This study considers the production sequences of amber jewellery from Sārnate and Siliņupe, at th... more This study considers the production sequences of amber jewellery from Sārnate and Siliņupe, at the coast of present-day Latvia. Differences between the two sites in terms of the relative frequency of items discarded in various production stages may be related to the degree of integration into exchange networks. Within-assemblage variation in terms of the point within the processing sequence when perforation was performed indicates a strong element of heterodoxy with respect to amber processing within the communities, congruent with a domestic setting of production, even though the output consisted of a rather standardized range of forms.
The Rinnukalns shell midden in northern Latvia, dating from the 4th millennium cal. BC, the only ... more The Rinnukalns shell midden in northern Latvia, dating from the 4th millennium cal. BC, the only known site of this kind in the East Baltic region, was extensively excavated in the late 19th century. A new archaeological excavation in 2011 showed that intact midden stratigraphy is still preserved. Mollusc shells from the midden layers were collected in 14 sieved and 5 hand-collected samples. Five land snail taxa, five freshwater snail taxa and four mussel taxa were identified. The species represented in the greatest quantity is Unio tumidus PHlLIPSSON, 1788, along with numerous shell fragments determined as Unio sp. The calcareous soil formed on the mussel shell layers at Riwukalns obviously provides a suitable habitat for calciphile land snail species. Evidently, the area around Riwukalns was not forested at the time of the Stone Age occupation, since typical forest species are absent, even though the majority of Latvia's land snails are forest species. The Unio mussels were co...
Zvejnieki, on Lake Burtnieks in northeastern Latvia, is the largest known prehistoric cemetery in the eastern Baltic; N300 inhumations, most dating to c.7000–3000 cal BC, have been excavated. Archaeozoological and artefactual evidence fromgraves and nearby settlement layers show that throughout this period, the community depended on wild resources for subsistence, with a particular emphasis on fishing. Dietary stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) from human remains show significant dietary variation within the Zvejnieki population, in terms of access to and dependence on freshwater and marine species (Eriksson 2006); we provide new stable isotope data for another 13 individuals. Elsewhere, we have proposed a method to correct the calibrated radiocarbon (14C) dates of prehistoric burials in the Lake Burtnieks region for dietary freshwater and marine reservoir effects (FRE/MRE) (Meadows et al. 2015). Here, we use this method to correct the dates of 40 individuals (including 3 from the nearby 4th millennium shell-midden site, Riņņukalns) for whom we now have both 14C and stable isotope data, and test whether there is any evidence that human diets changed over time, rather than simply varying between contemporaneous individuals. Three interesting transitions can be discerned: a shift away fromhigh-trophic-level foods in the earlier 6th millenniumcal BC, a diversification of diets in the late 5thmillennium, with both more terrestrial and more coastal foods consumed, and a narrowing of diets in the mid-4th millennium, to concentrate on freshwater resources.
A major assemblage of Mesolithic and Neolithic wooden artefacts has been recovered from the bed o... more A major assemblage of Mesolithic and Neolithic wooden artefacts has been recovered from the bed of the River Užava at Sise, in the coastal belt of western Latvia. New archaeological investigation has also produced wooden remains and other evidence of occupation on the riverbank. On the basis of multi-proxy environmental data and radiocarbon dating, this article offers a first attempt to place the human activity in a palaeolandscape context. The earliest evidence of human presence is provided by wooden artefacts dated to c. 10,500–9700 cal. BP, during the Ancylus Lake transgression. These remains are thought to reflect fishing activities in the shallows of the Ventspils Bay, which existed during the transgression. The regression that followed brought a return to river-valley conditions at the site, and the next recorded period of human activity, evidenced by 14C-dated antler tool finds, is associated with the beginning of the Littorina Sea transgression, culminating c. 7500 cal. BP. With the formation of a new Ventspils Bay/Lagoon, the Sise site, at or near the river mouth, would have regained its status as an advantageous fishing location. Archaeological finds indicate continued human activity c. 6000–4000 cal. BP, even though the sea level was now lower and this was no longer a river-mouth location. Such a pattern of recurrent human occupation during the early to middle Holocene, associated with repeated shifts of the shoreline, appears to be characteristic of the central region of the Baltic Sea Basin.
