DOI chapter:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI chapter:Stapel, Bernhard: Swifterbant and the Late Mesolithic in Westphalia
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0178
Stone Age Borderland Experience (MAN 60, 2022, 177-184)
177
Swifterbant and the Late Mesolithic in Westphalia
Bernhard Stapel
Abstract While the Westphalian loess belt was already settled by farmers of the Linear Pottery culture by the 6th millennium
calBC, the introduction of a Neolithic way of living in the area north of the river Lippe was significantly delayed. First Final
Mesolithic sites indicate the presence of contemporaneous hunter-gatherers. In the 5th and 4th millennia calBC a few isolated
finds from the Muenster Embayment show contacts to cultures of the adjacent northern lowlands.
Keywords Final Mesolithic of northern Westphalia, neolithisation of the Muenster Embayment
Zusammenfassung Ab dem 6. Jahrtausend calBC warden die westfalischen Lbssbbrden bereits von den Bauern der Linear-
bandkeramik besiedelt. Dagegen erfolgte nbrdlich der Lippe die Bin fuh rung der neolithischen Lebensweise deutlich verzbgert.
Zunachst zeigen endmesolithische Fundplatze in diesem Raum ein Weiterleben von Jager-/Sammler-Gruppen an. Im 5. und
4. Jahrtausend calBC deuten einige wenige Einzelfunde aus der Munsterlander Tieflandbucht Verbindungen zu Kulturen des
nbrdlich anschlieBenden Flachlandgebiets an.
Introduction
Westphalia is situated at the southern fringe of the
north European plain. Large areas in the south and
east are part of the German central upland. Only
the Muenster Embayment in the northwest and the
foothills of the Wiehengebirge are to be attributed
to the northern lowlands.
Since the 6th millennium calBC the loess belt in
the Hellweg region and east Westphalia had been set-
tled by farmers of the Linear Pottery culture (LBK)
and later of Middle Neolithic cultures of Danubian
tradition. At first glance, the presence of contempo-
raneous Final Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in West-
phalia seems to be doubtful. However, there are a
handful of hints pointing to the presence of such
groups in the northern Miinsterland region. This
scanty evidence is represented by a few stray finds
from sandpits and older excavations, which reveal
connections to the northern lowlands.
Late and Final Mesolithic sites
in northwestern Westphalia
(7,100- 5,300/4,750 BC)
In the northwestern part of Westphalia there are
about 90 Late Mesolithic sites represented by the
presence of trapeze microliths (Stapel 2013a, 219
Abb. 279). The majority of our information comes
from surface collections. Excavations on Westpha-
lian Mesolithic sites have been rather the excep-
tion so far. The main areas of distribution are in
the southwest of the area and along the river Ems.
But the picture is surely determined by activities of
amateur archaeologists and might not correspond to
prehistoric reality. A decline in the number of Late
Mesolithic sites compared with that of the earlier
Mesolithic period cannot be observed.
One of the few excavations has been conducted
in Vreden-Stadtlohner StraBe (Kreis Borken), in the
west of the Miinsterland, near the Dutch-German
border (Fig. 1; Stapel 2013a, 220-221). A small
test trench excavated in 2001 and 2002 yielded a
layer containing Mesolithic artefacts at the base of
a Plaggen soil. The assemblage consists of approxi-
mately 1,100 pieces of flint (Fig. 2). The artefacts are
usually of limited size. Significant components of
the assemblage are regular blades and blade cores.
Modified tools are rare, and include a few retouched
and utilized blades and flakes, a scraper, and three
microliths of which one is a symmetrical trapeze.1
At first glance it seems to be a quite ‘normal’ Late
Mesolithic material. Surprisingly, the AMS-dating of
two charred hazelnut shells found together with the
1 In general, there are similarities to the Swifterbant assem-
blage of Hiide I, Dummer, Lower Saxony (Stapel 1991,
153-155). The micro point is an exception to this.
177
Swifterbant and the Late Mesolithic in Westphalia
Bernhard Stapel
Abstract While the Westphalian loess belt was already settled by farmers of the Linear Pottery culture by the 6th millennium
calBC, the introduction of a Neolithic way of living in the area north of the river Lippe was significantly delayed. First Final
Mesolithic sites indicate the presence of contemporaneous hunter-gatherers. In the 5th and 4th millennia calBC a few isolated
finds from the Muenster Embayment show contacts to cultures of the adjacent northern lowlands.
Keywords Final Mesolithic of northern Westphalia, neolithisation of the Muenster Embayment
Zusammenfassung Ab dem 6. Jahrtausend calBC warden die westfalischen Lbssbbrden bereits von den Bauern der Linear-
bandkeramik besiedelt. Dagegen erfolgte nbrdlich der Lippe die Bin fuh rung der neolithischen Lebensweise deutlich verzbgert.
Zunachst zeigen endmesolithische Fundplatze in diesem Raum ein Weiterleben von Jager-/Sammler-Gruppen an. Im 5. und
4. Jahrtausend calBC deuten einige wenige Einzelfunde aus der Munsterlander Tieflandbucht Verbindungen zu Kulturen des
nbrdlich anschlieBenden Flachlandgebiets an.
Introduction
Westphalia is situated at the southern fringe of the
north European plain. Large areas in the south and
east are part of the German central upland. Only
the Muenster Embayment in the northwest and the
foothills of the Wiehengebirge are to be attributed
to the northern lowlands.
Since the 6th millennium calBC the loess belt in
the Hellweg region and east Westphalia had been set-
tled by farmers of the Linear Pottery culture (LBK)
and later of Middle Neolithic cultures of Danubian
tradition. At first glance, the presence of contempo-
raneous Final Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in West-
phalia seems to be doubtful. However, there are a
handful of hints pointing to the presence of such
groups in the northern Miinsterland region. This
scanty evidence is represented by a few stray finds
from sandpits and older excavations, which reveal
connections to the northern lowlands.
Late and Final Mesolithic sites
in northwestern Westphalia
(7,100- 5,300/4,750 BC)
In the northwestern part of Westphalia there are
about 90 Late Mesolithic sites represented by the
presence of trapeze microliths (Stapel 2013a, 219
Abb. 279). The majority of our information comes
from surface collections. Excavations on Westpha-
lian Mesolithic sites have been rather the excep-
tion so far. The main areas of distribution are in
the southwest of the area and along the river Ems.
But the picture is surely determined by activities of
amateur archaeologists and might not correspond to
prehistoric reality. A decline in the number of Late
Mesolithic sites compared with that of the earlier
Mesolithic period cannot be observed.
One of the few excavations has been conducted
in Vreden-Stadtlohner StraBe (Kreis Borken), in the
west of the Miinsterland, near the Dutch-German
border (Fig. 1; Stapel 2013a, 220-221). A small
test trench excavated in 2001 and 2002 yielded a
layer containing Mesolithic artefacts at the base of
a Plaggen soil. The assemblage consists of approxi-
mately 1,100 pieces of flint (Fig. 2). The artefacts are
usually of limited size. Significant components of
the assemblage are regular blades and blade cores.
Modified tools are rare, and include a few retouched
and utilized blades and flakes, a scraper, and three
microliths of which one is a symmetrical trapeze.1
At first glance it seems to be a quite ‘normal’ Late
Mesolithic material. Surprisingly, the AMS-dating of
two charred hazelnut shells found together with the
1 In general, there are similarities to the Swifterbant assem-
blage of Hiide I, Dummer, Lower Saxony (Stapel 1991,
153-155). The micro point is an exception to this.