| 1. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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Fish and resilience among Early Holocene foragers of southern Scandinavia : A fusion of stable isotopes and zooarchaeology through Bayesian mixing modelling
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0305-4403. ; 93, s. 196-210
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study highlights the importance of different protein sources in the diet of Early and Middle Mesolithic humans in southern Scandinavia, and illustrates variation and change in protein consumption patterns during the Early Holocene. By combining previously published stable isotope data with new analyses of human and animal bone remains, a Bayesian mixing model was used to reveal that fishing was more important than previously anticipated in the foraging economy. Incorporating the zooarchaeological record as a prior to guide the Bayesian model enabled further study of Early Holocene foraging in the region. Although primarily a study of human diet, because the results indicate that aquatic systems were more important than previously acknowledged, it is possible to discuss the implications for understanding Early Holocene subsistence strategies and mobility. Furthermore, by incorporating both zooarchaeological data and human stable isotope analysis, the methodology can advance palaeodietary studies, by generating dietary protein estimations that can be used to investigate subsistence strategies across a diverse set of human societies.
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| 2. |
- Boethius, Adam
(författare)
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Fishing for ways to thrive : Integrating zooarchaeology to understand subsistence strategies and their implications among Early and Middle Mesolithic southern Scandinavian foragers
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate and deduce the varied lifeways of Early Holocene foragers in southern Scandinavia. By taking an interdisciplinary approach, zooarchaeological data have been applied to the study of different aspects of Early and Middle Mesolithic subsistence, in order to frame a discussion concerning our current understanding of culture and life in early north European societies. Three different sites/areas are the focus: Norje Sunnansund, Huseby Klev and Gotland/Gisslause. However, all available material from the chosen temporal and spatial frame have been incorporated to enable holistic discussions. The three focus areas combined comprise all available coastal settlements with well-preserved organic material from the Early Mesolithic period, which has led to discussions centred on the use of aquatic resources and the importance of fish.To address the different aspects of Early and Middle Mesolithic subsistence, multiple approaches have been taken, whereby zooarchaeological methods have been combined with statistical, chemical, physical and ethnographical tools for analysis. The focus has varied between fish storage and conservation practice, by presenting evidence for delayed-return subsistence strategies through means of large-scale fish fermentation, and discussions concerning the evidence for a delayed-return lifestyle and sedentism, through the study of zooarchaeological assemblages. Furthermore, taphonomy is highlighted and discussed in order to address the many biases affecting the recovery of freshwater fish bones and the consequences for detecting a freshwater fish-based diet. Pioneer subsistence strategies are studied, and changes through time are highlighted in marine coastal regions. In addition, the reservoir effect in radiocarbon dating (14C) of human bones has been examined to evaluate the consequences of a freshwater reservoir effect stemming from a large dietary input of freshwater fish. Furthermore, stable isotopes values, δ13C and δ15N, in the collagen from all available Early and Middle Mesolithic humans have also been analysed and modelled, in order to evaluate the importance of each individual protein source in the diet.The results from the different approaches taken indicate that humans relied on fish to a higher degree and from an earlier date than previously assumed. This has implications for how Early Holocene societies are interpreted; indicating the use of delayed-return subsistence strategies, diminishing mobility and emerging sedentism already existed during the Early Mesolithic period. Overall, the results of this thesis suggest a growing territoriality, which implies that the emergence of social stratification is conceivable at an early stage of Scandinavian prehistory and offers an insight into the lifestyle of Early Holocene foragers at latitudes around 55–59° N.
