University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology

and
Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education

24th Neolithic Seminar

Neolithisation Processes in
Eurasia> Retrospect and Prospect

Programme
and
Abstract book
Friday 26th – Saturday 27th
October 2018
 Programme
The conference will be held in the conference hall
in the City Museum of Ljubljana.
Due to a tight schedule,
each paper will have 20 minutes for presentation.

Friday, 26th October

Morning session> Chair>
9>00–12>30 Çiler Çilingiroğlu and Maria Ivanova-Bieg

‘Gene-culture coevolution’, ‘niche construction’ and neolithisation

processes> introduction to the conference
Mihael Budja
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Migration, mobility and population histories in Meso-Neolithic

Southeastern Europe> integrating aDNA evidence with other proxies
Dusan Borić 1, Ron Pinhasi 2 and David Reich 3
1 The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University, New York,
USA< 2 Department of Evolutionary Anthropology,University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria<
3 Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States of America

Complex interactions during neolithisation> the case of Danube Gorges

Zuzana Hofmanova
Faculty of Science and Medicine, Department of Biology, University of Fribourg,
Fribourg, Switzerland

Population trends in the Central Balkan Early Neolithic (6200–5350 BC)>

new data and new results
Marko Por;ić 1,2, Tamara Blagojević 2 and Sofija Stefanović 2,1
1 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Beograd, Beograd, Serbia<
2 Biosense Institute, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia

discussion & coffee\tea

2
 Programme

Keeping it in the family| The Neolithic up close and personal

Daniela Hofmann 1, Olivia Cheronet 2, Penny Bickle 3, Zdeněk Tvrdý 4,
Kelly Carlson 5, Daniel Fernandes 5, David Reich 6 and Ron Pinhasi 5
1 Archaeological Institute, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany< 2 Department of
Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria< 3 Department of Archaeo-
logy, University of York, York, United Kingdom< 4 Anthropos Institute, The Moravian Mu-
seum, Brno, Czech Republic< 5 Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vien-
na, Vienna, Austria< 6 Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston,United
States of America

Neolithization process in the central Zagros> Asiab and Ganj Dareh revisited
Hojjat Darabi 1, Tobias Richter 2
1 Department of Archaeology, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran< 2 Centre for the Study of
Early Agricultural Societies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

The emergence of the Neolithic in Southwest Asia and its subsequent

spread, in palaeoclimatological perspective
Bernhard Weninger 1, Karin Bartl 2, Barbara Horejs 3, Raiko Krauß 1 and
Eelco Rohling 4
1 Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tü-
bingen, Germany< 2 German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany< 3 Institute for Oriental
and European Archaeology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria< 4 Research School
of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Australia

discussion & lunch break

Afternoon session> Chair>

14>00–18>00 Eszter Bánffy and Daniela Hofmann

Contextualising Karaburun> a new area for Neolithic research in Turkey

Çiler Çilingiroğlu 1, Didem Turan 2
1 Department of Protohistory and Near Eastern Archaeology, Faculty of Letters, Ege University
Izmir, Turkey< 2 Department of Protohistory and Near Eastern Archaeology, Faculty of Letters,
Yuzuncu Yıl University, Van, Turkey

The Balkans during the process of neolithisation> adaptation and cultural

transformation
Eylem Özdoğan
Prehistory Department, Faculty of Letters, İstanbul University, İstanbul, Turkey

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

Diversity in early farming foodways in the Balkans> the organic residue

record
Maria Ivanova-Bieg 1, Lucy Cramp 2
1 Institute of Prehistory and Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg,
Germany< 2 School of Arts, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

Trajectories of the Neolithic into the central Balkans. First results of new
fieldwork in southern Serbia
Barbara Horejs
Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria

The decline of ‘clayscapes’ and the rise of the Bandkeramik

Eszter Bánffy
Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute, Frankfurt am Main,
Germany

discussion & coffee\tea

Archaeological contexts of interaction between the Japanese Islands and

the East Asian mainland during the Middle to Final Jōmon
Tao Li, Mark J. Hudson
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human
History, Jena, Germany

Jōmon resilience and the expansion of agricultural systems to the

Japanese Islands
Mark J. Hudson, Tao Li
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human
History, Jena, Germany

Prehistorical language shift on the Japanese Islands> from Jōmon langu-

ages to Yayoi language
Martine Robbeets
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human
History, Jena, Germany

Discussant, Junzo Uchiyama

Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, Norwich, United Kingdom

discussion & conference dinner

4
 Programme

Saturday, 27th October

Morning session> Chair>
9>00–12>00 Barbara Horejs and Bernhard Weninger

The spread of Early Linear Pottery culture settlement in Slovakia

Noémi Beljak Pa/inová, Tatiana Daráková
Department of Archaeology, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra, Slovakia

The first vs. the second neolithisation in East-Central Europe

Marek Nowak
Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland

The transition to the Neolithic in The Upper Volga region, Central Russia
Nataliya A. Tsvetkova
The Russian museum of ethnography, Sankt-Peterburg, Russian Federation

Environmental conditions and the neolithisation of Sava river valley –

the first results of interdisciplinary research
Katarina Botić 1, Fabian Welc 2, Leszek Marks 3 and Radosĺaw Mieszkowski 4
1 Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia< 2 Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyn-
ski University in Warsaw, Poland< 3 Department of Climate Geology, Faculty of Geology, Uni-
versity of Warsaw, Poland< 4 Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Faculty of
Geology, University of Warsaw, Poland

