Sinkers and composite fishing hooks in the Neolithic of Eastern Baltic. Slate artefacts from Berezovo 2 (Karelian Isthmus, North-West Russia).

Abstract

Representative collection of slate fishing inventory was obtained from Beresovo 2 archaeological site in the Karelian Isthmus, North-West Russia. This material is attributed to the Middle-Late Neolithic, 4th ka BC. Series of typologically pronounced tools display variety of fishing equipment and imply diversified methods of fishing. Technological context allows discussing advantages of soft and foliated slate for making fishing and hunting equipment, and connections between bone and slate processing technologies. Slate artefacts were well-presented in the Eastern Fennoscandia, including the Karelian Isthmus, during the whole Stone Age. They also were in use later, in the Middle Ages and up to the Early Modern period. Such a long-term technological tradition was based on availability of this raw material in the regions with lack of local flint outcrops; and also on its physical characteristics that made slate good for processing using knapping, flaking, sawing and finally grinding (polishing) techniques. Different kinds of slate raw material were used within the industry, and they could be used for making implements of different categories. Slate sinkers and fishing hook parts are known in the Neolithic archaeological contexts of the Eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and particularly on the Karelian Isthmus for more than a century. Julius Ailio described a fishing rod sinker from the former Finnish municipality Kaukola on the Karelian Isthmus which he called “Angelsenker” (Ailio 1909, fig. 41 – 43; pl. I: 50). Sakari Pälsi published six beautifully crafted stems of various types, found in the same area, including one with a drilled hole (Pälsi 1915, pl. XI: 1 – 6). Similar artefacts were found in the Neolithic sites that were excavated and studied in Finland in the first half of the 20th century in Finnish provinces Northern and Southern Karelia, including the Karelian Isthmus. Rapid increasing of amount of slate artefacts including fishing hooks and line-sinkers in Finland and Karelia associates with Middle Neolithic Typical Comb Ware culture, the 1st half of the 4th ka BC (Núñez 1998, 112). Fishing tools were rather often discussed in archaeological literature within the general problematic concerning prehistoric subsistence strategies, in relation with fishing methods and osteological collections from archaeological sites (e.g. Äyräpää 1950; Carpelan 1999; Mökkönen 2001; Nurminen 2007; Núñez 2009; Pälsi 1915; Ukkonen 2004). But until the beginning of the 21st century there were no special studies on slate fishing tools. Typology of slate fishing tools for the territory of the Karelian Isthmus and entire Finland was developed by Eero Naskali in the MA. Thesis at the Department of Archaeology, University of Helsinki (Naskali 2004). A large collection of slate artefacts was obtained from a multiperiod archaeological site Berezovo 2 that has been completely studied in 2018 with 1700 sq.m excavation area (Gerasimov/Tkach/Goncharova 2018). It is situated in the Karelian Isthmus, at the North-West shore of the Ladoga Lake, close to the famous archaeological sites in Kaukola parish, nowadays Sevastyanovo village in the Leningrad region, Russia (Fig. 1). Archaeological finds of typologically pronounced types indicate that several cultural contexts were represented at the site (Late Mesolithic – 7 – 6 ka BC; Middle to Late Neolithic and Eneolithic – 4–beginning of the 3 ka BC), single artefacts of later eras up to the Modern time were also found. RoMAN I. MUR AVEV – EVGENIA S. TK ACH – DMITR I y V. GER ASIMoV 200 The site was located on a sandy terrace 25 m a.s.l. at the southern slope of a fluvial-glacial hill. According to the local shoreline chronology (e.g. Saarnisto 2008) the terrace could be formed during the ancient Ancylus Lake transgression maximum about 8500 cal BC. After that time the terrace was available and attracting for settling, as the Ladoga Lake shoreline was in several meters from the terrace edge till the Neva River breakthrough about 1200 cal BC, and the site location was at the southern shore of an island 1 x 1 km in size. In the most part of the site area the finds were obtained from the sandy-gravel fluvial-glacial sediments, where they penetrated from the habitation surface in the past. There were several structures (ancient pits, hearths, remains of one dwelling) in the central part of the terrace with a lens of sorted sand. They mainly contained Middle and Late Neolithic contexts. It is worthwhile to clarify the differences in the regional periodization systems that are used within the discussing territory. In the Finnish periodization the Late Neolithic covers the third millennium BC, while in the North-West Russia the same time relates to the Eneolithic or the Early Metal Age (Nordqvist 2018, 51, fig. 11). Representative series of slate fishing tools from the site can be considered as