DOI Kapitel:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI Kapitel:Hülsebusch, Christian; Jockenhövel, Albecht: Going north . . . The Middle Neolithic settlement of Nottuln-Uphoven (Westphalia) and the start of the neolithisation in the lowlands
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0124
Stone Age Borderland Experience (MAN 60, 2022, 123 -133)
123
Going north... The Middle Neolithic settlement of
Nottuln-Uphoven (Westphalia) and the start of the
neolithisation in the lowlands
Christian Hulsebusch and Albrecht Jockenhbvel
Abstract Excavations from 1983-1985 and 2007-2008 brought to light a multi-periodic settlement site of the Middle and
Late Neolithic (Rbssen, Bischheim, Michelsberg, Funnel Beaker cultures) in Nottuln-Uphoven (Coesfeld, Munsterland, Ger-
many) on a southern slope of the Baumberge hills. The site is located on a small loess island about 50-70 km north of the
fertile Hellweg zone (between Dortmund and Soest) in the midst of less fertile sandy areas. Due to profound erosion the
Rbssen settlement could only be recorded in its lowest lying structures. The pottery shows direct connections with that of the
Rbssen settlements on the Hellweg. A grinding sandstone probably also originates from this area. This suggests the migration
of a small Rbssen population to the north, which started around 4,800 caIBC. They settled as farmers on the site for several
generations. Probably discontinuously, settlements of the Bischheim group, the Michelsberg culture and the Funnel Beaker
culture followed. Nottuln-Uphoven represents the earliest expansion from the old settlement landscapes, characterised by
full Neolithic farmsteads of the Linear Pottery (Linearbandkeramik) and Rbssen culture, into the north. The site of Nottuln-
Uphoven is therefore of particular importance for the neolithisation of the northwest German lowlands.
Keywords Nottuln-Uphoven (Westphalia), Middle Neolithic settlements (Rbssen, Bischheim, Michelsberg, Funnel Beaker
culture), earliest farmers north of the Hellweg zone
Zusammenfassung Von 1983-1985 und2007-2008 wurde bei Nottuln-Uphoven (Kr Coesfeld, Munsterland) aufeinem Sud-
hang der Baumberge ein mehrperiodiger Siedlungsplatz des Mittel- und Jungneolithikums (Rbssener, Bischheimer, Michels-
berger und Trlchterbecherkultur) ergraben. Der Fundplatz liegt etwa 50-70 km nbrdlich der fruchtbaren Hellweg-Zone zwi-
schen Dortmund und Soest auf einer Lbssinsel mitten in einem sonst wenig fruchtbaren Sandgebiet. Aufgrund der Erosion
konnten nur noch die untersten Strukturen der Rbssener Siedlung erfasst werden. Die Keramik zeigt deutliche Verbindungen
zu den Rbssener Siedlungen am Hellweg und der Sandstein fur einen Mahlstein stammt vermutlich aus dieser Region. Daher
wird angenommnen, dass eine kleine Rbssener Population vom Hellweg die Siedlung Nottuln urn 4800 v.Chr. begrundet hat.
Die Siedlung hat fur mehrere Generationen bestanden. Spater folgten - wahrscheinlich jeweils nach einer Unterbrechung -
Siedlungsphasen der Bischheimer Gruppe sowie der Michelsberger und der Trlchterbecherkultur Nottuln-Uphoven reprasen-
tiert die erste Expansionsphase der Bauern der Linearbandkeramik und Rbssener Kultur nach Norden. Der Fundplatz Not-
tuln-Uphoven ist daher von grober Bedeutung fur das Verstandnis der Neolithisierung der nordwestdeutschen
Tie fe bene.
