spread after 4500 BCE, to be then abandoned around 4000/3800 BCE.

By incorporating different burial features (e.g., treatment of human remains related to burial processes or used grave construction material) into this established chronology, we propose two distinct funerary customs within Western Alpine cist graves: first, alongside the northern Alpine foothills and, second, in the inner-Alpine valleys. In conclusion, our study provides new evidence about the evolution of Neolithic burial practices and intra-Alpine exchange networks based on a large series of radiocarbon dates.

A01_05

A Regional-Scale Bayesian Reevaluation of Radiocarbon Data from Early Formative Mesoamerica

Mejía Ramón A¹

¹Okinawa Institute Of Science And Technology, Onna-son, Japan

Early Formative Mesoamerica was witness to some of the most important transformations during the transition from hunter-gatherers to agricultural societies. Recently studies employing high-resolution AMS dating and Bayesian modeling have challenged long-held notions about the maize's synchronous appearance alongside sedentism and ceramics. Much less recent attention has been given to the settlement and ceramic chronologies themselves. This is unfortunate, since archaeologists largely rely on typologies dated decades ago before the widespread use of high-resolution AMS dating and Bayesian modeling. In this paper, I discuss a Bayesian re-analysis of 713+ published dates from 120+ sites (as of submission) spanning Panama through West Mexico, finding significant issues with the currently accepted narrative for the adoption of ceramics and transition to agriculture. I create cross-referenced stratigraphic models for every dated Early Formative site with published excavation information, nesting those within trapezium models for cultural phases unconstrained by a sequential assumption---in other words phases are allowed to overlap and are allowed to have a gap between them. I find that archaeologists have consistently discarded the earliest identified dates not for reasons of 'chronometric hygiene' but because they antecede the expected arrival of ceramics by hundreds of years despite a clear regional trend from at least the third millennium calBC. Furthermore, there is little evidence to support the hypothesis that Barra ceramics were necessarily the first ceramics in Mesoamerica or that they existed by themselves within the Soconusco. I suggest a moiety-like form of social organization expanding from Lower Central America to explain the observed record.

A01_06

North American Pleistocene Fiber, Hide, and Wood Technologies from the Paisley and Cougar Mountain Caves, Oregon, USA

Rosencrance R¹, Kallenbach E², Connolly T², Jazwa C¹, Jenkins D², McDonough K², Smith G¹, Culleton B³, Davis M³

¹University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, United States, ²University of Oregon, Eugene, United States, ³Penn State University, State College, United states

Archaeologists consider the development of structurally and functionally complex organic technologies during the Pleistocene as one of the catalysts that allowed Homo sapiens to disperse into new areas of the globe. The earliest people to settle in the Americas undoubtedly used fiber, wood, and hide-based tools, but preservation skews current discourse toward stone and bone technologies, limiting our understanding of early lifeways. In this paper, we present radiocarbon dates and technological analyses of nearly 40 organic artifacts from the Paisley and Cougar Mountain Caves in Oregon’s (USA) northern Great Basin region. All specimens are directly dated to the late Pleistocene and constitute the majority of directly dated non-osseous organic tools of this age in the Americas. The fiber assemblage is dominated by 3-strand braided cordage and variously gauged rope, but also includes a basket weft, twined mat, and raw material bundle. Other directly dated items include wooden tools, hide strips, and a piece of hide stitched with fiber cordage. The raw materials and some of the construction techniques of these items continue to be used by local Indigenous peoples today, reaffirming the deep ties to their homelands. Though the materials from the Paisley and Cougar Mountain caves do not represent the earliest development of complex organic technologies such as sewn hide and fiber cordage, they are some of the oldest directly dated examples of such tools from the Western Hemisphere and thus offer new perspectives on Pleistocene lifeways.