a part of the Late Neolithic archaeological context basing on the reference material; and allow discussing typology and technology of this specific category of artefacts. The slate assemblage contains more than 1100 artefacts, total weight over 4 kg. It consists of series of projectile points, chopping tools (adzes, shaft hole axe, different kinds of miniature adzes), and also piercers, knife-like tools, pendants and some other categories. Fishing tools – sinkers and composite fishing hooks – make a significant category of artefacts. Besides the ready-made tools, numerous preforms, fragments of unfinished blanks and raw bars were found – they make about one half of the whole slate assemblage from the site. Finds were documented with a laser total station, which allowed to determine accurately location coordinates for 391 slate artefacts found in situ. In addition, during the field work, after parsing the layer with a small digging tool, whole soil was sifted through a sieve with a 3.5 mm mesh according to units 1 x 1 m (in some cases 0.5 x 0.5 m) and to arbitrary layers. The soil from the defined artificial structures was sifted separately. Sifting added 770 pieces of slate finds – mainly small fragments. Fig. 1. Berezovo 2. Location of settlement and workshop. SINKERS AND CoMPoSITE FISHING HooKS IN THE NEoLITHIC oF EASTERN BALTIC 201 Slate finds were stratigraphically distributed through four arbitrary layers in a decreasing order, while the thickness of the cultural layer was up to 40 cm. The thickness of an arbitrary layer was 5 – 7 cm and could vary when followed a surface of a distinguished lithological layer. The most of the finds were concentrated in the first (534 pieces) and the second (363 pieces) arbitrary layers. The third layer included only 78 slate finds, and just 24 were found in the fourth. oNE HUNDRED yEARS oF TyPoLoGy AND CLASSIFICATIoN General criteria for classification of slate fishing tools are mainly convinced, but defining the function of an artefact may vary depending on a stage of treatment and on different morphological characteristics. Frequent fragmentation of artefacts, as well as variety in shape, size and morphological elements make difficult their typological definition and interpretation. Also preservation of organic materials in the Stone Age assemblages of the studied region – unburnt bone, wood, resin, threads – is very bad, which minimizes the opportunity to find a complete composite fishing hook or fishing gear. Nevertheless the 10.5 thousand years old fishing net with floats and sinkers was found in the former Antrea parish in Karelian Isthmus (Pälsi 1920). The first steps to classify slate fishing hooks from Finland and Karelia, including the Karelian Isthmus, were taken by the famous Finnish archaeologist S. Pälsi (1915, 134). This typology described all the kinds of Neolithic fishing hooks known to the time, including composite tools. According to Pälsi, slate stems of composite hooks belonged to continuous typological series. Basing on analysis of morphology of stems with elongated and pointed upper end Pälsi suggested that the shape of the slate tools repeated the shape of those made of wood and bone in the earlier times (Pälsi 1915, 135). Five types of stems from the Latvian Neolithic contexts were defined by Ilga A. Zagorska basing on crossection shape and morphology of the lower part of the objects (Zagorska 1991, 54). This classification included not only slate artefacts, but fishing tools of other different materials (bone, antler, animal teeth) – all together 205 stems of composite fishing hooks (Zagorska 1991, 55, fig. 5). Stems of composite fishing hooks were found as surface finds on the shores of the Lubāns Lake and the Big Ludza Lake, as well as in the Zvejnieki burial ground, at the settlements Zvejnieki II, Riņņukalns and Abora I. Also spines were found in the same contexts but more rear. Spines are of small size, they often have sloped or extended lower part. A number of them bear traces of binding, which indicates that these points were not independent tools, but made parts of a composite hooks (Zagorska 1991, 56). Classification by E. Naskali (2004) was developed basing on collections of surface finds and excavations made in Finland in the beginning of the 20th century. The work remained unpublished and, therefore, little known. Besides the Naskali’s classification is the most recent one, it also considers the largest amount of material from a big territory. 91 stems and 222 sinkers were analysed in the study, about a half of the items originate from the Southern Finland and from the Karelian Isthmus (former Finnish, nowadays Russian territory). Thus the classification was based on the materials that are the most relevant for comparing with Berezovo 2 collection in geographical, chronological and cultural sense. E. Naskali distinguished three types of sinkers, each of them was divided in two subtypes; and four types of composite hook stems. Slate spines for composite fishing hooks were not considered in the typology: