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A CASE STUDY IN ABRUPT CULTURE CHANGE:
THE COLLAPSE OF THE LATE NEOLITHIC ZAISANOVSKAYA CULTURE AND THE IMPACT OF EXPANSIVE CULTURAL INTERACTION ON THE NORTHERN SEA OF JAPAN IN THE PRIMORYE REGION OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST
J. Cassidy, N. Kononenko
For many years our understanding of the relationship between the Zaisanovska-ya and Margaritovsky archaeological cultures was confounded by post-deposition-al mixing of deposits. The identification of deposits for these two archaeological cultures at Zarya Bay, located 50 m apart, made it possible to directly compare and contrast these middle Holocene occupations on the east coast of Primorye. Radiocarbon dates of the Zaisanovskaya and Margaritovsky deposits demonstrate an abrupt transition between the two, at approximately 3550 ybp, the cause of which is still not fully understood. Ceramic residue analysis of the local diets suggests the Zaisanovskaya occupants were composed of family groups who engaged in fresh-water fishing and the hunting of migratory waterfowl from the adjacent lake and stream during the summer months. In contrast, the Margaritovsky deposits reflected smaller occupations, perhaps only logistical hunting groups, who visited the
area in the fall and engaged in the generalized foraging of both salt and fresh water fish, along with an equal quantity of birds. Stone tool raw material and reduction techniques reflect a greater degree of logistical planning on the part of the Zaisanovskaya population compared to a more expedient strategy employed by the Margaritovsky people. Plainware ceramic vessels with appliqué rims, vessels fired at higher temperatures with meander rim designs, exclusive use of white chert stone tool material, the absence of ground schist projectile points, obsidian obtained from Shkotovo Basaltic plateau, and the presence of domesticated millet all suggest a more direct relationship of the Margari-tovsky group with people who occupied the Primorye interior in the vicinity of Khanka Lake.
Keywords: Russian Primorye Region, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Zaisanovskaya culture, Margaritovskaya culture, tertiary stone tools, obsidian.
INTRODUCTION
The geographic area that encompasses the Primorye Region of today was an ecologically and culturally diverse prehistoric landscape throughout the Holocene. The rich river valley and forest habitats provided bands of hunter-gatherer-fishers abundant and predictable subsistence resources (Fig. 1). However, episodic changes in climatically linked ecological conditions, and related
КЭССИДИ, Джим - PhD, археолог, CASSIDY, Jim - PhD, Archaeologist
сотрудник Морского музея г. Сан Диего, США. at Maritime Museum of San Diego, CA, USA
E-mail: jimdcass@aol.com
КОНОНЕНКО Нина Афанасьевна - KONONENKO, Nina -
кандидат исторических наук, Австралийский PhD, Research Associate at the Australian
Национальный Музей, Сидней, Австралия. National Museum, Sydney, Australia.
E-mail: nina.kononenko@sydney.edu.au
patterns of social interaction, resulted in a dynamic and ever-changing landscape (Korotkii et al. 1988; Vostretsov 2006).
Even as far back as its founding inhabitants, Primorye existed as a frontier area of multiple and often overlapping spheres of social interaction. Periods of stability, primarily identified by widespread stylistic motifs on ceramic vessels, appear to coincide with warmer climatic intervals. In contrast, episodes of rapid culture change coincide with relatively severe cold and dry periods. The resulting impression is that resource abundance and predictability during warm periods along the east coast of Primorye led to increased interaction and cooperation between indigenous and intrusive populations. In contrast, colder climates led to periods of subsistence stress and increased competition marked by rapid culture change (Vostretsov 1998, 2006).
Consistent with the theoretical principles of behavioral ecology, innovative and cooperative behavior during times of resource abundance would lead to enhanced reproductive fitness of aggrandizing individuals (Kantner 1996; Kelly 1995). During such times increased settlement sizes, craft specialization, unequal wealth accumulation and the onset of social stratification would be expected. Suggestions of the initial stages of these elements could be seen in the developments of the Rudnaya Pristan, and Boisman 1,2 sites during the Middle Neolithic period.
