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An offprint from

Mesolithic HorizonsPapers presented at the Seventh International Conference

on the Mesolithic in Europe, Belfast 2005

Edited bySinéad McCartan, Rick Schulting, Graeme Warren and Peter Woodman

© OXBOW BOOKS 2009ISBN 978-1-84217-311-4

Contents

VOLUME IList of Contributors ixPreface (Peter Woodman) xvii

Plenaries (i) Mapping the European Mesolithic (S. K. Kozłowski) xx

(ii) The Mesolithic in Europe – some retrospective perspectives (Lars Larsson) xxvii

(iii) The way forward (T. Douglas Price) xxxiii

(iv) Ireland’s place in the European Mesolithic: why it’s ok to be different (Peter C. Woodman) xxxvi

(v) The Mesolithic and the 21st century (Marek Zvelebil) xlvii

New lands1 Introduction (Peter C. Woodman) 12 Climate change, demography and social relations: an alternative view of the Late Palaeolithic 3 pioneer colonization of southern Scandinavia (Felix Riede)3 Late Palaeolithic reindeer hunters – from a coastal perspective (Bengt Nordqvist) 114 Colonizing seascapes: comparative perspectives on the development of maritime relations in 16 the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in north-west Europe (Hein Bjartmann Bjerck)5 Entering new shores. Colonization processes in early archipelagos in eastern central Sweden 24 (Roger Wikell and Mattias Pettersson)6 TheflintcollectionfromtheRistolasiteinLahtiandtheculturalcontactsoftheearliest 31 Postglacial settlement of southern Finland (Hannu Takala)7 The Sujala site in Utsjoki: Post-Swiderian in northern Lapland? 38 (Jarmo Kankaanpää and Tuija Rankama)8 Hunter-gatherers of the Istrian peninsula: the value of lithic raw material analysis to study 45 small-scale colonization processes (Paolo Pellegatti)9 Early farmers on the coast: lithic procurement strategies of colonists in the eastern Adriatic 53 (Niels H. Andreasen)10 Thecolonisationofeasternalpineterritories:theValdiNoncasestudyandthe‘Regole’field 60 camps (Trento, Italy) (Giampaolo Dalmeri, Klaus Kompatscher, Maria Hrozny Kompatscher, Anna Cusinato and Michele Bassetti)

Mobility11 Introduction (C. R. Wickham-Jones) 7112 Moving perceptions: movement, mobility and the material dimension (Thomas Kador) 7313 Top-down or bottom-up?: Americanist approaches to the study of hunter-gatherer mobility 80 (Douglas B. Bamforth)14 Are we there yet? Using GIS to investigate paths and landmarks in the Mesolithic of south-west 89 Germany (Harry Starr and Susan Harris)15 RawmaterialandsettlementstrategiesatthePleistocene/HoloceneboundaryinTrentino 96 (north-eastern Italian Alps): (Fabio Cavulli and Stefano Grimaldi)16 Evidence of mobility between the coast and the inland region in the Mesolithic of northern 102 Fennoscandia (Mikael A. Manninen)17 Walking around the Federsee: analyzing mobility and settlement through regional surface survey 109 in south-west Germany (Susan K. Harris, Harry Starr, Lynn E. Fisher and Michael Jochim)18 One pig does not a winter make. New seasonal evidence at the Early Mesolithic sites of 115 Holmegaard and Mullerup and the Late Mesolithic site of Ertebølle in Denmark (Richard Carter)19 Deciphering archaeological palimpsests: an example from a Canadian Barrenland caribou 122 hunting camp (Bryan C. Gordon)

Contents v

People in their environment20 Introduction (Rick Schulting) 13121 Coastal perspectives on the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition (Nicky Milner and Eva Laurie) 13422 Current research on prehistoric human coastal ecology: Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene 140 hunter-gatherer transitions in north-west Sicily (Marcello A. Mannino and Kenneth D. Thomas)23 The tragedy of the shoreline? Social ecology of Mesolithic coastal subsistence, with reference to the site 146 of Culverwell, Isle of Portland (southern England) (Marcello A. Mannino and Kenneth D. Thomas)24 Small game exploitation through the Mediterranean Pleistocene-Holocene transition in southern France: 152 a key resource augmenting the dietary range (Alexandre Bournery)25 AnexaminationofMesolithicshellfishgatheringactivitiesinthelowerAsónriverbasin 161 (Cantabria, España) (F. Igor Gutiérrez Zugasti)26 Stone Age settlement sites on an environmentally sensitive coastal area along the lower reaches of 167 theRiverPärnu(south-westernEstonia),asindicatorsofchangingsettlementpatterns,technologies and economies (Aivar Kriiska and Lembi Lõugas)27 Automating the extrapolation of sea-level displacement curves: implications for Mesolithic research 176 in western Norway (David N. Simpson)28 Shells, seals and ceramics: an evaluation of a midden at West Voe, Sumburgh, Shetland, 2004–5 184 (Nigel D. Melton)29 Mesolithic elk (Alces alcesL.)fromZamostje2(Russia) (Louis Chaix) 19030 Animal bone studies and the perception of animals in Mesolithic society (Anna Mansrud) 19831 Cultural small-scale variations in a hunter-gatherer society: or ‘everybody wants to be a little bit 203 different!’ An ethnoarchaeological study from Siberia (Ole Grøn, Torunn Klokkernes and Michail G. Turov)32 StableisotopicreconstructionofEarlyMesolithicdietatPupićinaCave 210 (Clea Paine, Tamsin O’Connell and Preston T. Miracle)33 Human colonisation routes and the origins of Irish mammals (Ceiridwen J. Edwards, Daniel G. Bradley) 21734 The ecology of hazel (Corylus avellana) nuts in Mesolithic Ireland (Anne M. G. McComb) 225