Mesolithic burials – Rites, symbols and social organisation of early postglacial communities; edited by Judith M. Grünberg, Bernhard Gramsch, Lars Larsson, Jörg Orschiedt and Harald Meller. International Conference in Halle (Saale), Germany, 18th–21st September 2013, Dec 31, 2016
The Rinnukalns shell midden, in northern Latvia, was first investigated by Count Sievers in the 1... more The Rinnukalns shell midden, in northern Latvia, was first investigated by Count Sievers in the 1870s. Of special importance were four human burials, which were found under alleged intact layers of the Neolithic shell midden. Consequently Sievers considered these human remains, in contrast to early modern burials found in the topsoil, as the first Stone Age graves found in the Eastern Baltic. However, this interpretation was contradicted by then leading Baltic prehistorians and the age of the presumed Stone Age graves remained in dispute. All human remains excavated by Sievers at Rinnukalns were given by him to Rudolf Virchow for his anthropological collection in Berlin, and survived the chequered history of the 20th century. Therefore it was possible to start new osteological, stable isotope and radiocarbon investigations on these remains in 2011 and to resolve the old research dispute. It is proven now that at least two burials were of Prehistoric age; one young adult male and one juvenile, most probably a female. They belong according to the East European terminology to the Eastern Baltic Middle Neolithic. Nevertheless, the values of stable isotope ratios δ13C and δ15N show that these people were still fishermen, hunters and gatherers and not farmers.
The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the o... more The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the only freshwater shell midden in the eastern Baltic Sea area. An excavation carried out in 2011 revealed an intact stratigraphy with alternating layers of unburnt and burnt mussel shells and yielded various kinds of archaeological finds, among them several thousand fish remains. To get an impression of the fish species and specimens caught by the Neolithic settlers, and to look for a temporal development in the fish species composition, we analysed fish remains from different sections and layers. The results, both archaeozoological and stable isotope data, give evidence for a change in the relevance of fish species during the period of use, and they also provide an impression of the former river and lake hydrology in the vicinity of the midden. The Stone Age landscape seems to have been very similar to the present situation, so that the study area has been an extraordinarily stable ecosystem for more than 5000 years. Comparisons with the results of recent monitoring programmes, with long-term changes since Medieval times, as well as with written sources from the 18th century, show that the fish species community is almost unchanged since the Stone Age. This underlines the importance of the region in nature conservation.
Interaktion ohne Grenzen. Beispiele archäologischer Forschungen am Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts / Interaktion without borders. Exemplary archaeological research at the beginning of the 21st century. Festschrift f. Claus v. Carnap-Bornheim z. 60. Geburtstag., 2017
Our study of the Riņņukalns two-dimensional bird-shaped figurines and rib-bone knives with bird-s... more Our study of the Riņņukalns two-dimensional bird-shaped figurines and rib-bone knives with bird-shaped handles shows that birds were significant both in the daily practices and mortuary practices of hunter-gatherers. We observe that the first examples of bird-shaped figurines in the eastern Baltic appeared in the mortuary context, and thus these might have been more directly linked with the realms of death. For the rib-bone knives with bird-shaped handles the shell midden at Riņņukalns is the only site in the eastern Baltic with a more solid context, placing these in the daily lives of hunter-gatherers. Accordingly the bird figurines seem to embody multiple meanings precluding a clear-cut distinction between their practical and symbolic functions in the hunter-gatherer world in the eastern Baltic.
The prehistoric shell middens of Atlantic Europe consist of marine molluscs, but the eastern Balt... more The prehistoric shell middens of Atlantic Europe consist of marine molluscs, but the eastern Baltic did not have exploitable marine species. Here the sole recorded shell midden, at Riņņukalns in Latvia, is on an inland lake and is formed of massive dumps of freshwater shells. Recent excavations indicate that they are the product of a small number of seasonal events during the later fourth millennium BC. The thickness of the shell deposits suggests that this was a special multi-purpose residential site visited for seasonal aggregations by pottery-using hunter-gatherer communities on the northern margin of Neolithic Europe.
