Settlements and social development of the 3rd millennium BC in central Germany (original) (raw)
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Journal of Neolithic Archaeology, 20, 2018
A well-preserved Final Neolithic to Early Bronze Age settlement stratigraphy on the western edge of a lowland area in east Brandenburg allows the possibility to derive a model of Final Neolithic settlement dynamics. The obtained sequential evidence of features and intra-site pattering would have been difficult to detect under regular preservation conditions. Both the settlement pattern as well as the typochronological development of specific vessel forms, derived from the stratigraphic sequence, can serve as an explanation for larger spheres of interaction within second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Of great importance is the close relationship of Bell Beaker common ware and the Giant beaker horizon as settlement pottery within the sequence. The analyses of the sequence from Altgaul and the results presented in this paper are taken from my doctoral thesis (Lehmphul in press).
Siedlung, Grabenwerk, Großsteingrab, 2012
The Neolithic settlement and land use history in northwestern Germany is subject to detailed archaeological and palynological investigations that are carried out within the framework of the DFG priority program “Early Monumentality and Social Differentiation –the Emergence of Neolithic Monuments and Early Complex Societies in Northern Central Europe”. Up to now, only little is known about the settlement structure and the environmental conditions and changes in northwestern Germany during the 4th and 3rd millennium BC, although various megalithic monuments, grave mounds as well as surface finds indicate that the area was settled by the West Group of the Funnel Beaker and the subsequent Single Grave Cultures. Therefore, five local research areas were selected that bear high poenclosures, in order to shed light on the cultural context of Neolithic societies in Northern Europe since 4100 BC (compiled by Müller 2009; 2011). In Northwestern Germany, the distribution area of the west group of the Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB) and the Single Grave Culture (EGK) is to be investigated. Several traces were left by both cultures in the areas between the Elbe and Ems rivers. The most prominent features are the numerous megalithic tombs that – at least partly – still shape today’s landscape (Fig. 1). They have often been objects of scientific research as their architecture and distribution reveal regional differences in settlement intensities and land use. In addition, a few flat graves, hoards, and settlements with building features are known (complied by Assendorp 1999; Kossian 2005; Laux 1995; Strahl 1990), while no causewayed enclosures have yet been identified from the mentioned area (compiled by Richter 2002, 3 pp.). Therefore, this setting is ideally suited for investigations into the Neolithic colonisation history of the 4 th and the early 3 rd millennia BC. The research project of the Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research (NIhK) commences here. Within the project it is necessary to explore whether the rare TRB settlement features can be considered to be characteristic for this epoch and which settlement pattern might be presumed. Hence, the localisation and the extensive examination of wellpreserved TRB and EKG settlements are of great significance (Nösler et al. 2011). The relationships between graves and coexistent settlements and the existence of hierarchical structures among single settlements and graves, respectively, are important topics that will be addressed within the examinations. It is also of great importance to know which natural preconditions the Neolithic settlers had to deal with and which climatic and ecological changes they had to face. Palynological investigations will give insights into these developments. A number of further questions are to be investigated. For example, when was the TRB established on the Northwestern German Plain? From which cultures (Ertebølle, Swifterband, Rössen / Bischheim) did the TRB evolve? Which culture(s) influenced the TRB, and what reasons were crucial for this development? The transition from the TRB to the EGK, including when and why it took place, will also be analysed. The state of the art prior to the project’s commencement and its first results shall be presented in the following.
Same but different? Neolithic economic and cultural change in northern Germany.
Landscapes, Histories and Societies in the Northern European Neolithic, 2014
Certain ideal types are associated with terms like “Funnel Beaker Culture” or “Neolithic mode of production”. Although they are helpful, if not necessary, as analytical tools they carry the risk of being used in narratives about the actual past, overlooking their artificial nature. Although there is an awareness of this problem in the case of the “culture concept”, there seems to be a lack of sensitivity in the case of economic habits and their impact on the structure and characteristics of societies. On the basis of the investigation of the Neolithic landscape, the site locations, and natural conditions in two districts of Schleswig-Holstein (Stormarn and Herzogtum Lauenburg), this paper will discuss the different trajectories — locational continuity and discontinuity — for different activities and the economic practises that can be deduced from the different land uses. While there appears to be a long continued implementation of areas for permanent settlements from the Mesolithic up to the Late Neolithic, fundamental differences are nevertheless obvious in the case of temporary activity zones. The related changes do not coincide with phase boundaries implemented for cultural and stylistic traditions. This leads to the plausible conclusion that not only economic practices but also societal configurations were continually in-between different stages of development.
