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The authors
present results of an investigation of a Neolithic site with a shell midden of
the Zaisanovsky Cultural tradition that existed c. 4500 years BP. This research
is pursued within the context of understanding the general problems, reasons
and cultural circumstances that lead people with an agricultural background to
take up residence within a coastal ecosystems.
The paper considers the time and environmental circumstances for the
migration of displaced populations of early cultivators from inland locations
to the seaside. As a result of an analysis of all components of the subsistence
system, a reconstruction of the annual cycle of the population in the
Zaisanovka-7 site is proposed. The authors provide an estimation of the role of
each subsistence activity practiced by these early cultivators within the
marine environment. The reconstruction of the annual subsistence cycle shows
that the inhabitants of the Zaisanovka 7 Neolithic site independently invented
a coastal subsistence system based on the stabilizing components of off-shore
(littoral) marine fishing, acorn gathering, and to an extent the hunting of
terrestrial animals, along with the cultivation of millet.
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