Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-15T07:35:39.069Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Review of the Earliest Evidence of Agriculture in Lithuania and the Earliest Direct AMS Date on Cereal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2017

Mindaugas Grikpėdis Open the ORCID record for Mindaugas Grikpėdis [Opens in a new window]  and
Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute
Mindaugas Grikpėdis
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute
Affiliation:
City Research Department, Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius, Lithuania
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Current knowledge of the beginnings of crop cultivation in Lithuania is based mainly on Cerealia-type pollen data supplemented by other indirect evidence such as agricultural tools. We argue that these records, predating carbonized remains of cultivated plants, are not substantial enough indicators of the early stages of agriculture in Lithuania. Here, we demonstrate that the macroremains of cultural plants that were previously reported from two Neolithic settlements in Lithuania were either mistakenly identified as domestic crops or incorrectly ascribed to the Neolithic period due to movement through the stratigraphic sequence and the absence of direct dating of cereal grains. Furthermore, we present a charred Hordeum vulgare grain from the Bronze Age settlement of Kvietiniai in western Lithuania. It was AMS-dated to 1392–1123 cal bc, and at present represents the earliest definite evidence for a crop in the eastern Baltic region. We conclude that, presently, there are no grounds to suggest that crop cultivation took place in Lithuania during the Neolithic.

Les connaissances actuelles sur les débuts de l'agriculture en Lituanie reposent surtout sur la présence de pollen de céréales, ainsi que sur d'autres témoignages indirects tels l'existence d'outils agricoles. Nous soutenons que ces données, dont la datation fournit des dates plus anciennes que les celles obtenues pour les restes carbonisés de plantes cultivées, ne sont pas des preuves suffisantes pour prouver les débuts de l'agriculture en Lituanie. Dans cet article nous démontrons que les restes macro-botaniques de plantes cultivées retrouvés sur deux sites d'habitat néolithiques lituaniens ont été soit identifiés par erreur comme provenant de cultures de plantes domestiquées, soit faussement attribués au Néolithique à la suite de perturbations dans la séquence stratigraphique ; quoiqu'il en soit, ces graines n'ont pas été datées directement. De plus, nous faisons état d'un grain d'Hordeum vulgare carbonisé provenant de l'habitat de l’âge du Bronze de Kvietiniai en Lituanie occidentale. Sa datation AMS de 1392–1123 cal bc en fait probablement la preuve la plus ancienne de cultivation céréalière en Baltique orientale. Nous en concluons que, jusqu’à présent, il n'y a pas de raisons de supposer que la culture des céréales ait été établie en Lituanie pendant le Néolithique. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Der aktuelle Kenntnisstand über den Anfang des Ackerbaus in Litauen beruht vor allem auf getreideartigen Pollenangaben und auf anderen indirekten Hinweisen wie landwirtschaftliche Werkzeuge. Wir sind der Meinung, dass diese Angaben, die ältere Datierungen von karbonisierten Kulturpflanzen ergeben haben, nicht genügend sind, um die ersten Stufen des Ackerbaus in Litauen zu beweisen. In diesem Artikel zeigen wir, dass die Makroreste von Kulturpflanzen aus zwei neolithischen Siedlungen in Litauen, die man früher als Kulturpflanzen angesehen hatte, waren entweder falsch identifiziert oder dem Neolithikum falsch zugeordnet; dies hätte wegen Bewegungen innerhalb der stratigrafischen Folge geschehen können; dazu waren die Getreidekörner nicht direkt datiert. Schließlich berichten wir über ein verkohltes Korn von Hordeum vulgere aus der bronzezeitlichen Siedlung von in Kvietiniai Westlitauen. Die AMS-Datierung ergab ein Datum von 1392–1123 cal bc; wahrscheinlich ist diese Datierung die früheste direkte Angabe über Ackerbau im östlichen baltischen Gebiet. Wir sind der Meinung, dass es noch keine Gründe gibt, zu vermuten, dass der Anfang des Ackerbaus schon während des Neolithikums in Litauen stattfand. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