Introduction
According to the current state of research, during the
5th millennium caIBC the ‘neolithisation’ takes place
in the northwest German lowlands (‘Niederdeutsche
Tiefebene’) north of the fertile loess belt upstream from
the central German uplands (‘Mittelgebirge’). Ongoing
research regards this transition from acquiring to pro-
ducing subsistence strategies as an increasingly com-
plex process. Mostly temporal and spatial relations of
finds, pre-differentiated as ‘Mesolithic’ or ‘Neolithic”,
are considered under certain aspects or neolithisation
models in various ways. For, if one accepts the model
of the spread of a Neolithic life-style from the Near
East to central Europe, be it by human migration (to-
gether with domesticated animals and plants), transfer
of ideas (stimulus diffusion) or by indigenous innova-
tion, one has also to assume the existence of more or
less stable ‘border situations’ in different regions and at
different times: an ‘Agricultural Frontier’, where farm-
123
Going north... The Middle Neolithic settlement of
Nottuln-Uphoven (Westphalia) and the start of the
neolithisation in the lowlands
Christian Hulsebusch and Albrecht Jockenhbvel
Abstract Excavations from 1983-1985 and 2007-2008 brought to light a multi-periodic settlement site of the Middle and
Late Neolithic (Rbssen, Bischheim, Michelsberg, Funnel Beaker cultures) in Nottuln-Uphoven (Coesfeld, Munsterland, Ger-
many) on a southern slope of the Baumberge hills. The site is located on a small loess island about 50-70 km north of the
fertile Hellweg zone (between Dortmund and Soest) in the midst of less fertile sandy areas. Due to profound erosion the
Rbssen settlement could only be recorded in its lowest lying structures. The pottery shows direct connections with that of the
Rbssen settlements on the Hellweg. A grinding sandstone probably also originates from this area. This suggests the migration
of a small Rbssen population to the north, which started around 4,800 caIBC. They settled as farmers on the site for several
generations. Probably discontinuously, settlements of the Bischheim group, the Michelsberg culture and the Funnel Beaker
culture followed. Nottuln-Uphoven represents the earliest expansion from the old settlement landscapes, characterised by
full Neolithic farmsteads of the Linear Pottery (Linearbandkeramik) and Rbssen culture, into the north. The site of Nottuln-
Uphoven is therefore of particular importance for the neolithisation of the northwest German lowlands.
Keywords Nottuln-Uphoven (Westphalia), Middle Neolithic settlements (Rbssen, Bischheim, Michelsberg, Funnel Beaker
culture), earliest farmers north of the Hellweg zone
Zusammenfassung Von 1983-1985 und2007-2008 wurde bei Nottuln-Uphoven (Kr Coesfeld, Munsterland) aufeinem Sud-
hang der Baumberge ein mehrperiodiger Siedlungsplatz des Mittel- und Jungneolithikums (Rbssener, Bischheimer, Michels-
berger und Trlchterbecherkultur) ergraben. Der Fundplatz liegt etwa 50-70 km nbrdlich der fruchtbaren Hellweg-Zone zwi-
schen Dortmund und Soest auf einer Lbssinsel mitten in einem sonst wenig fruchtbaren Sandgebiet. Aufgrund der Erosion
konnten nur noch die untersten Strukturen der Rbssener Siedlung erfasst werden. Die Keramik zeigt deutliche Verbindungen
zu den Rbssener Siedlungen am Hellweg und der Sandstein fur einen Mahlstein stammt vermutlich aus dieser Region. Daher
wird angenommnen, dass eine kleine Rbssener Population vom Hellweg die Siedlung Nottuln urn 4800 v.Chr. begrundet hat.
Die Siedlung hat fur mehrere Generationen bestanden. Spater folgten - wahrscheinlich jeweils nach einer Unterbrechung -
Siedlungsphasen der Bischheimer Gruppe sowie der Michelsberger und der Trlchterbecherkultur Nottuln-Uphoven reprasen-
tiert die erste Expansionsphase der Bauern der Linearbandkeramik und Rbssener Kultur nach Norden. Der Fundplatz Not-
tuln-Uphoven ist daher von grober Bedeutung fur das Verstandnis der Neolithisierung der nordwestdeutschen
Tie fe bene.
Introduction
According to the current state of research, during the
5th millennium caIBC the ‘neolithisation’ takes place
in the northwest German lowlands (‘Niederdeutsche
Tiefebene’) north of the fertile loess belt upstream from
the central German uplands (‘Mittelgebirge’). Ongoing
research regards this transition from acquiring to pro-
ducing subsistence strategies as an increasingly com-
plex process. Mostly temporal and spatial relations of
finds, pre-differentiated as ‘Mesolithic’ or ‘Neolithic”,
are considered under certain aspects or neolithisation
models in various ways. For, if one accepts the model
of the spread of a Neolithic life-style from the Near
East to central Europe, be it by human migration (to-
gether with domesticated animals and plants), transfer
of ideas (stimulus diffusion) or by indigenous innova-
tion, one has also to assume the existence of more or
less stable ‘border situations’ in different regions and at
different times: an ‘Agricultural Frontier’, where farm-