People and Places35 Introduction (Sinéad B. McCartan) 23536 Settlement patterns, landscape and society in western Norway during the Late Mesolithic 237 (Sigrid Mannsåker Gundersen)37 Mesolithic inland settlement in southern Norway (Per Persson) 24338 The settlement patterns of the Maglemose culture on Bornholm, Denmark. Some preliminary results 248 and hypotheses (Claudio Casati and Lasse Sørensen)39 People and places in the Latvian Mesolithic: a case study from the Zvejnieki archaeological complex 255 (Ilga Zagorska)40 DąbrowaBiskupia71:aspecializedcampfromtheMaglemoseculture 261 (Lucyna Domańska and Marcin Wąs)41 Early Holocene landscape dynamics and forager land use diversity: the example of Hoge Vaart-A27 269 (Almere, The Netherlands) (Hans Peeters)42 Mesolithic territories and land-use systems in north-western Belgium 277 (Joris Sergant, Philippe Crombé and Yves Perdaen)43 Mesolithic settlement and land use in the Campine region (Belgium) 282 (Marc De Bie and Marijn Van Gils)44 Upland colonization: patterns of settling and habitation in northern Istria, Croatia (Darko Komšo) 28845 People and their land at the southern margins of the central Po Plain in the Early Mesolithic 296 (Federica Fontana, Maria Giovanna Cremona, Erika Ferrari, Federico Guarisco and Davide Mengoli)46 A view from the edges: the Mesolithic settlement of the interior areas of the Iberian Peninsula 303 reconsidered (Pablo Arias, Enrique Cerrillo-Cuenca, Esteban Álvarez-Fernández, Eloy Gómez-Pellón and Antonio González Cordero)47 RecentdevelopmentsinEarlyHolocenehunter-gatherersubsistenceandsettlement:aviewfrom south-western Iberia (Maria João Valente and António Faustino Carvalho) 31248 Mesolithic people in an open Mediterranean wetland 318 (Andrea L. Balbo , Darko Komšo and Preston T. Miracle)49 Occupation in a submerged Mesolithic landscape (Garry Momber, Julie Satchell and Jan Gillespie) 324

Contentsvi

Regional identities50 Introduction (Graeme Warren) 33351 Flint procurement in the French Alps during the Mesolithic: deciphering economic and cultural 336 territories (Céline Bressy)52 The power of place and regional identity in the British south-western Mesolithic (Clive Jonathon Bond) 34553 Worm’s Head and Caldey Island (south Wales, UK) and the question of Mesolithic territories 354 (Rick Schulting)54 Show me how you make your hunting equipment and I will tell you where you come from: technical 362 traditions,anefficientmeansofcharacterizingculturalidentities (Eva David)55 Being-in-the-(Mesolithic) world: place, substance and person in the Mesolithic of western Scotland 368 (Hannah L. Cobb)56 Man-landscape relations in Varanger, Finnmark, northern Norway (Maria Westrum Solem) 37357 Feast in the forest: creating a common cultural identity in the interior of the Scandinavian Peninsula 378 in the Late Mesolithic (Silje Elisabeth Fretheim)58 Ynys Enlli: shifting horizons 385 (Mark Edmonds, Robert Johnston, Emily La Trobe-Bateman, John Roberts and Graeme Warren)59 Inthemiddle,notinbetween:Svärdbärareninitsregionalcontext (Jenny Holm) 39260 ‘Foreign in origin and local in pattern’: Mesolithic pottery around the Baltic Sea (Fredrik Hallgren) 397