archaeobotanyHordeumNeolithicBronze Ageearly agricultureeastern BalticarchéobotaniqueHordeumNéolithiqueâge du Bronzedébuts de l'agricultureBaltique orientaleArchäobotanikHordeumNeolithikumBronzezeitfrüher Ackerbauostbaltisches Gebiet
Type
Article
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , May 2018 , pp. 264 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aalto, M. 1997. The Cultivated Plants of Finnish Iron Age. In: Kirpichnikov, A.N., Ryabinin, E.A. & Saksa, A.I., eds. Slavyane i finno-ugry: arkheologiya, istoriya, kultura: doklady rossiysko-finlyandskogo simpoziuma po voprosam arkheologii. St Petersburg: Dmitriy Bulanin, pp. 47–61.Google Scholar
Alenius, T., Mokkonen, T. & Lahelma, A. 2013. Early Farming in the Northern Boreal Zone: Reassessing the History of Land Use in Southeastern Finland through High-Resolution Pollen Analysis. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, 28: 1–24. doi 10.1002/gea.21428Google Scholar
Antanaitis, I. & Ogrinc, N. 2000. Chemical Analysis of Bone: Stable Isotope Evidence of the Diet of Neolithic and Bronze Age People in Lithuania. Istorija, 45: 3–12.Google Scholar
Antanaitis, I., Riehl, S., Kisielienė, D. & Kelertas, K. 2000. The Evolution of the Subsistence Economy and Archaeobotanical Research in Lithuania. Lietuvos archeologija, 19: 47–67.Google Scholar
Antanaitis-Jacobs, I. & Girininkas, A. 2002. Periodization and Chronology of the Neolithic in Lithuania. Archaeologia Baltica, 5: 9–39.Google Scholar
Antanaitis-Jacobs, I., Kisielienė, D. & Stančikaitė, M. 2004. Archeobotanika Lietuvoje: makrobotaniniai ir palinologiniai tyrinėjimai. Lietuvos archologija, 26: 77–98.Google Scholar
Antanaitis-Jacobs, I., Richards, M., Daugnora, L., Jankauskas, R. & Ogrinc, N. 2009. Diet in Early Lithuanian Prehistory and the New Stable Isotope Evidence. Archaeologia Baltica, 12: 12–30.Google Scholar
Behre, K.-E. 1992. The History of Rye Cultivation in Europe. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 1: 141–56.Google Scholar
Behre, K.-E. 2007. Evidence for Mesolithic Agriculture in and around Central Europe? Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 16: 203–19.Google Scholar
Boivin, N., Fuller, D.Q. & Crowther, A. 2012. Old World Globalization and the Columbian Exchange: Comparison and Contrast. World Archaeology, 44: 452–69.Google Scholar
Butrimas, A. 1996. Šarnelės neolito gyvenvietė. Lietuvos archeologija, 14: 174–91.Google Scholar
Clarke, R.C. & Merlin, M.D. 2015. Letter to the Editor: Small, Ernest. 2015. Evolution and Classification of Cannabis sativa (Marijuana, Hemp) in Relation to Human Utilization. Botanical Review, 81(3): 189–294. Botanical Review, 81: 295–305.Google Scholar
Clarke, R.C. & Merlin, M.D. 2016. Cannabis Taxonomy: The ‘sativa’ vs ‘indica’ Debate. HerbalGram, 110: 32–36.Google Scholar
Cramp, L.J.E., Evershed, R.P., Lavento, M., Halinen, P., Mannermaa, K., Oinonen, M., Kettunen, J., Perola, M., Onkamo, P. & Heyd, V. 2014. Neolithic Dairy Farming at the Extreme of Agriculture in Northern Europe. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 281(1791). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0819Google Scholar
de Klerk, P., Couwenberg, J. & Joosten, H. 2015. Pollen and Macrofossils Attributable to Fagopyrum in Western Eurasia Prior to the Late Medieval: An Intercontinental Mystery. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 440: 1–21.Google Scholar
Girininkas, A. 2009. Akmens amžius. Lietuvos archeologija, T. 1. Vilnius: Versus aureus.Google Scholar
Girininkas, A. & Daugnora, L. 2015. Ūkis ir visuomenė Lietuvos priešistorėje, T. 1. Klaipėda: Klaipėdos Universiteto Leidykla.Google Scholar
Grikpėdis, M. & Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G. 2016. The Beginnings of Rye (Secale cereale) Cultivation in the East Baltics. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 25: 601–10.Google Scholar
Heron, C., Craig, O.E., Luquin, A., Steele, V.J., Thompson, A. & Piličiauskas, G. 2015. Cooking Fish and Drinking Milk? Patterns in Pottery Use in the Southeastern Baltic, 3300–2400 cal bc. Journal of Archaeological Science, 63: 33–43.Google Scholar
