Publications
Radiocarbon dating from Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov cemetery reveals complex human responses to socio-ecological stress during the 8.2 ka cooling event
Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov in Karelia, northwest Russia, is one of the largest Early Holocene cemeteries in northern Eurasia, with 177 burials recovered in excavations in the 1930s; originally, more than 400 graves may have been present. A new radiocarbon dating programme, taking into account a correction for freshwater reservoir effects, suggests that the main use of the cemetery spanned only some 100–300 years, centring on ca. 8250 to 8000 cal BP. This coincides remarkably closely with the 8.2 ka cooling event, [...]
Scanning electron microscopy for differentiating charred endocarps of Rhus/Toxicodendron species and tracking the use of the lacquer tree and Asian poison ivy in Japanese prehistory
The use of natural lacquer for preservation and decoration of various commodities is a remarkable invention. In Japan lacquer production dates back to the Neolithic Jomon period and has been mainly based on the sap extracted from the lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum (Stokes) F.A. Barkley). However, it is still unclear, if lacquer production evolved in Japan independently or was introduced from Neolithic China, another centre of early lacquer production. A debate also revolves around the origin of the [...]
Freshwater reservoir effects in Cis-Baikal: An overview
This paper summarises research on freshwater reservoir effects (FRE) in the Baikal region and their impact on the radiocarbon dating of human remains. Varying relationships are seen between human δ13C and δ15N values and 14C offsets in paired human-terrestrial mammal radiocarbon dates from the same graves in the different microregions of Cis-Baikal. In the Upper Lena microregion the FRE may also vary through time. These differences can be related in some cases to different isotopic ecologies, and in [...]
Parental investment as social agency and catalyst to complexity
Re-examination of the relationships between diets as inferred isotopically and grave goods in light of new data has revealed the importance of parental investment for Early Neolithic populations in Cis-Baikal, Siberia. The Kitoi Culture developed and maintained a flexible but expensive broad-spectrum subsistence strategy. Moderately high extrinsic risk factors produced periodic famines and metabolic stress evidence in skeletons. The small-scale efforts of parents to support their offspring through increased breast milk and plant food provisioning led to a [...]
Turning eastward: New radiocarbon and stable isotopic data for Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers from Fofanovo, Trans-Baikal, Siberia
A considerable amount of bioarchaeological research – including AMS 14C dating and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) – has been undertaken on the hunter-gatherers from the area west of Lake Baikal, known as Cis-Baikal. No such work has previously been reported for the east side of the lake, Trans-Baikal. Here, we present new radiocarbon dates and isotopic results for twenty individuals from the Fofanovo cemetery, located along the Selenga River on the southeast coast of [...]
Lateglacial–Holocene environments and human occupation in the Upper Lena region of Eastern Siberia derived from sedimentary and zooarchaeological data from Lake Ochaul
In the current study, different geochemical and biological proxies, including pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, ostracods and molluscs, from an AMS radiocarbon-dated sediment core from Lake Ochaul (54°14′N, 106°28′E; 641 m a.s.l.) are presented and discussed. Ochaul is a fresh-water lake and an archaeological site situated ca. 100 km northwest of Lake Baikal in the upper reaches of the Lena River. The 260-cm-long sedimentary record presented here spans the Lateglacial–Holocene interval, between ca. 13,500 cal yr BP and the present. [...]