Late Neolithic Zaisanovskaya Culture of Primorye
In contrast, elements of emerging social complexity appear to be absent following the onset of a severely cold period 4900-4500 years ago. Throughout the millennium encompassing the Late Neolithic Zaisanovskaya Culture conservative ceramic decorative motifs became widespread throughout Primorye amid few signs of innovation or affluence. Simultaneous with the spread of colder climatic conditions were indications of increased population expansion into southern and interior Primorye by agricultural societies from the west. The introduction of low-level food production becomes evident on the south coast with the appearance of grinding slabs, hand-stones and reaping knives associated with agricultural activities. This is further substantiated with the appearance of broomcorn millet (Setaria italica) in the Krounovka-1 site dating to 4640 BP (Vostretsov et al. 2003). Also, parallel processes of increasing contact with northern pastoral societies are evident in the west with the spread of Pani-cum millet to the Novoselische-4 site by 3800 years BP (Kluev et al. 2002).
Presently there is no evidence of the establishment of core polities who possessed the power or ability to impose sanctions upon peripheral regions (Shelach 1999). The radiation of agricultural activities into the sparsely populated frontier region of Primorye appears to be connected to a need among local inhabitants to expand their diet breadth in an effort to compensate for increasing subsistence stress. Knowledge of the existence and methods of plant cultivation undoubtedly existed for a considerable time prior to being adopted by local inhabitants. The decision by individuals to incorporate the labor-intensive practices of plant cultivation into their subsistence regime came as a result of the inability of previously sufficient subsistence strategies to adequately provide support during more stressful ecological conditions.
The spread of colder and dryer climates in northern latitudes would have had a considerably more immediate and dramatic effect upon agriculturally dependent societies than it would on hunting-gathering societies living in more
temperate environs. Impacts would have been significant on the Late Hongshan and Xiaoheyan cultures located to the north of Bohai Bay and northwestern Korea. The destabilization of subsistence practices in the peripheries of this region served to stimulate population movement into the wetter maritime zone of south Primorye and the onset of the Zaisanovskaya Culture (Vostretsov 1998).
The appearance of Zaisanovskaya type ceramics on the east coast at approximately the same time as on the south coast suggests that both areas were simultaneously impacted by these events and east coast occupations may reflect the establishment of seasonal logistical fishing camps (Binford 1980). This is supported by the fact that no agricultural tools have been associated with east
Fig. 1. Map of the Primorye Region and Northeast Asia (adapted from Aikens and Rhee 1992:2)
coast sites during this time period (Popov et al. 1997; Vostretsov et al. 2002). In contrast to agricultural products, near coastal fish and especially seasonally available salmon in the river systems thrive in cooler waters and would have become more abundant along the east coast during this time period. The impact of social changes during the first half of the Zaisanovskaya period reflects a pattern of increasing population density throughout the Primorye Region, with few signs of social stress. However, later in this period the direction and nature of social interaction underwent significant changes.
As with populations that were heavily dependent upon agricultural production in marginal northern environments, the impact of colder and dryer climatic conditions would have had severe effects upon pastoral groups living north and west of Primorye. At 5,000 years ago the highly mobile Andronovskaya Culture depended upon the herding of horses, cattle and sheep. They originally occupied the extensive grasslands of the northern steppe corridor of southern Siberia and Outer Mongolia. The onset of colder and dryer climatic conditions served to suppress these people in a southeasterly direction into the frontiers of the Dongbei and western Primorye (Zhushchihovskaya 2005).
The initial expansion of the Zaisanovskaya Culture into coastal Primorye is generally associated with an increase in the number and sizes of sites (Vostretsov et al. 2009). However, evidence of the arrival of Andronovskaya related populations into western Primorye is not recognized until near the end of the Zaisanovskaya period and may be associated with the assimilation of Bronze Age subsistence and technological innovations (Vostretsov 2006). This has been largely defined by the appearance and spread of "fine" quality ceramic vessels with a "meander" design around the rim in the Siniy Gai sites (Yanshina 2001). Associated with this distinctive diagnostic trait is the appearance of plainware ceramic vessels with appliqué rims and ceramic disks thought to be gaming pieces.