Archäologische Informationen 38, Early View, Jun 11, 2015
The 23rd Annual Meeting of the German Mesolithic Workgroup took place in the district office at L... more The 23rd Annual Meeting of the German Mesolithic Workgroup took place in the district office at Landshut, from 21–23 March
2014 at the invitation of the district of Landshut. The meeting was attended by more than 60 scientists, students and amateur archaeologists from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland and Denmark. A total of 20 papers were presented. In addition to the reports from the individual work areas of the participants, the Bavarian Mesolithic and a workshop on settlement dynamics in the Mesolithic were in the focus of the meeting.
This study considers the production sequences of amber jewellery from Sārnate and Siliņupe, at th... more This study considers the production sequences of amber jewellery from Sārnate and Siliņupe, at the coast of present-day Latvia. Differences between the two sites in terms of the relative frequency of items discarded in various production stages may be related to the degree of integration into exchange networks. Within-assemblage variation in terms of the point within the processing sequence when perforation was performed indicates a strong element of heterodoxy with respect to amber processing within the communities, congruent with a domestic setting of production, even though the output consisted of a rather standardized range of forms.
The Rinnukalns shell midden in northern Latvia, dating from the 4th millennium cal. BC, the only ... more The Rinnukalns shell midden in northern Latvia, dating from the 4th millennium cal. BC, the only known site of this kind in the East Baltic region, was extensively excavated in the late 19th century. A new archaeological excavation in 2011 showed that intact midden stratigraphy is still preserved. Mollusc shells from the midden layers were collected in 14 sieved and 5 hand-collected samples. Five land snail taxa, five freshwater snail taxa and four mussel taxa were identified. The species represented in the greatest quantity is Unio tumidus PHlLIPSSON, 1788, along with numerous shell fragments determined as Unio sp. The calcareous soil formed on the mussel shell layers at Riwukalns obviously provides a suitable habitat for calciphile land snail species. Evidently, the area around Riwukalns was not forested at the time of the Stone Age occupation, since typical forest species are absent, even though the majority of Latvia's land snails are forest species. The Unio mussels were co...
Zvejnieki, on Lake Burtnieks in northeastern Latvia, is the largest known prehistoric cemetery in the eastern Baltic; N300 inhumations, most dating to c.7000–3000 cal BC, have been excavated. Archaeozoological and artefactual evidence fromgraves and nearby settlement layers show that throughout this period, the community depended on wild resources for subsistence, with a particular emphasis on fishing. Dietary stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) from human remains show significant dietary variation within the Zvejnieki population, in terms of access to and dependence on freshwater and marine species (Eriksson 2006); we provide new stable isotope data for another 13 individuals. Elsewhere, we have proposed a method to correct the calibrated radiocarbon (14C) dates of prehistoric burials in the Lake Burtnieks region for dietary freshwater and marine reservoir effects (FRE/MRE) (Meadows et al. 2015). Here, we use this method to correct the dates of 40 individuals (including 3 from the nearby 4th millennium shell-midden site, Riņņukalns) for whom we now have both 14C and stable isotope data, and test whether there is any evidence that human diets changed over time, rather than simply varying between contemporaneous individuals. Three interesting transitions can be discerned: a shift away fromhigh-trophic-level foods in the earlier 6th millenniumcal BC, a diversification of diets in the late 5thmillennium, with both more terrestrial and more coastal foods consumed, and a narrowing of diets in the mid-4th millennium, to concentrate on freshwater resources.
A major assemblage of Mesolithic and Neolithic wooden artefacts has been recovered from the bed o... more A major assemblage of Mesolithic and Neolithic wooden artefacts has been recovered from the bed of the River Užava at Sise, in the coastal belt of western Latvia. New archaeological investigation has also produced wooden remains and other evidence of occupation on the riverbank. On the basis of multi-proxy environmental data and radiocarbon dating, this article offers a first attempt to place the human activity in a palaeolandscape context. The earliest evidence of human presence is provided by wooden artefacts dated to c. 10,500–9700 cal. BP, during the Ancylus Lake transgression. These remains are thought to reflect fishing activities in the shallows of the Ventspils Bay, which existed during the transgression. The regression that followed brought a return to river-valley conditions at the site, and the next recorded period of human activity, evidenced by 14C-dated antler tool finds, is associated with the beginning of the Littorina Sea transgression, culminating c. 7500 cal. BP. With the formation of a new Ventspils Bay/Lagoon, the Sise site, at or near the river mouth, would have regained its status as an advantageous fishing location. Archaeological finds indicate continued human activity c. 6000–4000 cal. BP, even though the sea level was now lower and this was no longer a river-mouth location. Such a pattern of recurrent human occupation during the early to middle Holocene, associated with repeated shifts of the shoreline, appears to be characteristic of the central region of the Baltic Sea Basin.
