Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T22:33:22.315Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changing Clays: Raw Material Preferences in the ‘Neolithic’ Ceramic Assemblages of the Upper Vitim Basin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2017

Peter N. Hommel ,
Peter M. Day ,
Peter Jordan ,
Noémi S. Müller  and
Viktor M. Vetrov
Peter N. Hommel
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology 36 Beaumont St, Oxford, OX1 2PG. Email: [email protected]
Peter M. Day
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield S1 4ET
Peter Jordan
Affiliation:
Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, A-weg 30, 9718 CW Groningen, Netherlands
Noémi S. Müller
Affiliation:
Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens, Souidias 52, Athina 10676, Greece
Viktor M. Vetrov
Affiliation:
Formerly Irkutsk State Pedagogical University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper provides a contextual summary of a diachronic analysis of ceramic vessels and hunter-gatherer societies from the final Pleistocene to the later Holocene in a remote corner of the Vitim Basin in Eastern Siberia. An integrated programme of ceramic analysis, raw materials survey, and archaeological investigation is drawn into new models of group mobility and social behaviour. The results challenge widespread assumptions about the relationship between ceramics, sedentarisation, and social complexity. Evidence of these transformations, though potentially identifiable in the archaeological record, could not be associated with the adoption of pottery.

Résumé

Argiles changeantes: Matières premières de préférence dans les assemblages de céramique ‘néolithiques’ du haut bassin de Vitim, de Peter N. Hommel, Peter M. Day, Peter Jordan, Noémi S. Müller et Viktor M. Vetrov

Cet article fournit un résumé contextuel d’une analyse diachronique des vases en céramique et des sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs du pléistocène final à la deuxième partie de l’holocène dans un coin isolé du bassin de Vitim dans l’est de la Sibérie. Un programme intégré d’analyse de la céramique, d’étude des matières premières et des investigations archéologiques sont intégrées dans de nouveaux modèles de mobilité de groupes et de comportement social. Les résultats remettent en cause des hypothèses largement répandues sur la relation entre céramique, sédentarisation et complexité sociale. Les témoignages de ces transformations, bien que potentiellement identifiables dans les vestiges archéologiques, ne pouvaient être associés à l’adoption de la poterie.

Zusammenfassung

Wechselnder Ton: Präferenzen von Rohmaterialien in den “neolithischen” Keramikassemblagen des Oberen Vitim-Beckens, von Peter N. Hommel, Peter M. Day, Peter Jordan, Noémi S. Müller und Viktor M. Vetrov

Dieser Beitrag präsentiert eine kontextuelle Zusammenfassung einer diachronen Analyse von Keramikgefäßen und Jäger-Sammler-Gesellschaften vom finalen Pleistozän bis zum späteren Holozän in einem abgelegenen Bereich des Vitim-Beckens in Ostsibirien. Ein integriertes Programm aus Keramikanalysen, Rohmaterialsurvey und archäologischer Untersuchung fließen in neue Modelle von Gruppenmobilität und sozialem Verhalten ein. Die Ergebnisse stellen verbreitete Annahmen über die Beziehungen zwischen Keramik, Sesshaftwerdung und sozialer Komplexität in Frage. Hinweise für diese Transformationen können nicht mit der Annahme der Töpferei verknüpft werden, auch wenn diese in archäologischen Daten möglicherweise identifizierbar sind.

Resumen

Modificando arcillas: materias primas preferentes en los conjuntos cerámicos “neolíticos” de la cuenca alta del valle Vitim, por Peter N. Hommel, Peter M. Day, Peter Jordan, Noémi S. Müller y Viktor M. Vetrov

Este artículo aporta una revisión contextual del análisis diacrónico de los recipientes cerámicos y las sociedades de cazadores-recolectores desde el final del Pleistoceno y posterior Holoceno en una zona remota del valle Vitim, en el este de Siberia. El programa integral de análisis cerámico, la prospección de las materias primas y la investigación arqueológica suscita nuevos modelos de movilidad grupal y comportamiento social. Los resultados cuestionan las suposiciones generalizadas entre cerámica, sedentarización y complejidad social. La evidencia de estas transformaciones, aunque potencialmente identificable en el registro arqueológico, no se puede asociar con la adopción de la cerámica.

