Formation of social-cultural units in the Gulf of Finland region in changing Early and Middle Holocene environment

Abstract

Stone Age archaeological material from the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland region are evident of presence here a stable border between cultural areas from the Late Mesolithic till the end of Neolithic. Differences between those areas are mostly become apparent in the certain categories of archaeological finds - first of all in pottery (Sperrings, Narva and Late Neolithic types) as well as in decorations and mobile art. The border survives through millennia though sufficient cultural transformations in material culture developed during that time in the region. The border could arise in the Late Mesolithic, in the 7th - middle of the 6th ca. BC. Hypothetically its arising could be related to appearance of new people in the region, and possibly with the 8200 cal. BP climatic event. The border is visible in archaeological material till the mass migration of the Corded Ware culture people in the region about the turn of 4th and 3d ca. BC. The phenomenon of the Typical Combed Ware culture that existed in the region from the end of 5th till the second half of the 4th ca. BC probably was not related to the new people coming but can reflect integration of the aborigine population in response to some outer (socio-cultural?) factors.