Papers by Kenneth Ritchie
Environmental Archaeology, May 3, 2016
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Environmental Archaeology, Dec 16, 2015
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Environmental Archaeology, Jan 7, 2016
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International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, May 1, 2019
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Jun 1, 2021
Abstract Exploitation of aquatic resources, especially fishing, was a fundamental part of human s... more Abstract Exploitation of aquatic resources, especially fishing, was a fundamental part of human subsistence during the Late Mesolithic Ertebolle culture (5400–4000/3900 cal BC) in Southern Scandinavia. In this pilot study we examine three cod otoliths from two Late Mesolithic locations in eastern Denmark to see whether local environmental conditions are reflected in the strontium ratios of the fish, to source the fish to either the Atlantic or the Baltic Sea and finally, to explore how fishing was conducted in relation to the settlements. We used laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for sequential sampling of the otoliths for strontium isotope analysis. All three otoliths yielded 87Sr/86Sr values that fall within the range of Baltic Sea water, thus indicating that cod caught by Mesolithic fishers in the Danish straits belonged to the Baltic Sea stock. Our results suggest that cod were not caught in waters immediately adjacent to the archaeological sites but rather came from the Kattegat. We could not detect any substantial change in habitat between juvenile and mature stages of the fishs lives. Our study shows the potential of isotopic analysis to address issues regarding the individual ecological history of fish and human fishing strategies.
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Danish journal of archaeology, May 1, 2013
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Data on fishing from the Early Mesolithic is equivocal, but during the Middle and Late Mesolithic... more Data on fishing from the Early Mesolithic is equivocal, but during the Middle and Late Mesolithic in western Norway, fishing made an important contribution to subsistence. The large majority of the residential sites are situated at the outer coast, close to the shore, near good fishing grounds. Line-sinkers of soapstone frequently occur at these sites and at some of them with favourable conditions for preservation of organic materials – fish bones from a variety of species and even bone fishhooks are found. Zooarchaeological analyses from seven sites (two open-air and five caves or rockshelters) show that both at the outer coast and in the fjords the main catch was gadids, particularly cod, saithe and pollock. Size reconstructions based on otolith measurements from these species show that most were relatively young, small fish (2–3 years old). This agrees well with the sizes of the fishing gear, which are also generally small. Despite a strong marine focus, the Mesolithic populations were not deep-sea operators; they conducted their main fishery in protected fjords, straits and archipelagos along the western coast. Angling with hook and line seems to have been prevalent, with a lesser focus on several other methods. Because of these factors, fishing was open to most group members and provisioning was a shared activity. Increased pressure to maintain control of favourable fishing grounds may hav contributed to a more sedentary settlement pattern with concomitant effects on social organization and interactions.
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Danish journal of archaeology, Jul 3, 2018
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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Apr 6, 2020
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Burned fish bones are constantly being discovered in the excavations of Stone Age settlements in ... more Burned fish bones are constantly being discovered in the excavations of Stone Age settlements in Finland. This abundance of fish bones, as well as the usual location of the settlements on the shore of lakes or the sea, illustrate the importance of fishing to the Stone Age economy. Added to this, examples of the fishing gear that was used, mostly made of stone, are also occasionally found in Stone Age contexts. Yet, despite the clear importance of fish and fishing in Stone Age Finland, the fish bones themselves have not been studied thoroughly before, although the diversity of the fishing culture at the time could be clarified by such analyses. I am interested in the everyday food acquisition strategies of the Stone Age forager communities. By studying the surviving bones and tracking the distribution of fish species, I have been able to create a picture of the fishing methods used at the time and the importance of fishing to the community. The availability of fish is highly dependent on the prevailing environmental conditions, and their behaviour directly influenced their potential as a food source. This empirically driven multidisciplinary study combines data from zooarchaeology, archaeology, ethnography, fisheries biology, environmental studies and, the most importantly, taphonomy. Research on burned bones is rare throughout the international research literature. The essential aspect of this research is to understand the nature of the bone material itself, because with burned bones many different factors can affect the results. Studying the effects of bone survival and the recovery methods used in excavations are thus an integral part of my research. For this study, I have selected ten sites with concentrated burned fish bone deposits, either on a hearth bottom or in a waste pit. In addition to these site-specific studies, I also address the specific issues of bone burning and excavation methods raised during the study. The archaeological bone fragments were analysed morphologically by comparing them with modern reference bones. However, due to the lack of reference bone material in Finland when I began this study, I started by preparing my own reference collection. There are several topics can now be more thoroughly and accurately discussed based on this study. According to results provided by the fish bone finds, it is argued that fishing was the most reliable source of daily food in Finland during the Stone Age. Fishing was a mostly opportunistic, low-level daily activity, and all types of fish were considered equally fit for consumption. Burning is a major taphonomical cause of bone loss. At the same time, it contributes to the preservation of compact skeletal parts. Based solely on the number of bone fragments preserved, no single species can be asserted to have been more important than another, as the bones' taphonomical stability varies between individual species. Fish bone finds from Finland are generally uniform throughout the Stone Age. All variation in the distribution patterns of fish species can be explained by the location of sites, environmental aspects, and excavation methods. The Stone Age fish bone finds support the theory postulating the use of historically known simple fishing gear. Based on the fish bone data, the fishing methods utilized remained the same throughout the Stone Age. Fishing was probably a year-round activity with some seasonal variations.