The Neolithic settlement and land use history in northwestern Germany is subject to detailed archaeological and palynological investigations that are carried out within the framework of the DFG priority program “Early Monumentality and Social Differentiation –the Emergence of Neolithic Monuments and Early Complex Societies in Northern Central Europe”. Up to now, only little is known about the settlement structure and the environmental conditions and changes in northwestern Germany during the 4th and 3rd millennium BC, although various megalithic monuments, grave mounds as well as surface finds indicate that the area was settled by the West Group of the Funnel Beaker and the subsequent Single Grave Cultures. Therefore, five local research areas were selected that bear high potential for interdisciplinary investigations into the structural context between graves and settlements, the temporal and spatial patterns of the Neolithic occupation period, and on the human impact on the landsc...
The Neolithic settlement and land use history in northwestern Germany is subject to detailed archaeological and palynological investigations that are carried out within the framework of the DFG priority program “Early Monumentality and Social Differentiation –the Emergence of Neolithic Monuments and Early Complex Societies in Northern Central Europe”. Up to now, only little is known about the settlement structure and the environmental conditions and changes in northwestern Germany during the 4th and 3rd millennium BC, although various megalithic monuments, grave mounds as well as surface finds indicate that the area was settled by the West Group of the Funnel Beaker and the subsequent Single Grave Cultures. Therefore, five local research areas were selected that bear high potential for interdisciplinary investigations into the structural context between graves and settlements, the temporal and spatial patterns of the Neolithic occupation period, and on the human impact on the landscape. The research areas are located in the Elbe/Weser Triangle (Flögeln / Sievern, Wanna and Lavenstedt), in the Emsland (Hümmling) and the Wildeshauser Geest on sandy geest islands, all in the federal state of Lower Saxony. At least one pollen profile from each local research area was recovered from bogs and fens to work on the landscape reconstruction of Northwestern Germany. First results imply differences in the chronological development and intensity of the human impact on the vegetation possibly depending on regional differences or on the profile’s vicinity to different find categories like settlements or graves. The archaeological investigations will focus on three of the local research areas where promising sites were identified. At Holzhausen in the Wildeshauser Geest, geomagnetic surveys generated a structure that might be evoked by remains of a causewayed enclosure. In addition, two promising TRB settlements were discovered at Sievern and Lavenstedt. The close connection of the settlement at Lavenstedt to various Neolithic tombs provides the opportunity for working on questions concerning TRB settlement structures. At Sievern, the site was yet dated to the oldest Neolithic settlement in Northwestern Germany which is supported by results from pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of the profile from the neighbouring bog “Dorumer Moor”. Therefore, we expect gain of knowledge about the Neolithic transition in the area.
The earliest settlement of Germany: Is there anything out there?
Quaternary International, 2010
The German Lower Palaeolithic is well known for its fossil remains of Mauer and Steinheim, and its famous archaeological sites at Bilzingsleben and Schöningen. However, all these sites are dated to a maximum of 600,000 years or much later. While the presence of fossil remains lead to the acceptance of a human occupation of Germany and Central Europe for about 600 ka, earlier indications in form of lithic assemblages are sparse and doubtful. For this paper, evidence was gathered from Early and Middle Pleistocene sites. Seven sites with human fossil remains are described. Archaeological evidence of the Late Early to Early Middle Pleistocene is still sparse: for the time range of 1000e450 ka, altogether seven sites with small and in part questionable artefact assemblages are discussed. Although some of the sites with pebble and flake tool technologies dating after 450 ka are of similar character, there are also well documented sites with large stone and also wooden artefact inventories that have had strong influence on our understandings of hominid behaviour.