Dwellings61 Introduction (João Zilhão) 40762 Ishomewheretheheartis?ReflectionsaroundEarlyMesolithicsites,exemplifiedwithresultsfrom 409 an excavation on coastal south-western Norway (Astrid J. Nyland)63 Different ways of building, different ways of living: Mesolithic house structures in western Norway 414 (Leif Inge Åstveit)64 Islandsettlementsandmaritimehunter-fishers:spatialandtemporaltransformationsover11,000years 422 at Melkøya, northern Norway (Morten Ramstad)65 Twohousesand186,000artefacts.SpatialorganizationattheLateMesolithicsiteofStrandvägen, 430 Sweden (Tom Carlsson)66 Ålyst: a settlement complex with hut structures from the Early Mesolithic on Bornholm, Denmark 436 (Claudio Casati and Lasse Sørensen)67 Virtual hypothesis: the Maglemosian huts at Ålyst, Bornholm. Preliminary thoughts on the morphology 443 of dwellings on a Maglemosian site (Nicolai Garhøj Larsen)68 Findconcentrationsanddwellingstructures.TheinterpretationofFinalPalaeolithicfindscatters 450 (Frank Gelhausen, Jan F. Kegler and Stefan Wenzel)69 AlongtheshoresoftheAncylusLake.TrädgårdstorpandothercoastalMesolithicsettlementsites 458 during the Late Ancylus period in western Östergötland (Fredrik Molin)70 DwellingsandgravesfromtheLateMesolithicsiteofNivå10,easternDenmark (Ole Lass Jensen) 46571 Dreams and Landscapes: Mesolithic archaeology under water (Ole Grøn) 47372 Thembones:middensitesasadefiningcharacteristicoftheScottishMesolithic (C. R. Wickham-Jones) 47873 South-western regional identities: Birdcombe, Totty Pot and Hawkcombe Head (Paula J. Gardiner) 485

VOLUME II

Transitions74 Introduction (Rick Schulting) 49775 From Magdalenian to Early Neolithic: hunter-gatherers in transition in north-eastern Iberia 500 (Pilar García-Argüelles, Jordi Nadal and Josep M. Fullola)76 The end of the Mesolithic in western France: from taphonomy to the understanding of prehistoric 507 territories (Grégory Marchand)77 New perspectives on the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition in northern Italy (Thomas Perrin) 51478 Seasonal resource scheduling in the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Scotland (Rachel L. Parks) 52179 Thepaleoecologicalandpaleodietarysignificanceofediblelandsnails(Helix sp.) across the 527 Pleistocene-Holocene transition on the eastern Adriatic coast (Mia Rizner, Nikola Vukosavljević and Preston Miracle)80 Hunter-gatherer adaptations during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in Portugal: data and 533 explanatory models (Ana Cristina Araújo)

Contents vii

81 Lollikhuse, a site from the transitional phase between the Mesolithic and Neolithic in Denmark 541 (Søren A. Sørensen)82 Dąbkirevisited:newevidenceonthequestionofearliestcattleuseinPomerania 548 (J. Kabaciński, D. Heinrich and T. Terberger)83 Huntersandfishersinachangingworld.InvestigationsonsubmergedStoneAgesitesofftheBaltic 556 coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany (Harald Lübke)84 The neolithisation of the Belgian lowlands: new evidence from the Scheldt Valley 564 (Philippe Crombé, Joris Sergant and Yves Perdaen)85 Interaction, exchange and imitation. Some short and preliminary notes on the distribution of Breitkeile 570 in Belgium and the Netherlands and its implications for the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic (Leo B. M. Verhart)86 Confronting important animals (Trond Lødøen) 57687 The phase of transformation in western Norway (Thomas Bruen Olsen) 58388 Transition to farming in western Norway seen as a rapid replacement of landscapes (Asle Bruen Olsen) 589

Ritual in context89 Introduction (Ericka Engelstad) 59990 Caught in the middle: functional and ideological aspects of Mesolithic shores in Norway 602 (Knut Andreas Bergsvik)91 Between the rock and the sea: site location and ritual practise in the Mesolithic in eastern central 610 Sweden (Christina Lindgren)92 Whatgoeswhere?IntrasitestudiesofdepositionsofMaglemosianartandflintpicksofthe 614 Maglemose and Kongemose cultures (Peter Andreas Toft)93 Soul-trips to the underworld? Interpretations of a decorated slate pickaxe from western Sweden 621 (Robert Hernek)94 Prehistory as a continuum in the discussion of continuity and change in Britain, 16,000 to 6000 cal BP 627 (Stella M. Blockley)95 New radiocarbon dates from the Stone Age graves at Dragsholm, Denmark 632 (T. Douglas Price, Erik Brinch Petersen and Michael P. Richards)96 From single graves to cemeteries: an initial look at chronology in Mesolithic burial practice 639 (Christopher Meiklejohn, Erik Brinch Petersen and Jeff Babb)97 Burials in the cave: new evidence on mortuary practices during the Mesolithic of Cantabrian Spain 650 (Pablo Arias, Angel Armendariz, Rodrigo de Balbín, Miguel A. Fano, Juan Fernández-Tresguerres, Manuel R. González Morales, María José Iriarte, Roberto Ontañón, Javier Alcolea, Esteban Álvarez- Fernández, Francisco Etxeberria, María Dolores Garralda, Mary Jackes and Álvaro Arrizabalaga)98 Coping with cadavers: ritual practices in Mesolithic cemeteries (Liv Nilsson Stutz) 65799 Symbols around the body: tooth ornaments from the graves at the Zvejnieki cemeteries, northern Latvia 664 (Lars Larsson)