Climatic factors and development of Neolithic-Eneolithic cultures in the

steppe zone of the Low Volga region (Oroshaemoe and Algay sites).
Marianna Kulkova 1, Alexander Vybornov 2
1 Russian State Pedagogical University, Sankt-Peterburg, Russian Federation< 2 Samara State
University of Social Sciences and Education, Samara, Russian Feredation

discussion & coffee\tea

Global processes, regional dynamics| Radiocarbon data as an analytical

method of the social dynamics at the end of Mesolithic and during the
development of the Neolithic at NW of Mediterranean
Héctor Martínez-Grau 1,2, Ferran Antolín 1 and Joan Anton Barceló 2
1 The Integrative Prehistory and Natural Sciences Archaeology, Basel University, Basel, Swit-
zerland< 2 Department of Prehistory, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

Absolute age-calibration of Neolithic settlement stratigraphies in Bulgaria

Lennart Brandtstätter, Raiko Krauß
Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University Tü-
bingen, Germany

Absolute age-calibration of Early Neolithic settlement in SW-Germany

land use and chronology of the LBK in the district of Tübingen
Raiko Krauß 1, Jörg Bofinger 2
1 Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University
Tübingen, Germany< 2 State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Baden-Württemberg,
Esslingen, Germany

discussion & lunch break

Afternoon session> Chair>

14>00–18>00 Ekaterina Kashina and Marianna Kulkova

On the origin of pottery in Baikal-Yenisei Siberia

Ivan Berdnikov
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
State University, Irkutsk, Russian Federation

The development of Neolithic pottery technology in Zagros Mountains

and Northern Mesopotamia
Natalia Petrova
Department of Archaeology, State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russian Federation

The earliest European Russian North ceramics> where are the southern
roots|
Ekaterina Kashina, Natalia Petrova
Department of Archaeology, State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russian Federation

Re-evaluation of red-slipped, impressed and white-on-red pottery in

Western Anatolia and the Balkans, at the turn from 7th to the 6th
millennium cal BC
Canay Alpagut
Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University
Tübingen, Germany

6
 Programme

discussion & coffee\tea

Mothers, babies and figurines in the Neolithic of Central Balkans

Ana Tripković 1, Mihailo Radinović 1, Marko Por;ić 1,2 and Sofija Stefanović 2,1
1 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Beograd, Beograd, Serbia<
2 Biosense Institute, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia

The human-suid relations in Early Neolithic Europe> a case study of the

Bulgarian site D/uljunica-Smărde[
Donna A. J. de Groene 1, Petar Zidarov 2 and Canan Çakirlar 3
1 Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, The Netherlands< 2 Department of Archaeology,
New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria< 3 Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of
Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

Study of the burial ground Ekaterinovsky Cape in the steppe – forest-steppe

Volga Region
Arkadii Korolev 1, Anna Kochkina 2, Dmitriy Stashenkov 2 and
Aleksandr Khokhlov 1
1 Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education, Samara, Russian Feredation<
2 Samara Museum for History and Regional Studies, Samara, Russian Feredation

general discussion & closing remarks

7
Abstract book
 Abstract book

‘Gene-culture coevolution’, ‘niche construction’ and neolithisation

processes> introduction to the conference
Mihael Budja
It is broadly accepted that neolithisation processes in Eurasia involve both demic and
cultural mechanisms that reflect patterns of human genetic and cultural evolution. Major
attention has been focused on the population replacement, and on the emergence of
agriculture as one of the most important developments in the history of humanity, due
to its socio-economic implications and its vital role in the formation of complex societies.
The hypothesis that the European Neolithic was introduced by the migration of farm-
ing groups originating in the Near East has long since been discussed by Childe in ar-
chaeology and by Coon in physical anthropology. After the ‘second Darwinian revolu-
tion’, known also as ‘neo-Darwinism’ or ‘modern evolutionary synthesis’, the discussion
was continued in evolutionary biology and archaeology, as well as in population ge-
netics (genome-wide studies on modern populations and ancient (a)DNA). The Dar-
winian concept of ‘descent with modification’ was associated with culture and social
evolution in prehistory, and correlated to human genotypic and phenotypic evolution,
and to hypothesised early Neolithic demic diffussion. In this presentation we discuss
Cavalli-Sforza’s and Feldman’s ‘gene-culture coevolution’, Boyd’s and Richerson’s ‘dual
inheritance theory’, and Laland’s, Odling-Smee’s and Feldman’s ‘cultural niche construc-
tion’. They suggested mathematical modelling to show how innovations and cultural
processes, like agricultural practices or domesticating livestock and dairy farming, and
modification of selective environments can modify selection on human genes and drive
evolutionary events in the early Neolithic. Twelve signals of selection at loci associated
with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on
height were identified. The lactose persistence example can be representative of hypo-
thesised interactions of cultural traits with genes within the suggested ‘gene-culture’
coevolution and ‘culture niche construction’. However, we point out the interpretative
paradox, since the earliest appearance of the allele’s frequency of lactase persistence in
Europe appeared not before the middle of the third millennium BC.

Migration, mobility and population histories in Meso-Neolithic

Southeastern Europe> integrating aDNA evidence with other proxies
Dusan Borić, Ron Pinhasi and David Reich
The most recent dramatic increase in the number of genome-wide analysed skeletal
remains from southeast Europe is making a profound impact on our rethinking of a
variety of problems of culture change in the past that for years have been debated by

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

archaeologists from a variety of theoretical positions. In general, the most promising as-
pect of the genome-wide revolution in archaeology is gaining an ability to make informed
and profound integration of genomic evidence and other strands of archaeological data
in reaching a new understanding. In this paper, we focus on how well the newly avail-
able aDNA evidence can be reconciled with current thinking about the transition from
foraging to farming in southeast Europe. While this corner of Europe will be looked at
in its entirety, a particular focus will be placed on the area of the Danube Gorges where
one is now able to utilize both the evidence from a robust sample of aDNA-analyzed
individuals with a high endogenous aDNA yield (some individuals with >80%) and re-
sults coming from the application of a suite of other science-based methodologies.

