Periodic Reporting for period 3 - AMI (Animals Make identities. The Social Bioarchaeology of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic Cemeteries in North-East Europe)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-04-01 al 2024-09-30
AMI is a multidisciplinary project that combines scientific and archaeological analyses to understand the human-animal relations, mortuary practices and human social identities based on Mesolithic (c 9000-7000 years ago) hunter-gatherer burial sites in Northeastern Europe. The aim is to gain precise and diverse information about the animal finds and the human individuals, and to use these data to reconstruct the life histories and social structures of the individuals. The area in focus is the North-eastern European forest area, rich in faunal and floral resources. Hunted, trapped and caught animals were the most powerful partners and richest resource for these populations, in both material and cosmological sense. The inclusion of animal bones, bone and stone artefacts, and red ochre in graves was an important burial custom designed by the living for the deceased. AMI conducts systematical bioarchaeological analyses of grave finds to make inferences about what the burial goods are, or why certain animal species were more common than other. In order to receive a more precise picture of the uses of animals, we also search for traces from animal hairs and feathers from soil samples. By studying human remains with bioarchaeological methods like stable isotopes, dental calculus and physical anthropology we will collect information of the diet, health and mobility.
AMI will broaden our understanding of the roles of animals in ideologies and burial practices among non-agricultural peoples in the North, and how animals or artefacts made of them were used for expressing identities. This will help us to understand not only our own past, but also what it means to be a part of a web of actors in nature where humans are only one species among many.
AMI studies materials from more than 300 burials from eight cemeteries in North-eastern Europe, focusing on Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov (YOO) in Karelia, Skateholm I and II in Scania, Zvejnieki in Latvia and Donkalnis and Spiginas in Lithuania.
AMI will broaden our understanding of the roles of animals in ideologies and burial practices among non-agricultural peoples in the North, and how animals or artefacts made of them were used for expressing identities. This will help us to understand not only our own past, but also what it means to be a part of a web of actors in nature where humans are only one species among many.
AMI studies materials from more than 300 burials from eight cemeteries in North-eastern Europe, focusing on Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov (YOO) in Karelia, Skateholm I and II in Scania, Zvejnieki in Latvia and Donkalnis and Spiginas in Lithuania.
Activities:
• Seven papers have been published in peer-reviewed international journals
• Research results were presented at a number of conferences and other events (more than 20 oral presentations and posters).
• We have organized a lecture series for academic audience, a public seminar, a workshop for researchers and several conference sessions.
Animal bones and artefacts:
• Animal derived finds and artefacts in burials at YOO, Zvejnieki and Skateholm have been examined.
• Traceological analysis of the YOO tooth pendants has been conducted. The results show that pendants were intensively used as rattles, most likely in ceremonies.
• 141 bone artefacts from YOO have been identified by using a ZooMS method. Three new animal taxa have been indicated in the assemblage, including artefacts made of human bone.
• A comparative collection of animal tooth pendants for traceological study of archaeological assemblages has been assembled.
• Manufacture and use wear marks on bone, antler and tooth artefacts from Zvejnieki burials have been analysed.
Miscoscopic analyses of soils:
• Analyses of soil samples from the several burial sites are in process. Feathers and animal hairs have been detected from most of the samples. For example, the first evidence of Canid hair and Falcon feathers have been detected from a Finnish Mesolithic burial.
• For the identification of microscopic remains of organic matters, the assembling of feathers and phytoliths reference collections are under preparation.
Analyses of the human skeletal materials and dental calculus:
• Physical anthropological analyses of 148 YOO human skeletons have been conducted. Human remains are in very poor condition and it turned out that estimation of age and sex is in many cases not possible.
• Samples from 52 human teeth from YOO have been sent for peptide analyses in order to determine the sex of the individuals.
• 87 dental calculus samples from YOO and several from Skateholm have been prepared for microparticle and microbiome analyses. Preliminary results show that samples contain various kinds of plant remains and phytoliths.
Stable isotopes:
• Strontium and oxygen isotopic data from YOO individuals have been analysed in order to study the mobility of the people. For the successful evaluation of those data, more than 130 background environmental plant samples from Karelia and surrounding areas were collected and analysed. The preliminary results show some variation in Strontium values. At least two individuals are probably not from the same geographic area as the others.
• A serial carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on tooth dentine was conducted on the selected specimens from YOO. The purpose of this study is to understand the childhood diet and weaning patterns. Due to the destructive nature of stable isotope analysis, plaster casts and 3D scans of the chosen specimens were subsequently made to preserve them for future research.
