Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MicroTRASH (Microscopic transformations in arable land and shell midden habitation in coastal Northern Europe during the 4th and 3rd Millennium BC)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-12-31
The project MicroTRASH focused on using archaeological soil micromorphology and lipid biomarker analysis for the study of prehistoric middens, dating to the later 4th and 3rd millennium BC, the Middle and Late Neolithic, found along the North Sea and Baltic coasts of Europe. These sites are understudied, often lacking a clear chronology and detailed understanding of what people did there. The methods employed, thus allow for a change in perspective regarding coastal communities. Up to now, these settlements are often seen as part of agricultural, Neolithic and stable farming communities. But a more detailed analysis can inform us on the use of wild resources and the particular activities carried out at these sites, and the chronology of these sites (including the continuity and changes in practices).
We studied thin section slides from a number of archaeological sites along the North Sea and Baltic coast. Then we correlated the layers we observed with chronological data (radiocarbon) and bio- and geochemical data (lipids, aDNA, XRF). This combination allowed us to better characterise activities, put them in a chronological sequence, and understand human behaviour on a larger scale.
This project has opened up the possibility to write new narratives of prehistoric habitation traces along the North Sea and Baltic coasts. It has created a clearer picture of what these traces look like, what people did on these settlements, and what variability exists. Now we turn to creating new models of human occupation. Most sites are not short-term extraction camps, as people recurrently came back to places that were important previously, dumped masses of waste there (indicating collective behaviour), trampled on the waste and built large amounts of hearths. This all has the potential to provide alternative narratives concerning the Neolithisation process. People didn't simply "adopt farming" as previously thought.