Complex interactions during neolithisation>

the case of Danube Gorges
Zuzana Hofmanova

One of the most studied questions in ancient DNA research is neolithisation: the most
striking subsistence change in human prehistory. While next generation sequencing
techniques are revolutionizing genetic research of this period via production of un-
precedented amount and quality of ancient DNA, genetic analysis of ancient skeletal
remains is still easily influenced by contamination, poor DNA preservation, sequenc-
ing errors and reference bias. We have developed statistical pipeline ATLAS that in-
corporates these uncertainties directly to the analysis through genotype likelihoods and
results in increased power and accuracy for population genetic inferences. It also pro-
vides several standalone inference methods that – among others – include reference-
free determination of genetic diversity within and between individuals and populations.
Through accurate patterns of ancient genetic diversity it is then possible to elucidate
how past societies were organized and interacted with each other.
The utility of these approaches is demonstrated on genomic data we obtained from up
to 9000 years old samples from sites associated with Lepenski Vir culture, including the
settlement at the eponymous site. Contrasts in population-genomic and cultural affinities
of our samples revealed that settlements from this region and periods differed strik-
ingly in their interaction with immigrating farmers: while some exhibited strong bar-
riers to gene flow (potential isolation), others incorporated multiple individuals of ge-
netic ancestry common to Aegean farmers. Genetic data thus provide crucial insights
into an active role of these fisher-hunter-gatherers during the neolithisation of the area
of Central Balkans. We further focus on investigating the structure of their sedentary
society and the focus is especially placed on sex-specific cultural practices as evidenced
by individual differences in X-chromosomal vs. autosomal diversity.

10
 Abstract book

Population trends in the Central Balkan Early Neolithic

(6200–5350 BC)> new data and new results
Marko Por;ić, Tamara Blagojević and Sofija Stefanović

The Balkan Neolithic demography has become an important research subject in the
past few years. In several recent studies an attempt was made to reconstruct popula-
tion trends by applying the method of summed calibrated radiocarbon probability di-
stributions (SCPD) to the existing corpus of published radiocarbon dates. In this paper
we present the preliminary results of the paleodemographic reconstruction of the Early
Neolithic (6200-5350 BC) population trends in the Central Balkans based on the entirely
new set of radiocarbon dates sampled specifically for the purposes of the SCPD method.

Keeping it in the family| The Neolithic up close and personal

Daniela Hofmann, Olivia Cheronet, Penny Bickle, Zdeněk Tvrdý, Kelly Carlson,
Daniel Fernandes, David Reich and Ron Pinhasi
Neolithisation is generally conceived as a large-scale process taking place over an ex-
tended period of time and at a continental scale. What is often side-lined in research
agendas is that ‘admixture’, ‘interbreeding’ and so on are also always manifested at the
local and personal scale of routine relations. In this paper, we use a whole-genome
study from the Linearbandkeramik cemetery of Nitra to discuss both long-term and
personal dimensions of relatedness, and whether and how these were represented in
grave good assemblages. This provides a unique insight into Neolithic community life
and how its structure may have facilitated ‘neolithisation’ more widely.

Neolithisation process in the central Zagros>

Asiab and Ganj Dareh revisited
Hojjat Darabi, Tobias Richter
Fieldwork in the central Zagros Mountains between the late 1950s and late 1970s pro-
duced evidence for early Holocene Neolithic settlements in this mountainous zone
along the ‘Eastern wing’ of the Fertile Crescent. Following a long hiatus in fieldwork
that lasted until the mid-2000s, new investigations at sites such as Sheikh-e Abad, Jani
and East Chia Sabz have highlighted once more the potential of the early Neolithic
sequence in this region for understanding Neolithization processes in southwest Asia.
We present some initial results of recent fieldwork at two pivotal Neolithic sites in the

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

Kermanshah province: Tappeh Asiab and Ganj Dareh. Tappeh Asiab was originally ex-
cavated by Bruce Howe as part of Robert Braidwood’s expedition to Iranian Kurdistan
in 1960, while Philip Smith excavated Ganj Dareh between 1968 and 1974. Tappeh
Asiab was re-investigated in 2016, and new excavations were launched at Ganj Dareh
in 2017 and continued in 2018.

The emergence of the Neolithic in Southwest Asia and its

subsequent spread, in palaeoclimatological perspective
Bernhard Weninger, Karin Bart, Barbara Horejs,
Raiko Krauß and Eelco Rohling