By approximately 3700 years ago the presence of ceramic vessels with meander designs has been noted among many of the Zaisanovskaya sites located along the east coast (Zhushchikhovskaya 1997). This time period coincided with the onset of a new colder and dryer climatic period for the region, also experienced on a global scale. This period has been termed the "Holocene Event 3" that took place during the late third millennium BC and coincided with "...a profound archaeological transformation that marks the collapse of Neolithic Cultures around the Central Plain during the late third millennium BC" (Wenx-iang and Tungsheng 2004:1). Based on the simultaneous spread of the meander motif it is assumed that a social interaction sphere between the western interior and east coast populations intensified over a period of at least 100-years.
The expansion of Andronovskaya culture traits to the east coast of Primorye may represent an initial stage in the establishment of core-periphery relationships with more complex and socially stratified political entities. The Andronovskaya people were highly mobile and aggressive horsemen who possessed the ability to extract tribute from indigenous populations through the use of bronze weaponry. There is no indication of the use of domesticated horses or the introduction of bronze weapons into the Primorye Region at this time, but changes in ceramic production technologies and motifs do suggest the intrusion of intermediate influences. Such tribute may have taken the form of furs of forest dwelling mammals and the harvesting of anadromous fish from the coastal rivers and streams. This expansion into the area located to the west of Peter the Great Bay would have resulted in direct competition and displacement
of existing Zaisanovskaya populations, who in turn supplied logistical groups to seasonally exploited resources along the east coast.
Results of Investigations in the Kit Inlet of East Coast Primorye Occupations along the Kit Inlet of the Primorye east coast were examined in an attempt to address causes for the abrupt demise of the Zaisanovskaya culture and the just as abrupt appearance of the Margaritovsky Culture on the east coast at approximately 3700 BP (Cassidy 2004) (Fig. 2). Test unit and block excavations were conducted in the Margaritovsky deposits at the sites of Glazkovka-2, Glazkovka-3, Preobrozenia-1, and Zarya-3 (Kononenko 2000). Previous investigations at Glazkovka-2 revealed that Margaritovsky deposits were generally found in association with underlying or mixed deposits (Kluev and Yanshina 1997). The sites at Zarya Lake were specifically selected for investigation because they represented single component Zaisanovskaya and deposits located within less than 100-m from each other, thereby permitting a pristine perspective of each assemblage.
An examination of all currently available radiocarbon dates obtained from Margaritovsky deposits revealed that this culture existed for a relatively short period of time on the east coast of Primorye, between 3700-3300 BP (Cassidy 2004, 2007a). This time period corresponds to a short and severe cold and dry period that altered environments and landscapes on a global scale (Steig 1999; Wenxiang and Tungsheng 2004). Similar to events that date to 4900-4500 years ago, cold and dry climatic conditions would have been associated with a general decrease in agricultural productivity throughout Northeast Asia and the southern suppression of grasslands that livestock depended upon. Thus, substantial population movement and disruption of competing social interaction spheres would be expected.
In contrast, a colder climatic interval among hunting-gathering-fishing populations along the east coast of Primorye would not have resulted in such negative consequences. In fact, an examination of migratory patterns of north Pacific anadromous fish populations and waterfowl argues for an opposite effect. Colder air currents and sea-surface temperatures experienced on a world-wide scale appear to result in an increase of migratory species of birds and fish along the north Pacific (Beamish and Bouillon 1993; Burton 1985; Chatters et al. 1995).
