DOI Kapitel:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI Kapitel:Cziesla, Erwin: Some remarks on the origin of Mesolithic pottery in northwestern Europe
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0012
Stone Age Borderland Experience (MAN 60, 2022, 11-24)
11
Some remarks on the origin of Mesolithic pottery
in northwestern Europe
Erwin Cziesla
Abstract This contribution points out different topics. Firstly: ‘neolithisation’ and ‘ceramicisation’ are to be separated from
each other. Secondly: it can be shown that the occurrence of Limburg and La Hoguette pottery types is linked with that of
dorsoventral base retouched arrowheads. Since 9,000 calBC this arrowhead type is distributed in a limited area in the river-
systems of Seine, Saone and Rhine, called the ‘Se-Sa-Rhe-Traditions-Region’. This area remains stable up to 5,000 calBC.
During Late-Mesolithic times these arrowheads’ distribution did extend to the west, reaching the Atlantic coast, similarly to
the pottery of La Hoguette type, as shown by a newly discovered vessel from Guibrelow I near Machecoul. Thirdly: the pottery
types of Limbourg and La Hoguette might be ‘hunter/gatherers ceramics’, having been developed in the area between Seine,
Saone and Rhine. The neolithisation process was unaffected by this.
Keywords Neolithisation, ceramicisation, origin of northwest European pottery, hunter-gatherer ceramics, dorsoventral base
retouched arrowheads
Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag werden zunachst der Neolithisierungs-Prozess und die „Keramikisierung“ voneinander
entkoppelt. AnschlieBend werden die Keramikarten Limburg and La Hoguette mit dem Auftreten dorsoventral-basisretuschier-
ter Pfeilspitzen verknupft. Dieserspezielle Pfeilspitzen-Typ hat seitca. 9000 v. Chr. eine begrenzte Verbreitung Im sogenann-
ten „Se-Sa-Rhe-Traditionsraum“, also an Seine, Saone und Rhein. Dieser Raum bleibt stabil bis mindestens 5000 v. Chr Wah-
rend des Spatmesolithikums erreichten dorsoventral-basisretuschierte Pfeilspitzen erstmals die Atlantikkuste, ebenso auch La
Hoguette- Ge fa be, wie jungst in Guibrelow I bei Machecoul nachgewiesen. Offenbar haben wir es bei der La Hoguette und
Limburger Ware mit einer Jager-Sammler-Keramik zu tun, die an Seine, Saone und Rhein entwickelt wurde. Der Neolithisie-
rungs-Prozess bleibt davon unbeeinflusst.
Introduction
Let us start here with the compelling, immense
term ‘Neolithic Revolution’, coined already in the
1930’s by Vere Gordon Childe (*1892, fl957), as
well as with the successful excavations in the ‘Fertile
Crescent’ which provided a geographical connec-
tion along the lines of the biblical traditions for an
‘archaeological Garden of Eden’ in Mesopotamia1
and in the Levant region as the starting points for
the following processes of ‘neolithisation’. Later, to-
wards the end of the 1980’s, these processes - by then
generally accepted - were shown on maps, usually
with the help of arrow symbols that all pointed to
1 Genesis 2: ‘Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the
garden. And from there it divided and became four rivers ... The
name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And
the fourth river is the Euphrates’.
the western European region and marked the end
of the distribution there. A map (Fig. 1), published
by the archaeo-zoologist Hans-Peter Uerpmann
with the title ‘Entstehungsgebiete der bauerlichen
Wirtschaftsform und ihre Ausbreitung nach Europa’
(‘Formation regions of the farming economic system
and its spread to Europe’; Uerpmann 1983, fig. 243),
can serve as an example of this kind of comparative
depiction. Taking a closer look at the map, one can
see two spatially divided events: on the one side there
is a spread inland, characterised by large houses,
technical facilities, such as ovens and wells, and do-
mestic cattle. This is a rather slow process of gradual
land gain (‘neolithisation slow and heavy’) (Cziesla
2015b, 230). In addition, one also sees a spread along
the coast, likely using small boats without the pos-
sibilities for larger transportation. This distribution,
known under the French term ‘cabotage’, ends in the
Golf du Lion area and continues inland to the north
and northeast along the river Rhone (‘neolithisation
11
Some remarks on the origin of Mesolithic pottery
in northwestern Europe
Erwin Cziesla
Abstract This contribution points out different topics. Firstly: ‘neolithisation’ and ‘ceramicisation’ are to be separated from
each other. Secondly: it can be shown that the occurrence of Limburg and La Hoguette pottery types is linked with that of
dorsoventral base retouched arrowheads. Since 9,000 calBC this arrowhead type is distributed in a limited area in the river-
systems of Seine, Saone and Rhine, called the ‘Se-Sa-Rhe-Traditions-Region’. This area remains stable up to 5,000 calBC.
