DOI Artikel:
Rimantienė, Rimutė: Substantial remains of incipient Neolithic agriculture at Šventoji 6, a Narwa culture settlement in Lithuania
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49004#0105
TOOLS & TILLAGE VII 2-3 1993-1994
93
Fig. 2. The stone hoes. Drawn by RR. □ Felsge-
steinhacken von Sventoji 6.
The radiocarbon dates from these Middle
Neolithic settlements are seen in the Table:1
The settlement strip of Sventoji 6 com-
prised a complex of different tools for tillage,
the hand ards.2 from the first half of the 3rd
millennium BC together with e.g. short shov-
els and hoes made of wood, stone or elk-
antlers. The same tool could be used in col-
lecting edible plants as well as in intensive
agriculture in nursing useful nutritious plants
in small plots by the women, while the men
were occupied in fishing and hunting. But
wear marks could indicate their use. In Sven-
toji 6 there were found eight stone hoes made
of slightly fashioned pebbles with striations
and wear on their points from working in the
soil. Their lengths varied from 10.5 to 16 cm
(Fig. 2). Some were rather thin and must pre-
sumably have been parts of wooden hoes.
Three of these, all badly preserved, but still
Lab. No.
Settlement
Conv. C14 years
BP
Calibr. in
calendar years
Calibrated
± 1 stand, dev.
Vib-9
Sventoji 3B
4410T70 BP
3030 BC
3260-2920 BC
Vib-1
Sventoji 23
4190±80 BP
2870-2710 BC
2890-2620 BC
Vs-500
Sventoji 6
4070T110 BP
2580 BC
2870-2460 BC
Traces of agricultural activities were evident
in all these middle Neolithic settlements. But
the most distinct finds were found at the set-
tlement 6 of Sventoji. In 1983-1987 an area of
2276 m2 was uncovered and the border reach-
ed. The “gyttja” mixed clay of 10-20 cm
thickness proved to be sealed by a 5-10 cm
thick sterile layer of clay and on top of this
30-60 cm of peat-humus. The cultural layer
was settled on top of an aleurite-“gyttja”
layer of the original shore. But it had some-
time been disturbed by casual floodings of
which the last one had pushed the settlement
layer together into a 150 m long and about
20-30 m wide bench or strip. Only some
posts that had been driven deep into the sub-
soil had resisted the pressure of floods.
with a piece of the angled handle, are shown
in Fig. 3. The short shovels of elk antler
(Fig. 4) had comfortable rounded handles.
They are respectively 24 cm and 23.5 cm long
and the points are worn. Such shovels might
probably also have been used for the making
of furrows. Similar hand ards of antler are
known from Neolithic monuments in Bulga-
ria (Skakun 1986). One of 50 cm length with a
perforation (either for a cross peg but most
probably for a rope) came from Zedmar, now
Serowo, in the Kaliningrad province of SNG
(or Russia) (Gaerte 1929 Fig. 38 A; Engel
1935 pl. 19B; g) (Fig. 5).3
In the present connection the discovery in
Sventoji 6 of four wooden tools of tillage is of
special importance (Fig. 6 and 9:1). They all
93
Fig. 2. The stone hoes. Drawn by RR. □ Felsge-
steinhacken von Sventoji 6.
The radiocarbon dates from these Middle
Neolithic settlements are seen in the Table:1
The settlement strip of Sventoji 6 com-
prised a complex of different tools for tillage,
the hand ards.2 from the first half of the 3rd
millennium BC together with e.g. short shov-
els and hoes made of wood, stone or elk-
antlers. The same tool could be used in col-
lecting edible plants as well as in intensive
agriculture in nursing useful nutritious plants
in small plots by the women, while the men
were occupied in fishing and hunting. But
wear marks could indicate their use. In Sven-
toji 6 there were found eight stone hoes made
of slightly fashioned pebbles with striations
and wear on their points from working in the
soil. Their lengths varied from 10.5 to 16 cm
(Fig. 2). Some were rather thin and must pre-
sumably have been parts of wooden hoes.
Three of these, all badly preserved, but still
Lab. No.
Settlement
Conv. C14 years
BP
Calibr. in
calendar years
Calibrated
± 1 stand, dev.
Vib-9
Sventoji 3B
4410T70 BP
3030 BC
3260-2920 BC
Vib-1
Sventoji 23
4190±80 BP
2870-2710 BC
2890-2620 BC
Vs-500
Sventoji 6
4070T110 BP
2580 BC
2870-2460 BC
Traces of agricultural activities were evident
in all these middle Neolithic settlements. But
the most distinct finds were found at the set-
tlement 6 of Sventoji. In 1983-1987 an area of
2276 m2 was uncovered and the border reach-
ed. The “gyttja” mixed clay of 10-20 cm
thickness proved to be sealed by a 5-10 cm
thick sterile layer of clay and on top of this
30-60 cm of peat-humus. The cultural layer
was settled on top of an aleurite-“gyttja”
layer of the original shore. But it had some-
time been disturbed by casual floodings of
which the last one had pushed the settlement
layer together into a 150 m long and about
20-30 m wide bench or strip. Only some
posts that had been driven deep into the sub-
soil had resisted the pressure of floods.
with a piece of the angled handle, are shown
in Fig. 3. The short shovels of elk antler
(Fig. 4) had comfortable rounded handles.
They are respectively 24 cm and 23.5 cm long
and the points are worn. Such shovels might
probably also have been used for the making
of furrows. Similar hand ards of antler are
known from Neolithic monuments in Bulga-
ria (Skakun 1986). One of 50 cm length with a
perforation (either for a cross peg but most
probably for a rope) came from Zedmar, now
Serowo, in the Kaliningrad province of SNG
(or Russia) (Gaerte 1929 Fig. 38 A; Engel
1935 pl. 19B; g) (Fig. 5).3
In the present connection the discovery in
Sventoji 6 of four wooden tools of tillage is of
special importance (Fig. 6 and 9:1). They all