The proposed increase in abundance and predictability of fish and birds along the east coast of Primorye at this time does not support an ecologically based causal link with the demise of the Zaisanovskaya Culture. In fact, it would be logical to expect such events to have led to a florescence of cultural development as it did during the same time period along the Northwest Coast of North America (Ames and Maschner 1999). This should have resulted in an increase in local populations densities and even perhaps the attraction and assimilation of migrant people from interior locations experiencing subsistence stress. However, in the case of Primorye, the climatically induced effects on hunter-gatherer-fisher populations appear to have had the opposite impact.
Results from the Excavation of Zaisanovskaya Deposits at the Zarya-i Site Ceramic vessels, stone tools and radiocarbon data reveal that the Zarya-1 site supported two separate periods of occupation by Zaisanovskaya populations between 3800-3500 BP and correspond with a radiocarbon date of Beta-
156330 3520+80 BP. The area of occupation covered approximately 2800 m2 and supported multiple households who occupied light ground structures along an exposed stabilized dune adjacent to the shoreline and the mouth of a freshwater stream.
An examination of ceramic materials from these components indicated the inhabitants of the site were most closely related to other Zaisanovskaya groups along the southern east coast of Primorye to the west of Peter the Great Bay. The second period of occupation in the site yielded evidence of contact with interior populations during the final phase of the Late Neolithic in the form of small quantities of plainware ceramics, transitional vessels with appliqué rims and incised decorations on the walls, and fine quality vessels with meander designs on the rim (Fig. 3).
The overwhelming predominance of tertiary chipped stone materials at the site strongly suggests a considerable degree of logistical planning took place among the occupants. The cryptocrystalline stone tool materials found in the site were totally absent cores and predominately lacked primary or secondary stages of reduction debris. This means that the stone tool raw materials were quarried elsewhere and reduced to at least the stage of blanks, but more likely finished tools, before being transported to Zarya Lake for use. The debitage found at the site was almost exclusively the result of resharpening and rejuvenation activities. This suggests that the cryptocrystalline materials were highly valued and curated for reuse.
However, an examination of the production of ground schist arrowheads revealed an opposite tendency. Hearth areas outside the habitation structures revealed all reduction stages of schist waste materials, arrowhead blanks, finished arrowheads, and fragments of finished arrowheads. This strongly indicates that these outside activities around the hearths involved the production of ground schist arrowheads from beginning to end. The expedient production of these projectile points in situ suggests a use specific to the site location and prospective logistical activities.
By far the most numerous type of tools recovered from Zarya-1 was arrowheads. Although ground schist arrowheads were most numerous, also present were substantial numbers of chipped arrowheads produced on a variety of chert materials. In addition to the many arrowheads there were numerous small knives and biface fragments that were likely employed in butchering activities. However, only two end-scrapers were recovered, which suggests that the processing of hides was not a major activity.
Exotic stone tool materials recovered from Zarya-1 included small quantities of smoky topaz and obsidian. The presence of smoky topaz had been noted in other Zaisanovskaya period sites and this rare material was used whenever available. It is probable that this material was already in the possession of the seasonal occupants at Zarya Lake when they arrived. The obsidian obtained from Zarya was identified through NAA/PIXE analysis as having come from the Shkotovo Basaltic plateau on the opposite side of the Sihote-Alin Mountain range (Torrence et al 2002). This represents a second and independent line of evidence supporting the presence of interaction between east coast populations and those in the interior.
It is generally assumed that east coast Zaisanovskaya occupations represent summer logistical hunting and fishing camps (Andreeva et al. 1987; Brodyan-ski 1987). Analysis of subsistence data recovered from Zarya-1 largely support
this conclusion, but with some surprises. First, the small quantity and sizes of bone fragments found at the site suggest the hunting of land mammals, especially large land mammals such as deer, was not a focal activity. Second, while fish were among the most numerous resource consumed by the occupants of Zarya-1, based on fatty acid residue analysis of ceramic cooking vessels, they were predominantly freshwater species (Cassidy 2007b). Third, although previously unsuspected, the consumption of birds was statistically equal to fish as a
Fig. 2. Map of the location of Zarya Lake in relation to the Kit Inlet and the Glazkovka-2 and Glazkovka-3 sites
targeted resource. Finally, the conjecture that this represented a summer occupation was confirmed by the absence of nuts and the presence of berries in the residue samples.
