Depåfynd och anledningarna bakom deras nedläggelser har länge varit forskningsfrågor. Begreppet har definierats olika utav diverse författare. Flera forskare har utvecklat kriterier för vad som utgör ett depåfynd, samt om det har nedlagts i sakralt eller profant syfte. Gemensamt för en rituell tolkning är att depåplatsen har extraordinära naturliga egenskaper, något vattenmiljöer uppfattas besitta. Med området Östra Ljungby i Trolle-Ljungby socken, Skåne som undersökningsområde kommer uppsatsen ställa fyndmaterialet mot dessa kriterier. Fyndmaterialet har påträffats i både fast- och våtmark samt består till stor del av olika typer av yxor, verktyg och dolkar som typologiskt dateras till tidsperioder från mesolitikum till äldre bronsålder. Utifrån en hypotes om vattens personskap utforskas även en möjlig koppling mellan vattendepåfynden och folktrossägen. Tidsmässiga likheter och skillnader analyseras samt diskuteras i syfte att förstå deponeringsplatsernas kontinuitet. Det kan slutledas att flera sakrala depåer har nedlagts i Östra Ljungby, där vissa har gjorts på samma plats över långa tidsspann. Alltså finns det tecken som hänvisar till att undersökningsområdet haft en kontinuerlig deponeringstradition. Vidare finns en koppling till seder som gjorts för att skydda sig mot näcken. Däremot bör det belysas att en sådan koppling är svår att fastställa på grund av svårigheterna att rekonstruera forntida ritualer och ideologier. / Hoards and the reason behind their depositions have long been research questions. The term has been defined differently by various authors. Several researchers have developed criteria for what constitutes a hoard, as well as whether it has been deposited for a sacred or profane purpose. Common for a ritual interpretation is that the deposition place has natural properties that are extraordinary, something watery environments are believed to possess. With the area of Östra Ljungby in the parish of Trolle-Ljungby, Skåne as the research area, the essay will compare the finds against these criteria. The material found have been discovered in both solid ground and wetlands, and consists largely of various types of axes, tools and daggers that are typologically dated to time periods from the Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Based on a hypothesis concerning the personhood of water, a possible connection between the wetland hoards and folklore is explored. Temporal similarities and differences are analysed and discussed in order to further understand the continuity of the deposition sites. It can be concluded that several sacral depositions have been made in Östra Ljungby, where some have been made in the same place over long periods of time. Thus, there are signs that point to the study area having a continuous depositional tradition. Furthermore, there is a connection to customs made in order to protect oneself against näcken. However, such a connection is difficult to establish due to the difficulties in reconstructing prehistoric rituals and ideologies.

This thesis has illustrated the importance of the identification of tooth marks between humans and carnivores within an archaeological context and has provided further potential for advancement to future research. Stone Age sites from Europe have acted as case studies where the bones from both experimental and archaeological research have been analysed and discussed through an is taphonomic theoretical perspective. For the osteological analysis analysed experimental bones with a microscope to see identifications of tooth marks. In a comparative analysis, the experimental bones have been compared to archaeological assemblages from the Stone Age and one site from the Bronze Age.  The result shows that the experimental material contained every tooth mark in the human-chewed material, whilst the dog-chewed material only contained the back teeth. The bones showed that the human chewing had mainly been processed with the incisors, canine and premolar. In contrast, the dog bones showed that dog chewing had mainly been processed with the premolars and molars. / Denna uppsats har illustrerat vikten av identifiering av tandmärken mellan människor och köttätare i ett arkeologiskt sammanhang och har gett ytterligare potential för avancemang till framtida forskning. Stenåldersplatser från Europa har fungerat som fallstudier där benen från både experimentell och arkeologisk forskning har analyserats och diskuterats genom ett tafonomiskt teoretiskt perspektiv. För osteologisk analys analyserade experimentella ben med ett mikroskop för att se identifieringar av tandmärken. I en jämförande analys har de experimentella benen jämförts med arkeologiska samlingar från stenåldern och en plats från bronsåldern. Resultatet visar att det experimentella materialet innehöll varje tandmärke i det mänskliga tuggade materialet, medan det hundtuggade materialet endast innehöll de bakre tänderna. Benen visade att det mänskliga tuggandet huvudsakligen hade bearbetats med framtänder, hörntand och premolar. Däremot visade hundbenen att hundtuggandet huvudsakligen hade bearbetats med premolarerna och molarerna.

This research deals with the phenomenon of anthropomorphic vessels between the 7th and the beginning of the 5th millennium BC in a vast area that includes the Italian peninsula with Sicily, Central Europe, the Balkans and the Near East. The survey concerned 927 specimens from 229 sites. The formal analysis of the artifacts belonging to the cultures attested between Mesopotamia and the Rhine river allowed to establish the times and vectors of diffusion of this tradition before its arrival in Italy, as well as to hypothesize the connections that have transmitted the tradition of the anthropomorphic vessel to the Neolithic farming communities in the south-east of southern Italy. The study of Italian finds has led to the recognition of four main areas affected by the phenomenon and has allowed us to define their styles. An important part of the study was the examination of the archaeological contexts of the finds, in order to understand the possible spheres of use. In particular, the research allowed us to highlight the frequent and widespread presence of the anthropomorphic vessel in waste pits together with a series of symbolic objects: a constant presence and therefore not random, which is a hint of deliberate deposition of selected materials. This circumstance suggests that the anthropomorphic vessel belongs to a set of objects of ritual use and that the Neolithic refuse pit, contrary to what is generally believed, should be interpreted also as places of performative activity.

