Andrzej Weber Department of Anthropology University of Alberta Seals, meals and deals: mid-Holocene feasting on Lake Baikal University of California Davis, 8 Feb., 2006 Baikal Archaeology Project
Acknowledgements Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Irkutsk State University, Russia University of Alberta, Canada
Location Shamanskii Mys Lake Baikal
Project scope and rationale
Fieldwork location KUR K14 LOK UID SHA BUR BAS
Analyses Archaeological Osteological Laboratory tests
Teeth: Sr 87 /Sr 86 C 13 O 18 Bone: Sr87/Sr86 C 13 N 15 O 18 C 14 Vertebrae: DNA
Summary of our knowledge to date Genetic and cultural discontinuity Very good health and demographic structure Variable subsistence and dietary patterns Unique level of social and political differentiation Mortuary variability Variable climatic conditions: periods of stability and instability
Main unsolved questions What are the processes behind the genetic and cultural discontinuity during the 7 th millennium BP? Why did the local hunter-gatherers go through such a cycle of social complexity? What is the role of the environment in these processes?
Enigma of Shamanskii Mys Spectacular location 11 graves excavated between 1972 and 1975 Mostly adult people Unusual grave goods Dog interments Seal remains and complete interments
Examination of seal skeletal remains Mammalian tooth anatomy Tooth thin sections
Mammalian tooth anatomy. C D2 E C D1 E D C D E PC C/E Tr C/E Tr CANINE MOLAR INCISOR CP E-enamel D-dentine C-cementum PC – pulp cavity CP – cementum pad C/E Tr – cementum enamel trnasition
Tooth thin sections 40 – 50 microns
Dentine formation in the seal of Lake Baikal
Pup of the year and 1 year old Pre-natal dentine Neonatal line Opaque Translucent Opaque
Adolescents 2 years old 3 years old
Adults More than 10 years old6 years old
Archaeological sites examined Camps Cemetery
Season of death
Age structure: Shamanskii Mys
Age structure: Shamanskii Mys and modern sample
Archaeological sites examined Camp Cemetery
Age structure: more comparison
Age structure: more analysis
Role of ice in seal behaviour and ecology December 1989January 1989
Distribution of seal population No female dens within the first 10 km east of the island Maximum density of dens of pregnant females is 1.5/km 2 WESTEAST Females Males and adolescents April 2003
The story of age profiles
Subsistence and diet of the Shamanskii Mys people
Lecture 12: Subsistence and diet. Baikal case study.
Diet of groups contemporary with Shamanskii Mys Other groups Shamanskii Mys
Post-hiatus diets Baikal Angara and Lena
Location of contemporary cemeteries Kurma Kuzhir-Nuge Uliarba
Summary: Unusual status of Shamanskii Mys Special topographic location Special group of people Special grave goods Special sacrifices Special food What is the meaning of all of this?
Feasting at Shamanskii Mys What is feasting? What is the role or function of feasting? What is the range of feasting among hunter- gatherers? What does feasting tell us about the Baikal hunter-gatherers? How does this fit with the rest of our knowledge about the Baikal hunter-gatherers?
Thank you Dziękuję