A new perspective on Tegelbarg: character and chronology of a Late Neolithic shell midden in the western Baltic

Abstract

The site of Tegelbarg can be described as a Late Neolithic stratified occupation deposit, including a shell midden, situated on the Baltic coast in Northern Europe. Spatially and temporally separated from its famous Danish counterparts, it presents an intriguing anomaly in a full-fledged agricultural society. We present a combined perspective on the chronology and the character of this occupation using archaeological soil micromorphology and the Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates. The earliest human presence predates the shell midden formation. A coffin grave, in which a crouched inhumation burial was placed, dates to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. The late 3rd millennium BC occupants provided a flint dagger to this grave, up to two centuries later, as an act of remembrance. Subsequent settlement activities included the construction of hearths, the production of flint daggers, and the intensive use of coastal resources. The absence of fish bones can be explained by taphonomy, instead of prehistoric subsistence strategies. Landscape changes led to the site’s abandonment and the start of peat development.

No time to waste. Evidence for communal waste management among hunter-gatherer-fishers at Riņņukalns, Latvia (5400-3200 BC).

“…No large-scale mixing of these deposits took place. This contrasts with the often-observed picture of micromorphological research into shell middens in Atlantic and Northern Europe, where trampling, mixing, and reworking, often associated with habitation on the midden itself, are the norm (Kooistra et al, 2001;Duarte et al, 2019;Kleijne and Huisman, 2023a). This indicates that the specific shell midden, or at least the area we investigated, was probably not actively lived upon, and instead we might be dealing with a specific structured deposition practice.…”

“…Through the use of the microfacies concept (Courty, 2001), these studies allow for a complementary perspective into the internal chronology and the rhythm and cyclicity of shell midden deposits. These outcomes have implications for subsequent Bayesian chronological models (Kleijne and Huisman, 2023a). Additionally, these studies facilitate a characterisation of the landscape setting of the shell midden, both prior to and during the formation of the midden, and lastly also with regard to the post-depositional processes affecting it.…”

“…There exists a substantial body of recent work concerning the micromorphological analysis of shell midden sites (Aldeias and Bicho, 2016;Villagran, 2018;Aldeias et al, 2019;Duarte et al, 2019;Ward et al, 2019;Grono et al, 2022;McAdams et al, 2022;Simões and Aldeias, 2022;Kleijne and Huisman, 2023a). The main variables in identifying and differentiating activities on shell midden layers are the orientation of the shells, the breakage pattern (fresh breaks and interconnected shells), and the presence or absence of other soil material ("matrix supported shells'' or "shell supported sediments").…”

“…The aim of these studies is to obtain a better understanding of landscape developments, as well as the midden deposits themselves. Through soil micromorphology, characteristics of the formation of shell middens, and their internal chronology, are better understood (Aldeias and Bicho, 2016;Villagran, 2018;Duarte et al, 2019;Ward et al, 2019;Grono et al, 2022;McAdams et al, 2022;Kleijne and Huisman, 2023a). Until now, soil micromorphological studies of shell middens have primarily been carried out in South America, Southeast Asia, and the Iberian Peninsula (see however Exaltus and Miedema, 1994;Ward et al, 2019;Kleijne and Huisman, 2023a for North European examples).…”

“…Through soil micromorphology, characteristics of the formation of shell middens, and their internal chronology, are better understood (Aldeias and Bicho, 2016;Villagran, 2018;Duarte et al, 2019;Ward et al, 2019;Grono et al, 2022;McAdams et al, 2022;Kleijne and Huisman, 2023a). Until now, soil micromorphological studies of shell middens have primarily been carried out in South America, Southeast Asia, and the Iberian Peninsula (see however Exaltus and Miedema, 1994;Ward et al, 2019;Kleijne and Huisman, 2023a for North European examples). These studies differentiate various microfacies of tossing events, dumps, fireplaces, and rake-out hearths, trampling, and reworking of midden material, and the formation of platforms.…”