The conventional ‘Neolithic package’ comprised animals and plants originally domesticated in the Near East. As farming spread on a generally northwest trajectory across Europe, early pastoralists would have been faced with the challenge of making farming viable in regions in which the organisms were poorly adapted to providing optimal yields or even surviving. Hence, it has long been debated whether Neolithic economies were ever established at the modern limits of agriculture. Here, we examine food residues in pottery, testing a hypothesis that Neolithic farming was practiced beyond the 60th parallel north. Our findings, based on diagnostic biomarker lipids and δ13C values of preserved fatty acids, reveal a transition at ca 2500 BC from the exploitation of aquatic organisms to processing of ruminant products, specifically milk, confirming farming was practiced at high latitudes. Combining this with genetic, environmental and archaeological information, we demonstrate the origins of dairying probably accompanied an incoming, genetically distinct, population successfully establishing this new subsistence ‘package’.

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The Early Metal Period (1800 cal BCÁAD 300) of the Finnish inland regions is characterized by a scarcity of archaeological remains. Its latest stages, in particular, have proved to be difficult to interpret. This paper discusses the continuity of settlement in the Early Metal Period as indicated by archaeological survey and pollen-analytical data. The study area is situated in Repovesi National Park in southeastern Finland. The pollen analysis was constructed from a sediment sequence taken from Lake Katajajärvi. The archaeological survey data from Repovesi National Park supports earlier hypotheses of the small number of Early Metal Period sites. In the pollen data, the first anthropogenic impact is recorded from about 2600 BC onwards, with weak signs of cultivation around 2370 BC. From around 1900 BC onwards a clear change in tree, shrub and herb pollen percentages indicates anthropogenic impact, possibly grazing, in the area. The pollen-analytical results also revealed a cultivation period of about 900 years at the end of the Early Metal Period, providing proof of continuity in settlement during a period characterized by a scarcity of archaeological material. A new beginning of cultivation from cal AD 1160 to 1250 onwards can be considered as indicating population growth, developing settlements and the colonization of new areas. The results from Repovesi are challenging from an archaeological point of view, because they represent slash-and-burn cultivation that appears to have been practised in total wilderness conditions. Comparison of the Lake Katajajärvi results with other areas raises new questions that call for a discussion of early slash-and-burn cultivation in new perspective.

ABSTRACT. Twenty-three samples of charred food remains, charcoal, burned animals, and human bones from 14 Lithuanian prehistoric sites were dated by radiocarbon as part of a dating project oriented towards renewing the prehistoric ceramics chronology. The new dates modified the dating of ceramic styles by hundreds to a thousand years. Three Textile Ware sherds were dated to 4230-2920 cal BC-the oldest known dates of Textile Ware pottery in the East Baltic. The organic-tempered pointed-bottomed Narva and Combed-like Wares were dated to 3970-3370 cal BC, while Bay Coast Ware (Haffküstenkultur, Rzucewo), including vessels decorated with cord impressions, were dated to 3940-3540 cal BC, i.e. to a period well preceding the Corded Ware/Battle Axe horizon in Europe. Three dates of Globular Amphorae Ware placed the phenomenon directly beyond the Bay Coast chronology, i.e. in 3450-2920 cal BC. Chamotte-tempered Corded Ware from SE Lithuania was dated to 2840-2570 cal BC. The first absolute dating of coarse ware of the Žalioji type pointed to a period of 760-515 cal BC instead of the previously assumed 2nd millennium cal BC. Cremated human bones from urns found at Paveisininkai, Kernavě, and Naudvaris cemeteries were dated to 790-380 cal BC. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates obtained from charred food remains should be treated with a certain caution due to a possible freshwater reservoir effect that has not yet been examined in Lithuania.

ABSTRACT. The Bronze Age site of Ķivutkalns with its massive amount of archaeological artifacts and human remains is considered the largest bronze-working center in Latvia. The site is a unique combination of cemetery and hillfort believed to be built on top of each other. This work presents new radiocarbon dates on human and animal bone collagen that somewhat challenge this interpretation. Based on analyses using a Bayesian modeling framework, the present data suggest overlapping calendar year distributions for the contexts within the 1st millennium BC. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios indicate mainly terrestrial dietary habits of studied individuals and nuclear family remains buried in one of the graves. The older charcoal data may be subject to the old-wood effect and the results are partly limited by the limited amount of data and the 14 C calibration curve plateau of the 1st millennium BC. Therefore, the ultimate conclusions on contemporaneity of the cemetery and hillfort need to wait for further analyses on the massive amounts of bone material.