Herva, V.-P., Mokkonen, T. & Nordqvist, K. 2017. A Northern Neolithic? Clay Work, Cultivation and Cultural Transformations in the Boreal Zone of North-Eastern Europe, c. 5300–3000 bc. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 36: 25–41.Google Scholar
Heydeck, J. 1909. Kultur- und Wohnstätten der Steinzeit in Ostpreussen. Sitzungsberichte der Altertumsgesellschaft Prussia, 22: 202–06.Google Scholar
Jones, E.R., Zarina, G., Moiseyev, V., Lightfoot, E., Nigst, P.R., Manica, A., Pinhasi, R. & Bradley, D.G. 2017. The Neolithic Transition in the Baltic Was Not Driven by Admixture with Early European Farmers. Current Biology, 27: 1–7.Google Scholar
Juodagalvis, V. & Balakauskas, L. 2012. Gamtos ir kultūros raidos bruožai Amalvo ir Žuvinto tarpežeryje. Lietuvos archeologija, 38: 53–106.Google Scholar
Kontrimas, D. 2015. Kvietinių pilkapyno aplinka. Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai Lietuvoje 2014 metais. Vilnius: Society of Lithuanian Archaeology, pp. 46–51.Google Scholar
Kriiska, A. 2009. The Beginning of Farming in the Eastern Baltic. In: Dolukhanov, P.M., Sarson, G.R. & Shukurov, A.M., eds. The East European Plain on the Eve of Agriculture. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 159–79.Google Scholar
Lahtinen, M. & Rowley-Conwy, P. 2013. Early Farming in Finland: Was There Cultivation Before the Iron Age (500 bc)? European Journal of Archaeology, 16: 660–84.Google Scholar
Lang, V. 2007. The Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Estonia. Estonian archaeology 3. Tartu: Tartu University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavento, M. 2012. Cultivation among Hunter-Gatherers in Finland: Evidence of Activated Connections? In: Grünthal, R. & Kallio, P., eds. A Linguistic Map of Prehistoric Northern Europe. Helsinki: Société Finno-Ougrienne, pp. 1–40.Google Scholar
Merlin, M. 2003. Archaeological Evidence for the Tradition of Psychoactive Plant Use in the Old World. Economic Botany, 57: 295–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G. 2007. Living on the Lake and Farming the Land. Archaeobotanical Investigation on Luokesai I Lake Dwelling Site. Lietuvos Archeologija, 31: 123–38.Google Scholar
Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., Hunt, H.V. & Jones, M.K. 2012. Experimental Approaches to Understanding Variation in Grain Size in Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet) and its Relevance for Interpreting Archaeobotanical Assemblages. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 21: 69–77.Google Scholar
Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., Staff, R.A., Hunt, H.V., Liu, X. & Jones, M.K. 2013. The Early Chronology of Broomcorn Millet (Panicum miliaceum) in Europe. Antiquity, 87: 1073–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordqvist, K. & Herva, V.-P. 2013. Copper Use, Cultural Change and Neolithization in North-Eastern Europe (c. 5500–1800 bc). European Journal of Archaeology, 16: 401–32.Google Scholar
Nowak, M. 2007. Middle and Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers in East Central Europe: Changing Paradigms of the ‘Non-Neolithic’ Way of Life. Documenta Praehistorica, 34: 89–103.Google Scholar
Nowak, M. 2013. Neolithisation in Polish Territories: Different Patterns, Different Perspectives, and Marek Zvelebil's Ideas. Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica, Natural Sciences in Archaeology, 4: 85–96.Google Scholar
Oinonen, M., Vasks, A., Zarina, G. & Lavento, M. 2013. Stones, Bones, and Hillfort: Radiocarbon Dating of Kivutkalns Bronze-Working Center. Radiocarbon, 55: 1252–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onnela, J., Lempiäinen, T. & Luoto, J. 1996. Viking Age Cereal Cultivation in SW Finland: A Study of Charred Grain from Pahamäki in Pahka, Lieto. Annales Botanici Fennici, 33: 237–55.Google Scholar
Oras, E., Lucquin, A., Lougas, L., Torv, M., Kriiska, A. & Craig., O.E. 2017. The Adoption of Pottery by North-East European Hunter-Gatherers: Evidence from lipid Residue Analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 78: 112–19.Google Scholar
Piličiauskas, G. 2016. Lietuvos pajūris subneolite ir neolite. Žemės ūkio pradžia. Lietuvos archeologija, 42: 25–103.Google Scholar
Piličiauskas, G., Kisielienė, D. & Piličiauskienė, G. 2016. Deconstructing the Concept of Subneolithic Farming in the Southeastern Baltic. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 26: 183–93.Google Scholar