• Seven papers have been published in peer-reviewed international journals
• Research results were presented at a number of conferences and other events (more than 20 oral presentations and posters).
• We have organized a lecture series for academic audience, a public seminar, a workshop for researchers and several conference sessions.
Animal bones and artefacts:
• Animal derived finds and artefacts in burials at YOO, Zvejnieki and Skateholm have been examined.
• Traceological analysis of the YOO tooth pendants has been conducted. The results show that pendants were intensively used as rattles, most likely in ceremonies.
• 141 bone artefacts from YOO have been identified by using a ZooMS method. Three new animal taxa have been indicated in the assemblage, including artefacts made of human bone.
• A comparative collection of animal tooth pendants for traceological study of archaeological assemblages has been assembled.
• Manufacture and use wear marks on bone, antler and tooth artefacts from Zvejnieki burials have been analysed.
Miscoscopic analyses of soils:
• Analyses of soil samples from the several burial sites are in process. Feathers and animal hairs have been detected from most of the samples. For example, the first evidence of Canid hair and Falcon feathers have been detected from a Finnish Mesolithic burial.
• For the identification of microscopic remains of organic matters, the assembling of feathers and phytoliths reference collections are under preparation.
Analyses of the human skeletal materials and dental calculus:
• Physical anthropological analyses of 148 YOO human skeletons have been conducted. Human remains are in very poor condition and it turned out that estimation of age and sex is in many cases not possible.
• Samples from 52 human teeth from YOO have been sent for peptide analyses in order to determine the sex of the individuals.
• 87 dental calculus samples from YOO and several from Skateholm have been prepared for microparticle and microbiome analyses. Preliminary results show that samples contain various kinds of plant remains and phytoliths.
Stable isotopes:
• Strontium and oxygen isotopic data from YOO individuals have been analysed in order to study the mobility of the people. For the successful evaluation of those data, more than 130 background environmental plant samples from Karelia and surrounding areas were collected and analysed. The preliminary results show some variation in Strontium values. At least two individuals are probably not from the same geographic area as the others.
• A serial carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on tooth dentine was conducted on the selected specimens from YOO. The purpose of this study is to understand the childhood diet and weaning patterns. Due to the destructive nature of stable isotope analysis, plaster casts and 3D scans of the chosen specimens were subsequently made to preserve them for future research.
Many of our methods are commonly used in archaeological science, but microscopical analysis of microparticles is something that has not been done elsewhere. This is really new. We have found fragments of animal hairs and feathers in many burial contexts, also in several of those which have been stored for 80 years in museums. We have tested the method with Finnish Stone Age burials which do not have macroscopic organic materials present and we found hairs and feathers even in those samples. Our results clearly show that from now on archaeological human burials cannot be excavated without taking soil samples for microscopic analyses. This method invented by Tuija Kirkinen in the AMI project has opened a totally new opportunity to understand uses of furs, skins and feathers in the burial practices, and detecting perishable materials in archaeological contexts in general. We were also able to detect hairs in the surfaces of quartz tools from Finnish settlement layers.
Expected results will include insights in:
• Understanding the uses of furs, feathers and wrapping materials in burial practices
• Understanding what burial finds are (parts of clothings, rattles, offerings, remains of food etc.?) and estimating whether they reflect the life of the individual
• Defining the roles of animals and why particular animal species and body parts were found in burials
• Understanding how raw materials, technology and types of (animal derived) artefacts can reflect social matters
• Understanding the health and diet of the Mesolithic populations
• Understanding the role of plants in diet and burial practices and presenting new evidence of Mesolithic plant use
• Reconstruction of life histories of humans, animals and artefacts from several burial sites
• Understanding the social identities of the individuals buried in cemeteries
• Understanding why these particular individuals were buried in cemeteries
• Defining the social structures of early prehistoric hunter-gatherers´ burial sites in North-eastern Europe.
Expected results will include insights in:
• Understanding the uses of furs, feathers and wrapping materials in burial practices
• Understanding what burial finds are (parts of clothings, rattles, offerings, remains of food etc.?) and estimating whether they reflect the life of the individual
• Defining the roles of animals and why particular animal species and body parts were found in burials
• Understanding how raw materials, technology and types of (animal derived) artefacts can reflect social matters
• Understanding the health and diet of the Mesolithic populations
• Understanding the role of plants in diet and burial practices and presenting new evidence of Mesolithic plant use
• Reconstruction of life histories of humans, animals and artefacts from several burial sites
• Understanding the social identities of the individuals buried in cemeteries
• Understanding why these particular individuals were buried in cemeteries
• Defining the social structures of early prehistoric hunter-gatherers´ burial sites in North-eastern Europe.