Understanding the social context100 Introduction (Nyree Finlay) 673101 Dogs and people, an arising relationship: Canis familiaris amongst hunter-gatherer societies in the 675 Iberian Peninsula (Cristina García-Moncó)102 Wood and wild animals: towards an understanding of a Mesolithic world (Steven Price) 683103 Transforming bodies: mortuary practices in Mesolithic Britain (Chantal Conneller) 690104 Fishysettlementpatternsandtheirsocialsignificance:acasestudyfromthenorthernMidlandsof 698 Ireland (Aimée Little)105 A Mesolithic social landscape in south-west Britain: the Somerset Levels and Mendip Hills 706 (Clive Jonathon Bond)106 Sounds like sociality: new research on lithic contexts in Mesolithic Caithness 717 (Steve Mills and Amelia Pannett)107 Theidentificationofchildren’sflintknappingproductsinMesolithicScandinavia 722 (Farina Sternke and Mikkel Sørensen)108 An experimental analysis of perforated shells from the site of Šebrn Abri (Istria), Croatia 730 (Samuel Benghiat, Darko Komšo and Preston T. Miracle)109 From sharing to giving: handling the inequality of things at the end of the Mesolithic (Roger Edenmo) 736

Contentsviii

Understanding Mesolithic technology110 Introduction (Sheila Coulson) 743111 The illustration of Mesolithic artefacts and its contribution to the understanding of Mesolithic 745 technology (Alan Saville)112 From the mountain to the sea: an ethnographic perspective for the Early Mesolithic settlement dynamics 754 in north-eastern Italy (Stefano Grimaldi and Elisabetta Flor)113 Early Mesolithic hunting strategies in the north-eastern Italian Alps: an experimental analysis 760 (Stefano Grimaldi)114 Tools and colour in Mesolithic Scotland (Karen Hardy, Steven Birch and Robert S. Shiel) 766115 ForagersinthealpineRhinevalley.InterpretingtwoMesolithicrocksheltersnearKoblach 772 in Vorarlberg, Austria (Sonja Laus)116 Macrolithic industries of the Portuguese Mesolithic: a human adaptive response 779 (Ana Cristina Araújo, Francisco Almeida and M. João Valente)117 ‘Rulers’ofsouthernSweden:technologicalaspectsofarediscoveredtool(Arne Sjöström and Björn Nilsson) 788118 One problem – many solutions: strategies of lithic raw material procurement in Mesolithic Europe 795 (Laurent-Jacques Costa and Farina Sternke)119 Variability of lithic resource exploitation systems in northern Italy during the early Holocene: the 802 case-studies of Mondeval de Sora (Belluno) and I.N.F.S. (Bologna) (Federica Fontana and Antonio Guerreschi)

Flint alternatives120 Introduction (Kjel S. Å. Knutsson) 811121 Quartz analyses of the Kaaraneskoski site, Lapland (Tuija Rankama) 813122 Ways to interpret quartz (Karl-Fredrik Lindberg) 820123 Percussion events by the shore: a comparative approach to the manufacture and use of quartz in 827 Uppland, Sweden (†Per Falkenström)124 Flint knappers or quartz knappers? The procurement of different types of quartz in south-east Mesolithic 833 Norway (Lotte Eigeland)125 RecentstonetooluseandmaterialcultureoftheWola,PapuaNewGuinea (Karen Hardy) 838126 Petrography and mechanics of the Armorican Massif rocks: the impact on Late Mesolithic industries 845 in western France (Rodrigue Tsobgou Ahoupe)127 Production and use of Mesolithic groundstone axes and adzes in Zealand, Denmark: description, 853 production, distribution and status (Susanne Ritz Nicolaisen)128 Theelusiveflint:rawmaterialsandlithictechnologyintheMesolithicofeasternAsturias,Spain 860 (Pablo Arias, Patricia Fernández, Celia Marcos and Irene Rodríguez) Current research129 ThetransitiontotheHoloceneintheBajoAsónBasin(Cantabria,Spain):anarchaeozoologicalpoint 869 of view (Ana Belén Marín Arroyo)130 Mesolithic human remains from Poza l’Egua and Colomba caves (Asturias, Spain) 871 (Labib Drak and María Dolores Garralda)131 An assessment of our knowledge, the main problems of research, and current investigations with 873 regard to the Mesolithic of Cantabrian Spain (9th–6th millennium cal BC) (Miguel Ángel Fano)132 Hermitage, Ireland: life and death on the western edge of Europe (Tracy Collins) 876133 The Early prehistory in the west of Ireland: investigations into the social archaeology of the 880 Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland (Killian Driscoll)134 Lake-platforms at Lough Kinale – memory, reach and place: a Discovery Programme Project 882 in the Irish midlands (Christina Fredengren)135 ReconstructingMesolithicpalaeodietusingdentalmicrowearanalysis (T. Rowan McLaughlin) 887136 TheexcavationofLateMesolithicfishtrapremainsfromtheLiffeyestuary,Dublin,Ireland 889 (Melanie McQuade and Lorna O’Donnell)137 LakesidedevelopmentsinCountyMeath,Ireland:aLateMesolithicfishingplatformandpossible 895 mooring at Clowanstown 1 (Matt Mossop)138 The development and historiography of pollen studies in the Mesolithic of the Scottish islands 900 (Kevin J. Edwards)139 Molluscan studies of the Danish Mesolithic-Neolithic shell-midden Krabbesholm II: new information 907 concerning the marine and terrestrial environment (Nina Helt Nielsen)