During Late-Mesolithic times these arrowheads’ distribution did extend to the west, reaching the Atlantic coast, similarly to
the pottery of La Hoguette type, as shown by a newly discovered vessel from Guibrelow I near Machecoul. Thirdly: the pottery
types of Limbourg and La Hoguette might be ‘hunter/gatherers ceramics’, having been developed in the area between Seine,
Saone and Rhine. The neolithisation process was unaffected by this.
Keywords Neolithisation, ceramicisation, origin of northwest European pottery, hunter-gatherer ceramics, dorsoventral base
retouched arrowheads
Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag werden zunachst der Neolithisierungs-Prozess und die „Keramikisierung“ voneinander
entkoppelt. AnschlieBend werden die Keramikarten Limburg and La Hoguette mit dem Auftreten dorsoventral-basisretuschier-
ter Pfeilspitzen verknupft. Dieserspezielle Pfeilspitzen-Typ hat seitca. 9000 v. Chr. eine begrenzte Verbreitung Im sogenann-
ten „Se-Sa-Rhe-Traditionsraum“, also an Seine, Saone und Rhein. Dieser Raum bleibt stabil bis mindestens 5000 v. Chr Wah-
rend des Spatmesolithikums erreichten dorsoventral-basisretuschierte Pfeilspitzen erstmals die Atlantikkuste, ebenso auch La
Hoguette- Ge fa be, wie jungst in Guibrelow I bei Machecoul nachgewiesen. Offenbar haben wir es bei der La Hoguette und
Limburger Ware mit einer Jager-Sammler-Keramik zu tun, die an Seine, Saone und Rhein entwickelt wurde. Der Neolithisie-
rungs-Prozess bleibt davon unbeeinflusst.
Introduction
Let us start here with the compelling, immense
term ‘Neolithic Revolution’, coined already in the
1930’s by Vere Gordon Childe (*1892, fl957), as
well as with the successful excavations in the ‘Fertile
Crescent’ which provided a geographical connec-
tion along the lines of the biblical traditions for an
‘archaeological Garden of Eden’ in Mesopotamia1
and in the Levant region as the starting points for
the following processes of ‘neolithisation’. Later, to-
wards the end of the 1980’s, these processes - by then
generally accepted - were shown on maps, usually
with the help of arrow symbols that all pointed to
1 Genesis 2: ‘Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the
garden. And from there it divided and became four rivers ... The
name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And
the fourth river is the Euphrates’.
the western European region and marked the end
of the distribution there. A map (Fig. 1), published
by the archaeo-zoologist Hans-Peter Uerpmann
with the title ‘Entstehungsgebiete der bauerlichen
Wirtschaftsform und ihre Ausbreitung nach Europa’
(‘Formation regions of the farming economic system
and its spread to Europe’; Uerpmann 1983, fig. 243),
can serve as an example of this kind of comparative
depiction. Taking a closer look at the map, one can
see two spatially divided events: on the one side there
is a spread inland, characterised by large houses,
technical facilities, such as ovens and wells, and do-
mestic cattle. This is a rather slow process of gradual
land gain (‘neolithisation slow and heavy’) (Cziesla
2015b, 230). In addition, one also sees a spread along
the coast, likely using small boats without the pos-
sibilities for larger transportation. This distribution,
known under the French term ‘cabotage’, ends in the
Golf du Lion area and continues inland to the north
and northeast along the river Rhone (‘neolithisation