Continuation of fishing subsistence in the Ukrainian Neolithic

Diet isotope studies at Yasinovatka, Dnieper Rapids

Bibliographic Data

ID5401739
AuthorsChelsea Budd (0000-0001-8527-9669, Umeå University), Inna Potekhina (0000-0001-5107-8922, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), Malcolm Lillie (0000-0002-6054-3651, Umeå University)
Year2020
Volume12
Issue2
Publication date2020-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeological and Anthropological Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1866-9557 • E-ISSN: 1866-9565
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12520-020-01014-4
OpenAlexW3003750300
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited66

Yasinovatka is one of around 30 prehistoric cemetery sites of fisher-hunter-foragers located along the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine. Dating toc.5540-4930 cal BC, the skeletal remains at Yasinovatka suggest that around sixty-eight individuals were interred at the cemetery, during three broad phases of interment: A-type burials (c. 5540-4930 cal BC), Ƃ1 pit burials (c. 5550-4750 cal BC), and Ƃ2 pit burials (c. 4980-4460 cal BC). The burials are characterized, in part, by the inclusion of a number of Mariupol-type plates of boar tusk, in addition to deer tooth pendants, Unio shells, knife-like flint blades,Cyprinidaeteeth, sherds of Neolithic pottery, and significant deposits of ochre in the later burial pits. Here we analyse δ13C and δ15N values for 50 human bone collagen samples from the site. The majority of the isotope results show a fisher-hunter-forager population reliant predominantly on freshwater aquatic proteins, which is in keeping with previous dietary isotope studies in the area. Two individuals however have δ15N values that are clearly depleted when compared with the main population; these reflect dietary protein intakes based on plant and animal terrestrial resources rather than the predominant focus on aquatic resources. Notably, the δ13C values of these anomalous individuals are not enriched compared with the fauna samples analysed from the region; this supports the possibility that they were incomers to the area, potentially from a nearby agrarian population

Agriculture · Archaeology · Biology · Fauna · Geography · Population · Pottery · Prehistory · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology