Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration - Lene Melheim

Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration - Lene Melheim

1. The Development of the Early Mesolithic Social Networks during the Settlement of Virgin Lands in the Eastern Baltic Sea Zone -- Interpreted through Comparison of Two Sites in Finland

Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration - Lene Melheim

Aivar Kriiska [+-]
University of Tartu
Aivar Kriiska is a Professor of laboratory archaeology at the University of Tartu. His primary research interests are early habitation of the Baltic Sea region and the eastern and northern European forest zone, the formation and development of Mesolithic coastal settlement and colonisation of the islands in the eastern Baltic Sea, Neolithisation in the eastern and northern European forest zone and prehistoric technology (pottery, lithic materials etc.). He has also been working on other elds in archaeology, including Medieval and Modern Age town archaeology and experimental archaeology. He has published more than 300 scienti c and popular scienti c articles and books. Address for correspondence: Department of Archaeology, University of Tartu, Estonia. Email: [email protected]
Tapani Rostedt [+-]
Microlith Ltd.
Tapani Rostedt (MA) is a freelance archaeologist. His archaeological fieldwork during the last three decades (mainly surveys) has covered a timespan from the earliest settlement to modern times, both in Finland and in Russian Karelia. His main research interests concern the earliest settlement of Finland and changes in the social networks of the Bronze Age. Address for correspondence: Peltokatu 18, 20540 Turku, Finland. Email [email protected].
Timo Jussila [+-]
Mikroliitti Ltd.
Timo Jussila is an independent archaeologist in charge of a private company that specialises in archaeological fieldwork (Microlith Ltd). His primary research interests are the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods in Finland and shore displacement chronologies. He has published several scientific articles. Address for correspondence: Mikroliitti Oy, Louhentie 8 C, 02130 Espoo, Finland. Email: timo.jussila@ mikroliitti. .

Description

The article written by Aivar Kriiska, Tapani Rostedt and Timo Jussila explores a classic case of pristine colonisation, namely the post-glacial pioneering occupation of the eastern Baltic Sea region in the ninth millennium BC. They argue that social networks developed in this period in the eastern European forest zone, extending over large territories. Social maintenance of these networks included trade in raw materials as well as semi- finished and finished tools. The authors suggest that the flint trade served as a material form of communication, which helped to preserve and emphasise a sense of unity. However, the stretched social networks between small, dispersed groups of hunter-gatherers lasted only for some generations, and an important social shift occurred c. 8500 cal BC, probably due to population growth. As a result, the large networks developed into smaller ones, and imported int was replaced by local raw material.

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Citation

Kriiska, Aivar; Rostedt, Tapani; Jussila, Timo. 1. The Development of the Early Mesolithic Social Networks during the Settlement of Virgin Lands in the Eastern Baltic Sea Zone -- Interpreted through Comparison of Two Sites in Finland. Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 19-40 Dec 2016. ISBN 9781781790489. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=24597. Date accessed: 25 Apr 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.24597. Dec 2016

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