Hunter–gatherer migrations, mobility and social relations: A case study from the Early Bronze Age Baikal region, Siberia

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Abstract

A large data set of geochemical data (87Sr/86Sr, 14C, δ13C, and δ15N) was obtained for a middle Holocene Early Bronze Age Khuzhir-Nuge XIV cemetery (∼4650–3950 cal. BP) in the Baikal region of Siberia. This material is analyzed at the individual level and in the context of demographic data and spatial arrangements within the cemetery revealing a number of new insights about hunter–gatherer adaptive strategies in the region. During the Early Bronze Age, the Little Sea area of the Baikal region witnessed entire hunter–gatherer families migrating there from other parts of the Cis-Baikal, such as the Angara and upper Lena valleys. While all larger spatial units discernible at Khuzhir-Nuge XIV, such as the East, Centre, and West Sectors, scattered graves, and rows of graves, included individuals of local and non-local birth, it is evident that the area of origin was an important cultural variable well marked in the various smaller spatial arrangements such as the rows, sub-sectors, and groups of graves. The two different diets identified among the analyzed group of people (Game-Fish-Seal and Game-Fish) show interesting spatial distribution patterns. While both diets are present in the East and Centre Sectors, the West Sector is composed only of individuals characterized by the GFS diet. All locals subsisted on the GFS diet, while the non-locals featured a mix of individuals with either GFS or GF diet. It appears that status was not linked to the area of origin, for individuals of both local (GFS) and non-local diet (GF) were buried within the “rich” East Sector, however, in spatially separate arrangements suggesting further that the area of origin was an important social distinction among these high status individuals. The similarity in diet catchment patterns and diets for individuals interred in the same graves and row, and the differences between some rows, suggest existence of distinct foraging ranges used by separate social units, such as families.

Highlights

► Individual life histories, travel, migrations, and marriage patterns. ► Human bioarchaeology, bone chemistry and geochemical tracers. ► Variability in diet and subsistence strategies. ► Variability in human behavior and cultural change.

Section snippets

Goals and context

Hunter–gatherer mobility, referred to also as migrations, travel or movement, has been a traditional focus of much ethnographic and archaeological research. A few of the existing hunter–gatherer heuristic devices, for example foragers v. collectors and travelers v. processors models (Bettinger, 1991, Binford, 1980), explicitly involve individual and/or group mobility as their principal defining characteristic, while others, for example the generalized foraging model, immediate- and

Approach

The methods of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes have been used widely and effectively in archaeology over the last 30–40 years to study past diets, subsistence, social organization, and migrations. Radiocarbon dating has also been a pillar of archaeological work for almost six decades and with the introduction of the AMS technique it has brought about promising new applications. These methods do not require introduction here.

Lake Baikal hunter–gatherers and the strontium method

In hunter–gatherers, mobility is a complex variable described by such parameters as the number of residential moves per year, average and total distance covered by residential moves, size of the foraging range, number of logistical mobility days, and the distance and area covered, etc. (Binford, 2001, Kelly, 1995) with additional variation resulting from the age and sex of the traveling individuals. Long-term and long-distance migrations from one area to another are also an important parameter

Materials and methods

The KNXIV cemetery is situated within the Little Sea micro-region located along the mid-part of the northwestern coast of Lake Baikal. The area includes Ol’khon Island, the mainland across from it, and the shallow part of the lake between them. The Little Sea and the Angara and Lena river valleys form three distinct archaeological micro-regions of Cis-Baikal (Fig. 1). The site occupies a gentle slope of a hill on the west coast of the Little Sea near the southern end of Ol’khon Island and ∼3 km

Khuzhir-Nuge XIV chronology

Almost all KNXIV burials have been dated by the AMS technique producing a data set consisting of ∼90 determinations (Weber et al., 2005). While at the face value the EBA dates cover a long period of ∼1900 radiocarbon years, systematic analysis of this material reveals a much different picture. Excluding all dates with collagen yields ⩽1%, which are believed to stand a high chance of being inaccurate, eliminating next the dates for which the collagen yields have not been reported, and applying

Khuzhir-Nuge XIV diet

Studies of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in human and animal bones documented a diet of all Middle Holocene hunter–gatherer groups in the Baikal region as consisting largely of ungulate, fish, and seal meat (Katzenberg and Weber, 1999, Katzenberg et al., 2009, Katzenberg et al., 2010, Katzenberg et al., in press, Lam, 1994, Weber et al., 2002, Weber et al., 2011). Stable isotope results are variable along the nitrogen and carbon axes at both the individual and sample levels. This

Local 87Sr/86Sr signatures in Cis-Baikal

An obvious starting point in studies based on the Sr approach is determination of the local signal for it allows identification of contrasting non-local signatures in the examined data set. Such contrasts, if present, can further be used to infer migration and mobility patterns between regions with different background 87Sr/86Sr values. Regardless of the kind of adaptive strategy examined, e.g., farmers or hunter–gatherers, the local signal concept is directly related to the concept of diet

Locals and non-locals at Khuzhir-Nuge XIV

Accepting the three micro-regional 87Sr/86Sr signatures (Table 4) as the point of departure for the remainder of this examination, the KNXIV data clearly imply presence of local and non-local 87Sr/86Sr signatures among all three sets of tooth results (Fig. 4). Of course, if everyone traveled back and forth all the time, as in some sort of seasonal round, everyone would have identical 87Sr/86Sr values throughout their entire life spans. Similarly, if everyone spent their entire lives in the same

Spatial patterns at Khuzhir-Nuge XIV

The KNXIV cemetery features two distinct spatial layouts (Fig. 2, Table 2). First, 35 of the 78 Glazkovo graves were arranged into 10 rows, while the remaining 43 were scattered about. All graves with multiple burials belonged in rows, and all subadults but one were also interred within rows. Second, a combination of spatial and archaeological criteria identified the presence of three distinct sectors of graves. Further discussion of this topic aims to test the hypothesis that all spatial

Diets, sectors, birth, and red deer canines

With not much room left for examination of the spatial and geochemical data in the context of grave goods, we will talk briefly only about one such item, namely red deer canines of which 128 were found in direct association with 19 EBA burials in 17 graves, but 2 of these with 5 teeth were not tested for diet (Table 2). Although red deer canines alone do not define any of the three spatial sectors at KNXIV, which are instead identified on the basis of several mortuary variables, the canines

Summary and conclusion

This study reveals a number of new insights regarding migrations, mobility, diet, foraging, cemetery use, and social organization of these hunter–gatherers:

  • 1.

    During the EBA, the Little Sea area witnessed entire hunter–gatherer families migrating there from other parts of Cis-Baikal, such as the upper Lena and Angara valleys, and joining other families who were already established there.

  • 2.

    The same geochemical evidence suggests development of a seasonal migration round connecting some other area of

Acknowledgments

This research is part of the Baikal Archaeology Project based at the University of Alberta and funded by two Major Collaborative Research Initiative Grants No. 412-2000-1000 and 412-2005-1004 awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Special thanks go to Drs. R. Beukens, R. Creaser, C. Haverkort, M.A. Katzenberg, and A. Simonetti who were involved in the various laboratory analyses employed in this study and to all our colleagues and students associated with the

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