389-393 (Mesolithic) Flashcards
When was farming adopted in southeast Europe?
Around 6500 BCE
What happened around 9600 BCE?
Hunter-gatherer societies across Europe taking advantage of milder postglacial climate to increase numbers and colonize previously glaciated northern regions
Paleolithic meaning
Old Stone Age
Mesolithic meaning
Middle Stone Age
Neolithic meaning
New Stone Age
Where are early postglacial hunter-gatherers most visible?
Along the coasts and rivers, and beside lakes and marshes.
Who are the early postglacial hunter-gatherers descendants of?
The first Upper Paleolithic settlers of some 40,000 years ago
When does the spread of agriculture in Europe reach the northern and western fringes?
Around 4000 BCE
How did agriculture largely spread through Central Europe and the Mediterranean?
Through farming communities moving into new territories, although domestic plants and animals may also sometimes have been adopted by indigenous hunter-gatherers.
From when were the Balkan and Carpathian mountains exploited for copper and gold?
From the fifth millennium BCE
What regions were exploited for copper and gold from the fifth millennium BCE?
The Balkan and Carpathian mountains.
When do new peoples from the Eurasian steppes appear in Central?
In the third millennium BCE
By how much did early postglacial shorelines rise?
up to 250 m above present sea level
Why did, in areas that had been covered by the ice sheets, the early postglacial shorelines rise up to 250 m?
The surface of the land bounced back in response to the removal of the weight of the ice.
What brought warm tropical water to northern latitudes after the last ice age?
The re-establishment of the Gulf Stream
As the forest spread, what open-country megafauna of the last Ice Age died out?
Mammoth, wooly rhinoceros, giant deer
What caused the open-country megafauna of the last Ice age to die out?
The spread of forests
Why did reindeer and horse withdraw respectively to the northern and eastern margins after the last Ice age?
The spread of forests
What did the spread of forests after the last Ice age cause?
The open-country megafauna of the last Ice Age died out, and reindeer and horse withdrew respectively to the northern and eastern margins
What forest-adapted species replaced megafauna and reindeer and horse after the last Ice age?
Aurochs (wild cattle), red deer, wild pig
At what locations were many of the most significant postglacial hunting and foraging settlements?
Besides coasts, lakes, and wetlands
What area was home to the Maglemosian culture?
The area now occupied by the North Sea, then a marshy lowland
When was the whole area now occupied by the North Sea a marshy lowland, home to the Maglemosian culture?
In the earlier Holocene
What kind of communities did the Maglemosian culture consist of?
Hunters, fishers, foragers
What, belonging to the Maglemosian culture, has been found at Duvensee and other sites around its edges?
Hut floors consisting of pine logs and bark sheets
Besides what was Star Carr located?
A lake
What culture was Star Carr a part of?
The Maglemosian culture
What has the lakeside settlement of Star Carr yielded remains of?
A brushwood platform, a wooden paddle, evidence of seasonal patterns of exploitation
What suggests that in northern and eastern Europe Mesolithic communities were developing larger and more complex social structures?
The emergence of the first cemeteries
What does the emergence of the first cemeteries in Mesolithic communities in northern and eastern Europe suggest?
That Mesolithic communities here were developing larger and more complex social structures
How old is the earliest cemetery in northern and eastern Europe?
Tenth millennium BCE
By what time period had cemeteries in northern and eastern Europe become more numerous and complex?
The later Mesolithic period
How many burials did the cemetery at Olenii Ostrov in Karelia, Russia number?
300
Where was the cemetery Olenii Ostrov?
Karelia, Russia
What cemetery in Karelia, Russia numbered 300 burials?
Olenii Ostrov
What predominated in the northern part of Olenii Ostrov?
Elk effigies
What predominated in the south of Olenii Ostrov?
Human and snake figurines
As what were some of the burials, in upright or standing position, at Olenii Ostrov identified?
As those of ritual specialists or shamans
What burials were identified as those of ritual specialists or shamans at Olenii Ostrov?
Burials in upright or standing positions
What have the grave goods at Olenii Ostrov indicated?
Social differentiation, which has been interpreted in terms of clan moieties, or a society divided into two separate descent groups
How have the grave goods indicating social differentiation at Olenii Ostrov been interpreted?
In terms of clan moieties, or a society divided into two separate descent groups
What site is the following about: “Some of the burials, in upright or standing position, were identified as those of ritual specialists or shamans. The grave goods indicate social differentiation, which has been interpreted in terms of clan moieties, or a society divided into two separate descent groups?”
Olenii Ostrov
When do cemeteries also appear at west European Mesolithic sites?
During the sixth millennium BCE?
What are examples of cemeteries also appearing at west European Mesolithic sites during the sixth millennium BCE?
Moita da Sebastião, Cabeço da Arruda in Portugal
What cemeteries in Scandinavia are examples of cemeteries appearing at west European Mesolithic sites during the sixth Millennium BCE?
Skateholm, Vedbaek
Where did farming come to Europe from?
Southwest Asia
Why do we know that farming came to Europe from Southwest Asia?
1 Most of the domesticated plant and animal species involved have been dated earlier in Southwest Asia than in Europe
2 Their wild ancestors were also in many cases restricted in their natural distribution to Southwest Asia
How did farming spread through Europe?
Spread began in southeast -> moving westward along Mediterranean coasts to Italy and Iberia, northward through the Balkans to central, western, northern Europe
What indicates little continuity between hunter-gatherer and early farming populations?
Analysis of ancient DNA
Where is Star Carr
On the shores of an extinct lake in northeast England
What was Star Carr?
A hunter-gatherer campsite of the early Mesolithic period
What does Star Carr owe its importance to?
The waterlogged conditions that preserved a wide range of organic materials
How far did a platform of worked timbers extend at Star Carr?
30 m
What does a hollow 3 m in diameter surrounded by postholes mark at Star Carr?
The position of a hut or dwelling
What would flint microliths at Star Carr been used for?
Fitted into wooden shafts to form hunting arrows or knives for cutting reeds and other vegetation
How many barbed points did Clark find at Star Carr?
200
What were moist barbed points at Star Carr made of?
Red deer antler
What was a wooden paddle blade at Star Carr probably used for?
To propel a dugout canoe across the waters of the lake
How many frontlets of red deer skulls with the antlers still attached were found at Star Carr?
21
What could be seen in the best preserved specimens of frontlets of red deer skulls at Star Carr?
That both skull and antlers had been scraped and thinned to reduce weight, and the skulls had twin perforations, allowing them to be tied and worn as headdress
What may the frontlets of red deer skulls at Star Carr been used in?
Hunting magic
When did human activity at Star Carr begin?
8770 BCE
When did the second episode of human occupation at Star Carr end?
8460 BCE