Consolidated Bibliography 908Index 998

People and Places

48. Mesolithic people in an open Mediterranean wetland

Andrea L. Balbo, Darko Kom�o and Preston T. Miracle

Open-air Mesolithic sites are extremely rare and poorly known along the eastern Adriatic coastline and in karstic environments in the wider region. The paucity of sites has led many to conclude that the region was at best thinly populated during the Mesolithic. Results from a recent archaeological survey of Polje Čepić (Istria, Croatia), are helping to Þ ll this gap in the Mesolithic record. Polje Čepić is today an alluvial plain, located 24m asl, and about 5km from the Adriatic Sea. A shallow lake occupied the polje until its artiÞ cial drainage in 1932. In this paper we present the results from a two-year survey set around the polje, which started in 2003. Over a dozen archaeological areas, with mostly Mesolithic, but also Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic periods represented, have been discovered in a fairly restricted region. In conjunction with geoarchaeological evidence and a 17.5m-deep sediment core, we discuss the relations those people could have had with this highly mutable and understudied wet Mediterranean environment.

Keywords: open-air, survey, karst, wetland, sediment core, ß int typochronology.

The Mesolithic gap in south-eastern EuropeThe lack of Mesolithic sites in south-eastern Europe has been pointed out by several authors. Among them, Inga (2003) focuses in particular on the Early Mesolithic sites at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, while Biagi and Spataro (2001) concentrate on the beginning of the Atlantic period, with its Late Mesolithic Castelnovian assemblages.

Inga (2003, 307) characterises the scarcity of Mesolithic sites in south-eastern Europe as a �syndrome�. Even if the Late Upper Palaeolithic, Early Neolithic, and later periods of the region are well documented, the Mesolithic is still next to invisible outside of a few hot spots like the Danube Gorges (the Iron Gates). As Miracle, Galanidou, and Forenbaher (2000, 293) observed within the northern Adriatic context, �The Mesolithic is often lost between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic bread�.

Another issue in the Mesolithic (actually in most of the prehistory of south-eastern Europe) is the under-representation of open-air sites compared to cave sites. In a recent review of the northern Adriatic region, Boschian (2003) notes that, although there was a sudden increase in the number of sites in the early Holocene, all but one were found in caves. This pattern is also true for the prehistory of Istria, mainly known through the study of cave sites. Since the beginning of prehistoric research in Istria, initiated by Sir R. F. Burton in the 1870s (Burton et al. 1878), 74 caves with archaeological remains have been

registered in Istria. Out of these, 11 have given evidence of Mesolithic occupation (Kom�o 2003), while Kotle (Miracle and Forenbaher 2000; Boschian 2003) and Lokve were until recently the only two known Mesolithic open-air sites. With our survey Þ ve new open-air Mesolithic sites were discovered, signiÞ cantly increasing the visibility of this period in the region.

Within this paper we tackle three main issues related to the study of Polje Čepić. 1) Since when and how continuously was the polje occupied by a wet landscape? 2) Were there people living around its margins during the Mesolithic? 3) If so, why, and what kind of activities were they carrying out?

Polje Čepić as the setting for this studyThe geomorphologic unit composed by Polje Čepić, with its margins and catchments, was chosen in 2003 for the setting of a systematic archaeological survey (Figure 48.1) (Balbo et al. 2004). Poljes are extremely common features in karstic regions; their sizes can vary from a few hundred square metres to several square kilometres. Poljes are mostly situated along tectonic faults; they often present a depression with a ß at base (Gracia et al. 2002; Hugget 2003). The bottom of a polje is normally covered with ponors. These holes control the ß ow of water between the underground catchments and the surface, and consequently the water level in the basin constituted by the polje. When

Mesolithic people in an open Mediterranean wetland 319

ponors are Þ lled with sediments, poljes become natural surface basins of fresh water, and eventually shallow lakes. In spite of their potential for life support in an otherwise permeable and dry surrounding (Parenzan 1928), poljes are underrepresented in prehistoric studies of karstic Mediterranean areas.

