Amur Neolithic

A number of Neolithic cultures recognized near the Amur River in eastern Siberia. They are mainly defined by the presence of pottery. In the Middle Amur region, the earliest phase is known as the Novopetrovka blade culture. Later is the Gromatukha culture, with unifacially flaked adzes, bifacially flaked arrowheads, and laurel-leaf knives and spearheads. Settlements on Osinovoe Lake, which are characterized by large pit houses, date to around the 3rd millennium BC. Millet was cultivated, representing the first food production in the area, and there was fishing. A fourth Neolithic culture in the area, dating to the mid-2nd millennium BC was a combination of farming and fishing by people who moved there from the Lower Amur area. The Neolithic of the Lower Amur is known from sites such as Kondon, Suchu Island, and Voznesenovka. Fishing provided the economic basis for the establishment of unusually large sedentary settlements of pit houses - a situation paralleling the examples from the Northwest coast of North America. In the 1st millennium BC, iron was introduced and fortified villages constructed. In Middle Amur, millet farming became the lifeway.

The Amur River flows into the Pacific Ocean in eastern Siberia. A number of ‘ Neolithic’ cultures (defined by the presence of pottery, but not necessarily by the practice of farming) have been recognized in the Middle and Lower Amur regions. In the Middle Amur the earliest phase is known as the Novopetrovka blade culture. Rather later is the Gromatukha culture, with heavy unifacially flaked adzes and bifacially flaked arrowheads and laurel-leaf knives or spearheads. Both these early cultures are undated. Probably dating to the 3rd millennium bc are the settlements on Osinovoe Lake, which are characterized by large pit houses. The population lived by cultivating millet, representing the first definite food-production in the area, and by fishing. The fourth Neolithic culture in the area, dating to the mid-2nd millennium bc and also characterized by the combination of farming and fishing, is thought to represent a movement of people from the Lower Amur area. The Neolithic of the Lower Amur is known from sites such as Kondon, Suchu Island and Voznesenovka. Unfortunately no bone survives on the Amur sites, so precise information on the economy is difficult to obtain. However, the economic basis was certainly provided by the great annual fish runs, leading to the establishment of unusually large sedentary settlements of pit houses; this situation parallels the more famous examples from the Northwest coast of North America (see Kwakuitl). Kondon has a single radiocarbon date of c2570 bc (c3300 bc). There was considerable continuity from the Neolithic to historic times in the Amur Valley. The 1st millennium BC saw the introduction of iron and the construction of some fortified villages. On the Middle Amur millet farming became the basis of life. Otherwise there was little change.