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TECHNOLOGIES OF THE STONE AGE:
THE COASTAL DIMENSION
PrehCOAST network workshop
Riga, Latvia, 6–8 June 2023
Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia
PROGRAMME AND ABSTRACTS
Technologies of the Stone Age: The Coastal Dimension. PrehCOAST Network Workshop. Riga,
Latvia, 6–8 June 2023. Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia. Programme and
Abstracts. Edited by Valdis Bērziņš, Inger Marie Berg-Hansen and Miriam Cubas. Riga:
Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, 2023, 17 p.
This volume contains the programme and presentation abstracts of the international workshop
“Technologies of the Stone Age: The Coastal Dimension”, held on 6–8 June 2023 at the
Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, within the frame of the PrehCOAST network.
Organizers of the scientific programme: Valdis Bērziņš (Institute of Latvian History, University
of Latvia), Inger Marie Berg-Hansen (Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo) and
Miriam Cubas (University of Alcalá)
The workshop is supported by:
International Research Network “PrehCOAST”, Ecology and Environment Institute,
CNRS, France
University of Latvia
The illustration shows a replica by Baiba Dumpe of a 4th millennium BC pottery vessel from
Sārnate, at the coast of western Latvia – blackened by smoke in the course of pottery function
experiments.
©University of Latvia, 2023
ISBN 978-9934-8505-5-4
13
This paper uses this known tsunami event as a point of departure to discuss whether lithic
technology changed or was modified as a consequence, or whether we can use identified
continuity in technology to argue that strong social institutions and the institutional power
of craft traditions made knowledge transmission among coastal foragers resilient when
challenged.
Keywords: Mesolithic, lithic technology, coastal communities, natural hazards
From the continent to the Atlantic Ocean: are there marine influences in the
technical metamorphoses of the Late Mesolithic?
Grégor Marchand
UMR 6566 – CNRS – Université de Rennes 1
Centre de Recherche en Archéologie Archéosciences Histoire
gregor.marchand@univ-rennes1.fr
In the first half of the 7th millennium BC, a range of technical innovations spread to
Western Europe from North Africa and the Italian Peninsula. These include new
arrowheads (trapezoids), new tools such as the notched blade, as well as techniques such
as pressure and punch debitage. In contrast, there was no transformation in the economic
domain. In the course of this diffusionist process, stylistic changes occur. The question
of these metamorphoses in the Atlantic context has never been clearly asked: can we
distinguish the impact of maritime economies in one technical register or another?
Examples will be taken from Portugal to France.
Pottery technology on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula during Late
Prehistory (ca. 6000–3000 cal BCE)
Izaro Quevedo-Semperena
Universidad de Valladolid
izaroquevedosemperena@gmail.com
Urko Santamaria Diaz
Universidad del País Vasco
usantamaria.diaitz@gmail.com
Néstor Lozano-López
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.
nestor.lozano.lopez@gmail.com
Marta Francés-Negro
Universidad de Alcalá
martafn86@gmail.com
Miriam Cubas
Universidad de Alcalá
mcubas.morera@gmail.com
14
Technological innovations have motivated new configurations of human groups and have
influenced their way of social articulation. Understanding the social context, the
chronology and the implications of these technological changes are crucial aspects in our
understanding of past societies.
This research project focuses on the analysis of pottery technology at the Atlantic coast
of the Iberian Peninsula and its comparison with other nearby areas during the Neolithic,
addressing its relationship with the processes of introduction and consolidation of
agriculture and livestock farming. It is an interdisciplinary project that deals with aspects
related to pottery manufacturing sequences; the reconstruction of cooking practices; and
the social organization of production within the different Neolithic populations. The main
objective of this work is to understand the role of pottery technology, as a technological
innovation, at the time of the introduction and consolidation of agriculture and livestock
farming on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula and its possible areas of influence
(ca. 6000–3000 cal BCE).
Keywords: Neolithic, Atlantic coast, pottery technology, technological innovations