Many authors have already stressed the preference of Mesolithic people to settle near water basins, owing to their relatively high productivity and biodiversity. Because of its potential as an Early Holocene wetland, Polje Čepić was chosen as the setting for this study.

In fact, a look at any current regional map shows that the Čepić depression was potentially the only large natural basin of Istria, before its artiÞ cial drainage in 1932. Besides, the studies carried out by Miracle in the last decade demonstrate the importance of its catchments for the settlers of this region in prehistory. Indeed, a few of the main regional prehistoric cave settlements have been discovered within 10km from Polje Čepić, along its main inlet, the Bolju�ćica River (Miracle and Forenbaher (eds.) 2006).

The discovery and location of Mesolithic sites around the polje: KostadiniAll available technical maps were used for the planning of the survey around Polje Čepić. The topographical, hydrological, and pedological maps, in conjunction with aerial photos, were the most useful tools used during this phase. Terraces, river valleys, and springs were identiÞ ed on the topographical and hydrological maps. The most stable landforms, with their mature soils, where post-glacial

archaeological sites were most likely to be found, were outlined on the pedological map. The accessibility and visibility on the ground for the areas to be surveyed were assessed using aerial photographs.

The Þ rst assessment survey was carried out in the last week of July 2003, leading to the discovery of a Mesolithic scatter around Kostadini. Following those results, three extensive surveys were set in 2004 and 2005, twice in the spring, during the rainy season, and once in the summer, involving students from British and Croatian Universities. Cultivated Þ elds, as they appear on cadastral maps, were chosen as the minimal survey unit (Qs). Out of a total of 183 surveyed Þ elds (covering an area of 670,826m2), 37 (119,573m2), mainly concentrated on the southern and western sides of Polje Čepić, contained lithic scatters of prehistoric ages. The 37 positive Þ elds were grouped in 14 wider archaeological areas, and named after the closest local name, as it appears on recent 1:5000 topographical maps. Five of these archaeological areas were classiÞ ed as Mesolithic based on their lithic typology, as well as on the raw materials used for the production of stone artefacts (Figure 48.2). All of these sites are situated close to a spring, not too high above the present-day base of the polje; they are always in view of the basin, and can be seen from each other.

Between mid-July and mid-August 2005 test excavations were carried out at three of the discovered archaeological areas. Because of the high concentration of Þ nds, the Mesolithic site found at Kostadini was chosen for the setting of a more extensive excavation. Kostadini is situated at about 500m from the bottle-neck representing the potential outlet

Figure 48.1. Polje Čepić is situated on the eastern side of the Istrian peninsula, Croatia, and is here represented by a dark-grey spot, surrounded by its catchments. (ModiÞ ed from free internet sources).

Figure 48.2. The position of the Þ ve Mesolithic scatters recently discovered around Polje Čepić is shown on one of the last topographical maps drawn before the drainage of the lake in 1932. The larger star on the southern side of the polje represents Kostadini. (ModiÞ ed from TCI 1930).

Andrea L. Balbo, Darko Kom�o and Preston T. Miracle320

of the lake that occupied Polje Čepić (Figure 48.4). The site is about 45m higher than the bottom of the polje, which lies at 24m asl. On the western side of the Mesolithic site, within a distance of 250m, there is an alignment composed of two dolinas and, at the lowest point, a year-round running spring. The two karstic depressions and the spring are part of the same watercourse, partially running underground. With the rise of the water table, after a rainy period, the two dolinas can Þ ll with fresh water.

As for most open-air sites, the archaeological context at Kostadini has been disturbed by agricultural practices. The damage caused by the recent plantation of a vineyard is well illustrated by the high percentage of edge damaged lithic artefacts; about 26% of cores and tools show recent breakage. Nevertheless, the site can be considered as being in its original geomorphological position. In fact, most of the assemblage was recovered within the top 40cm of a 110cm-deep parental soil proÞ le in the central portion of a slightly tilted limestone terrace.

The Mesolithic assemblage from Kostadini and the characterization of the siteFollowing the survey, the potential extension of the site was assessed excavating a total of 6.5m2. The bedrock was reached at a depth of 110cm, and samples were taken from the proÞ le for the micromorphological study of this soil.

All sediments were dry-sieved in the Þ eld using a 3mm mesh. In most cases sieving was incomplete, due to the texture of the soil, and pellets were broken down to 1cm. Out of the total excavated area, four square metres were subsampled, so that about 7% of the excavated volume of soil could be wet sieved on a 1mm mesh, in order to evaluate the number of missing artefacts. The Kostadini lithic assemblage contains 423 pieces, of which 340 were recovered from the surface, and 83 from excavated trenches. We estimate that the 83 Þ nds recovered during the excavation of four square metres with the mere support of dry sieving would have risen up to 602 pieces if wet sieving had been applied throughout the excavation. Nevertheless, most of the pieces recovered through wet sieving were very small chips with no effect on the typological study of the lithic composition.

