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#0035
34
Wetlands settlements and a wooden trackway: Swifterbant sites in the Dummer basin
1996
1999
2000
Fig. 6 Overview of the course and position of the studied sections of the Neolithic moorland trackway Pr 31 (graphics: C. Ludwig/NLD).
drodated at 2,909-2,882 BC) trackway, and a differ-
ence in height of around 1 m. After the individual
trackways became covered with peat, the previous
ones were probably no longer recognisable when the
later ones were constructed. The topographic situation
at the time of building the respective trackways and
thus their starting points and destinations are largely
unknown in the extensive landscape covered by raised
bog. The bog trackways have been presented in vari-
ous preliminary reports (e.g. Metzler 1993; 2003;
Bauerochse et al. 2012), but a complete presentation
of the features and findings is still lacking, as well as
an allocation of the determined dating of the wooden
construction. A synopsis of trackway Pr 31 is now
presented here, which, thanks to ceramic fragments
and dendro-dating, can clearly be associated to the
Swifterbant culture.
Dendrochronological dating
The excavations were accompanied by palaeoecologi-
cal and dendrochronological investigations (most re-
cently Bauerochse / Leuschner this volume). Hanns
Hubert Leuschner was able to date 36 oak and pine
samples from Pr 31 even though the outermost rings
were mostly not available, due to the poor preservation
of the wood. The exact felling dates could be precisely
determined of only two of the construction woods. The
dates measured range from 4,629 to 4,538 BC, so 91
years, but allowances must be made for the estimated
final growth rings. During this span of time there were
several felling phases, probably indicating repair cycles.
Accordingly, the trackway was constructed in 4,629
and, especially in the following 40 years (in 4,614,
4,590 and 4,538 BC), it was improved or extended.
Further repair work appears to have taken place in
4,606,4,557 and 4,545 BC (cf. Achterberg et al. 2015,
25; Bauerochse / Leuschner this volume).
Construction of the trackway
Trackway Pr 31 was exposed to a length of some 94 m,
with minor gaps (Fig. 6). In the southwest and in the
northeast of the investigated section, the trackway
rests directly on projecting sand ridges. In between
it bridges a depression in which a few decimetres of
fenland peat had formed. The southwestern end of
Pr 31 was possibly reached with the investigations,
at least there were no other structures observed in
the vicinity. To the northeast of the studied area the
trackway continues for an unknown distance beneath
a 3 m thick peat overlay.
The state of preservation of the timbers can be
described as poor; bark and sapwood were mostly
Wetlands settlements and a wooden trackway: Swifterbant sites in the Dummer basin
1996
1999
2000
Fig. 6 Overview of the course and position of the studied sections of the Neolithic moorland trackway Pr 31 (graphics: C. Ludwig/NLD).
drodated at 2,909-2,882 BC) trackway, and a differ-
ence in height of around 1 m. After the individual
trackways became covered with peat, the previous
ones were probably no longer recognisable when the
later ones were constructed. The topographic situation
at the time of building the respective trackways and
thus their starting points and destinations are largely
unknown in the extensive landscape covered by raised
bog. The bog trackways have been presented in vari-
ous preliminary reports (e.g. Metzler 1993; 2003;
Bauerochse et al. 2012), but a complete presentation
of the features and findings is still lacking, as well as
an allocation of the determined dating of the wooden
construction. A synopsis of trackway Pr 31 is now
presented here, which, thanks to ceramic fragments
and dendro-dating, can clearly be associated to the
Swifterbant culture.
Dendrochronological dating
The excavations were accompanied by palaeoecologi-
cal and dendrochronological investigations (most re-
cently Bauerochse / Leuschner this volume). Hanns
Hubert Leuschner was able to date 36 oak and pine
samples from Pr 31 even though the outermost rings
were mostly not available, due to the poor preservation
of the wood. The exact felling dates could be precisely
determined of only two of the construction woods. The
dates measured range from 4,629 to 4,538 BC, so 91
years, but allowances must be made for the estimated
final growth rings. During this span of time there were
several felling phases, probably indicating repair cycles.
Accordingly, the trackway was constructed in 4,629
and, especially in the following 40 years (in 4,614,
4,590 and 4,538 BC), it was improved or extended.
Further repair work appears to have taken place in
4,606,4,557 and 4,545 BC (cf. Achterberg et al. 2015,
25; Bauerochse / Leuschner this volume).
Construction of the trackway
Trackway Pr 31 was exposed to a length of some 94 m,
with minor gaps (Fig. 6). In the southwest and in the
northeast of the investigated section, the trackway
rests directly on projecting sand ridges. In between
it bridges a depression in which a few decimetres of
fenland peat had formed. The southwestern end of
Pr 31 was possibly reached with the investigations,
at least there were no other structures observed in
the vicinity. To the northeast of the studied area the
trackway continues for an unknown distance beneath
a 3 m thick peat overlay.
The state of preservation of the timbers can be
described as poor; bark and sapwood were mostly