Mesolithic burials – Rites, symbols and social organisation of early postglacial communities; edited by Judith M. Grünberg, Bernhard Gramsch, Lars Larsson, Jörg Orschiedt and Harald Meller. International Conference in Halle (Saale), Germany, 18th–21st September 2013, Dec 31, 2016
The Rinnukalns shell midden, in northern Latvia, was first investigated by Count Sievers in the 1... more The Rinnukalns shell midden, in northern Latvia, was first investigated by Count Sievers in the 1870s. Of special importance were four human burials, which were found under alleged intact layers of the Neolithic shell midden. Consequently Sievers considered these human remains, in contrast to early modern burials found in the topsoil, as the first Stone Age graves found in the Eastern Baltic. However, this interpretation was contradicted by then leading Baltic prehistorians and the age of the presumed Stone Age graves remained in dispute. All human remains excavated by Sievers at Rinnukalns were given by him to Rudolf Virchow for his anthropological collection in Berlin, and survived the chequered history of the 20th century. Therefore it was possible to start new osteological, stable isotope and radiocarbon investigations on these remains in 2011 and to resolve the old research dispute. It is proven now that at least two burials were of Prehistoric age; one young adult male and one juvenile, most probably a female. They belong according to the East European terminology to the Eastern Baltic Middle Neolithic. Nevertheless, the values of stable isotope ratios δ13C and δ15N show that these people were still fishermen, hunters and gatherers and not farmers.
The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the o... more The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the only freshwater shell midden in the eastern Baltic Sea area. An excavation carried out in 2011 revealed an intact stratigraphy with alternating layers of unburnt and burnt mussel shells and yielded various kinds of archaeological finds, among them several thousand fish remains. To get an impression of the fish species and specimens caught by the Neolithic settlers, and to look for a temporal development in the fish species composition, we analysed fish remains from different sections and layers. The results, both archaeozoological and stable isotope data, give evidence for a change in the relevance of fish species during the period of use, and they also provide an impression of the former river and lake hydrology in the vicinity of the midden. The Stone Age landscape seems to have been very similar to the present situation, so that the study area has been an extraordinarily stable ecosystem for more than 5000 years. Comparisons with the results of recent monitoring programmes, with long-term changes since Medieval times, as well as with written sources from the 18th century, show that the fish species community is almost unchanged since the Stone Age. This underlines the importance of the region in nature conservation.
Interaktion ohne Grenzen. Beispiele archäologischer Forschungen am Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts / Interaktion without borders. Exemplary archaeological research at the beginning of the 21st century. Festschrift f. Claus v. Carnap-Bornheim z. 60. Geburtstag., 2017
Our study of the Riņņukalns two-dimensional bird-shaped figurines and rib-bone knives with bird-s... more Our study of the Riņņukalns two-dimensional bird-shaped figurines and rib-bone knives with bird-shaped handles shows that birds were significant both in the daily practices and mortuary practices of hunter-gatherers. We observe that the first examples of bird-shaped figurines in the eastern Baltic appeared in the mortuary context, and thus these might have been more directly linked with the realms of death. For the rib-bone knives with bird-shaped handles the shell midden at Riņņukalns is the only site in the eastern Baltic with a more solid context, placing these in the daily lives of hunter-gatherers. Accordingly the bird figurines seem to embody multiple meanings precluding a clear-cut distinction between their practical and symbolic functions in the hunter-gatherer world in the eastern Baltic.
The prehistoric shell middens of Atlantic Europe consist of marine molluscs, but the eastern Balt... more The prehistoric shell middens of Atlantic Europe consist of marine molluscs, but the eastern Baltic did not have exploitable marine species. Here the sole recorded shell midden, at Riņņukalns in Latvia, is on an inland lake and is formed of massive dumps of freshwater shells. Recent excavations indicate that they are the product of a small number of seasonal events during the later fourth millennium BC. The thickness of the shell deposits suggests that this was a special multi-purpose residential site visited for seasonal aggregations by pottery-using hunter-gatherer communities on the northern margin of Neolithic Europe.