The lithic scatter found at Kostadini seems to be quite homogeneous, and its total extension has been estimated to be more than 2000m2 through survey and test excavations (602/4*2000=301,000 potential artefacts).

Due to the lack of absolute-datable materials, the site was characterised by typological and raw material comparison with other locations previously studied in the region. For the purposes of this preliminary analysis, the assemblage was observed only macroscopically. Three general classes of stone artefacts were used in the analysis, namely debitage (ß akes, blades, bladelets, knapping and burned debris, small debris and ß akes), cores (including core fragments), and retouched pieces. We classiÞ ed as retouched pieces all lithic artefacts with secondary modiÞ cation (Finlayson et al. 2000), not including at the moment possible unretouched

pieces with traces of use wear or hafting (Inizan et al. 1992). As for the classiÞ cation of different raw materials, three groups were made, considering the distance of their source from the Mesolithic site. We considered as local all raw materials available at sources within 10km from Kostadini, while we classiÞ ed as regional those found within a radius of 10 to 50km. Any raw material from sources located at more than 50km from the site was classiÞ ed as exotic (Pellegatti, pers. comm.).

The lithic assemblage found at Kostadini shares many general characteristics with other Mesolithic sites in the region and contains a total of 423 pieces. Of these, 75.9% consist of unretouched specimens, 11.1% are retouched, 6.6% are cores, and 6.4% present clear indications of edge damage (also pointing to a relatively high occurrence of post depositional disturbance). Morphologically, knapping debris and ß akes represent the largest categories, followed by small ß akes, small debris and bladelets. Blades are almost completely absent. The assemblage shows a strong homogeneity both in terms of raw material and types of lithic artefacts. When considering raw material, we observe that 69% of tools and cores have been obtained from raw materials available within 10km from the site. About 18% of these two categories were prepared on raw materials from regional sources, located in central Istria and in the Reka Valley, in Slovenia. Only 2% of the lithic artefacts unearthed at Kostadini were made of exotic raw materials for which the source is unknown.

The assemblage produced by the people living near Kostadini is microlithic. The present analysis of the assemblage shows that the lithic production at the site was focused on the manufacturing of ß akes and bladelets, while blades are almost completely absent. Armatures, mainly triangles and backed bladelets, were made with the microburin technique, of which we found one typical example (Figure 48.3: 33). All stages of the lithic reduction sequence are present, although variously represented. The high number of lithic artefacts with cortex indicates that most of the primary reductions occurred on site. The high frequency of cores, core fragments, knapping debris, and cortical ß akes, suggests in situ production of blanks for further modiÞ cation into tools.

The relatively balanced representation of triangles, backed bladelets, endscrapers, burins, pieces with lateral linear retouch, notches, piercers, and composite tools, indicates that these people were engaged in all kinds of gearing-up and transformational activities. Although the inference of activities from tool typology is highly problematic, the Kostadini assemblage appears to reß ect generalized activities performed by the entire social group rather than specialized activities carried out by a sub-set of the larger group.

From both technological and typological perspectives, the lithic assemblages collected at Kostadini shares in general a number of characteristics, such as the microburin technique, clear microlithisation of backed bladelets and cores, and the consistent use of locally available raw materials, with the other lithic assemblages of Early Holocene age recovered

Mesolithic people in an open Mediterranean wetland 321

Figure 48.3. Some of the lithic artifacts unearthed during the survey and the test-excavation at Kostadini. 1, 4�5: backed points; 2�3: triangles; 6�9: unilateral backed bladelets; 10�11: bilateral backed bladelets; 12�16: burins; 17: burin spall; 18�20: truncations; 21�26: cores; 27�30: endscrapers; 31: notch; 32: piercer; 33: microburin. (Drawings: Darko Kom�o).

in the northern Adriatic area. The triangles and backed bladelets, and the lack of trapezes and prismatic blades, suggest an early Mesolithic date for the site (Miracle et al. 2000; Kom�o, this volume). Based on the existing lithic assemblage, and the density and distribution of lithic artefacts found at Kostadini, we suggest that this was a Mesolithic Þ eld camp where multifunctional activities, related to the everyday life of its inhabitants, were performed.

From geomorphology to palaeoenvironment. Mesolithic people around a Mediterranean wet place Kostadini is situated close to a potential cross-point where a land-way and a water-way meet (Figure 48.4). In fact, the south-north direction represents a bridge for crossing Polje Čepić, when moving from the lowlands of southern

Andrea L. Balbo, Darko Kom�o and Preston T. Miracle322

Istria to the Ćićarija Mountains in the north. Similarly, the east-west direction constitutes a potentially navigable water connection between the polje and the Adriatic Sea, through the 15km-long Ra�a canyon. Our study of the functioning of the polje throughout Holocene is fundamental to the understanding of the relation that Mesolithic people had with this place (Balbo et al. 2006).