In this contribution we expand on the hypothesis that the emergence of the Neolithic life-
style within the Fertile Crescent, as well as its subsequent geographic dispersal, was not
an overall slow and gradual process (as assumed in Wave-of-Advance Modelling, WAM).
In many aspects, the emergence and spread of the Neolithic is better described as Event
Sequence with an initial abrupt ‘switch’, followed by an extended period of ‘stasis’ (i.e.
Punctuated Equilibrium, sensu Gould and Eldredge). Of particular interest for such PE-
type neolithisation is that its slow ‘stasis’ component has a pronounced local/regional
character, whereas the rapid ‘switch’ occurs on very wide (supra-regional) geographic
scales. Indeed, from the perspective of WAM, these characteristics of PE may appear to
be contra-intuitive. Nevertheless, examples at hand are the unexpectedly late but then
abrupt neolithisation of the entire British Isles (~6000 cal BP), further, the Wild/Dome-
stic Transition that occurred simultaneously in large parts of the Near East (10.2 ± 0.2
ka cal BP), as well as the sudden arrival of Neolithic farmers/ herders in the Aegean (8.6
± 0.05 ka cal BP). The Aegean PE-example is of particular interest: following the sudden
arrival of the Neolithic, there follows some 500 years of stasis before the next jump
occurs. This immediately takes the Neolithic far North into the Pannonian Basin, as well
as far West to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. Entirely synchronous, but in an east-
ward direction from North Mesopotamia, we observe an equally rapid expansion of the
Neolithic into vast new territories, followed by cultural ‘stasis’, which Olivier Nieuwen-
huijse has recently described as ‘globalisation of the Halaf’. Following this general intro-
duction to PE-type neolithisation modelling, our paper will discuss in more detail the
palaeoclimatological and environmental background for settlement shifts observed at
the Late Neolithic site of Shir (West Syria). Based on a recently developed 14C-chronolo-
gy, at Shir the observed site shifts are clearly synchronous with regional drought (as
documented in Jeita cave, Lebanon), and with globally recognisable (atmospheric and
marine) Rapid Climate Change (RCC), i.e. extreme cold- winter conditions. In contrast,
at the site of Sabi Abyad, the impact of Rapid Climate Change (RCC 8.6–8.0 ka cal BP)

12
 Abstract book

has not been recognised. As an important component of PE-type neolithisation, finally,

we will discuss the rapid long-distance (maritime and terrestrial) connections between
the Near East and the Aegean during the RCC-interval, as well as the conspicuous exis-
tence of Neolithic connections between the Caucasus and the Pannonian Basin, imme-
diately following the RCC-interval.

Contextualising Karaburun>
a new area for Neolithic research in Turkey
Çiler Çilingiroğlu, Didem Turan
Recent pedestrian surveys in the Karaburun Peninsula near the modern city of Izmir
and across the Greek island of Chios discovered multiple early prehistoric sites. This
presentation introduces preliminary observations pertaining to the pre-Neolithic and
Neolithic findings in this area. Especially discovery of forager sites of Late Pleistocene
and Early Holocene ages is highly significant as these present the first tangible proof
of pre-Neolithic forager presence in western Turkey.
Also a new Neolithic site, called Kömür Burnu, has been investigated using intensive sur-
vey methods. The material culture from the site suggests a date between 6200–6000
cal BC for the Neolithic occupation. P-XRF characterization of obsidian pieces from Kö-
mür Burnu revealed that these were acquired from two different sources. These con-
stitute the first evidence for the participation of Karaburun early farmer-herders in the
long-distance exchange networks that were active in Neolithic Anatolia and the Aegean.
We will present the evidence from the site to infer on the life ways and connections of
Neolithic communities in this marginal zone of western Turkey.

The Balkans during the process of neolithisation>

adaptation and cultural transformation
Eylem Özdoğan
The emergence of farming societies in the Balkans has been one of the main topics of
Balkan prehistory since the beginning of the last century. It has been widely accepted
that the Neolithic penetrated very rapidly in the Balkans as a whole and current data
indicate certain similarities between Anatolia, the Aegean, and the Balkans at this time.
However, how the Neolithic way of life adapted to the Balkans and what changes have
been observed are not questions often discussed with the neolithisation problem. I will
focus on the data from Eastern Thrace and discuss the problem from this perspective.

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

Diversity in early farming foodways in the Balkans>

the organic residue record
Maria Ivanova-Bieg, Lucy Cramp
The spread of pioneer farmers from the Aegean littoral into the interior of the Balkans
was accompanied by pronounced changes in lifestyle, including higher (probably sea-
sonal) residential mobility, smaller community sizes, loss of sophistication in material
culture, and adjustments in farming – a phenomenon which has been designated by
some authors as “the First Temperate Neolithic“. The adaptation of farming, and of the
food system based on it, to changing biogeographic conditions across the Balkans in-
volved not only preferences for particular plant and animal species, but also for the
specific cultural techniques of their use. This paper presents an overview of organic
residue analysis of pottery in the Balkans, revealing a wealth of complex food practices
at different regional scales – from the cereal and meat consuming groups of the south
to the dedicated milk consumers of the north, and the fish-loving farmers in the Danube
gorges. The findings add substantially to our understanding of the ‘Mediterranean’ and
‘First Temperate’ farming strategies and foodways, providing direct evidence for latitu-
dinal adjustments of animal foodstuffs and food-related techniques across the Bal-
kans and the adjacent Carpathian Basin.

Trajectories of the Neolithic into the central Balkans.

First results of new fieldwork in southern Serbia
Barbara Horejs

The Neolithic represents a crucial time of immense social, cultural, economic and envi-
ronmental change in human history, as people in the Balkans move from Mesolithic
hunter-gathers to Neolithic settled agricultural communities accompanied by new tech-
nological developments and material culture types. With the spread of the Neolithic
way of life currently being seen as associated with migrations from Anatolia towards
the Aegean, the Balkans represent a key area for understanding the timing, nature,
dispersal and direction of societal change evident in the archaeological record. How-
ever, although connectivity between the central Balkans and the Aegean-Anatolian world
is widely accepted for the beginning of the Neolithic, a combined study of new techno-
logies and the meaning behind shared cultural features (Neolithic package) has seldom
been undertaken so far. It is widely accepted that the Star≠evo cultural horizon, as the
earliest Neolithic on the central Balkans, plays an important role for our understand-
ing of the neolithisation process in the region. The scarcity of well-excavated and pub-
lished data prevents any detail studies of Neolithic pathways and their regional com-

14
 Abstract book

plexities, especially along the Southern Morava River Valley. A new project aims to fill
this gap in southern Serbia by investigating the early Neolithic (pre-Vin≠a horizon) and
providing new primary data for this debate. First results of this new fieldwork in the
Leskovac district will be discussed by presenting new Neolithic sites detected by geo-
archaeological surveys of the Pusta Reka Project. The first outcome of the new excava-
tions at Svinjari≠ka ∞uka within this cooperation of the author with the Archaeological
Institute in Belgrade and the Museum of Leskovac will be presented.

