Social and Cultural Dynamics in the Neolithic of Baikal-Yenisey Siberia: problems, hypotheses and facts

Abstract

An assessment was made of the possibilities of using burial complexes to study social and cultural dynamics in the Neolithic of Baikal-Yenisey Siberia (~8.6–5 ka cal BP). The cultural-chronological scheme developed for the Middle Holocene of the Cis-Baikal as a result of the implementation of the Baikal Archaeological Project (BAP) is analyzed. It is concluded that the selective geographical coverage and insufficient attention to the materials of the campsites limited the possibilities of interpreting the BAP results and led to the creation of not quite correct periodization and the artificial phenomenon of hiatus, characterized by the absence of formal burials in the Middle Neolithic. The evolutionist approach of the BAP determined the nature of the concept, which implies a predominantly endogenous development of the Cis-Baikal cultures and does not take into account external factors. Based upon the correlation data of materials from burials and campsites of Baikal-Yenisey Siberia (which in the Neolithic was a single cultural area), the authors propose an alternative view of the dynamics of societies and cultures of local hunter-gatherers. According to it, there are four events that led to significant changes and three transitions, during which one or another cultural pattern was formed, have been identified. At the same time, the authors call for abandoning the use of the concept of “Late Mesolithic” for the beginning of Middle Holocene and propose to combine it with the Early Neolithic and we also make our proposals for filling the Middle Neolithic hiatus.

Keywords

• archaeology
• baikal-yenisey siberia
• neolithic
• hunter-gatherers
• burial traditions
• pottery
• radiocarbon dating
• social and cultural dynamics