In order to obtain information about past changes in the polje environment, in summer 2004 we extracted a 17.5m exploratory core from the sediment sequence preserved in Polje Čepić. Observations were made on the bottom 4m of the core. In contrast with the general idea of poor preservation in continental sediment archives of the northern Adriatic region (Boschian 2003), organic remains and pollen were well preserved, and in good concentration. The bottom of the sequence is constituted by a thick gravel layer representing a massive colluvium. This layer prevented our coring equipment from reaching any further depth. Just above the gravel, Þ ner sediments testify to the passage from a detritic to a lacustrine phase with suspended sediments. The same kind of Þ ne sediments characterise the rest of the analysed sequence. The only exception is represented by a 7cm-thick peat layer, corresponding to the only dry period so far attested. The Þ rst datings obtained from this core show a high sedimentation rate within this basin. In fact the 17m of this sedimentary sequence have accumulated in the last 7000 years.

The study of the sedimentary sequence from Polje Čepić allows us to characterise this environment as a Mediterranean karstic wetland as far back as 5000 years cal BC (Balbo et al. 2006). Until now the oldest proof for the existence of a shallow lake within the polje was contained in historical maps going back to the 16th century. The general morphology of the area suggests that a wet environment was predominant in the polje well before 5000 years cal BC, and most likely when people settled at Kostadini in Mesolithic times (Balbo et al. 2006).

Conclusions: the choice of Polje Čepić by Mesolithic peopleA deeper soil proÞ le needs to be extracted from Polje Čepić in order to reach the Late Glacial and Early Holocene sediments. However, the present impression is that Polje Čepić was probably occupied by a shallow lake throughout the early phases of the Holocene.

Five open-air Mesolithic sites have been discovered on the margins of the polje. One of these, Kostadini, has been extensively explored by test-excavation, and presents the characteristics of a Þ eld camp. An outcrop of local ß int has also been discovered a couple of kilometres east from the settlement, on the margins of the polje. The raw material is similar to that mainly used by the people living on the site.

For the people living in Istria during the Mesolithic, Polje Čepić could have represented the largest basin of year-round available fresh water in the region, with its varied resources. Already in the Late Palaeolithic a growth of

aquatic resources like molluscs and Þ sh in the subsistence is noted over south-eastern Europe. This trend is conÞ rmed for Istria by Miracle�s excavations at the Pupićina cave where there is a clear diversiÞ cation in diet, including an increased use of freshwater Þ sh within the Early Mesolithic levels (Miracle 1996; Miracle 2001; Miracle and Forenbaher 2000; Paine and Miracle, this volume).

The discovery of Mesolithic open-air sites such as Kostadini, and the other sites around Polje Čepić, are beginning to Þ ll the gap in the Mesolithic of Istria and the east Adriatic. These sites are providing some guidelines on where and how to Þ nd open-air Mesolithic settlements in karstic Mediterranean regions. Their position reß ects the relation that people had with their landscape. Among the reasons that brought Mesolithic people to choose Kostadini and the margins of Polje Čepić could be the vicinity to the shore of a relatively stable lake, as well as the proximity of minor watercourses and numerous springs. Furthermore,

Figure 48.4. Kostadini is situated on the southern side of Polje Čepić. The A�A proÞ le, where highs are exaggerated by about 15 times, shows the position of the site relative to the potential outlet of the polje and three nearby springs. (ModiÞ ed from Croatian base map).

Mesolithic people in an open Mediterranean wetland 323

Kostadini is situated in an ideal position for accessing both land and water passages. The presence of lithic raw material in the immediate vicinity of the site must also have played a role in the choice of this settlement.

The landscape around Polje Čepić went through the Holocene rise of the Mediterranean Sea relatively untransformed. Studying this landscape we can in part avoid the bias effect that the post-glacial increase in sea level had on the distribution pattern of archaeological sites. In addition, our chances of Þ nding Mesolithic sites specialised in the exploitation of freshwater resources, buried under posterior alluviums, are high around poljes because of their seasonally inconsistent hydrological behaviour.

Through the study of paleolimnological record and geomorphology, as well as that of archaeological settlement pattern, this research is enhancing our knowledge of the relation that people had to their places since the Pleistocene-Holocene transgression in Istria, as well as in the wider region. In particular we are revealing the potential of an understudied Mediterranean landscape.

The on-going researches around Polje Čepić are rapidly increasing the number of open-air Mesolithic sites known in Istria. The information so far acquired from cave sites is being extended to previously unexplored environments. Our knowledge of the relations that Mesolithic people had with their places is being strengthened, so that archaeological knowledge in the region can hopefully start recovering from the Mesolithic �syndrome�.

Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the McDonald Institute of Archaeology, the Prehistoric Society, and the Marie Curie Training Program for their support of the present study.

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