A2 Archaeology AQA Unit 3 Material Culture, Technology and Economics High-level view of evolution in general from a human- centric viewpoint. The Mesolithic Mesolithic Period between the Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic. It began at the end of the Pleistocene epoch around 11,000 BC and ended with the introduction of farming, the date of which varied in each geographical region. In some areas, such as the Near East, farming was already in use by the end of the Pleistocene so the Mesolithic there is short and poorly defined. In areas with limited glacial impact, the term Epipalaeothic is sometimes preferred. Regions that experienced greater environmental effects as the last glacial period ended have a much more apparent Mesolithic era, lasting millennia. In northern Europe, for example, societies were able to live well on rich food supplies from the marshlands created by the warmer climate. Such conditions produced distinctive human behaviours which are preserved in the material record, such as the Maglemosian and Azilian cultures. Such conditions also delayed the coming of the Neolithic until as late as 5000 BC in northern Europe. Mesolithic As the Neolithic package" (including farming, herding, polished axes, timber longhouses and pottery) spread into Europe by routes that remain controversial among scholars, the Mesolithic way of life was marginalized and eventually disappeared. Some late Mesolithic groups, such as Denmark's Erdbolle culture, did make some pottery and did engage in significant trade with Neolithic groups directly to their south. Mesolithic Some notable Mesolithic sites: Star Carr, England BC Star Carr Star Carr Pulli settlement, Estonia BC Pulli settlement Pulli settlement Lepenski Vir, Serbia BC Lepenski Vir Lepenski Vir Franchthi cave, Greece - 20, BC Franchthi Cramond, Scotland BC Cramond Mount Sandel, Ireland BC Mount Sandel Mount Sandel Howick house, England BC Howick house Howick house Newbury, England Newbury Swifterbant culture, The Netherlands Swifterbant culture Swifterbant culture Star Carr It belongs to the early Mesolithic Maglemosian culture, evidence for which is present across the lowlands of Northern Europe and is a Maglemosian type site. It was occupied from around 8770BC until about 8460BC, possibly with a period of abandonment between 8680BC and 8580BC. Discovered in 1947 during the clearing of a field drain. Star Carr's main feature is a birch brushwood platform which stood on the edge of former Lake Pickering. The platform would have been laid down to consolidate the boggy water's edge. Hearths found further away from the water indicate temporary settlement. It was visited seasonally by Mesolithic hunters chasing red and roe deer, elk, aurochs and wild boar. Analysis of the animal bone indicates that the site was occupied between spring and autumn. Star Carr The mud of the lake has preserved items dropped into it and the hunter's tools such as flint scrapers used to clean animal skins and worked bone and antler have been found. The most striking examples are 21 perforated part skull and antlers of red deer. A fragment of a wooden oar implies that the people who occupied the site also built boats, probably coracles or simple canoes. Beads made from stone and amber suggest personal adornment. Remains of a dog are indication of the animal's domestication during this period. The flint came from the Yorkshire Wolds further south. A type of axe, new to Britain, was made from it at Star Carr. It was sharpened during its life by simple transverse blows which made it more adaptable. The most famous find is the top part of a stag skull, complete with antlers. The skull had two holes perforated in it and it has been suggested that it was used as a hunting disguise, or in some form of ritual. Lepenski Vir Lepenski Vir is a Mesolithic open air site. First investigated in 1960 thought to be a Neolithic site, not much interest. Re-excavated later in the 1960s. Revealed a whole new culture, older then previously thought. Around 8,000 years old. Lepenski Vir contains certain features which could equally be appraised as Palaeolithic (art, religion), Mesolithic (economy) or Neolithic (permanent settlement). Houses at Lepenski Vir. Lepenski Vir Houses in Lepenski Vir, throughout the 800- year-long Phase I and II occupations, are laid out in a strict parallelepiped plan, and each village, each collection of houses is arranged in a fan shape across the face of the sandy terrace The wooden houses were floored with sandstone, often covered with a hardened limestone plaster and sometimes burnished with red and white pigments. Lepenski Vir A hearth, often found with evidence of a fish- roasting spit, was placed centrally within each structure Several of the houses held altars and sculptures, sculpted out of the sandstone rock Evidence seems to indicate that the last function of the houses at Lepenski Vir was as a burial site for a single individual It's clear that the Danube flooded the site regularly, perhaps as much as twice a year, making permanent residence impossible; but that residence resumed after the floods is certain Reconstruction of a house. Artefacts from Lepenski Vir Lepenski Vir Many of the stone sculptures are monumental in size; some, found in front of houses at Lepenski Vir, are quite distinctive, combining human and fish characteristics Other artefacts found in and around the site include a vast array of decorated and undecorated artefacts, such as miniature stone axes and figurines, with lesser amounts of bone and shell Lepenski Vir Lepenski Vir and Farming Communities At the same time as foragers and fishers lived at Lepenski Vir, early farming communities sprang up around it, known as the Starcevo-Cris culture, who exchanged pottery and food with the inhabitants of Lepenski Vir Researchers believe that over time Lepenski Vir evolved from a small foraging settlement to the ritual center for the farming communities in the area--into a place where the past was revered and the old ways followed Lepenski Vir The geography of Lepenski Vir may have played an enormous part in the ritual significance of the village Across the Danube from the site is the trapezoidal mountain Treskavek, whose shape is repeated in the floor plans of the houses; and in the Danube in front of the site is a large whirlpool, the image of which is repeatedly carved into many of the stone sculptures Like Catal Hoyuk in Turkey, which is dated to roughly the same period, the site of Lepenski Vir provides us with a glimpse into Mesolithic culture and society, into ritual patterns and gender relationships, into the transformation of foraging societies into agricultural societies, and into resistance to that change Catal HoyukCatal Hoyuk The shape of this grave, as well as the position of the skeleton, is quite exceptional. The shallow grave pit has approximately the same trapezoidal form as the foundations of the houses of Lepenski Vir I and has the same orientation as the buildings of that settlement. Toys & furnishing for a dolls house Lepenski Vir. A guess is that if dolls had tables & chairs they were common in some homes too. Lepenski Vir - Reconstruction /mesolithicarchaic/a/lepenskivir.h tm