Radiocarbon Dates and Stable Isotope Data from the Early Bronze Age Burials in Riigiküla I and Kivisaare Settlement Sites, Estonia

Abstract

Four inhumations from Kivisaare and Riigiküla I settlement and burial sites were dated in the course of a project about hunter-gatherer mortuary practices in Estonia, as they were believed to belong to the Stone Age. However, these burials appear to be Early Bronze Age inhumations instead, and thus are discussed separately in the present article. These burials are the first evidence in Estonia of a long-lasting tradition of inhumations without any visible aboveground structures. As the archaeology of the Early Bronze Age in Estonia is poorly known, these four inhumations contribute immensely to our understanding about this time period. Moreover, stable isotope values show that these people had a more terrestrial subsistence strategy than Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Nevertheless, aquatic resources were probably still significant components of their diet, particularly at Kivisaare, and the radiocarbon dates could therefore be subject to significant freshwater reservoir effects. This creates ambiguity in the chronological relationship of these four individuals to burials in stone-cist graves, which are attributed to the Late Bronze Age and which appear to be associated with fully agricultural communities.

The transition from foraging to farming (7000–500 cal BC) in the SE Baltic: A re-evaluation of chronological and palaeodietary evidence from human remains

“…4) but contrasts with evidence of a dominance of aquatic products in Subneolithic pottery, supporting the notion that the latter was used highly selectively (Heron et al 2015;Oras et al 2017). Similar stable isotopic dietary evidence has been reported in contemporaneous populations in Estonia and north-western Russia (Tõrv and Meadows, 2015;Wood et al, 2013). These estimations, however, do not consider the contribution of low protein wild plant foods to diet, which was likely to have been significant.…”

“…All 17 animal bone samples were analysed at NAU, with 14 samples originating from the inland Žemaitišk 2 site (Table 1). All animal sample values fell in the acceptable range for C:N ratios and collagen quality (DeNiro, 1985;van Klinken, 1999). In total, with previously published data, 83 stable isotope values are available for Lithuanian Subneolithic-Bronze Age fauna (Table 4).…”

“…The closest stable isotope data to that of the EBA comes from Estonia. Human remains from the Kivisaare I and Riigiküla cemeteries show stable isotope values ( 13 C -21.8 ± 0.4 ‰; 15 N 11.2 ± 0.6 ‰; n=4; Tõrv and Meadows, 2015) that are similar to those of Lithuanian CWC people.…”

“…The data for expected inland fish consumers' area, Latvian stable isotope data from the Subneolithic Ri ukalns site, was adapted from Schmölcke et al (2015), while the other animal data was taken from Lithuanian Subneolithic-Bronze Age sites (see Table 4). (Fischer et al, 2007;Eriksson, 2004;Piličiauskas et al, 2017b;Tõrv and Meadows, 2015;Antanaitis-Jacobs et al, 2009;Eriksson et al, 2003;Meadows et al, 2016;Reitsema, 2012;Pospieszny et al, 2015;Eriksson and Howcroft, 2014;Laneman, 2012;Laneman and Lang, 2013;Fornander, 2013;Reitsema et al, 2010). 1-4 year old children are excluded in order to avoid data distortion due to breastfeeding.…”

Extensive Farming in Estonia Started through a Sex-Biased Migration from the Steppe

“…Archaeological information about the sites and burials of this study Kivisaare Kivisaare site is located in Central Estonia, about 6 km away from Lake Võ rtsj€ arv. It is an extensive settlement site and a burial ground, which has been used in several occasions from Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age [77,78] Altogether more or less preserved skeletons of at least 26 individuals and loose human bones have been discovered [60]. Six skeletons have been radiocarbon dated, and the mean results range from 5200 cal BC (6233 ± 48, UAB-27670) [60] to 1400 cal BC (3161 ± 38, UBA-25991/ KIA-50293) [78].…”