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The study of maritime adaptation among the prehistoric cultures of the
Russian Far East has focused upon several problems, including environmental
change, the identification of early coastal populations, the transition from
land-based hunter-gatherer subsistence practices to the exploitation of river
and littoral resources, and accompanying changes in social organization and
technology. Global warming at the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene transition
altered paleocostal landscapes through an increase in plant and animal
diversity, rising sea levels, the inundation of the coastal plain, and the
formation of ingression bays. In this altered landscape, early sites exhibiting
the use of both river and marine resources have been found as far inland as 30 km from the coast. These
include the Ustinovka Complex in the Zerkalnaya River Basin, dated between
12,000 and 9,500 years BP, and the Rudnaya Early Neolithic culture (7,500-6,000
BP). The presence of bifacial tools, stone fish effigy, early ceramics, light
ground structures and lithic caches at the Ustinovka 3 site suggests that this
site functioned as a seasonal base camp for a population with a
hunting-gathering and fishing economy.
The Rudnaya Early Neolithic sites are located just one river valley
north of the Zerkalnaya Basin and exhibit close cultural affinity to the
Ustinovka cultural tradition. The site of Rudnaya-Pristan is located 4 km from the coast and
possesses pit-house structures where the inventory clearly points to well
developed fishing, hunting, and gathering of terrestrial and littoral
resources. A second important Rudnaya site is found at Chertovy Vorota (Devil’s
Cave), situated about 30 km
inland. This contained three structures, an abundance of pottery, and artifacts
made from stone, bone, and marine shells; including a sea mammal effigy. The
rich faunal assemblage from the cave reflects the full diversity of potential
terrestrial, riverine and marine resources available in this landscape. All of
this suggests that the northern Sea of Japan was favorable for the onset of
maritime adaptations at least from the Early Holocene Period.
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