Publications
Building a high-resolution chronology for northern Hokkaido – A case study of the Late Holocene Hamanaka 2 site on Rebun Island, Hokkaido (Japan)
Archaeological radiocarbon dating in coastal northern Hokkaido is challenged by the marine reservoir effect and the scarcity of materials with terrestrial carbon sources. This has contributed to gaps and general uncertainty in the timing of the region's culture-historical periods. The Late Holocene site of Hamanaka 2 on Rebun Island, featuring a stratified shell midden context with excellent preservation of organic remains, provides an ideal setting for addressing this issue. A Bayesian chronological model was deployed to study the [...]
Not herbs and forbs alone: pollen‐based evidence for the presence of boreal trees and shrubs in Cis‐Baikal (Eastern Siberia) derived from the Last Glacial Maximum sediment of Lake Ochaul
A new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)‐dated sedimentary record from Lake Ochaul (54°14′N, 106°28′E; 641 m a.s.l.) in Eastern Siberia covers the interval from ca. 27 850 to 20 400 cal a bp at ca. 180‐year resolution and contributes to a better understanding of the complex spatial vegetation pattern during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Non‐arboreal pollen taxa are abundant in the pollen assemblages (mean value ca. 92.6%), but boreal trees are represented by all major taxa that grow in the lake catchment today, [...]
Spatio-temporal patterns of cemetery use among Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia
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 [...]
Middle Holocene hunter–gatherers of Cis-Baikal, Eastern Siberia: Chronology and dietary trends
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 [...]
Skeletal and dental maturation relative to tooth formation in prehistoric hunter-gatherers from Cis-Baikal, Siberia
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 [...]
Spatial and temporal differences in Late Neolithic Serovo to Early Bronze Age Glazkovo forager diet in Lake Baikal’s Little Sea Microregion, Siberia
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 [...]