Investigating the Hunter-Gatherers of Lake Baikal and Hokkaido: Integrating Individual Life Histories and High-Resolution Chronologies

The Baikal-Hokkaido Archaeological Project has been undertaking research on some of the richest hunter-gatherer archaeological records in the world. A particular focus has been on a range of bioarchaeological analyses, including AMS 14C dating, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes, strontium isotopes and ancient DNA, as well as human and faunal osteological analyses. This symposium presents new research emerging from the project, and assesses its importance for our understanding of past adaptations in the region, as well as the implications for hunter-gatherer research agendas worldwide. Aspects of continuity and discontinuity are emphasized, particularly in the light of the increasingly high-resolution chronological framework that is becoming available, allowing us to consider historical processes among the hunter-gatherers of Baikal and Hokkaido in ways that were previously not possible.