The decline of ‘clayscapes’ and the rise of the Bandkeramik

Eszter Bánffy
The paper focuses on cultural changes in the first half of the 6th millennium cal BC,
with Körös and Star≠evo groups in the northern marginal zones of the Balkans (main-
ly the southern part of the Carpathian basin). This time and zone were determined by
clay as the fundamental and abundant building block of almost the entire material cul-
ture, architecture, everyday life, and cult practices. The traditional system of subsistence
patterns ceased to fully function when these first farmers occupied cool and wet hilly
forested landscapes: the environmental and cognitive challenges gradually led to the
decline of this clay-centred orbit, ‘clayscapes’. The need for new elements in the sub-
sistence involved the increasing significance of cattle over caprinae: this shift infiltrat-
ed into ritual activities.
The newly identified large clay cattle figurine type is taken as an embodiment of the
last instance among the South-East European communities of the clay world, while
changes in the depictions already reflect the transformation of lifestyles. Besides de-
fining the monumental early Neolithic clay figurine type, its analogies over South East
Europe and its ‘biography’, a broad scope of environmental and (social) zooarchaeolo-
gical analyses, with issues of early dairying are involved. The target is to present one
possible narrative on the fading of the South-East European ’clayscapes‘, towards the
birth of the LBK and the Central European Neolithic.

Archaeological contexts of interaction between the Japanese

Islands and the East Asian mainland during the Middle to Final
Jōmon
Tao Li, Mark J. Hudson
Although Jōmon Japan was geographically relatively isolated, a number of material cul-
ture parallels point to interaction between the archipelago and the mainland. This evi-

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

dence has been discussed by specialists since at least the 1920s but its overall signifi-
cance for the evolution of Jōmon society has never been properly assessed. The archa-
eological record of interaction across the Sea of Japan is complex: there was no over-
all trajectory toward increased interaction over time and chronological and regional
diversity was high. In this paper we focus on the Middle to Final Jōmon phases (c.
5500–2800 BP), the time when agricultural societies were expanding from China to
Korea and the Russian Far East. We first summarize the archaeological evidence for
interaction including plant remains, pottery, stone tools, ornaments and bronze, and
then attempt to model possible social contexts for that interaction.

Jōmon resilience and the expansion of agricultural systems

to the Japanese Islands
Mark J. Hudson, Tao Li
Although agricultural systems are inherently expansionary, recent research has shown
that rates of expansion can vary depending on a range of social and ecological circum-
stances. Three types of factors have been invoked in this respect. Firstly, the structural
relationships between people and their plants and animals vary depending on the
type of agriculture involved. For example, the West Asian Neolithic complex had high
redundancy which made it easier to expand. Wet rice farming, by contrast, had lower
redundancy and was associated with large investments of labour in paddy fields and
other irrigation systems, factors which made ‘agricultural involution’ more common
than expansion. Secondly, climate change can impact the expansion or contraction of
agricultural systems. In East Asia, it has been proposed that farming expanded north
in warmer periods. Alternatively, colder periods are sometimes argued to have led
to conflict, resulting in the movement of peoples with farming to new territories.
Thirdly, cultural factors can affect the reception or rejection of agricultural systems.
In this paper we will concentrate on the third question of how Jōmon societies react-
ed to the agricultural systems that had reached Korea and the Russian Far East
1000–2000 years before they eventually arrived in Japan.

Prehistorical language shift on the Japanese Islands>

from Jōmon languages to Yayoi language
Martine Robbeets
Ainu, a language until the 20th century spoken on the Island of Hokkaido, Sakhalin and
in the Kuril Islands, systematically deviates from Japanese and the so-called Transeura-

16
 Abstract book

sian languages. The Transeurasian languages are a group of structurally homogeneous

and – arguably genealogically related – languages including Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic,
Koreanic and Japanic languages. Ainu has been regarded as a marginal pocket of an ear-
lier language type whose lineages became isolated before the large-scale language
spreads in Eurasia. In this paper, we will examine evidence for language shift, where-
by some of the ancestral speakers of Ainu abandoned their native language and adopt-
ed a new target language, notably proto-Japonic, the linguistic ancestor of Mainland Ja-
panese and the Ryukyuan languages. Using a protocol for establishing substratum in-
terference proposed by Thomason (2009), we will attempt to establish substratum in-
terference in proto-Japonic under influence of an ancestral state of the Ainu language.
Integrating linguistic evidence with findings from genetics and archaeology, we will
argue that proto-Japonic can be regarded as the language of the incoming Yayoi immi-
grants, whereas ancestral Ainu can be associated with one of the indigenous languages
spoken by the Jomon populations.

The spread of Early Linear Pottery culture settlement in Slovakia

Noémi Beljak Pa/inová, Tatiana Daráková
The presentation will focus on the spread of Early Linear Pottery culture (LPC) in Slo-
vakia and the current state of Early LPC research within the selected territory. So far
72 sites are known from Slovakia dated to Early LPC. Most of the sites are known only
from surface collections, and in only four cases, dwellings have been documented. Set-
tlement features / pits have only been discovered in 34 sites. Finally we know graves
only from three sites. Our paper will also incorporate the elaboration of Early LPC pot-
tery from the point of view of typology and decoration. The analysis of the rest of ma-
terial culture and finding contexts will not be absent either. The main purpose of the
presentation is to evaluate the research possibilities of the Early LPC in Slovakia and
subsequently compare them with findings from Central Europe.

