Neolithic fish remains from the freshwater shell midden Riņņukalns in northern Latvia

Abstract

The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the only freshwater shell midden in the eastern Baltic Sea area. An excavation carried out in 2011 revealed an intact stratigraphy with alternating layers of unburnt and burnt mussel shells and yielded various kinds of archaeological finds, among them several thousand fish remains. To gain an understanding of the fish species and specimens caught by the Neolithic settlers, and to discern any temporal development in the fish species composition, we analysed fish remains from different sections and layers. Results from both the archaeozoological and stable isotope data, give evidence for a change in the relevance of fish species during the period of use, and they also provide information for reconstructing the former river and lake hydrology in the vicinity of the midden. The Stone Age landscape seems to have been very similar to the present situation, so that the study area has been an extraordinarily stable ecosystem for more than 5000 years. Comparisons with the results of recent monitoring programmes, long-term changes since Medieval times, and written sources from the 18th century, show that the fish species community is almost unchanged since the Stone Age. This underlines the importance of the region in nature conservation.

Keywords:

• Archaeoichthyology
• Stable isotope analyses
• Environmental history
• Conservation biology
• Fishing

Acknowledgements

The research described in this paper has been undertaken within the frame of the strategic research theme “Man and Environment” of the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology; and within projects 09·1539, 276/2012 funded by the Latvian Council of Science, implemented at the Institute of Latvian History at the University of Latvia.

Field research at Riņņukalns in 2011 and analysis of excavated material was undertaken with support from the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, and the Baltic-German University Liaison Office with funds from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). We are grateful to Andy Gledhill (University of Bradford, United Kingdom) for conducting the EA-IRMS measurements. Two anonymous referees provided helpful comments and suggestions.