Keywords

early potteryEurasiamobilityinterpretive analysishunter-gatherers
Type
Articles
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 83 , December 2017 , pp. 137 - 153
Copyright
© The Prehistoric Society 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aksenov, M.P., Vetrov, V.M. & Shmygun, P.E. 1975. Issledovaniya v Doline r. Vitima. Arkheologicheski Otkritya 1974, 186 Google Scholar
Atlas Zabaikal’ya, . 1967. Atlas Zabaikal’ya (Buryatskaya ASSR i Chitinskaya oblast’). Moscow/Irkutsk: GUGK Google Scholar
Binford, L. 1990. Mobility, housing, and environment: A comparative study. Journal of Anthropological Research 46, 119–152 Google Scholar
Goloshchukov, P.M., Zharkov, V.M. & Popeko, V.A. 1971. Geological Map of the USSR, 1:200,000 (Sheet N-50-XXI). Moscow: Gosgeoltekhizdat Google Scholar
Grøn, O. & Kuznetsov, O. 2003. Evenki forest hunters: Ethnoarchaeology and the archaeological settlement concept. In A. Weber & H. McKenzie (eds), Prehistoric Foragers of the Cis-Baikal, Siberia, 197–215. Edmonton: Baikal Archaeology Project & Canadian Circumpolar Institute Press Google Scholar
Hayden, B. 1995. The emergence of prestige technologies and pottery. In W.K. Barnett & J.W. Hoopes (eds), The Emergence of Pottery: Technology and innovation in ancient societies, 257–266. London/Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press Google Scholar
Hayden, B. 2009. Foreword. In Jordan & Zvelebil 2009b, 19–26Google Scholar
Hodges, H.W. 1964. Artifacts: An introduction to early materials and technology. London: John Baker Google Scholar
Hommel, P. 2012. Neolithic Ceramics of the Upper Vitim Basin. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of SheffieldGoogle Scholar
Hommel, P. 2014. Hunter-gatherer innovations: Ceramic technology. In P. Jordan, M. Zvelebil & V. Cummings (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers, 663–693. Oxford: Oxford University Press Google Scholar
Hommel, P., Schwenniger, J.-L., Ineshin, E.M. & Vetrov, V.M. 2017. Testing times: An evaluation of the radiocarbon chronology for early ceramic vessel production at Ust’-Karenga. Reports of the Laboratory of Ancient Technologies 13, 31–46 Google Scholar
Ineshin, E.M. 1979. Geokhronologiya I Material’naya Kul’tura Neolita Ust’-Karengskogo Arkheologicheskogo Kompleksa. Unpublished Diplomarbeit, Irkutskij Gosudarstvennyj UniversitetGoogle Scholar
Ineshin, E.M. 2006. Chelovek I Prirodnaya Sreda na Rubezhe Plejstotsena I Golotsena na Baikalo-Patomskom Nagor’e. Unpublished PhD thesis, Kandidat Historical Science. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (DVO RAN), VladivostokGoogle Scholar
Ineshin, E.M. & Teten’kin, A.V. 2017. Humans and the Environment in Northern Baikal Siberia during the Late Pleistocene (trans. & ed. by P.N. Hommel & N. Reynolds). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press Google Scholar
Jordan, P. & Zvelebil, M. 2009a. Ex oriente lux: The prehistory of hunter gatherer ceramic dispersals. In Jordan & Zvelebil 2009b, 33–90Google Scholar
Jordan, P. & Zvelebil, M. (eds). 2009b. Ceramics Before Farming: The dispersal of pottery among prehistoric Eurasian hunter-gatherers. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Google Scholar
Kalininoj, K.P. & Malykh, V.S. 1958. Geologicheskaya karta SSSR, 1:1,000,000 (Sheet N-49). Moscow: Gosgeoltekhizdat Google Scholar
Kelly, R.L. 1995. The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in hunter gatherer lifeways. London: Smithsonian Institution Press Google Scholar
Klejn, L.S. 2012. Soviet Archaeology: Trends, schools, and history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Konstantinov, M.V. 2009. Radiouglerodnaya Anomaliya v Datirovanii Pozdnego Mezolita I Neolita Zabaikal’ya. In S.A. Vasil’ev (ed.), Vzaimodejstve I Khronologiya Kul’tur Mezolita I Neolita Vostochnoj Evropy, 189–190. St Petersburg: Kunstkamera Google Scholar
Kuzmin, Y.V. & Vetrov, V.M. 2007. The earliest Neolithic complex in Siberia: The Ust’-Karenga 12 site and its significance for the Neolithization process in Eurasia. Documenta Praehistorica 34, 9–20 Google Scholar
