  Shown within Latvia | |
| Location | Lake Burtnieks |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 57°46′34″N 25°13′34″E / 57.776°N 25.226°E |
| Type | Burial ground |
| History | |
| Founded | 7500 BC[1] |
| Abandoned | 2600 BC[1] |
| Periods | Mesolithic / Neolithic |
| Cultures | Kunda culture, Narva culture, Comb Ware culture, Corded Ware culture |
The Zvejnieki burial ground is an archaeological site consisting of a large Stone Age (i.e. Mesolithic and Neolithic) cemetery with over 400 burials and associated grave goods. It is located along a drumlin on the northern shore of Lake Burtnieks in northern Latvia.
The site had been known among archaeologists since the nineteenth century. However, it was first explored archaeologically through excavations led by Francis Zagorskis between 1964 and 1978.[2] Before the discovery of a human skull in 1964, the site was used primarily for quarrying gravel. Archaeologists estimate that the site originally contained over 400 burials.[1]
The cemetery contains 330 recorded burials,[1] with roughly equal numbers of male and females.[3] About one third of the burials are children.[3] The principal grave goods are animal tooth pendants, occurring in both adult and child graves.[3] A smaller number of male and female graves contain hunting and fishing equipment, including harpoons, spears, arrowheads and fish-hooks.[3] The earliest burials are dated to the Middle Mesolithic, 8th millennium BCE, but they continue throughout the Stone Age, extending over at least four millennia.[3]
Two sites representing settlements have been identified close to the cemetery: Zvejnieki I (Neolithic) and Zvejnieki II (Mesolithic).[3]
- ^ a b c d Stutz, Liv Nilsson; Larsson, Lars; Zagorska, Ilga (2015). "The persistent presence of the dead: recent excavations at the hunter-gatherer cemetery at Zvejnieki (Latvia)". Antiquity. 87 (338): 1016–1029. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00049838. ISSN 0003-598X. S2CID 162667451.
- ^ Schulting, Rick J.; Fibiger, Linda (2012). Sticks, Stones, and Broken Bones: Neolithic Violence in a European Perspective. OUP Oxford. p. 38. ISBN 978-0199573066.
- ^ a b c d e f Eriksson, Gunilla; Lõugas, Lembi; Zagorska, Ilga (2003). "Stone Age hunter–fisher–gatherers at Zvejnieki, northern Latvia". Before Farming: The Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-Gatherers.