Piličiauskas, G., Jankauskas, R., Piličiauskienė, G. & Dupras, T. 2017. Reconstructing Subneolithic and Neolithic Diets of the Inhabitants of the SE Baltic Coast (3100–2500 cal bc) Using Stable Isotope Analysis. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 24 (January) [online] [accessed 14 March 2017]. doi:10.1007/s12520-017-0463-zGoogle Scholar
Pollmann, B. 2014. Environment and Agriculture of the Transitional Period from the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age in the Eastern Baltic: An Archaeobotanical Case Study of the Lakeshore Settlement Luokesa 1, Lithuania. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 23: 403–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poska, A. & Saarse, L. 2006. New Evidence of Possible Crop Introduction to North-Eastern Europe during the Stone Age. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 15: 169–79.Google Scholar
Price, T.D. 2000. The Introduction of Farming in Northern Europe. In: Price, T.D., ed. Europe's First Farmers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 260–99.Google Scholar
Rasiņš, A. & Tauriņa, M. 1983. Pārskats par Latvijas PSR arheoloģiskajos izrakumos konstatētajām kultūraugu un nezāļu sēklām. Arheoloģija un etnogrāfija, 14: 152–75.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Ramsey, C.B., Buck, C.E., Cheng, H., Edwards, R.L., Friedrich, M., Grootes, P.M., Guilderson, T.P., Haflidason, H., Hajdas, I., Hatté, C., Heaton, T.J., Hoffmann, D.L., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kaiser, K.F., Kromer, B., Manning, S.W., Niu, M., Reimer, R.W., Richards, D.A., Scott, E.M., Southon, J.R., Staff, R.A., Turney, C.S.M. & van der Plicht, J. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 years cal bp. Radiocarbon, 55: 1869–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rimantienė, R. 1989. Nida: senųjų baltų gyvenvietė. Vilnius: Mokslas.Google Scholar
Rimantienė, R. 1992a. Neolithic Hunter-Gatherers at Šventoji in Lithuania. Antiquity, 66: 367–76.Google Scholar
Rimantienė, R. 1992b. Žemės ūkio pradžia Lietuvoje. Lietuvos archeologija, 9: 120–26.Google Scholar
Rimantienė, R. 1992c. The Neolithic of the Eastern Baltic. Journal of World Prehistory, 6: 97–143.Google Scholar
Rimantienė, R. 1996. Akmens amžius Lietuvoje. Vilnius: Žiburio leidykla.Google Scholar
Stančikaitė, M. 2004. Gamtinės aplinkos kaitos ypatumai vėlyvojo ledynmečio ir holoceno laikotarpiu. Lietuvos Archeologija, 26: 135–48.Google Scholar
Stančikaitė, M. 2013. Palinologiniai tyrimai. In: Merkevičius, A., ed. Metodai Lietuvos archeologijoje. Vilnius: Vilniaus Universiteto Leidykla, pp. 350–65.Google Scholar
Stančikaitė, M., Kabailienė, M., Ostrauskas, T. & Guobytė, R. 2002. Environment and Man around Lakes Dūba and Pelesa, SE Lithuania, during the Late Glacial and Holocene. Geological Quarterly, 46: 391–409.Google Scholar
Stančikaitė, M., Baltrūnas, V., Šinkūnas, P., Kisielienė, D. & Ostrauskas, T. 2006. Human Response to the Holocene Environmental Changes in the Biržulis Lake Region, NW Lithuania. Quaternary International, 150: 113–29.Google Scholar
Vanhanen, S. & Koivisto, S. 2015. Pre-Roman Iron Age Settlement Continuity and Cereal Cultivation in Coastal Finland as Shown by Multiproxy Evidence at Bäljars 2 Site in SW Finland. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, 1: 38–52.Google Scholar
Vengalis, R., Juškaitis, V., Pilkauskas, M. & Kozakaitė, J. 2016. Kvietinių senovės gyvenvietė ir pilkapynas. Archeologiniai tyrinėjimai Lietuvoje 2015 metais. Vilnius: Society of Lithuanian Archaeology, pp. 74–86.Google Scholar
Vuorela, I. & Lempiäinen, T. 1988. Archaeobotany of the Site of the Oldest Cereal Grain Find in Finland. Annales Botanici Fennici, 25: 33–45.Google Scholar
Zohary, D., Hopf, M. & Weiss, E. 2012. Domestication of Plants in the Old World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zvelebil, M. 2001. The Agricultural Transition and the Origins of Neolithic Society in Europe. Documenta Praehistorica, 28: 1–26.Google Scholar
Zvelebil, M. 2006. Mobility, Contact, and Exchange in the Baltic Sea Basin 6000–2000 bc. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 25: 178–92.Google Scholar