A01_07

Dating the emergence and development of nomadism in the Altai

Svyatko S¹, Reimer P¹, Papin D², Seregin N³

¹14CHRONO Centre for Climate, the Environment and Chronology, Belfast, United Kingdom, ²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, ³Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia

We present the preliminary results of the first systematic investigation into the absolute chronology of the Early Iron Age in the Altai region, southern Siberia, specifically targeting the emergence and dynamics of local nomadism and its place in the Eurasian Steppe context, using AMS radiocarbon dating and multi stable isotope analysis. Altai, located at the ancient crossroads between Central and North Asia, was the principal region through which prehistoric Eurasian steppe populations and cultures passed into China. Being the center of intensive cultural genesis and development, this relatively small and isolated region strongly influenced the lifestyle of many societies. However, no reliable chronologies have ever been developed even for the key periods and sites. We present the ¹⁴C dates for the signature nomadic sites, as well as sites representing the transitional periods in the area – boundaries between the LBA and EIA, and EIA and the Medieval period – which is especially important for assessing the issues of cultural genesis in the region. The new series of dates provides the first approach to a generalized broad picture of the development of nomadism in Altai, allowing more accurate interpretations on the emergence and development of different cultures and economies in various geographical zones (steppe, forest-steppe, mountains), as well as verifying the general sequence of the cultures.

A01_08

A Multi-scalar Approach to Mobility: interpreting sulfur isotope values within relative and radiocarbon dating frameworks

Hamilton D¹, Sayle K¹, Steinke K²

¹University of Glasgow, East Kilbride, United Kingdom, ²University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

In the past 10 years sulfur isotope analysis has become increasingly employed to investigate the movement and mobility of pre-historic people and animals. While the questions can focus on the same type of ‘one-off’ movements often considered when using strontium and oxygen analyses to study human migrations or pastoral economies, the combination of sulfur analyses with different sampling approaches can yield novel insights into past movement of individuals and populations.

This paper aims to present some of the ways archaeologists can incorporate sulfur isotope analysis with radiocarbon chronologies, the relative dating associated with sampling skeletal elements that represent different times in an individual’s life, and even sequential sampling within an individual skeletal element. These approaches will be illustrated using data from both human and animal populations from Middle Iron Age (~400–200 cal BC) sites in southern Britain.

A01_09

Where are the dead? Prehistoric and historic funerary and population dynamics in Belgium, the impact of radiocarbon dating cremated bones

Capuzzo G¹, De Mulder G², Sabaux C^2,3,1, Dalle S^2,3, Boudin M⁴, Annaert R⁵, Hlad M^3,1, Salesse K⁶, Sengeløv A^1,2, Stamataki E^3,1, Veselka B³, Warmenbol E¹, Vercauteren M¹, Snoeck C³

¹Université Libre De Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, ²Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, ³Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium, ⁴Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Belgium, ⁵Flemish Heritage Agency, Brussels, Belgium, ⁶Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

The radiocarbon dating lab at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels, Belgium, has a long tradition in radiocarbon dating cremated bones since 2003, after it was demonstrated that calcined bone can be dated by using the carbon in the bioapatite of bone (Lanting et al. 2001). This discovery has led to an exponential increase in the amount of ¹⁴C dates associated with cremation burials. Additionally, in the last four years, 500 new samples of calcined bone have been dated at KIK-IRPA within the EOS-funded CRUMBEL project (Snoeck et al. 2019), which studies the collections of cremated bone found in Belgium dating from the Neolithic to the Early Medieval period using state of the art analytical and geochemical analyses. The aim of this presentation is to explore the outcomes of this large dating campaign – a unique case in the European panorama – to shed light on continuities and discontinuities in past funerary practices and population dynamics in Belgium. This has been possible by statistically modelling ¹⁴C dates from settlements and funerary contexts (both cremation deposits and inhumation burials) between Late Neolithic and Early Middle Ages. Results highlight a major episode of population decline in the Final Neolithic-Bronze Age transition in correspondence with the 4.2 ka cal BP climatic event and a repopulation of Belgium in the Middle Bronze Age from 1800 BC. A remarkable increase in the number of cremation deposits is observed in the 1st century AD as a consequence of the romanization of the area.

