DOI chapter:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI chapter:Heumüller, Marion; Briel, Mirjam; Klimscha, Florian; Kotula, Andreas; Leuschner, Hanns Hubert; Schoon, Reinhold; Zerl, Tanja: Wetlands settlements and a wooden trackway: Swifterbant sites in the Dümmer basin
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0032
Marion Heumuller, Mirjam Briel, Florian Klimscha, Andreas Kotula, Hanns Hubert Leuschner, Reinhold Schoon and Tanja Zerl
31
3 cm
Fig. 5 Nine decorated sherds from
Hunte 3 (graphics: A. Michalak/
NLD).
Raemaekers/De Roever 2010; Raemaekers 2015)
and T. J. Ten Anscher (e.g. 2015). According to these
studies, the ceramics are characterised by more or less
s-shaped profiles and round or pointed base forms and
smooth surfaces. The vessels’ diameters lie between 11
and 37 cm, with wall thicknesses varying between 5
and 14 mm (average 7-10 mm). Plant-based tempering
particles, depending on local availability, dominate, but
tempering particles of sand, grit and grog also exist
(Raemaekers/De Roever 2010). Typical embellish-
ments consist of one or a number of horizontal rows
of elongated droplet-shaped or rounded impressions
on the neck or shoulder of the vessels. Most of the
sherds are very fragile due to the relatively low fir-
ing temperatures of below 600 °C (Raemaekers / De
Roever 2010). The transition to the Funnel Beaker
culture is poorly understood because of the rarity of
sites between 4,000 and 3,400 BC in the Netherlands
(Raemaekers 2015, 322-323). Recently, ten Anscher
worked out the gradual transition using sequences at
site Schokland P14. He defined the early horizon of
the Funnel Beaker culture, the Pre-Douwen phase, as
having typical decorative patterns like cord arches,
zig-zag motifs, neck and belly fringes, grooves and
stab and drag lines, together with the appearance of
newer ceramic types like collared flasks or clay discs
(Ten Anscher 2015, 341). The small find complex
at Hunte 3 lacks the corresponding decorative and
morphological attributes which suggests it should be
assigned to the Swifterbant culture. On the basis of
the ceramic features in the Netherlands Raemaekers /
De Roever (2010, 135) distinguish early, middle and
late phases, with the middle phase covering a relatively
long period of time from 4,600 to 3,900 BC. Their in-
dicators are the increasing use of decorations and the
emergence of regional differences (Raemaekers / De
Roever 2010). The Hunte 3 finds can be loosely as-
sociated here.
Flint artefacts
Up to now only the first batch of flint artefacts
(n = 352) has been evaluated.1 The artefact spectrum,
dominated by unmodified basic forms and numer-
ous typical flint processing wastes, such as trimming
flakes and preparation debris, proves flint process-
ing on site. There are fairly high numbers of blades,
which together with blade cores indicate a production
geared towards blade manufacturing. In addition to
short blades with an average length/breadth index of
3:1 (but also some of 2:1), also micro blades with a
ratio of 4:1 were found. Both the blades and micro
blades are conspicuously even and with mostly par-
allel edges. Several blades show a clear distal shaft
retouch on both lateral edges and can be included
among the tools. In the site inventory there are also
present two small burins, a thumbnail scraper and a
blade with clear working traces on one lateral edge.
Three microliths - a trapeze made from an even-edged
blade, a transverse arrowhead and a micro point (see
Heumuller et al. 2017 fig. 15) - are interesting as
types due to their association on the same site. While
micro points have a very long duration in north central
Europe from the Preboreal to about the Middle Atlan-
tic period, regular trapezes are more a phenomenon
of the late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic.
Cores are proportionally numerous on site. They
are very small (all < 6 cm) and almost exclusively show
a steep knapping angle, almost 90°, with circumferen-
tial, uniform blade negatives. It is striking that - with
the exception of the micro blade cores - the cores are
predominantly fragments broken out of small flint
nodules and were mostly knapped from just one side.
The striking platforms show slight preparation marks
1 Analysed by Mirjam Briel (cf. Heumuller et al. 2017,24-25)
31
3 cm
Fig. 5 Nine decorated sherds from
Hunte 3 (graphics: A. Michalak/
NLD).
Raemaekers/De Roever 2010; Raemaekers 2015)
and T. J. Ten Anscher (e.g. 2015). According to these
studies, the ceramics are characterised by more or less
s-shaped profiles and round or pointed base forms and
smooth surfaces. The vessels’ diameters lie between 11
and 37 cm, with wall thicknesses varying between 5
and 14 mm (average 7-10 mm). Plant-based tempering
particles, depending on local availability, dominate, but
tempering particles of sand, grit and grog also exist
(Raemaekers/De Roever 2010). Typical embellish-
ments consist of one or a number of horizontal rows
of elongated droplet-shaped or rounded impressions
on the neck or shoulder of the vessels. Most of the
sherds are very fragile due to the relatively low fir-
ing temperatures of below 600 °C (Raemaekers / De
Roever 2010). The transition to the Funnel Beaker
culture is poorly understood because of the rarity of
sites between 4,000 and 3,400 BC in the Netherlands
(Raemaekers 2015, 322-323). Recently, ten Anscher
worked out the gradual transition using sequences at
site Schokland P14. He defined the early horizon of
the Funnel Beaker culture, the Pre-Douwen phase, as
having typical decorative patterns like cord arches,
zig-zag motifs, neck and belly fringes, grooves and
stab and drag lines, together with the appearance of
newer ceramic types like collared flasks or clay discs
(Ten Anscher 2015, 341). The small find complex
at Hunte 3 lacks the corresponding decorative and
morphological attributes which suggests it should be
assigned to the Swifterbant culture. On the basis of
the ceramic features in the Netherlands Raemaekers /
De Roever (2010, 135) distinguish early, middle and
late phases, with the middle phase covering a relatively
long period of time from 4,600 to 3,900 BC. Their in-
dicators are the increasing use of decorations and the
emergence of regional differences (Raemaekers / De
Roever 2010). The Hunte 3 finds can be loosely as-
sociated here.
Flint artefacts
Up to now only the first batch of flint artefacts
(n = 352) has been evaluated.1 The artefact spectrum,
dominated by unmodified basic forms and numer-
ous typical flint processing wastes, such as trimming
flakes and preparation debris, proves flint process-
ing on site. There are fairly high numbers of blades,
which together with blade cores indicate a production
geared towards blade manufacturing. In addition to
short blades with an average length/breadth index of
3:1 (but also some of 2:1), also micro blades with a
ratio of 4:1 were found. Both the blades and micro
blades are conspicuously even and with mostly par-
allel edges. Several blades show a clear distal shaft
retouch on both lateral edges and can be included
among the tools. In the site inventory there are also
present two small burins, a thumbnail scraper and a
blade with clear working traces on one lateral edge.
Three microliths - a trapeze made from an even-edged
blade, a transverse arrowhead and a micro point (see
Heumuller et al. 2017 fig. 15) - are interesting as
types due to their association on the same site. While
micro points have a very long duration in north central
Europe from the Preboreal to about the Middle Atlan-
tic period, regular trapezes are more a phenomenon
of the late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic.
Cores are proportionally numerous on site. They
are very small (all < 6 cm) and almost exclusively show
a steep knapping angle, almost 90°, with circumferen-
tial, uniform blade negatives. It is striking that - with
the exception of the micro blade cores - the cores are
predominantly fragments broken out of small flint
nodules and were mostly knapped from just one side.
The striking platforms show slight preparation marks
1 Analysed by Mirjam Briel (cf. Heumuller et al. 2017,24-25)