The Early and Middle Neolithic in NW Russia: radiocarbon chronologies from the Sukhona and Onega regions

• Published in: Documenta Praehistorica
• Main Authors: Piezonka, Henny, Nedomolkina, Nadezhda, Ivanishcheva, Marina, Kosorukova, Natalya, Kulkova, Marianna, Meadows, John
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakulte / Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts 2017
• Subjects: Northern Russia; hunter-gatherer-fishers; Early and Middle Neolithic; radiocarbon chronology; stratigraphy; 7th-5th millennium cal BC; severna Rusija; lovci-nabiralci-ribiči; zgodnja lončenina; zgodnji in srednji neolitik; radiokarbonska kronologija; stratigrafija; 7.–5. tisočletje pr. n. št; Berezovaya; Onega; Fennoscandia; Russian North
• Online Access: https://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/44.8; https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.44.8

The onset of the Neolithic period in the Russian North is defined by the emergence of pottery vessels in the archaeological record. The ceramics produced by mobile hunter-gatherer-fisher groups in the north-eastern European forest zone are among the earliest in Europe, starting around 6000 cal BC. After the initial mosaic of local styles in the Early Neolithic, including sparsely decorated wares and early Comb Ware, the Middle Neolithic period, starting in the 5th millennium cal BC, saw the development and spread of larger, more homogenous typological entities between the Urals and the Baltic, the Comb-Pit and Pit-Comb wares. Absolute chronologies, however, are still subject to debate, due to a general lack of reliable contextual information. Direct 14C dating of carbonised surface residues (‘food crusts’) on pots can help to address this problem, as it dates the use of the pottery; but if aquatic foods were processed in the vessels, the respective radiocarbon ages can appear to be too old due to the freshwater reservoir effect. In this pa­per, we discuss the radiocarbon chronologies of four important stratified archaeological complexes in the region between Lake Onega and the Sukhona basin, Berezovaya Slobodka, Veksa, Karavaikha, and Tudo­zero. A growing series of dates, including AMS dates, sheds new light on the onset and further periodisation of the Early and Middle Neolithic in this important area between Eastern Fennoscandia, Central Rus­sia and the Far North-East of Europe, although problems concerning the absolute chronology of the initial Neolithic remain. Začetek neolitika je na severu Rusije definiran s pojavom lončenih posod, ki so jih izdelo­va­le mobilne skupine lovcev-nabiralcev-ribičev na območju gozdne cone na seve­ro­vzho­du Evrope, in so ene najstarejših v Evropi, saj se pojavijo ok. 6000 pr. n. št. Po začetnem mozaiku lo­kal­nih stilov v zgodnjem ne­olitiku, ki vključuje manj okrašene posode in zgodnjo glavničasto keramiko, sta se v srednjem neoliti­ku, z začetkom v 5. tisočletju pr. n. št., pričela razvoj in širitev večje in bolj ho­mo­gene tipo­loške entitete med Uralom in Baltikom, t. i. skupine z vdolbinami in glavničastim okra­­som na ke­ramiki. Zaradi po­manj­­ka­nja zanesljivih podatkov o kontekstih je absolutna krono­lo­gi­ja za ta čas še vedno stvar debate. Direkt­ni 14C datumi zoglenelih organskih ostankov hrane na po­vr­šini posod so nam sicer v pomoč, saj neposredno datirajo uporabo teh posod; vendar so lahko da­tu­mi ostankov hrane (vodni organizmi) prestari zaradi učinka rezervoarja ogljika v tekočih vodah. V članku razpravljamo o radiokarbonskih kronologijah šti­rih pomembnih ar­heoloških kompleksov v regiji med jezerom Onega in kotlino reke Sukhone; to so najdi­šča Bere­zo­vaya Slobodka, Veksa, Kara­vaikha in Tudozero. Naraščajoče število datumov nam bolje osvetli za­­če­­tek in nadaljnjo periodi­za­cijo zgodnjega in srednjega neolitika na tem pomembnem območju med vzhod­­no Fenoskandijo, cen­tralno Rusijo in severovzhodno Evropo, kljub temu da še vedno ostajajo težave, po­­ve­zane z absolut­no kronologijo začetnega neolitika.