Results of Investigations in the Zarya-3 Margaritovsky Deposits
In contrast to the Zaisanovskaya occupation in Zarya-1, the Margaritovsky occupation of Zarya-3 was considerably smaller and shorter in duration. Although a total of eight possible structures were identified in Zarya-3, representing at least two different periods of occupation, only two were firmly associated with the Margaritovsky Culture. In substantial contrast to Zarya-1, the total area of the Zarya-3 site was no more than 600 m2.
The habitation units at Zarya-3 were semi-subterranean in construction and better protected from the elements by being located inside a forested area. Both Zarya-1 and Zarya-3 were well situated to exploit freshwater fish entering the stream that flowed from Zarya Lake, but from opposite sides of the bank and separated by a space of approximately 50 m. The lake was substantially larger than at present and was undoubtedly the source of freshwater fish and migratory waterfowl.
The deposits in Dwelling #1 represent two occupation periods. The radiocarbon dates obtained from Dwelling #1 of Beta-172570 (3540±40 BP) and adjacent roasting pit of Beta-133846 (3570±60 BP) closely corresponds with the occupation of Dwelling #5 at Beta-172573 (3540±70 BP), which was also associated with a roasting pit. These radiocarbon dates span a time period of approximately 100 years and establish an occupation of the site between 3600-3500 years BP. These dates almost completely overlap with the final occupation in the Zarya-1 site and indicate a very abrupt transition between the Zaisanovskaya and Margaritovsky occupations, possibly with no period of overlap.
When compared to the Zarya-1 site, the occupation of Zarya-3 appears to be considerably less intense. To date, only two dwellings have been discovered that
correspond to the Margarita period, and the site appears to represent a small seasonal hunting and fishing camp. The spatial extent of the site indicates that the number of people and households of the Margaritovsky occupation were substantially smaller than at the Zaisanovka site. While the size and complexity of the Zarya-1 site may represent the presence of multiple extended family units, the Zarya-3 location appears to be more consistent with nuclear family units or even gender specific logistical work groups. The
Fig. 3. An example of a finely made sherd with an Andronovskaya type meander design recovered from the Zarya-1 site
small volume and diversity of the artifact assemblages from the Margaritovsky dwellings appear to confirm this impression. Only one spindle whorl and one end-scraper were recovered from each of the two Margaritovsky dwellings, and no other items that appear to be directly associated with domestic activities were found.
The ceramic assemblage recovered from the Margaritovsky dwellings were overwhelmingly of the classic plainware vessels with decorated appliqué rims. However, there were also a couple of surprises in this assemblage. First, as in other Margaritovsky sites, a small number of Zaisanovskaya type ceramic sherds were recovered, which may have been scavenged from the abandoned Zarya-1 site. Second, a number of ceramic sherds of the Valentin-Peresheyek type were recovered from Dwelling #1 (Andreeva et al. 1987). Since no Valentin-Peresheyek type sherds were found in the Zarya-1 location, it must be assumed that relations between the two were of a more competitive nature. In contrast, the presence of Valentin-Peresheyek materials in the Margaritovsky deposits suggests that social interaction, and perhaps cooperation, with this group was taking place.
This appears to be especially significant since a small number of Andronovs-kaya type meander decorated sherds were also recovered from the Valentin-Peresheyek site, located approximately 50 km to the east along the coast. It should be remembered that the appearance of plainware ceramics with appliqué rims, similar to the Margaritovsky type, were associated with Andronovskaya type vessels with meander decorated rims in the Late Neolithic deposits of the Siniy Gai-B site, located in the interior near Khanka Lake. Also, small plain-rimmed cups that are associated with the Siniy Gai-B deposits were found in the Margaritovsky dwellings at Zarya-3. Given the overlapping radiocarbon dates between the occupations at Zarya-1 and Zarya-3 it may be proposed that Valin-tin-Peresheek population engaged in competitive relations with the Zaisanovs-kaya group and cooperation with the Margaritovsky people.