Archäologische Informationen 38, Early View, Jun 11, 2015
The 23rd Annual Meeting of the German Mesolithic Workgroup took place in the district office at L... more The 23rd Annual Meeting of the German Mesolithic Workgroup took place in the district office at Landshut, from 21–23 March
2014 at the invitation of the district of Landshut. The meeting was attended by more than 60 scientists, students and amateur archaeologists from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland and Denmark. A total of 20 papers were presented. In addition to the reports from the individual work areas of the participants, the Bavarian Mesolithic and a workshop on settlement dynamics in the Mesolithic were in the focus of the meeting.
Uploads
Papers by Valdis Berzins
Zvejnieki, on Lake Burtnieks in northeastern Latvia, is the largest known prehistoric cemetery in the eastern Baltic; N300 inhumations, most dating to c.7000–3000 cal BC, have been excavated. Archaeozoological and artefactual evidence fromgraves and nearby settlement layers show that throughout this period, the community depended on wild resources for subsistence, with a particular emphasis on fishing. Dietary stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) from human remains show significant dietary variation within the Zvejnieki population, in terms of access to and dependence on freshwater and marine species (Eriksson 2006); we provide new stable isotope data for another 13 individuals. Elsewhere, we have proposed a method to correct the calibrated radiocarbon (14C) dates of prehistoric burials in the Lake Burtnieks region for dietary freshwater and marine reservoir effects (FRE/MRE) (Meadows et al. 2015). Here, we use this method to correct the dates of 40 individuals (including 3 from the nearby 4th millennium shell-midden site, Riņņukalns) for whom we now have both 14C and stable isotope data, and test whether there is any evidence that human diets changed over time, rather than simply varying between contemporaneous individuals. Three interesting transitions can be discerned: a shift away fromhigh-trophic-level foods in the earlier 6th millenniumcal BC, a diversification of diets in the late 5thmillennium, with both more terrestrial and more coastal foods consumed, and a narrowing of diets in the mid-4th millennium, to concentrate on freshwater resources.
2014 at the invitation of the district of Landshut. The meeting was attended by more than 60 scientists, students and amateur archaeologists from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland and Denmark. A total of 20 papers were presented. In addition to the reports from the individual work areas of the participants, the Bavarian Mesolithic and a workshop on settlement dynamics in the Mesolithic were in the focus of the meeting.
Books by Valdis Berzins
Zvejnieki, on Lake Burtnieks in northeastern Latvia, is the largest known prehistoric cemetery in the eastern Baltic; N300 inhumations, most dating to c.7000–3000 cal BC, have been excavated. Archaeozoological and artefactual evidence fromgraves and nearby settlement layers show that throughout this period, the community depended on wild resources for subsistence, with a particular emphasis on fishing. Dietary stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) from human remains show significant dietary variation within the Zvejnieki population, in terms of access to and dependence on freshwater and marine species (Eriksson 2006); we provide new stable isotope data for another 13 individuals. Elsewhere, we have proposed a method to correct the calibrated radiocarbon (14C) dates of prehistoric burials in the Lake Burtnieks region for dietary freshwater and marine reservoir effects (FRE/MRE) (Meadows et al. 2015). Here, we use this method to correct the dates of 40 individuals (including 3 from the nearby 4th millennium shell-midden site, Riņņukalns) for whom we now have both 14C and stable isotope data, and test whether there is any evidence that human diets changed over time, rather than simply varying between contemporaneous individuals. Three interesting transitions can be discerned: a shift away fromhigh-trophic-level foods in the earlier 6th millenniumcal BC, a diversification of diets in the late 5thmillennium, with both more terrestrial and more coastal foods consumed, and a narrowing of diets in the mid-4th millennium, to concentrate on freshwater resources.
2014 at the invitation of the district of Landshut. The meeting was attended by more than 60 scientists, students and amateur archaeologists from Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland and Denmark. A total of 20 papers were presented. In addition to the reports from the individual work areas of the participants, the Bavarian Mesolithic and a workshop on settlement dynamics in the Mesolithic were in the focus of the meeting.