DOI chapter:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI chapter:Bauerochse, Andreas; Leuschner, Hanns Hubert: Neolithic colonisation of the southwestern Dümmer basin (NW Germany) – evidence from palaeobotanical data
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0048
Andreas Bauerochse and Hanns Hubert Leuschner
47
Fig. 3 Section of trackway Pr 31. The track-
way, conserved at the basis of the mire, was
built when paludification started at Campe-
moor at about 4600 BC (excavation season
2004; photo: A. Bauerochse).
glacio-fluvial sands, largely covered by peatlands
(bogs and fens), and with small patches of Saalian
ground moraines (Luttig 1958; von Drachenfels
2010; Menning/Hendrich 2016). Today the area
is characterised by farmland, areas of peat cutting,
rewetted peatlands, and nature reserves.
As early as the first half of the 19th century, ar-
chaeologists had found many traces of early human
activities in this area, most notably wooden track-
ways.1 Archaeological investigations in the 20th century
revealed the importance of the area for early Neolithic
colonisation, as they uncovered the remains of settle-
ments around Lake Dummer and at the margin of
the peatland.2
In the early 1990s two wooden trackways found
in the Campemoor, a raised bog in the southwestern
part of the Dummer basin (Schneekloth / Schneider
1972), attracted attention. These finds, discovered dur-
ing peat cutting, focused research in an area about
eight kilometres southwest of Lake Dummer (Metzler
1993). Their excavation was also the starting point
for palaeoecological investigations including peat
stratigraphy and pollen analysis, as well as dendro-
chronological and dendroecological studies. From this
time on, Campemoor became the centre of trackway
research in Lower Saxony for more than 20 years.
Ultimately the remains of five trackways situated close
to each other and covering the period from the first
1 Nieberding 1817; 1840; von Alten 1879; 1888; Prejawa
1894;1896.
2 Reinerth 1939; Deichmuller 1968; 1975; Kampffmeyer
1988; Bischop 1997; Kossian 2003; 2007; Selent 2019.
half of the 5th millennium to the beginning of the 3rd
millennium BC were excavated (Metzler 2003; 2005;
Bauerochse et al. 2012). Pollen profiles from the ex-
cavation site itself and from the surrounding area were
analysed (Bauerochse / Metzler 2001; 2003; Bauer-
ochse 2003), the timbers of the trackways, as well
as trees from subfossil forests conserved in the peat,
were dendrochronologically and dendroecologically
investigated,3 and large areas south of Lake Diimmer
were subject to archaeological prospection by field
survey (Gerken 2003).
Methods
Pollen analysis
During the preparation for pollen analysis in the
laboratory, the botanical macro-remains were sepa-
rated. The preparation for pollen analysis followed
the caustic potash-acetolysis method after Erdt-
mann (1954). All samples were counted to a total
pollen sum of about 1,000 pollen. Stomata are given
in absolute occurences (for a detailed description of
preparation see Bauerochse 2003, 71).
Wood analysis
For dendrochronological/-ecological investigations a
collection of slice sections was obtained encompassing
3 Leuschner et al. 2007; Eckstein et al. 2010; 2011; Bauer-
ochse et al. 2012.
47
Fig. 3 Section of trackway Pr 31. The track-
way, conserved at the basis of the mire, was
built when paludification started at Campe-
moor at about 4600 BC (excavation season
2004; photo: A. Bauerochse).
glacio-fluvial sands, largely covered by peatlands
(bogs and fens), and with small patches of Saalian
ground moraines (Luttig 1958; von Drachenfels
2010; Menning/Hendrich 2016). Today the area
is characterised by farmland, areas of peat cutting,
rewetted peatlands, and nature reserves.
As early as the first half of the 19th century, ar-
chaeologists had found many traces of early human
activities in this area, most notably wooden track-
ways.1 Archaeological investigations in the 20th century
revealed the importance of the area for early Neolithic
colonisation, as they uncovered the remains of settle-
ments around Lake Dummer and at the margin of
the peatland.2
In the early 1990s two wooden trackways found
in the Campemoor, a raised bog in the southwestern
part of the Dummer basin (Schneekloth / Schneider
1972), attracted attention. These finds, discovered dur-
ing peat cutting, focused research in an area about
eight kilometres southwest of Lake Dummer (Metzler
1993). Their excavation was also the starting point
for palaeoecological investigations including peat
stratigraphy and pollen analysis, as well as dendro-
chronological and dendroecological studies. From this
time on, Campemoor became the centre of trackway
research in Lower Saxony for more than 20 years.
Ultimately the remains of five trackways situated close
to each other and covering the period from the first
1 Nieberding 1817; 1840; von Alten 1879; 1888; Prejawa
1894;1896.
2 Reinerth 1939; Deichmuller 1968; 1975; Kampffmeyer
1988; Bischop 1997; Kossian 2003; 2007; Selent 2019.
half of the 5th millennium to the beginning of the 3rd
millennium BC were excavated (Metzler 2003; 2005;
Bauerochse et al. 2012). Pollen profiles from the ex-
cavation site itself and from the surrounding area were
analysed (Bauerochse / Metzler 2001; 2003; Bauer-
ochse 2003), the timbers of the trackways, as well
as trees from subfossil forests conserved in the peat,
were dendrochronologically and dendroecologically
investigated,3 and large areas south of Lake Diimmer
were subject to archaeological prospection by field
survey (Gerken 2003).
Methods
Pollen analysis
During the preparation for pollen analysis in the
laboratory, the botanical macro-remains were sepa-
rated. The preparation for pollen analysis followed
the caustic potash-acetolysis method after Erdt-
mann (1954). All samples were counted to a total
pollen sum of about 1,000 pollen. Stomata are given
in absolute occurences (for a detailed description of
preparation see Bauerochse 2003, 71).
Wood analysis
For dendrochronological/-ecological investigations a
collection of slice sections was obtained encompassing
3 Leuschner et al. 2007; Eckstein et al. 2010; 2011; Bauer-
ochse et al. 2012.