DOI chapter:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI chapter:Mahlstedt, Svea; Karle, Martina; Kegler, Jan F.: Foraging in a changing landscape – the Late Mesolithic in the coastal area of Lower Saxony
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0188
Svea Mahlstedt, Martina Karie and Jan F. Kegler
187
Fig. 1 East Frisia - reconstruction of landscape and sea-level between 6,000 and 5,000 caIBC. Grey line: present day coast line; red
dots: sites mentioned in the paper. 1 Juist; 2 Baltrum; 3 Spiekeroog; 4 Osteel; 5 Coldinne (map: M. Karie).
ed and recovered again by both natural and anth-
ropogenic influences.
On the East Frisian peninsula Mesolithic settle-
ment sites have not so far been the object of focused
archaeological research or excavation. On the con-
trary, most sites were discovered by accident or dur-
ing long-term surveys by volunteers (Kitz 1988, 25).
Clusters of sites often correspond to the research
areas of volunteers. Additionally, all surface sites are
situated on the sandy uplands of East Frisia. In the
coastal marshes, Mesolithic finds are rare, due to the
covering with late Holocene deposits. Consequently,
they are only discovered during construction activi-
ties. Mesolithic objects from the Wadden Sea have
so far always been relocated stray finds (see below).
Within the last thirty years, two main publica-
tions have summarised the state of research, using
two different approaches. W. Schwarz presented
a more technical description of lithic assemblages
(Schwarz 1990), whereas one of the authors of this
paper discussed chronological and functional aspects
as well as aspects of landscape use by Mesolithic
people in several sample areas of Lower Saxony
(Mahlstedt 2015).
Apart from single finds from the Wadden Sea
area - the original find spots of which are unknown,
except that their original layers are located near an
erosion channel recently created in the Wadden Sea
area (and thereby destroyed by it) - Mesolithic sites
in East Frisia can be separated into two to three dif-
ferent types of sites. First, there are surface sites that
have been surveyed more or less intensively. Here only
lithic material has been found. The second main type
of sites may be described as pit sites, where several pits
filled with charcoal and partly burned cobblestones
(cooking stones) have been discovered in each case.
There is an ongoing debate on the anthropogenic
origin of such Mesolithic pits especially in the Nether-
lands and Belgium (see Huismann et al. 2020). Quite
similar to comparable structures in the Netherlands
and Belgium, lithic material was rarely observed in
the pits in East Frisia, but radiocarbon dates allow
assigning the sites to the Mesolithic period.1
Finally, a small number of sites have not only
provided lithic material but also features like fire-
places, sometimes with charcoal preserved. They
form a possible third type of sites. Considering what
happened in East Frisia during the time of settle-
ment of the Hude 1 site at Lake Dummer, all three
types of sites from the East Frisian dry lands provide
some hints to synchronous late Mesolithic activity
in the area. Nine of the pit sites are radiocarbon
dated; most of them show activities during the Boreal
period, prior to 6,600 caIBC. Only two sites docu-
1 Barenfanger 1997,37; Fries et al. 2013; Helms / Schwarz
2008, 40-41.
187
Fig. 1 East Frisia - reconstruction of landscape and sea-level between 6,000 and 5,000 caIBC. Grey line: present day coast line; red
dots: sites mentioned in the paper. 1 Juist; 2 Baltrum; 3 Spiekeroog; 4 Osteel; 5 Coldinne (map: M. Karie).
ed and recovered again by both natural and anth-
ropogenic influences.
On the East Frisian peninsula Mesolithic settle-
ment sites have not so far been the object of focused
archaeological research or excavation. On the con-
trary, most sites were discovered by accident or dur-
ing long-term surveys by volunteers (Kitz 1988, 25).
Clusters of sites often correspond to the research
areas of volunteers. Additionally, all surface sites are
situated on the sandy uplands of East Frisia. In the
coastal marshes, Mesolithic finds are rare, due to the
covering with late Holocene deposits. Consequently,
they are only discovered during construction activi-
ties. Mesolithic objects from the Wadden Sea have
so far always been relocated stray finds (see below).
Within the last thirty years, two main publica-
tions have summarised the state of research, using
two different approaches. W. Schwarz presented
a more technical description of lithic assemblages
(Schwarz 1990), whereas one of the authors of this
paper discussed chronological and functional aspects
as well as aspects of landscape use by Mesolithic
people in several sample areas of Lower Saxony
(Mahlstedt 2015).
Apart from single finds from the Wadden Sea
area - the original find spots of which are unknown,
except that their original layers are located near an
erosion channel recently created in the Wadden Sea
area (and thereby destroyed by it) - Mesolithic sites
in East Frisia can be separated into two to three dif-
ferent types of sites. First, there are surface sites that
have been surveyed more or less intensively. Here only
lithic material has been found. The second main type
of sites may be described as pit sites, where several pits
filled with charcoal and partly burned cobblestones
(cooking stones) have been discovered in each case.
There is an ongoing debate on the anthropogenic
origin of such Mesolithic pits especially in the Nether-
lands and Belgium (see Huismann et al. 2020). Quite
similar to comparable structures in the Netherlands
and Belgium, lithic material was rarely observed in
the pits in East Frisia, but radiocarbon dates allow
assigning the sites to the Mesolithic period.1
Finally, a small number of sites have not only
provided lithic material but also features like fire-
places, sometimes with charcoal preserved. They
form a possible third type of sites. Considering what
happened in East Frisia during the time of settle-
ment of the Hude 1 site at Lake Dummer, all three
types of sites from the East Frisian dry lands provide
some hints to synchronous late Mesolithic activity
in the area. Nine of the pit sites are radiocarbon
dated; most of them show activities during the Boreal
period, prior to 6,600 caIBC. Only two sites docu-
1 Barenfanger 1997,37; Fries et al. 2013; Helms / Schwarz
2008, 40-41.