The first vs. the second neolithisation in East-Central Europe

Marek Nowak
The origins of the Neolithic in East-Central Europe are associated with migrations of
groups, mirrored archeologically as the Linear Band Pottery culture, after the mid-6th
millennium BC. Communities of this culture settled in mainly small enclaves distin-
guished by ecological conditions favourable to farming. The situation of this kind per-
sisted into the 5th millennium BC, when these enclaves were inhabited by post-Linear

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groups. This state of affairs changed from c. 4000 BC onwards due to the formation
and spectacular territorial expansion of the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB). In East-Cen-
tral Europe this expansion covered the areas previously inhabited by both hunter-ga-
therers and farmers. Thus, deciphering the mechanisms of genesis and spread of TRB
is crucial for the understanding of the full neolithisation of East-Central Europe and of
further development of the early Neolithic cultural patterns. This problem has been un-
der debate for over 100 years, yet a consensus of opinions among specialists has not
been reached. Data obtained recently in the south-western Baltic zone seem to be im-
portant in this matter. They suggest that the crystallisation of the ‘Funnel Beaker’ cul-
tural model took place there in the late 5th millennium BC.

The transition to the Neolithic in the Upper Volga region,

central Russia
Nataliya A. Tsvetkova
The beginning of the Neolithic in The Upper Volga region (7100/7000 years uncal BP)
is associated with the appearance of ceramics decorated by simple puncture impres-
sions. The undistinguished differences between the Final Mesolithic and the Early Neo-
lithic stone industries suggest that this cultural invasion was transphenomenal. The
resemblance of stone toolkits derived from the Upper Volga sites and from sites from
adjacent territories interferes with the identification of the separate Early Neolithic cul-
tures with non-ornamented or puncture-ware ceramics. The first pottery emergence in
the Upper Volga did not result in shifts in economy. Soon after the non-ornamented/
puncture-ware ceramics tradition has been established, the local cultures were discon-
tinued by the populations with multi-compound comb-ware pottery. The spread of the
non-ornamented/puncture-ware ceramics was not followed by fundamental changes in
the stone or bone inventory and therefore this episode should be regarded as a transi-
tion between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic (‘neolithisation’ episode). The later rise
of the Neolithic appeared c. 6500–6400 years uncal BP and was marked by shifts in
the economy and by the local ceramic manufacture development accompanied by thin-
bifaces technique appearance. These changes give evidence of the Neolithic revolution
in the Upper Volga basin provided by the complete replacement of populations.

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 Abstract book

Environmental conditions and the neolithisation of the Sava river

valley – the first results of interdisciplinary research
Katarina Botić, Fabian Welc, Leszek Marks and Radosĺaw Mieszkowski
In 2016, a Croatian-Polish team conducted geoarchaeological prospection of several
Neolithic sites, including Early Neolithic Slavonski Brod – Galovo and Vinkovci – Sopot
sites. Preliminary results show oscillation in humidity with pronounced drought epi-
sodes during the Early Neolithic period which is most visible in the data obtained from
Slavonski Brod – Galovo. Previous archaeological excavations on this site yielded set-
tlement features dated to the beginning of the Star≠evo culture just after 6000 BC and
continuing to at least 5500 BC. However, the 2017 and 2018 campaigns uncovered a
new settlement horizon consisting of settlement features dug in, what appears to be,
the first layer of sediment covering the site. This younger settlement horizon was even-
tually covered by more sediment and abandoned. New excavations confirmed that this
site was settled during two pronounced drought episodes refuting initial assumption
that the settlement could have been abandoned precisely because of the drought. Pre-
liminary results also show that the sediments are most likely of diluvial origin which
again refutes the first assumption of their alluvial source. Situation at Vinkovci – Sopot
site is less clear but confirms Galovo results to a certain degree.

Climatic factors and development of Neolithic-Eneolithic cultures

in the steppe zone of the Low Volga region (Oroshaemoe and
Algay sites)
Marianna Kulkova, Alexander Vybornov
The research of recently excavated (2014–2018) stratified multilayered archaeological
sites Oroshaemoe and Algay in the steppe zone of the Low Volga region gave new re-
sults about chronology and paleoenvironment during Neolithic-Eneolithic periods. For
reconstructions the geochemical indication of paleoclimate method, radiocarbon dat-
ing, and archaeological observations were applied.
These data allowed us to suggest that the first evidences of site occupation were dur-
ing the Early Neolithic period. The Orlovskaya cultural layers at Oroshaemoe and Al-
gay sites were dated to c. 6200 cal BC. In this episode, the climatic conditions were
temperately humid and warm. These conditions prolonged to c. 6000 cal BC. After that
the anthropogenic impact decreased and at Oroshaemoe a sterile layer without any arti-
facts was formed. The conditions probably shifted to arid climate c. 6000–5900 cal BC
according to geochemical evidences. At Algay, the next stage of developed of this cul-
ture is dated to c. 5800–5500 cal BC. In this period the climate was humid and warm,

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

whereas c. 5500–5400 cal BC cold and dry conditions with less anthropogenic activity
are registered. The last stage of Orlovskaya culture (5400–5100 cal BC) corresponds
with a humid, temperately warm climate. The episode of strong aridization (c. 5100–
5000 cal BC) was registered in geochemical data as well as in the presence of sterile
deposits without archaeological finds at both sites. A new stage of occupation is con-
nected to the carriers of Cis-Caspian culture which is dated to 5000–4800 cal BC at Oro-
shaemoe. This culture is characterized by the first attributes of a production economy.
The humid and warm conditions changed to arid conditions during about 100 years
which is confirmed by a sterile layer. After, the Khvalinian Eneolithic culture appeared
c. 4800–4500 cal BC according to archaeological observations. This period is charac-
terized by a transition to warm and humid conditions as supported by pollen and phy-
tolith analyses.. With these data we could correlate past climate with the development
of archaeological cultures in this region during the Neolithic-Eneolithic period.

