Environmental Changes in the Balearic Islands (Burjachs et al, 2016)

As surprising as this may be, the Balearic Islands were unoccupied until around 2,200 B.C.  If before this, then it must have been an almost invisibly small population.

In essence, it is at the cusp of the Beaker period that humans begin occupying the islands and very quickly a number of its weird native animals suddenly go extinct and massive soil erosion begins taking place.  It is within this frame that it was speculated (maybe Waldren?) that people with a Beaker identity were responsible, as I believed due to slash and burn agricultural practices.

At least from the abstract, this process was independent of human activity and began occurring before human occupation and those climatic factors are almost totally responsible.  Maybe there is a combination of climate change that is exasperated by human activity.

Overview of environmental changes and human colonization in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean) and their impacts on vegetation composition during the Holocene

Francesc Burjachs, , Ramon Pérez-Obiol, , Llorenç Picornell-Gelabert, , Jordi Revelles, , Gabriel Servera-Vives, , Isabel Expósito, , Errikarta-Imanol Yll,
(2016) Journal of Archaeological Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.09.018

Abstract

According to radiometric dates and the current state of research, the Balearic Islands were not colonized by humans prior to c. 4420/4220 cal yr BP. Therefore, it is possible to know the natural evolution of the landscape of the Balearic Islands for the first two-thirds of the Holocene (c. 10,000 to c. 4300 cal yr BP). This study aims to improve our understanding of the respective roles of human societies and/or climate in the transformation of vegetation cover during the Late Holocene in this Western Mediterranean archipelago. The results show the importance and control of climate oscillations in the evolution of vegetation throughout the Early and Middle Holocene. Our data clearly show that the transformation of the landscape started before the first human settlements. In Minorca (north-eastern Gymnesian Islands), this upheaval occurred between 5825 and 4675 cal yr BP (fourth to third millennium BC), while in Majorca (the largest of the Gymnesian Islands) the transition is less well dated, oscillating between 7169 and 2535 cal yr BP. In the southern Pityusic Islands, observed changes in Ibiza are less pronounced and coincide with the 4.2 cal kyr BP climate event, synchronous with human colonization. The correlation between forest fires and rapid climate events, as well as the resilience of vegetation until the Middle Ages (tenth century) in Ibiza, suggest that the evolution of climatic conditions is the preponderant parameter for explaining Holocene vegetation changes on these islands.

"7 Bizarre Ancient Cutlures"

Andrew sends clickbait via LiveScience

"7 Bizarre Ancient Cultures That History Forgot"

7 of 7 is the Beaker Phenomenon..

Oliver Lermercier made this point in a recent presentation, that 'the real enigma of the Beaker Culture is not the Beakers themselves, but the limits of archaeological science given such a narrow period so distant in the past and without a historical record' or that effect.

And to that point, as this distance in time is closed with decades of research to come, maybe the adjective 'enigma' will be replaced with 'pioneering' as the people of this time become slightly less mysterious and much more personable.

Origin of Domestic Cats

Of cats and men: the paleogenetic history of the dispersal of cats in the ancient world
bioRxiv preprint first posted online Oct. 9, 2016; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/080028.
[Link]

Abstract

The origin and dispersal of the domestic cat remain elusive despite its importance to human societies around the world. Archaeological evidence for domestication centers in the Near East and in Egypt is contested, and genetic data on modern cats show that Felis silvestris lybica, the subspecies of wild cat inhabiting at present the Near East and Northern Africa, is the only ancestor of the domestic cat. Here we provide the first broad geographic and chronological dataset of ancient cat mtDNA sequences, drawing on archaeological specimens from across western Eurasia and northern and eastern Africa,
dating from throughout the Holocene and spanning ~9,000 years. We characterized the ancient phylogeography of F. s. lybica, showing that it expanded up to southeastern Europe prior to the Neolithic, and reconstructed the subsequent movements that profoundly transformed its distribution and shaped its early cultural history. We found that maternal lineages from both the Near East and Egypt contributed to the gene pool of the domestic cat at different historical times, with the Near Eastern population providing the first major contribution during the Neolithic and the Egyptian cat spreading efficiently across the Old World during the Classical period. This expansion pattern and range suggest dispersal along maritime and terrestrial routes of trade and connectivity. Late trait selection is suggested by the first occurrence in our dataset of the major allele for blotched-tabby body marking not earlier than during the Late Middle Ages.

Upcoming Stuff...

Here's some upcoming symposiums:


1.  Archéologie et Gobelets XXI

May 17-21 in Kiel. Societe Prehistorique Francaise [Link]

 

"Preliminary programme

Wednesday 17th May 2017
Arrival, registration and welcome/reception

Thursday 18th May 2017
Session I: “Beakerscapes”: New Perspectives on the Bell Beaker Phenomenon
Conference dinner

Friday 19th May 2017
Excursion around Kiel

Saturday 20th May 2017
Session II: Beyond the Beaker: New Finds, Methods and Data
Practical workshop: bring your own Beakers!"*

(From the Call for papers [Link])

2.  Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Research Student Symposium

November 18, 19 at UCL London [Link and Link]

"The 3rd symposium aims to explore how archaeological research can aid our understanding of social change during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods (4000 – 1500 cal. BC), both in the UK and beyond. The theme of this year’s conference; ‘anarchy in the UK?’, challenges speakers to construct alternative pasts that either diverge from, disrupt, or invert linear narratives of social evolution. Must ‘progress’ remain inextricably linked with increasing levels of hierarchical control, or does the evidence suggest a more chaotic and socially pluralistic past?"

Brotlaibidol, Brotlaibidole, Loaf Idols

What the heck are these things?! 

Via Welt

The above brotlaibidol came out of grave that is being called "Prince of the Nebra Sky Disk".  Story at Welt.

Brotlaibidol aus Mangolding Lkr. Regensburg (commons)

Brotlaibidol (German) or Brotlaibidole (Italian) or in English commonly known as "loaf idols", they appear from North Central Italy and Slovakia to Northern Germany in the Bronze Age, mostly with cultures born from or influenced by the prior Bell Beaker including Polada, Terremerre and Unetice, although one partial loaf from Italy appears to be from a Beaker context at the turn of the 2nd millennium.

These are called "loaf idols" and are rather small, usually made of unbaked clay in a tiny tablet format.  Some appear to have been painted red and included white encrustation, similar to Beaker pottery, which may further highlight their funerary function.

There is a great question as to what these objects were for.  Do they contain primitive proto-writing like the pre-Elamite tablets?  Are they stamps for leather or another material?  Do they record quantitative or contractual information in primitive way?

Closeup from the Polada Culture

Seeing 3D images might be helpful from The Brotlaibidole project.