A0_P01

Migrations and Cultural Evolution in the Light of Radiocarbon Dating of Bronze Age Sites in the Southern Urals

Epimakhov A¹, Zazovskaya E²

¹South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation, ²Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federation

The Southern Urals in the Bronze Age was the center of the formation of Andronovo family of cultures, as well as a zone of interaction of different traditions (Srubnaya, Seima-Turbino, etc.) Paleogenetic data confirm the heterogeneity of the population and diagnose two waves of migrations in the 3rd and early 2nd millennium BCE. These waves alternate with periods of stabilization and evolutionary change. The migration events are well provided with radiocarbon dating, but the periods of stability have turned out to be almost completely out of the focus of the interests of specialists in recent decades. ¹⁴C dates obtained in the 1970s - early 2000s are contradictory and insufficient for the reconstruction of processes. More than 30 samples were produced at the Institute of Geography RAS. Graphitization and pressing of the target for ¹⁴C AMS were conducted with the automated graphitization system AGE 3. ¹⁴C AMS measurement was performed at the Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia (Athens, USA) using the CAIS 0.5 MeV accelerator mass spectrometer. Eight sites and seven cultural traditions have been dated. The new results were compared with dates obtained earlier. This allows us to solve problems of various scales: clarify the chronological position of some important complexes and objects; form (or significantly correct) the intervals of existence of a number of cultural traditions: improve the discussion of forms of their interaction; to simulate the duration of the functioning of sites and phases for some of them.

A01_P02

Secrets of the iron. A Case-study of iron-objects from Nowe Brzesko (Lesser Poland) deposit.

Bulas J¹, Huels M², Michał Kasiński  M³, Okońska-Bulas M^1,3

¹Arch Foundation, Krakow, Poland, ²Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Isotope Research, Kiel, Germany, ³Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

A rarely found iron tool group deposit was recently discovered at what needs to be considered a multicultural and multiphase site of Nowe Brzesko (Lesser Poland) along the Vistula River. In the past the site was occupied by different populations, oldest traces discovered date back to the Neolithic (approx. 6 - 2 thousand yrs BC). More numerous finds originate from the La Tène and Roman periods (e.g., Celts and representatives of the Przeworsk culture), as well as from the Middle Ages.

A group of several dozen metal objects were found on the surface within 1.5 m² at the topsoil. The artefacts discovered consists mainly of agricultural tools and were preserved in whole or in fragments. Lacking additional contextual and chronological evidence and having unspecific features, their chronology was initially assigned broadly from the Roman Iron Age to the late Middle Ages.

Radiocarbon measurements were conducted on four selected iron objects and allowed to relate the findings to the Late Roman period (i.e., 3rd – 4th century AD). Metallographic analyses on the metal objects were also carried out, indicating comparable production processes (i.e., the bloomary process), but may also indicate differences with respect to source material.

This study, one of the first examples of direct radiocarbon dating of Przeworsk culture iron objects, may open new research perspectives related to the economy of iron production within the late Przeworsk with respect to resources.

A01_P03

Contextualizing the presence of Late Bronze Age Millet at the Arnbjerg site - Investigating settlement dynamics in Jutland, Denmark

Kanstrup M¹, Sørensen C², Olsen J¹

¹Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark, ²Viborg Museum, Viborg, Denmark

Situated near Viborg, just south of Lake Søndersø, large-scale archaeological excavations at Arnbjerg N revealed a great amount of Settlement evidence. A priority within the project was to Radiocarbon date a wide range of samples in order to investigate the duration of the different settlement features and the dynamics of the site compared with the Settlement History in the same region using Bayesian modelling. In total more than 220 samples were dated, giving ages mainly ranging from The Late Neolithic to the Early Iron Age with a relatively large concentration of dates situated on the Hallstatt Plateau. The overall distribution of the dates demonstrates site continuity with a few interesting exceptions. Here we focus on the settlement recovery and consolidation phase following a clear hiatus from 1200-800 BCE. This Hallstatt settlement phase is particular since we here see clear evidence of Late Bronze Age Millet farming in the archaeobotanical assemblages. Millet is not a common crop found to be cultivated in Denmark. The spread of millet to Northern Europe tend to give rise to considerations about linkages to pan-continental communicative networks, and the exchange of both goods, social mobility, and technology. Besides the obvious new and more exotic agrarian trait, the archaeology in the Hallstatt phase of Arnbjerg also reveal new features in the architectural lay out of the longhouses.  Combined the different sources of evidence points out differences in the development in the Settlement structure compared to earlier phases.