Global processes, regional dynamics| Radiocarbon data as an

analytical method of the social dynamics at the end of Mesolithic
and during the development of the Neolithic at NW of
Mediterranean
Héctor Martínez-Grau, Ferran Antolín and Joan Anton Barceló
It is the goal of this paper to test the validity of radiocarbon dates and Summed Cali-
brated Dates Probability Distribution (SCDPD) as proxies to compare social dynamics
over a large period of time and region. Through the statistical analysis of the c. 4000
radiocarbon dates (between c. 10 000–2300 cal BC) available for the NE Iberian Pen-
insula, SE France, northern Italy and Switzerland we aim to discuss processes of socio-
economic evolution from the last hunter-gatherers to the end of the Neolithic period.
An important focus of the work will be on the quality of the data, its filtering and the
state of research in each of the regions under study. And one of the goals is to observe
to which extent the SCDPD reflect social dynamics in each region, and how comparable
these dynamics are across the different areas.

Absolute age-calibration of Neolithic settlement stratigraphies in

Bulgaria
Lennart Brandtstätter, Raiko Krauß
According to recent genetic studies, the neolithisation process in the Balkans was trig-
gered by an immigrant population from Western Anatolia. The natural landscape of

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 Abstract book

the region, which is strongly articulated by mountains, plays an important role for the
direction of diffusion of the Neolithic concept. This process of neolithisation is directly
related to the end of the 8.6–8.0 ka cal BP extreme climate (cold-winter) interval and
related social and economic transformations in the communities north of the Aegean.
According to the model of Punctuated Equilibrium (Weninger et al., this conference),
the initial neolithisation can be described as sequence of events with an initial abrupt
‘switch’, followed by an extended period of ‘stasis’. Having been developed in response
to an increasing number of high-resolution climate records, this model requires further
archaeological testing. Within the framework of the research project “Chronological
studies on the process of neolithisation along the Danube” funded by the German Re-
search Foundation (DFG), we aim to establish a chronological framework in order to
understand the societal transformations along the lower Danube, from the advent of
the Neolithic until the formation of the Copper Age. Our present focus is on radiocar-
bon sampling from known settlement stratigraphies, in particular from previously ex-
cavated multi-layered sites. The concept is to expand on the already existing series of
14C-dates, by supplying a number of site-specific 14C-chronologies based on high-reso-
lution age-modelling of stratified 14C-ages. The studies include a critical re-evaluation
of the available ‘older’ 14C-ages, both in terms of sampling quality and of radiometric
accuracy/precision, based on pottery analysis in combination with comparative strati-
graphic studies. The overall aim of the project, which is presently in the phase of refined
chronological phase modelling, is to achieve a deeper understanding of the regional
and supra-regional processes of cultural change.

Absolute age-calibration of Early Neolithic settlement

in SW-Germany land use and chronology of the LBK
in the district of Tübingen
Raiko Krauß, Jörg Bofinger
In 2017 new archaeological fieldwork at two Early Neolithic sites in the district of Tü-
bingen, Ammerbuch-Entringen and Ammerbuch-Pfäffingen was initiated. These sites are
situated on the southwestern periphery of the overall distribution area of the oldest
LBK. At the same time they lie in the overlap area with La Hoguette, one of the oldest
ceramics-producing cultural groups in western Central Europe. The excavated sites
provide new data on the first permanent settlements in the region and their influence
on landscape genesis. Based on the available stratigraphic sequences, it is now for the
first time possible to construct a radiocarbon-based high-resolution chronology for the
development of the LBK in southwestern Germany. Accompanying paleoecological
studies provide a better understanding of the influence of the first farmers and live-

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

stock herders on the natural environmental change. The first results of our investiga-
tions show that dramatic changes in the landscape already occurred during the very
first settlement, and which continue until today, and offer new insights into the chro-
nological positioning of the advent of the Neolithic in Central Europe.

On the origin of pottery in Baikal-Yenisei Siberia

Ivan Berdnikov
The analyses and evaluation of 44 radiocarbon dates for early ceramics (Net-impressed
and Khaita) of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia were conducted. The AMS-dates demonstrate that
the first evidence of pottery are fixed in a time span of 8510–8380 cal BP in Southern
Angara region. In the Cis-Baikal region ceramics did not appear earlier than 8156–
7951 cal BP, and in the Tunka valley in a time span of 7839–7689 cal BP. Pottery
traditions in the Baikal-Yenisei Siberia were probably brought to this region by the
Kitoi population, which began settling here c. 8500–8400 cal BP.

The development of Neolithic pottery technology

in Zagros Mountains and Northern Mesopotamia
Natalia Petrova
We present here a review of the available information on the initial pottery production
in the Zagros Mountains and in Northern Mesopotamia of the earliest known vessels
made of unbaked clay (or accidentally baked ones), vessels made of limestone and gyp-
sum (White Ware), and early Neolithic ceramics from sites like Ganj Dareh, Jarmo and
others.
Further emphasis is placed on ceramics technology analysis conducted by the author
of Northern Mesopotamian Plain Early Ceramics Neolithic sites dated to the Proto-Has-
suna and Hassuna periods. The ceramics of sites such as Tell Sotto, Yarimtepe I, Kul-
tepe, and Umm Dabagiya contain dung of ruminants, the concentration of which de-
creased over time. Ceramics are constructed with slab or coiling technology that de-
pends of the vessels type. Pottery technology of Proto-Hassuna and Hassuna periods
was related to the preceding tradition of ceramics production in the Zagros area.