This thesis has had its focus on ceramic shards found in a trench by the late neolithic western shore of the Ajvide site. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate if there are changes in the pottery between the test trench and the ceramics found by the graves, known as the main site. The author has compared the ornaments from the test trench with an ornament schedule made from over 50 000 shards from the assumed main site. Not only changes regarding ornaments has been noticed but also new techniques and raw material. The author has also implemented two 14C datings which backs his hypothesis that the shards from the test trench are younger than the shards that made the earlier ornament schedule. According to the author, due to cultural changes,he is of the opinion that some of the examined shards represent ceramics from a hybrid culture consisting material and ritual traits from the pitted ware culture and the battleaxe (boataxe) culture.

Thesis (doctoral)--Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales de Paris, 1984. / Summary in German. Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-279).

Thesis (doctoral)--Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales de Paris, 1984. / Summary in German. Bibliography: p. 251-279.

The diet of the Stone Age cultures is a strong indicator to the social group, thus farmers and hunters can be distinguished through their diet. There is well-preserved and well excavated Polish skeletal material available for such a study but the material has not previously been subject to stable isotopes analyses and therefore the questions of diets has not been answered. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the cultures in the Kichary Nowe 2 area in the Lesser Poland district in southern Poland. Through analysis of the stable isotopes of Carbon, Nitrogen and Sulphur in the collagen of teeth and skeletal bones from the humans in the Kichary Nowe 2 grave-field and from bones from the fauna, coeval and from the same area, the study will establish whether there were any sharp changes of diets. The material from the grave-field comes from cultures with an established agricultural economy, where their cultural belonging has been anticipated from the burial context. The results from my study of stable isotopes from the bone material will be grouped by various parameters, culture, attribution to sex and age. The groups will then be compared to each other to investigate patterns within and between the groups.

The presented master thesis places emphasis on processing of archaeological excavation of the settlement with linear pottery culture. The excavation took place in May 2014 in Prague- Komořany "Na Poustkách." The thesis presents the history of research of the site and summarizes the process of the rescue excavation. An integral part of this paper is the examination of ceramic inventory with linear pottery and evaluation of non-ceramic finds. An important step is analysis and interpretation of the objects and the evaluation of their spatial relationships. In the last chapter, the site is placed in the context of the settlement with linear pottery culture within central Bohemia region. Lastly, a summary of results is presented. Key words: Central Bohemia, Neolithic, Linear Pottery Culture, Settlement

No description available.

<p>Stone Age research on Northern Europe frequently makes gross generalizations about the Mesolithic and Neolithic, although we still lack much basic knowledge on how the people lived. The transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic in Europe has been described as a radical shift from an economy dominated by marine resources to one solely dependent on farming. Both the occurrence and the geographical extent of such a drastic shift can be questioned, however. It is therefore important to start out at a more detailed level of evidence in order to present the overall picture, and to account for the variability even in such regional or chronological overviews. Fifteen Stone Age sites were included in this study, ranging chronologically from the Early Mesolithic to the Middle or Late Neolithic, c. 8300–2500 BC, and stretching geographically from the westernmost coast of Sweden to the easternmost part of Latvia within the confines of latitudes 55–59° N. The most prominent sites in terms of the number of human and faunal samples analysed are Zvejnieki, Västerbjers and Skateholm I–II. Human and faunal skeletal remains were subjected to stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to study diet and ecology at the sites. Stable isotope analyses of human remains provide quantitative information on the relative importance of various food sources, an important addition to the qualitative data supplied by certain artefacts and structures or by faunal or botanical remains. A vast number of new radiocarbon dates were also obtained.</p><p>In conclusion, a rich diversity in Stone Age dietary practice in the Baltic Region was demonstrated. Evidence ranging from the Early Mesolithic to the Late Neolithic show that neither chronology nor location alone can account for this variety, but that there are inevitably cultural factors as well. Food habits are culturally governed, and therefore we cannot automatically assume that people at similar sites will have the same diet. </p><p>Stable isotope studies are very important here, since they tell us what people actually consumed, not only what was available, or what one single meal contained. We should not be deceived in inferring diet from ritually deposited remains, since things that were mentally important were not always important in daily life. Thus, although a ritual and symbolic norm may emphasize certain food categories, these may in fact contribute very little to the diet. By the progress of analysis of intra-individual variation, new data on life history changes have been produced, revealing mobility patterns, breastfeeding behaviour and certain dietary transitions. The inclusion of faunal data has proved invaluable for understanding the stable isotope ecology of a site, and thereby improve the precision of the interpretations of human stable isotope data. The special case of dogs, though, demonstrates that these animals are not useful for inferring human diet, since, due to the number of roles they possess in human society, dogs could deviate significantly from humans in their diet, and in several cases have been proved to do so. </p><p>When evaluating radiocarbon data derived from human and animal remains from the Pitted-Ware site of Västerbjers on Gotland, the importance of establishing the stable isotope ecology of the site before making deductions on reservoir effects was further demonstrated. </p><p>The main aim of this thesis has been to demonstrate the variation and diversity in human practices, challenging the view of a “monolithic” Stone Age. By looking at individuals and not only at populations, the whole range of human behaviour has been accounted for, also revealing discrepancies between norm and practice, which are frequently visible both in the archaeological record and in present-day human behaviour. </p>