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| 3. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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Huseby Klev and the Quest for Pioneer Subsistence Strategies : Diversification of a Maritime Lifestyle
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe : Conditions for Subsistence and Survival - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival. - 9781781795156 - 9781781796030 ; 1, s. 99-128
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The bone material from three archaeological occupation phases at Huseby Klev provides the best source of evidence currently available about the subsistence strategies of pioneer settlers in Northern Europe. The results from Huseby Klev indicate that the pioneer settlers initially relied heavily on marine mammals for their sustenance. This subsistence strategy changed during the second and third occupation phases of the site, during which fishing became the most important part of the diet. These changes in subsistence strategy are interpreted as arising from different factors. A highly nutritious ocean on the west coast of Scandinavia at the end of the last ice age resulted in large numbers of available marine mammals in the ocean, which supported a large human population able to base its economy on them. As the ocean became less nutritious withthe cessation of freshwater mixing, the marine mammals suffered a natural population decline, while humans still relied upon them heavily, resulting in a marine-mammal collapse. This forced the human populations to change their subsistence strategy, and fish became dominant in the diet. The bone material from Huseby Klev implies a good knowledge of fishing methods and seafaring, in addition to which it highlights the ocean as the main source of sustenance during the time from the Preboreal–Boreal transition to the mid Atlantic chronozone. The hunting of terrestrial mammals, also found on the site, is interpreted as mainly being undertaken to supply raw material. Finds of reindeer imply the presence of reindeer in Mesolithic western Scandinavia, but they were not prioritized in the diet, possibly only being exploited during yearly migrations. Birds are common in the bone material, and a large number of bird species with a low number of identified fragments from each species implies opportunistic hunting of all but auks, which were hunted in large numbers. The bone material from Huseby Klev is the oldest and best-preserved Atlantic coastal material in Europe, and the results indicate an advanced knowledge of utilizing aquatic resources and suggest a boom in aquatic reliance that is earlier and more widespread than previously known.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Boethius, Adam
(författare)
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Signals of sedentism : Faunal exploitation as evidence of a delayed-return economy at Norje Sunnansund, an Early Mesolithic site in south-eastern Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 162, s. 145-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Delayed-return foraging strategies connected with a sedentary lifestyle are known from Late Mesolithic Scandinavian settlements. However, recent evidence from the archaeological site of Norje Sunnansund, in south-eastern Sweden, indicates the presence of sedentism from the Early Mesolithic. By analyzing the faunal assemblage from Norje Sunnansund, patterns of delayed-return strategies were examined for five categories of faunal exploitation/interaction: seal hunting, fishing, ungulate hunting, opportunistic hunting and rodent intrusions. The evidence suggests selective hunting strategies, large catches of fish and all year round seasonality indicators as well as evidence of commensal behavior in non-typical commensal species. The data were related to ethnographic accounts and sedentary foraging societies' modes of subsistence. The evidence suggests an expanding, sedentary, aquatically dependent EarlyMesolithic foraging lifestyle in southern Scandinavia, which, it is argued, came to dominate the mode of subsistence, implying larger settlements and a larger prevalent population. This process may have been going on for millennia prior to the rise of the Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture, implying much larger Late Mesolithic populations than previously realized, perhaps comparable with the native cultures of the north-west coast of America.
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| 7. |
- Boethius, Adam
(författare)
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Something rotten in Scandinavia : The world's earliest evidence of fermentation
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0305-4403. ; 66, s. 169-180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large-scale food storage has been identified at an Early Mesolithic settlement on the east coast of Sweden, implying a delayed-return subsistence strategy. The excavation and analysis of the contents of a 9200-year-old construction, combined with ethnographic analogies and modern knowledge of microbial activity, suggest that fish was fermented at the site. The identification of a foraging economy fermenting substantial amounts of fish, and conserving it for later use, thousands of years prior to farming and urbanized communities and without the use of salt, has implications for how we perceive the Early Mesolithic, suggesting semi-sedentism, technological skill and the ability to adapt rapidly to changing environmental conditions. Evidence of a delayed-return practice in Early Mesolithic foraging contexts raises questions regarding the current models used to estimate demographic parameters, such as population density and birth rate, for that time period, as well as indicating the existence of a more complex society than previously realized.
