The authors present results of an investigation of a Neolithic site with a shell midden of the Zaisanovsky cultural tradition that existed ca 4500 rcyBP. in the context of understanding the general problems, reasons and cultural circumstances that lead to the arrival of the people with an agricultural background to the 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 result of the analysis of all components of the subsistence system, a reconstruction of the annual subsistence cycle of the population of the Zaisanovka 7 site on the sea margin is proposed. The authors provide an estimation of the role of each subsistence activities in the subsistence system of 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 and the cultivation of millet.