Rinnukalns, a Neolithic freshwater shell midden site in northern Latvia and its significance for cultural development of the Eastern Baltic Stone Age

Rinnukalns位于拉脱维亚北部Burtnieks湖入海口的萨拉卡河上，是东波罗的海唯一层次分明的石器时代贝类中型动物。它在19世纪70年代被发现，并在随后的几十年里被挖掘了几次，但最近被附近Zvejnieki的定居点层和300多处史前墓葬所掩盖。2009年，在一次简短的水下调查中，当史前文物被发现时，Rinnukalns几乎被遗忘了。2011年，一次地球物理调查使我们得以铺设小壕沟；一次简短的挖掘证明了完整的中层沉积物的存活，并为恶性动物学、考古学、同位素和14C分析提供了样本。对19世纪发掘的动物遗骸和人类遗骸进行了定位和采样。这一应用涵盖了对剩余的地中海沉积物的挖掘和科学分析，使我们能够通过以下方式解决因Rinnukalns早期干预而产生的研究问题：-重建遗址形成过程，将早期数据与详细的地球物理勘探、取心和古环境分析以及精细挖掘相结合，以揭示占领历史(例如，垂直和水平地层、中期前人类活动、埋葬时间相对于国内活动)-利用Rinnukals对鱼类和贝类的特殊保存条件，详细了解不同水生物种的开发(例如，季节性、选择性、通过考古学和同位素分析--使用14C和稳定的同位素特征作为人类饮食和流动性的示踪物，量化来自不同栖息地和生态位的水生物种内部和之间淡水水库效应和稳定同位素的变异性，利用植物遗骸的考古植物学和同位素分析，了解野生植物食物的饮食意义--使用来自Rinnukalns的人类遗骸，与爱沙尼亚Zvejnieki和Tamula的同时代埋葬相比较，作为关于新石器时代社会的信息来源，记录骨骼保存和死后变化、创伤和/或病理造成的损害，以及饮食和流动性方面的差异--获得Rinnukalns粮食采购和粮食生产的季节性调度和整合的详细情况，以与其他有机会获得粮食生产但维持依赖水生的生活方式的人口进行比较--通过分析吸收的脂类调查陶器的实际用途和社会经济作用；中层的细粒地层提供了将陶瓷与特定食物资源的季节性加工联系起来的可能性。结果将发表在领先的同行评议期刊上；最后研讨会的会议记录将作为专著发表。

Rinnukalns, on the River Salaca at the mouth of Lake Burtnieks in northern Latvia, is the only well-stratified Stone Age shell midden in the East Baltic. It was discovered in the 1870s and excavated several times in subsequent decades, but was overshadowed more recently by the excavation of settlement layers and >300 prehistoric burials at nearby Zvejnieki. Rinnukalns was almost forgotten when prehistoric artefacts were discovered during a brief underwater survey in 2009. In 2011, a geophysical survey allowed us to lay out small trenches; a short excavation proved the survival of intact midden deposits, and provided samples for malacozoological, archaeozoological, isotopic and 14C analyses. Faunal and human remains from the 19th-century excavations were located and sampled.This application covers the excavation and scientific analysis of remaining midden deposits, allowing us to address research questions arising from earlier interventions at Rinnukalns, by: - Reconstructing site formation processes, integrating earlier data with detailed geophysical prospection, coring and palaeoenvironmental analyses, and fine-scale excavations, to reveal the history of occupation (e.g. vertical and horizontal stratigraphy, pre-midden human activity, timing of burials relative to domestic activity)- Using the exceptional preservation conditions for fish and shellfish at Rinnukalns to understand in detail the exploitation of different aquatic species (e.g. seasonality, selectivity, capture methods, processing and discard patterns), through archaeozoological and isotopic analyses- Using 14C and stable isotope signatures as tracers of human diet and mobility, quantifying variability in freshwater reservoir effects and stable isotopes within and between aquatic species from different habitats and ecological niches, and using archaeobotanical and isotopic analyses of plant remains to understand the dietary significance of wild plant foods - Using human remains from Rinnukalns, in comparison to contemporaneous burials at Zvejnieki and Tamula in Estonia, as a source of information on Neolithic society, by recording bone preservation and post-mortem changes, lesions due to trauma and/or pathologies, and differences in diet and mobility- Obtaining a detailed picture of seasonal scheduling and integration of food procurement and food production at Rinnukalns, to compare to other populations which had access to food production, but maintained an aquatic-dependent lifestyle- Investigating the practical use and socio-economic role of pottery by analysing absorbed lipids; the fine-grained stratigraphy of the midden offers the potential to link ceramics to seasonal processing of specific food resources. The results will be published in leading peer-reviewed journals; proceedings of a final workshop will be published as a monograph.