Further evidence of an expanding interaction sphere between the Zarya Lake populations and interior groups can be found in the stone tool assemblages. First, obsidian flakes from Zarya-1 and the Margaritovsky dwellings were traced to the Shkotovo Basaltic plateau through NAA/PIXE analysis (Torrence et al. 2002). This means that both groups of people were obtaining obsidian from the same source. Second, small quantities of smoky topaz stone tool material were found in both Zarya-1 and in Dwelling #1 at Zarya-3.
Although the types of cryptocrystalline raw materials were the same in both sites, the preference for stone tool production was substantially different. Unlike at Zarya-1, the chipped stone tools produced at Zarya-3 were overwhelmingly of white chert. Further, the vast majority of stone tool production flakes found in the Margaritovsky deposits were from the secondary reduction stage. This indicates that quarried materials were roughed out prior to being transported to Zarya Lake and the production from blanks took place in the site after arrival. It also shows that most finishing of the tools and rejuvenation of broken tools took place outside the habitation area. This pattern of stone tool production reflects a considerable reduction of logistical planning in the preparation of hunting activities and a more generalized pattern of foraging activities (Binford 1980).
As in Zarya-1 the vast majority of stone tools recovered from Zarya-3 were in the form of arrowheads. However, all of the arrowheads were chipped from white chert and not a single ground schist arrowhead was found. In fact, only
a small quantity of schist flakes were found in Zarya-3 and no whole tools. The only ground schist tool from the Margaritovsky deposits was the broken corner of a rectangular axe. Interestingly, while the presence of ground schist arrowheads is common in coastal sites in Primorye, they are generally absent from interior deposits of the same time period. This may reflect differences in the access to specific types of raw material, but more likely represents significant cultural preference and technological differences between the two groups in the methods employed for arrowhead production and use. In addition to ceramic types and obsidian materials, this represents a third direct link to the increasing influence of interior populations on the east coast of Primorye at this time.
An additional difference evident in the Margaritovsky stone tool assemblage is their diminutive size. All of the arrowheads, knives, biface fragments and end-scrapers found at the site measured in the range of 2-3 cm in length. While the small size of the tools may have been a function of the type of raw material employed, it may also be an indication of the small size of the prey species targeted and processed. Given that other types of raw materials found at the site could have been employed to produce larger tools, it must be assumed that the preference for white chert as a tool resource was purposive and satisfactory for the job at hand.
The appropriateness of small tools in the Zarya-3 site is supported by findings pertaining to subsistence activities. As with Zarya-1 the few fragments of bones recovered were of small mammals and birds. Thus, it appears that large land mammals were not actively pursued. As with the Zaisanovskaya occupation the dominant prey species consumed were fish and birds.
Overall there appeared to be many common elements in foraging activities shared between the people of the two cultural expressions. However, a shift in fishing activities that permitted the capture of non-aggregated species of saltwater fish suggests a significant broadening of the diet-breadth under less than optimal conditions (Kelly 1995; Smith and Winterhalder 1992) (Fig. 4). This would normally be inferred to represent a substantial increase in subsistence stress. However, the Valentin-Peresheyek group are thought to have engaged in coastal fishing, and the presence of related ceramics in the Zarya-3 site may suggest the presence of Valentin-Peresheyek people at the site, or at least exchange relations between the two groups. This pattern may account for the increased consumption of saltwater fish by the Margaritovsky group.
As was found in the Zaisanovskaya subsistence data, the capture and consumption of birds was equal in volume to that of fish. A significant difference between the two occupations was the absence of nuts at Zarya-1 and their presence in residues at Zarya-3. The higher volume of nutshell fragments found in the Margaritovsky deposits supported this difference. Since nuts ripen in September, this may be taken as an indicator of seasonality and a fall occupation period (Fig. 5).