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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2022
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The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the o... more The Neolithic site Riņņukalns in the Lake Burtnieks/River Salaca area in northern Latvia is the only freshwater shell midden in the eastern Baltic Sea area. An excavation carried out in 2011 revealed an intact stratigraphy with alternating layers of unburnt and burnt mussel shells and yielded various kinds of archaeological finds, among them several thousand fish remains. To get an impression of the fish species and specimens caught by the Neolithic settlers, and to look for a temporal development in the fish species composition, we analysed fish remains from different sections and layers. The results, both archaeozoological and stable isotope data, give evidence for a change in the relevance of fish species during the period of use, and they also provide an impression of the former river and lake hydrology in the vicinity of the midden. The Stone Age landscape seems to have been very similar to the present situation, so that the study area has been an extraordinarily stable ecosyst...
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Archaeological Research in Asia, 2021
Abstract The spread of the Neolithic way of life from its centers of origins remains one of the c... more Abstract The spread of the Neolithic way of life from its centers of origins remains one of the central topics of archaeological research, with ongoing debates about the importance of economic, demographic, and cultural changes in the transition. The Southern Caucasus, while close to one area where agriculture emerged, has remained understudied regarding this spread. Here, information about the role of fish, a topic that has been almost completely neglected until now is presented. Fish remains are scarce in this region. Moreover, isotope analyses seem to indicate that freshwater fish were not an important food source. For the first time, fishbones have been found in larger quantities at the site of Aruchlo I from some layers in ditches. It is the largest assemblage of fish bones safely dated to the sixth millennium BC in the South Caucasus. The interpretation of these finds is not straightforward due to the lack of other comparable finds and the absence of fishing gear. Fishing appears to have been conducted in the waters close to the settlement. It is unclear if fishing was a year-round activity, although the way these bones were concentrated in different layers in the ditches suggests that this was not the case. We think that the bounteous catch of spawning fishes at certain times of the year can be linked to special social events like feasting, showing the importance of a food resource that is usually greatly underrepresented archaeologically. Introducing more precise recovery methods for animal remains at other excavations will hopefully refine our understanding.
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International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2021
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EnglishDue to the delay in publication of the journal "Eurasia Antiqua", reports of the... more EnglishDue to the delay in publication of the journal "Eurasia Antiqua", reports of the ongoing excavation have appeared elsewhere in recent years. The present report includes the excavations from the years 2012 through 2016. The discovery of a large lake fed by the Danube can be seen as the most noteworthy result within this report. Along the bank of this lake lay the neolithic anc Copper Age settlement, and the origin of the lake can be placed sometime in the 8th millennium BCE and persisted inteo the first millennium CE. The main focus of the excavations in recent years was the investigation of the outer settlement, in which not only Copper Age but also Neolithic settlement remains have come to light. The quality of perservation in the outer settlement differs: the settlement layers lie partially under a colluvium layer, which ranges in places from 0,5-1,7 m in thickness. The flat settlement and the settlement upon the tell mount persisted simultaneously throughout the ...
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Abstract: Havno is a stratified Danish kitchen midden which spans the Late Mesolithic Ertebolle a... more Abstract: Havno is a stratified Danish kitchen midden which spans the Late Mesolithic Ertebolle and the Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker cultures, ca. 5000-3500 cal. B.C. This paper presents the results of a study conducted on the fish bones recovered from a complete column sample taken from all levels of a stratified midden. The material is quantified and estimations of total fish lengths are provided. Interpretation focuses on taphonomy, relative importance of the fish represented, especially the European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ), significance of threespined stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ), distribution of fish bones, possible fishing methods employed, and season(s) of capture. Keywords: European eel, Late Mesolithic Ertebolle culture, Early Neolithic funnel beaker culture, Kitchen midden, Fishing, Total length, Column sample Resumen: Havno es un conchero danes bien estratificado que discurre desde la cultura Ertebolle del Mesolitico tardio y la cultura de los vasos de embudo...
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2021
Abstract Exploitation of aquatic resources, especially fishing, was a fundamental part of human s... more Abstract Exploitation of aquatic resources, especially fishing, was a fundamental part of human subsistence during the Late Mesolithic Ertebolle culture (5400–4000/3900 cal BC) in Southern Scandinavia. In this pilot study we examine three cod otoliths from two Late Mesolithic locations in eastern Denmark to see whether local environmental conditions are reflected in the strontium ratios of the fish, to source the fish to either the Atlantic or the Baltic Sea and finally, to explore how fishing was conducted in relation to the settlements. We used laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for sequential sampling of the otoliths for strontium isotope analysis. All three otoliths yielded 87Sr/86Sr values that fall within the range of Baltic Sea water, thus indicating that cod caught by Mesolithic fishers in the Danish straits belonged to the Baltic Sea stock. Our results suggest that cod were not caught in waters immediately adjacent to the archaeological sites but rather came from the Kattegat. We could not detect any substantial change in habitat between juvenile and mature stages of the fishs lives. Our study shows the potential of isotopic analysis to address issues regarding the individual ecological history of fish and human fishing strategies.
