Publications

Archaeological Research in Asia March 2021

Spatio-temporal patterns of cemetery use among Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia

Bronk Ramsey C, Schulting RJ, Bazaliiskii VI, Goriunova OI, Weber AW

Hunter-gatherer archaeology typically focusses on the details of subsistence strategies and material culture and, in the case of cemeteries, on various aspects of mortuary practices, beliefs, and social differentiation. This paper aims to look rather at patterns of change over time and space in how past hunter-gatherer cemeteries were used from Late Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age (~8600–3500 cal. BP) in the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia. The approach is based on a Kernel Density methodology applied to [...]

2022-02-01T15:37:08-07:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: , , , , |
Archaeological Research in Asia March 2021

Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers of Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia: Chronology and dietary trends

Weber AW, Bronk Ramsey C, Schulting RJ, Bazaliiskii VI, Goriunova OI

Analyses of radiocarbon dates (all corrected for the freshwater reservoir effect) and associated stable isotope values obtained from the skeletal remains of ~650 individuals provide many new insights about Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers (HGs) of the Cis-Baikal region, Eastern Siberia. The new radiocarbon evidence clarifies the culture history of the region by defining better the boundaries between the chronological (archaeological periods) and cultural (mortuary traditions) units, as well as our understanding of the transitions between them. Furthermore, differences between [...]

2022-01-05T11:53:00-07:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: , , , , |
Archaeological Research in Asia March 2021

Skeletal and dental maturation relative to tooth formation in prehistoric hunter-gatherers from Cis-Baikal, Siberia

Temple DH, Lieverse AR, Bazaliiskii VI, Faccia K, Weber A

This study reconstructs fusion of skeletal elements and tooth emergence relative to tooth formation among prehistoric hunter-gatherers from Cis-Baikal, Siberia (ca. 8000 to 5200 BP). Tooth formation was recorded using standard protocols. Ages were estimated based on tooth formation stages within an individual. Tooth emergence was recorded as not emerged, emerged beyond the alveolus, or in occlusion. Skeletal epiphyses and apophyses were recorded as fused or unfused. Fisher’s exact tests were used to test heterogeneity in each developmental [...]

2021-12-07T10:32:06-07:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: , , , |
Archaeological Research in Asia March 2021

Spatial and temporal differences in Late Neolithic Serovo to Early Bronze Age Glazkovo forager diet in Lake Baikal’s Little Sea Microregion, Siberia

Waters Rist AL, Lieverse AR, Novikov AG, Goriunova OI, Kharinskii AA, McKenzie HG

Research on Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers from the Cis-Baikal region of Eastern Siberia has yielded many insights into their dietary and mobility patterns. A large dataset of stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope values, when paired with freshwater-reservoir corrected carbon-14 dates, allows us to conduct fine-scale investigations into dietary change. Our Small Cemeteries Project has increased the sample of Late Neolithic (LN) Serovo individuals, and Ol’khon Island burials, allowing for new investigations into changes between the Serovo and [...]

Archaeological Research in Asia March 2021

Insights into Lake Baikal’s ancient populations based on genetic evidence from the Early Neolithic Shamanka II and Early Bronze Age Kurma XI cemeteries

Moussa NM, McKenzie HG, Bazaliiskii VI, Goriunova OI, Bamforth F, Weber AW

Although previous ancient DNA research has contributed to the investigation of middle Holocene culture history and population dynamics in the Cis-Baikal, most of this work has been limited to the Angara valley and southwest Baikal, with only restricted genetic analysis of skeletal materials from the Little Sea microregion. In this paper, we expand upon initial findings by analyzing new mtDNA results from the EN/EBA Kurma XI cemetery (Little Sea area) and the EN Shamanka II cemetery (southwest Baikal). [...]

2021-10-05T16:31:35-06:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: , , , , |
Taylor & Francis/Routledge 2021

Climate and activity in Middle Holocene Siberia

Lieverse AR

In: G Robbins Schug (ed.). 2021. The Routledge Handbook of the Bioarchaeology of Climate and Environmental Change, 416–423. Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis/Routledge. This handbook examines human responses to climatic and environmental changes in the past,and  their impacts on disease patterns, nutritional status, migration, and interpersonal violence. Bioarchaeology—the study of archaeological human skeletons—provides direct evidence of the human experience of past climate and environmental changes and serves as an important complement to paleoclimate, historical, and archaeological approaches to [...]

2021-12-03T11:43:54-07:00Categories: Book Chapters, Publications|Tags: |
Archaeological Research in Asia December 2020

Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers of Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia: Combined impacts of the boreal forest, bow-and-arrow, and fishing

Weber AW

Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers (HG) of the Cis-Baikal region, Eastern Siberia, display substantial spatio-temporal variation in adaptive strategies highlighted by several cultural transitions. These transitions are examined focusing on the role of the following factors: (1) Changes in the distribution of the boreal forest; (2) Technological innovations; (3) Intensification of fishing; and (4) their combined impacts on subsistence and social structure. The expansion and retreat of boreal forest was important because it directly affected the distribution and abundance of [...]

2022-01-05T11:48:42-07:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: |
Quaternary International December 2020

Environments during the spread of anatomically modern humans across Northern Asia 50-10 cal kyr BP: What do we know and what would we like to know?

Tarasov PE, Leipe C, Wagner M

Northern Asia (here, the Russian Federation east of the Urals) played a key role in the spread of anatomically modern humans (AMH) across the Eurasian continent during the Upper Palaeolithic (UP). This time interval witnessed the climatically harshest and most variable part of the last glacial epoch when AMH spread to all continents, with the exception of ice-covered Antarctica, thus raising questions about how humans and environments interacted. Our review of available proxy records shows that the study [...]

2021-08-03T10:26:04-06:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: , , |
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology December 2020

Walnuts, salmon and sika deer: Exploring the evolution and diversification of Jōmon “culinary” traditions in prehistoric Hokkaidō

Robson HK, Lucquina A, Gibbs K, Saul H, Tomoda T, Hirasawa Y, Yamahara T, Kato H, Isaksson S, Craig OE, Jordan PD

The goal of this contribution is to stimulate a wider reflection on the role of food consumption practices throughout prehistory. We focussed on the Jōmon communities of Hokkaidō Island in Northern Japan since these mobile foragers underwent a process of economic diversification and intensification, eventually leading to higher levels of sedentism across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Moreover, dynamic social settings and expansion of the subsistence base at the start of the Holocene would have provided rich opportunities for novel [...]

2021-07-12T10:45:45-06:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: |
Global and Planetary Change December 2020

Hydrological (in)stability in Southern Siberia during the Younger Dryas and early Holocene

Harding P, Bezrukova EV, Kostrova SS, Lacey JH, Leng MJ, Meyer H, Pavlova LA, Shchetnikov A, Shtenberg MV, Tarasov PE, Mackay AW

Southern Siberia is currently undergoing rapid warming, inducing changes in vegetation, loss of permafrost, and impacts on the hydrodynamics of lakes and rivers. Lake sediments are key archives of environmental change and contain a record of ecosystem variability, as well as providing proxy indicators of wider environmental and climatic change. Investigating how hydrological systems have responded to past shifts in climate can provide essential context for better understanding future ecosystem changes in Siberia. Oxygen isotope ratios within lacustrine [...]

2021-12-01T14:19:12-07:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: |