A01_P04

Development of a new method to extract and date of carbonized material in pottery

Kunikita D¹, Obata H², Miyaji S³, Omori T⁴, Ozaki H⁴, Yoneda M⁴

¹Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan, ²Kumamoto Unibersity, Kumamoto, Japan, ³Kyushu Historical Museum, Fukuoka , Japan, ⁴The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

The timing of the introduction of grains such as rice, foxtail and broomcorn millets originating from mainland China into the surrounding areas is an important issue in discussing agriculture throughout East Asia. However, data on carbonized grains are extremely rare in Japan at the beginning of early agriculture, there remains uncertainty in whether the grains coincided with the accompanying pottery type.

  We proposed a new method that uses X-ray equipment to search for carbonized grains embedded within earthenware and directly date these grins in order to solve this problem. We applied this method to a key site, the Etsuji site, Kyushu Island, to examine the introduction of rice and millet agriculture to Japan (Obata and Kunikita, 2022).

  In this presentation, we compare the ages of the newly obtained pottery-embedded carbonized materials at the Higashihataze site with the ages of the pottery-adhered carbonized materials. In the Japanese archipelago, marine organisms often affect the contents of boiled foods, and the age may be older than the actual age. This method could make a significant contribution to the study on the pottery typologies and the age of carbonized grains without being affected by the marine reservoir effect.

Obata, H., Kunikita, D., 2022. A new archaeological method to reveal the arrival of cereal farming: Development of a new method to extract and date of carbonized material in pottery and its application to Japanese archaeological context. Journal of Archaeological Science 143.

A01_P05

New evidence for early human activity in Shigatse, Southern Tibetan Plateau during Late MIS3 epoch.

Li W^1,2,4, Zhou W^1,2,3, Cheng P^1,2, Shu P^1,2, Du H^1,2

¹1 State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, China, ²Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application, Xi’an AMS Center of IEECAS and Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China, ³CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Xi'an, China, ⁴ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

New evidence for early human activity in Shigatse, Southern Tibetan Plateau during Late MIS3 epoch

Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a hotspot for early human history research. However, there is limited evidence of prehistoric human activity on southern TP, and the validity of these dates requires additional investigation. Here, we present 21 AMS ¹⁴C dating results of bones collagen and charcoal remains from a newly discovered lithic site (including paleolithic and microlithic) in Shigatse, Yarlung Zangbo River Valley basin, southern TP. The dating results for collagen and charcoals show strong conformity. These two Our extensive chronological data reveal that people occupied in the Yarlung Tsangpo River basin from 960 to 680 cal yr B.P, 2730 to 2370 cal yr B.P, and 29110 to 23090 cal yr B.P. To the best of our knowledge, our new finds provide the first evidence for early human activity in the Southern TP during Late MIS3 epoch.

A01_P06

A Multidisciplinary approach to the comprehension of the peopling of Portus Romae Antemurale area

Rossi P³, De Angelis F², Rickards O², Di Cicco M¹, Mantile N¹, Altieri S¹, Vetromile C¹, Spagnuolo A¹, Cocozza C¹, Vaccaro S³, Lubritto C¹

¹Università della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" - Dipartimento DiSTABiF - iCONa LAb & MAReA centre, Caserta, Italy, ²Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Roma, Italy, ³Servizio di Antropologia, Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica, Ministero della Cultura, Roma, Italy

The Antemurale area of Portus Romae (Rome, Italy) returned several burials from the Late Antiquity/ early Medieval period. The site was ever investigated until the nineteenth century. In this paper a multidisciplinary approach, involving archaeological, bioanthropological, isotopic, and molecular analyses has been used to study people buried in that area. Radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes analysis, anthropological and DNA studies, has been performed on the 14 individuals from this area, and this sample represent now the first nucleus of investigation of a much broader research that aims to reconstruct the peopling and the change of human life style through the time in the ancient town so called Portus Romae.

Moreover, an explorative sample of 4 individuals was submitted to genomic analyses through a Whole Genome Sequencing to dissect their genetic ancestry to broaden our knowledge of the biological characteristics of people living in the area. Even though the DNA preservation was mined by chemical-physical diagenesis, we could detect reliable information about the European ancestry in Portus Romae, by comparing the data with roughly coeval and diachronic samples. Furthermore, we determined the genetic sex in children by mapping the reads to the sex chromosomes, starting to contribute to the demographic analysis of the area.