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SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES IN THE STONE AGE, DIRECT AND INDIRECT EVIDENCE OF FISHING AND GATHERING, 2018
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SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES IN THE STONE AGE, DIRECT AND INDIRECT EVIDENCE OF FISHING AND GATHERING, 2018
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Papers by Kenneth Ritchie
A description is given to the fish bones recovered from the stratified Mesolithic-Neolithic kitchen midden at Havnø, Denmark. The material is quantified and an estimation of the total fish length is provided. Interpretation focuses on taphonomy, the importance of eel (Anguilla anguilla), the significance of the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), the distribution of the fish bones from a complete column sample through the midden stratigraphy, the salinity of the waters surrounding the kitchen midden, the possible fishing methods employed and the season of capture. At present the early Neolithic material recovered from the kitchen midden at Havnø is one of the largest fish bone assemblages in Denmark dating to this cultural epoch (see Enghoff 2011) and demonstrates that Mesolithic eel fishing (as seen at Bjørnsholm, Ertebølle and Krabbesholm II) continued in an unaltered manner across the Mesolithic-Neolithic boundary at the kitchen midden. "
Covered by fluvioglacial sands and extensive peat, the early Holocene archaeological site of Friesack IV is located in Rhinluch, Havelland District, Brandenburg, northern Germany. At the time of occupation, the site was situated on the shoreline of a lake, which is presently a peat bog. From 1977 to 1989, excavations, headed by Bernard Gramsch, were undertaken in the refuse zone of the site (Gramsch 1992). These investigations yielded well-preserved organic materials, including antler, bone, and teeth, bark, wood and bast, as well as fragments of nets, ropes and strings that were found alongside lithic artifacts (Gramsch 1992).
Although Gramsch (1992, 69) stated ‘fish are not numerous’ at Friesack IV, no less than 7520 were recovered. This paper presents these data, drawing on contemporaneous sites throughout northern Europe. The material is quantified and estimates of total fish lengths are also provided. Interpretation focuses on the relative importance of the fishes (with wels catfish being especially well- represented), the possible fishing methods employed, and the season(s) of capture. The data demonstrate that the assemblage was anthropogenic since butchery marks were present on several specimens as well as the presence of one perforated vertebra. Interestingly, it would appear that a change in the exploitation of fish throughout the course of occupation took place, with the end result being a developed technique targeting wels catfish.
References
B. Gramsch, Friesack Mesolithic Wetlands. In B. Coles (Ed.), The Wetland Revolution in Prehistory (Exeter 1992), 65–72.
I am interested in the everyday food acquisition strategies of the Stone Age forager communities. By studying the surviving bones and tracking the distribution of fish species, I have been able to create a picture of the fishing methods used at the time and the importance of fishing to the community. The availability of fish is highly dependent on the prevailing environmental conditions, and their behaviour directly influenced their potential as a food source.
This empirically driven multidisciplinary study combines data from zooarchaeology, archaeology, ethnography, fisheries biology, environmental studies and, the most importantly, taphonomy. Research on burned bones is rare throughout the international research literature. The essential aspect of this research is to understand the nature of the bone material itself, because with burned bones many different factors can affect the results. Studying the effects of bone survival and the recovery methods used in excavations are thus an integral part of my research.
For this study, I have selected ten sites with concentrated burned fish bone deposits, either on a hearth bottom or in a waste pit. In addition to these site-specific studies, I also address the specific issues of bone burning and excavation methods raised during the study. The archaeological bone fragments were analysed morphologically by comparing them with modern reference bones. However, due to the lack of reference bone material in Finland when I began this study, I started by preparing my own reference collection.
There are several topics can now be more thoroughly and accurately discussed based on this study. According to results provided by the fish bone finds, it is argued that fishing was the most reliable source of daily food in Finland during the Stone Age. Fishing was a mostly opportunistic, low-level daily activity, and all types of fish were considered equally fit for consumption.
Burning is a major taphonomical cause of bone loss. At the same time, it contributes to the preservation of compact skeletal parts. Based solely on the number of bone fragments preserved, no single species can be asserted to have been more important than another, as the bones' taphonomical stability varies between individual species.
Fish bone finds from Finland are generally uniform throughout the Stone Age. All variation in the distribution patterns of fish species can be explained by the location of sites, environmental aspects, and excavation methods. The Stone Age fish bone finds support the theory postulating the use of historically known simple fishing gear. Based on the fish bone data, the fishing methods utilized remained the same throughout the Stone Age. Fishing was probably a year-round activity with some seasonal variations.