Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Title:
New and interdisciplinary approaches in research into the hunter-fisher-gatherer Stone Age on the eastern shores of the Baltic
Content:
The landscapes of the Baltic Sea’s eastern shores, shaped by glacial and marine processes, present flat and hilly terrain, with many lakes, extensive wetlands and a long coastline with extensive gulfs. These landscape features offered the hunter-fisher-gatherer populations of the Stone Age rich concentrations of subsistence resources – although it was a dynamic landscape, with changes brought about by land uplift and associated shifts in the state of the Baltic Sea basin, and with a climatically shifting boundary between temperate and boreal forest zones. Habitation and burial sites in the region, including several with outstanding preservation conditions, have given a rich picture of past lifeways, encompassing subsistence and everyday activities, as well as rituals and beliefs.
Recent research, with the application of innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, is providing deeper insights into the region’s Stone Age archaeological record, and is helping to situate it within a wider context, in relation to neighbouring regions, namely the plains of Eastern and Central Europe, and the Scandinavian Peninsula.
This session aims to examine a spectrum of topics with respect to this region and relationships to neighbouring areas:
- the contribution of novel and/or interdisciplinary approaches for improving our understanding of hunter-fisher-gatherer lifeways;
- obtaining a more complete picture of how past populations adapted to this dynamic landscape (site locations, procurement strategies and seasonality, mobility, resource base, technological development, social complexity, funerary practices);
- future prospects: how to proceed within this field and what methodologies and cooperation (inter/intradisciplinary) ought to be established and developed further.
Keywords:
Stone Age; Eastern Baltic; Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Dr. Harald LUEBKE (Germany) 1
Co-organisers:
Dr Valdis Berzins (Latvia) 2
Dr Satu Koivisto (Finland) 3,4
Affiliations:
1. Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology - ZBSA Schleswig
2. Institute of Latvian History, University of Riga
3. Archaeological Field Service, National Board of Antiquities
4. Department of Archaeology, University of Helsinki
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