Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 48 (1) 2020   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.1.052-060

Annotation:  Early Upper Paleolithic Serpentine Ornaments from Ust-Karakol, Northwestern Altai Unshaped Bone Tools from Denisova Cave, Altai The Sartan Upper Paleolithic Assemblages of the Northwestern Altai Stages in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Peopling of Lake Bolshoye Ushkovskoye Shore, Kamchatka Fishing in the Early Holocene Human Ecosystem of the Northern Angara Region: Findings from Stratifi Late Bronze Age Smelting and Processing Furnaces of the Eastern Variant of the Pakhomovskaya Culture Late Bronze Age Petroglyphs of Unyuk Mountain, in the Minusinsk Basin Tagar Artifacts at the Stavropol State Museum Reserve (G.N. Prozritelev’s Collection) An Early Pazyryk Kurgan at Khankarinsky Dol, Northwestern Altai: Chronology and Attribution of Artif The Triquetras from the Filippovka Kurgans, Southern Urals Early Iron Age Carpenter Tools from the Altai and Adjacent Territories A Comparative Analysis of Structural and Developmental Trends at Major Cheptsa Fortifi ed Sites in t Ancestors of the Oriental Horse in Eurasia: Origin and Distribution Regional Features of the Traditional Clothing of Ukrainians and Belarusians in the South of the Russ Collection Related to the Omaguaca Indians from the Pucara de Tilcara Fortress, Northwestern Argenti   

Fishing in the Early Holocene Human Ecosystem
of the Northern Angara Region: Findings from Stratifi ed Sites

A.M. Kuznetsov¹, E.O. Rogovskoi¹, D.N. Lokhov¹, and V.M. Novoseltseva²

¹Irkutsk State University, Karla Marksa 1, Irkutsk, 664003, Russia

²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

Archaeological excavations in the flood zone of the Boguchany hydroelectric plant in 2007-2012 have resulted in important findings relevant to the study of prehistoric fishing in the northern Angara basin, and to the chronology of its initial stages. Evidence of fishing was recorded at the Early Holocene layers of Ostrov Listvenichny (points 1 and 2), Ust-Yodarma II, Ust-Keul I, Ust-Igirma, Ust-Kova I, and Vorobyevo. Such evidence is scarce at the latter three sites, but is more abundant elsewhere, providing an opportunity to assess the role of fishing in the subsistence strategy of the northern Angara foragers. The sites on which this study focuses are located on the Bratsk-Ilim stretch of the Angara River, from the former mouth of the Ilim to the mouth of the Kata (two sites are in the lower stretches of the Angara tributaries, and two on an island). Composition analysis of the ichthyofauna has revealed two fishing strategies, apparently related to seasonality. The first consisted in harpooning sturgeon during the pre-winter time. The second strategy was to procure burbot and pike in spring and summer by hook-and-line fishing and by setting traps. We hypothesize that these strategies evidence seasonal changes in the composition of foraging groups.

Keywords: Northern Angara region, Early Holocene, fishing, fishing strategy, human ecosystem, ichthyofauna