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 Abstract book

The earliest European Russian North ceramics>

where are the southern roots|
Ekaterina Kashina, Natalia Petrova
The small group of early ceramics was detected in 1960s to 1990s at a number of multi-
layer sites of Russian northern regions (Arkhangel’sk, Vologda, Karelia, Komi), but un-
derestimated as a source, directly pointing to ceramic production origins in the boreal
forest zone c. 5500-5000 BC. The so-called ‘Kargopol type’ ceramics demonstrate archa-
ic technological traits – a straight rim, round holes under the rim, and a clay paste with
added sand temper. The mapping shows a wide distribution of these vessels (more
than 1000km by longitude), almost without changes at least in volumes and decoration
pattern, probably reflecting birch bark vessel features. There were no similarities with
the neighbouring early ceramic types of the Russian Plain central part, dated to the 6th
millennium BC, but obvious parallels existed with younger types of Comb and Pitted
Ware of the 5th millennium BC. We recognize this phenomena as a key to further un-
derstanding of how the process of ceramics production emergence ‘acted’ in the zone
of the Russian boreal forest, where sedentary and foraging local hunter-gathering
groups existed at the same time.

Re-evaluation of red-slipped, impressed and white-on-red pottery

in Western Anatolia and the Balkans, at the turn from 7 th to the
6 th millennium cal BC
Canay Alpagut
Over the past decades, the discussion of socio-cultural interactions between Anatolia
and the Balkans during the Neolithic period has become a significant component in our
understanding of the Neolithic expansion. As a result of recent research in Western
Anatolia and Southeastern Europe, we can now provide answers to a number of ques-
tions concerning the connections between these two regions within the Neolithic pe-
riod. There is general agreement that at the turn from 7th to the 6th millennium cal BC,
Neolithic populations spread to Southeastern Europe from Anatolia and the Aegean re-
gions. However, the early farming communities in Southeastern Europe and Western
Anatolia not only shared certain common traits, but simultaneously initiated a number
of new local traditions. The main focus of the present study is to re-assess in detail the
socio-cultural developments in Western Anatolia and the Balkans at the end of the 7th
millennium caBC based on chronological and cultural connections between red slipped,
impressed and white-on-red painted pottery styles. The studies are based primarily on

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24rd Neolithic Seminar

material from the Marmara region and the neighbouring areas of SE Europe (Thrace,
Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Walachia).

Mothers, babies and figurines in the Neolithic of Central Balkans

Ana Tripković, Mihailo Radinović, Marko Por;ić and Sofija Stefanović
Neolithization brought great changes to the prehistoric communities in different parts
of Eurasia. One aspect of change, thoroughly studied in recent years, is the Neolithic
demographic transition. It has been suggested that the demographic expansion on the
onset of Neolithic was caused by increased fertility – increase in the number of preg-
nancies and consequently babies – which was feasible due to sedentary life and more
stable food supplies. These changes in fertility and daily life could have been displayed
in material culture. In this study we analyse anthropomorphic figurines as possible re-
presentations of body and corporeality. In order to test the hypothesis that Neolithic
figurines are related to fertility (i.e., that they directly represent pregnant women), we
record attributes of figurine bodies that are related to pregnancy and sex on figurines
from different sites in the Central Balkans. If they are, the attributes related to fertility
should be frequently depicted on figurines, especially in the initial stages of Neolithic,
when the population boom happened.

The human-suid relations in Early Neolithic Europe>

a case study of the Bulgarian site D/uljunica-Smărde[
Donna A. J. de Groene, Petar Zidarov and Canan Çakirlar
The Bulgarian site D∫uljunica-Smărde∏, dating to 6205–5529 cal BC, is one of the ear-
liest Neolithic sites in Europe. Both domestic cattle and domestic caprines are well re-
presented in the zooarchaeological assemblage. Sus, in contrast, are extremely rare at
the site. It is not known if the earliest Neolithic people in Europe did rear domestic pigs
at all, practised some form of pig management, or only hunted wild boar.
This research investigates the human pig relationships, using biometry, kill-off patterns,
and isotopic dietary analysis. With this integrated methodological approach, it might be
possible to characterize human-suid relationships in this pivotal early Neolithic site with
greater accuracy. Understanding this relationship at this site contributes to the broader
debate on how neolithisation and domesticates spread through Europe, and which bio-
cultural mechanisms were responsible for differential patterns of animal exploitation.

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 Abstract book

Study of the burial ground Ekaterinovsky Cape in the steppe and

forest-steppe Volga Region
Arkadii Korolev, Anna Kochkina, Dmitriy Stashenkov and Aleksandr Khokhlov
The burial ground Ekaterinovsky Cape is being excavated from 2013. We have studied
93 burials, which form several rows at the site. Skeletons prevail, which lie stretched
out on the back with hands alongside the body. Less common are skeletons in a
crouched position on their back with bent knees. Some burials contain human bones
that are not in anatomical order. One of the graves (no. 79) is represented by piled up
bones of two men and a woman that were covered with red ochre. Non-ordinary burial
places are located in the central zone of the burial ground and are accompanied by a
‘prestigious’ inventory: stone scepter, wands of the horn, ornaments from canine fangs,
and other objects. Additionally, sacrificial areas with ceramics were found at the site.
We conducted an anthropological and archaeozoological study as well as started
sampling bones and ceramics for the first 14C dates. Preliminary results show that the
burial ground can be dated to the second half of the 6th millennium BC.

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 24th Neolithic Seminar
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology
and
Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education