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| 8. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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The importance of freshwater fish in Early Holocene subsistence : Exemplified with the human colonization of the island of Gotland in the Baltic basin
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-409X .- 2352-4103. ; 13, s. 625-634
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we explore the subsistence economy of the Mesolithic pioneers on the island of Gotland in the Baltic basin, in order to evaluate the importance of freshwater fish to the Early Holocene human population. By analysing faunal remains, the distribution of 14C dates and the location of the settlement sites, we argue that earlier assumptions concerning the importance of marine mammals to the early human populations should be reconsidered. We suggest that the pioneering settlers of Gotland relied on fish to a significant extent. Radiocarbon dates taken from human bones are skewed by a freshwater reservoir effect, which can be used as an indirect indication of the significance of freshwater fish. The numerous, overgrowing lakes on the island, with their extensive biomass production and large amounts of freshwater fish, provided an important subsistence base. Even if the faunal assemblages that have survived are dominated by seal bones, the hunting season for seals was limited and the hunters mostly targeted young seals. Thus, the importance of seal have previously been overestimated and it appears that the human use of marine resources on Gotland was more limited and related to raw material needs rather than dietary necessity or specialization. Although presented as a case study; the results highlight the need to identify a freshwater fish diet among ancient foragers on a larger scale, as implications thereof can fundamentally change how foraging societies are perceived.
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| 9. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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The Use of Aquatic Resources by Early Mesolithic Foragers in Southern Scandinavia
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe : Conditions for Subsistence and Survival - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival. - 9781781795156 - 9781781796030 ; 1, s. 311-334
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A long tradition in research on prehistoric southern Scandinavia recognizes full use of aquatic resources in the Late Mesolithic Ertebølle Culture (5500–4000 cal BC): coastal sites are frequently found containing well-preserved fish bones, and isotope values from human collagen indicate a high dietary intake of marine resources. However, recent finds and new methodologies suggest that the view of a terrestrially focused diet in the Early Mesolithic period (9500–6800 cal BC) can be reinterpreted, and the use of freshwater resources is found to be more important than previously known. Aquatic resources can therefore be seen to be a major source of sustenance for foraging societies in Scandinavia much earlier than has been realized previously. At Norje Sunnansund, an Early Mesolithic site located in Blekinge, south-eastern Sweden, large amounts of fish bones have been found, and these have been used to estimate the amount of fish beingcaught at the site, by analyzing different rates of taphonomic loss. The results from the excavated part of the settlement suggest that at least 48 tonnes of fish were caught. The large amount of caught fish and the evidence of the means of preparing and storing them provides the earliest example of a large-scale fishing society, and the knowledge required to catch and prepare this volume of fish has further implications at a more structural societal level. A structured society is a prerequisite for the development of sedentism and enables large groups of people to gather during an extended time period. Conservative dietary estimates from the recovered fish bone material suggest that enough fish was caught to sustain 100 adults living solely on fish for over three years.
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| 10. |
- Groß, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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People, lakes and seashores : Studies from the Baltic Sea basin and adjacent areas in the early and Mid-Holocene
- 2018
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791. ; 185, s. 27-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the Early and Mid-Holocene significant changes in the ecology and socio-cultural spheres occurred around the Baltic Sea. Because of the underlying climatic changes and thus environmental alterations, the area was the scene for various cultural developments during the period under investigation. In the course of the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age, isostatic and eustatic movements caused continual changes to the Baltic Sea basin. Changes in water level, however, affected not only the Early and Mid-Holocene coastlines, but also the whole Baltic Sea drainage system, including large lakes, rivers and watersheds in the hinterland were also dramatically impacted by these ecological changes. Prehistoric people were thus affected by changes in resource availability and reduction or enlargement of their territories, respectively. In order to evaluate the impact of changes in the water and land networks on the environment, resource availability, and human behaviour, and to reconstruct human responses to these changes, we pursue an interdisciplinary approach connecting environmental and archaeological research highlighted through different case studies.
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