A further indicator of seasonality at the Margaritovsky site is the presence of greens, revealed in the ceramic residue analysis (Cassidy 2007b). These may be associated with legumes and marsh plants that undergo a second bloom during the late summer and early fall monsoon rains. This contrasts with the presence of summer berries in the Zarya-Zaisanovskaya deposits and their low numbers at the Zarya-3 Margaritovsky site. The addition of relatively low ranked subsistence resources to the diet, including marsh plants, legumes, grass seeds and
wild grapes, further suggests an increase in diet-breadth and probable subsistence stress.
A final subsistence consideration pertains to probable cultivated millet seeds recovered from the hearth in Dwelling #1 of the Zarya-3 site (Sergusheva 2001). The concentration of these seeds in a single area of a Margaritovsky dwelling suggests that their presence was intentional. The implication is that Margaritovsky site inhabitants brought millet seeds with them as a hedge against potential shortfalls from foraged resources. This practice would be consistent with other indications of highly mobile logistical work groups.
Now we may return to the question of the relationship of the Margaritovsky Culture to the proposed "Bronze Age" in Primorye. Most of the abandoned east coast Zaisanovka sites, or nearby locations such as Zarya-3 and Preobrazhe-nia-1, came to be occupied by people of the Margaritovsky Culture. It is evident that the Margaritovsky occupations survived in much the same way as their Late Neolithic predecessors, but Margaritovsky groups were smaller and existed under conditions of increased social and subsistence stress. In addition to smaller site size, Margaritovsky occupation at Zarya-3 provides evidence of considerably less logistical planning than their predecessor and diminished cost-benefit ratios through a broadening of the diet-breadth. This implies that individuals from the interior may have been displaced by ongoing disruptive social processes and were forced to intensify foraging activities in new locations to survive.
No evidence was found in any of these investigations of Margaritovsky cultural occupation along the east coast of Primorye that would link this time period to processes of emerging social complexity generally associated with the "Bronze Age." The data presented here are consistent with the conclusions of Kluev and Yanshinas (2002, also Yanshina 2001) study of Margaritovsky ceram-
CONCLUSIQNS
Saltwater vs. Freshwater Fish
50.00% 45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15,00%
Ü Zaisanovka SB Margarita
10.00% 5.00% 0.00%
Fish (S)
Fish (F)
Fish (U)
Fig. 4. Comparison of saltwater to freshwater fish identified through GC-MS analysis between the Zarya-1 and Zarya-3 sites
ics and their classification of the Margaritovsky Culture as a "Final Neolithic" phase.
The cumulative evidence of prehistoric events in the Primorye Region reflects a pattern of advance and retreat of competing and overlapping social interaction spheres that are rooted as deeply as the original peopling of the area during the late Pleistocene - early Holocene transition. Although the ecology of this northern habitat had always been marginal for the spread of agricultural and pastoral pursuits, there is evidence of a growing enrichment of resources available to hunter-gatherer-fishers throughout the Holocene era. Primorye existed on the fringes of expanding core-periphery relationships with emerging complex societies along its borders during most of prehistory and yet the region appears to have maintained its status as a frontier, at least until the first millennium BCE.
This research would not have been possible without the support of a Ful-bright-Hayes Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship and financial support provided by the Department of Anthropology at the University of California Santa Barbara. We also wish to thank the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Russian Far East in Vladivostok and the Lazovsky State Nature Preserve for generous logistical support. None of this would have been possible without the enthusiastic support provided by academic advisors Michael Glassow and Michael Jochim, as well as our field research team of Irina Ponkratova, Alla Garkovik, Igor Sleptsov, Maxim Ivanov and Olga Sleptsova. Finally, our appreciation goes to Yuri Vostretsov for his helpful review and comments on earlier drafts of this paper. All errors and omissions are solely the responsibility of the authors.
Acknowledgements
Zaisnovka vs. Margarita Food Groups
35.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
KZaisanovka Ü Margarita_
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Fig. 5. Comparison of percentages of GC-MS derived food groups between the Zarya-1 and Zarya-3 sites
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