Exploration of the underwater landscape in Lithuanian waters, in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, allowed identification of trees stumps in growth position, peat sediments, and traces of people that were living in the now flooded landscape. The exploration has been concentrated on localisation of the former Early Holocene coasts. Based on new data about sediment layers of the Preboreal‒Atlantis I, palynological and dendrohronological analysis, identified vegetation species, and dating of wood and peat samples by radiocarbon methods the Baltic Sea water level dynamics during the stages Yoldia Sea‒Early Litorina Sea could be identified. There are traces of the eroded coasts of the Yoldia Sea at a depth of 39–43 m, which were also observed at depths of 44 and 47 m. During the Ancylus Lake transgression, the RF‐I lagoons and small lakes with the peat layer and the surrounding forests were submerged. The water level could have even risen to 10–9 m below present sea level. The water drop during the Ancylus Lake regression is evidenced by a peat layer dated to 9,150–8,520 cal BP, and similar radiocarbon dating of an oak stump. The changes of the species composition of trees are indicative of the noticeable climate changes during the period 11,410–7,900 cal BP. Litorina transgression is marked by a tree stump found at a depth of 14.5 m dated to 7,900–7,660 cal BP. The preference of the Early Holocene population to the coastal zone is evidenced by poles driven into the seabed (one was dated to 9,510–9,460 cal BP) that were detected at a depth of 11 m and the T‐shaped antler axes dated to the Early Neolithic, washed ashore from the Litorina Sea coastal Stone Age settlements.

We aimed to extract DNA and amplify PCR fragments at the mitochondrial DNA Nad7.1 locus and 11 nuclear microsatellite loci in nine circa 11,000-year-old individuals of Scots pine found at the bottom of the Baltic sea and test the genetic associations with the present-day gene pool of Scots pine in Lithuania. We followed a strict anticontamination protocol in the lab and, simultaneously with the aDNA specimens, tested DNA-free controls. The DNA was extracted by an ATMAB protocol from the ancient wood specimens sampled underwater from Scots pine stumps located circa 20–30 m deep and circa 12 km ashore in western Lithuania. As the references, we used 30 present-day Lithuanian populations of Scots pine with 25–50 individuals each. The aDNA yield was 11–41 ng/μL. The PCR amplification for the mtDNA Nad7.1 locus and the nDNA loci yielded reliable aDNA fragments for three and seven out of nine ancient pines, respectively. The electrophoresis profiles of all the PCR tested DNA-free controls contained the sizing standard only, indicating low likelihood for contamination. At the mtDNA Nad7.1 locus, all three ancient Scots pine individuals had the type A (300 bp) allele, indicating postglacial migration from the refugia in Balkan peninsula. The GENECLASS Bayesian assignment tests revealed relatively stringer and consistent genetic associations between the ancient Scots pine trees and the present-day southern Lithuanian populations (assignment probability 0.37–0.55) and several wetlands in Lithuania. Our study shows that salty sea water efficiently preserves ancient DNA in wood at the quality levels suitable for genetic testing of trees dated back as far as 11,000 years before present.

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A new reconstruction of the Lateglacial – Early Holocene paleoenvironmental dynamics as a background of the habitation history in the territory of the Nemunas River Delta (NRD) was based on the geological-geomorphological, grain-size, isotope (14C), pollen and diatom data supplemented by archaeological information obtained within the framework of the project „Man and Baltic Sea in the Meso-Neolithic: Relict Coasts and Settlements Below and Above Present Sea Level. ReCoasts&People“. The existence of extended proglacial lakes formed during the onset of the Lateglacial was succeeded by a period of low water estuaries or freshwater lagoons as early as 13.8 cal kyr BP. Simultaneously, groups of the Final Palaeolithic population, representing the classic Swiderian culture, inhabited the area. As shores of the Yoldia Sea and Ancylus Lake were situated further westwards (-11 to -24 – -29 m NN), wetlands and lake systems alongside with shallow boggy basins and fluvial streams predominated in the local landscape throughout the Early Holocene. Archaeological data suggest an episodic human activity in the territory while part of the archaeological sites might have been covered by sediments during the further intervals of the Holocene. Since the Early Holocene an extended peat bogs have become an important part of the landscape here.

Klaipėdos universitetas, Baltijos regiono istorijos ir archeologijos institutas, Istorijos ir archeologijos katedra, Herkaus Manto g. 84, Klaipėda el. p.: sakaliske@gmail.com, rimkus74@gmail.com, qwidar@gmail.com, daugnora@gmail.com Anotacija. Straipsnyje pirmą kartą Lietuvos mokslinėje archeologinėje literatūroje aptariamas Šiaurės Europoje ir Rytų Baltijos šalyse aptiktų Liungbiu tipo rago dirbinių paplitimas, tipologija ir chronologija. Remiantis naujausiais radioanglinio Liungbiu tipo dirbinių datavimo duomenimis, daroma išvada, kad šie įrankiai Rytų Baltijos šalyse buvo naudojami tiek po paskutinio ledyno ištirpimo, tiek prieš jo didįjį išplitimą. Du dirbiniai (Šnaukštai, Klaipėdos r.; Kalnėnai, Jurbarko r.), aptikti Lietuvos teritorijoje, yra kol kas vieninteliai iki paskutinio Nemuno apledėjimo išplitimo aptikti žmonių pagaminti dirbiniai tiek Lietuvoje, tiek Šiaurės Europoje. Atsižvelgiant į radiologinius tyrimus šie dirbiniai buvo naudojami tiek neandartaliečio, tiek vėliau Homo sapiens gyvenimo laikotarpiais. Remiantis naujais Liungbiu tipo dirbinių tyrimų duomenimis, galima suprasti ne tik Lietuvos, tačiau ir viso Rytų Baltijos šalių apgyvendinimo procesą vėlyvojo paleolito laikotarpiu. Atliekant tyrimus buvo remtasi etnokultūrinėmis paralelėmis, susijusiomis su XVIII-XIX a. šiaurės elnių medžiotojų buitimi ir jų naudotais įrankiais. Esminiai žodžiai: Liungbiu tipo dirbiniai, tipologija, chronologija, Nemuno ledyno maksimalus išplitimas, Lietuva, Šiaurės Europa.Abstract. The article sets out to discuss the distribution, typology and chronology of Lyngby type antler artefacts discovered in Northern Europe and the Eastern Baltic region for the first time in the Lithuanian scientific archaeological literature. Based on radiocarbon dating, the article makes a conclusion that the tools in question were used in the Eastern Baltic region both after the Last Glacial Period and before the Last Glacial Maximum. According to the latest research findings, two artefacts (Šnaukštai, Klaipėda district; Kalnėnai, Jurbarkas district) which were found on the Lithuanian territory are for the time being the only human-made artefacts dating to the period before the Late Nemunas Glacial Maximum, which were discovered in Lithuania and Northern Europe. According to radiological imaging, these finds were used both in the