MacKenzie, H. 2009. Review of early hunter-gatherer pottery in Eastern Siberia. In Jordan & Zvelebil 2009b, 167–208Google Scholar
Malyshev, A.A. 1964. Geologicheskaya karta SSSR, 1:200,000 (Sheet N-50-XXVI). Moscow: Ministry of Geology Google Scholar
Mochanov, Yu. A. 1969. The Ymyyakhtakh Late Neolithic Culture. Arctic Anthropology 6, 115–118 Google Scholar
Moroz, P.V. 2008. Kamennye Industrii Rubezha Plejstotsena I Golotsena Zapadnogo Zabaikal’e [Lithic Industries at the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition in Western Transbaikal]. Unpublished PhD thesis, Kandidat Historical Science. Zabikal’ State Humanities, Pedagogical University/Institute for the History of Material Culture Studies, Saint Petersburg (In Russian)Google Scholar
Pobedash, I.D. & Pavlova, I.N. 1972. Geologicheskaya karta SSSR, 1:200,000 (Sheet N-50-XXVI). Moscow: Ministry of Geology Google Scholar
Razgildeeva, I.I., Kunikita, D. & Yanshina, O. 2013. Novye Dannye o Vosraste Dervnejshikh Keramichskikh Kompleksov Zapadnogo Zabajkal’ya. In G.I. Medvedev (ed.), Evraziya v Kajnozoe: Stratigrafiya, Paleoekologiya, Kultury II, 168–178. Irkutsk: Irkutsk State University Press Google Scholar
Smelovskim, S.P., Balabaeva, V.F., Skryuchenkova, Yu.P., Tomasova, I.A., Fedorenko, L.M. & Shenfilya, V.I. 1962. Geologicheskaya karta SSSR, 1:1,000,000 (Sheet N-50). Moscow: Gosgeoltekhizdat Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. 1985a. Keramika Ust’-Karengskoj Kul’tury Na Vitime. In P.B. Konovalov (ed.), Drevnee Zabaikal’e I ego Kul’turnye Svyazi, 123–130. Novosibirsk: Nauka Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. 1985b. [Irkutsk Museum of Regional Studies: Report on fieldwork at the archaeological site of Ust’ Karenga XII in 1984. Irkutsk: Ministerstvo Kul’tury RSFSR (In Russian)Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. 1992. Kammenyj Vek Verkhego Vitima. Unpublished PhD thesis, Kandidat Historical Science. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, NovosibirskGoogle Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. 1995. Retsy I nukleusy Ust’-Karengskoj arkheologiheskoj kul’tura (opyt typologii). In G.I. Medvedev & C.A. Vinogradov (eds), Bajkal’skaya Sibir’ v Drevnosti: Sbornik Nauchnykh Trudov, 30–44. Irkutsk: Irkutskij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. 2000. Arkheologiya kamennogo veka Vitimskogo ploskogor’ya (kul’tury i khronologiya). In A.G. Generalov (ed.), Arkhaicheskiye i traditsionnyye kul’tury Severo-Vostochnoy Azii. Problemy proiskhozhdeniya i transkontinental’nykh, 28–36. Irkutsk: Irkutskij Gosudarstvennyj Universitet Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. 2010. Drevnejshaya Keramika na Vitime; Nekotorye Voprosy datirovaniya I periodizatsii v kamennom veke Vost. Azii. In A.D. Tsybyktarov (ed.), Drevnie Kul’tury Mongolii i Bajkalskoj Sibir’; Arkheologiya i Sovremmenost’, 37–44. Ulan Ude: BGU Press Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. 2011. Arkheologiya Vitimskogo Ploskogor’ya: Ust’-Yumurchenskaya Kul’tury. In A.V. Kharinskiy (ed.), Drevnie Kul’tury Mongolii i Baikalskoy Sibiri, 34–41. Irkutsk: Irkutsk State Technical University Press Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M. & Hommel, P.N. in press. Vessels on the Vitim: ‘Neolithic’ ceramics of the Upper Vitim Basin. In K. Gibbs & P. Jordan (eds), Circumpolar Ceramics: Hunter-gatherer pottery technologies and the foraging spectrum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Google Scholar
Vetrov, V.M., Insehin, E.M., Revenko, A.G. & Sekerin, A.P. 2000. Artefakty iz Ekzoticheskikh Vidov Syrya na Arkhaeologicheskikh Pamyatnikakh Vitimskogo Bassejna. In G.I. Medvedev (ed.), Baikalskaya Sibir v Drevnosti, Issue 2, Part 1, 98–116. Irkutsk: Irkutsk State Pedagogical University Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Hommel et al supplementary material 1

Appendix

Download Hommel et al supplementary material 1(File)
File 59 KB