DOI Kapitel:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI Kapitel:Hartz, Sönke: Hunter-gatherer pottery from the Baltic Sea coast – some regional examples from Schleswig-Holstein
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0212
Stone Age Borderland Experience (MAN 60, 2022, 211-224)
211
Hunter-gatherer pottery from the Baltic Sea coast -
some regional examples from Schleswig-Holstein
Sonke Hartz
Abstract The present study deals with Ertebolle pottery from the modern districts of Schleswig-Holstein, including sherds
from three submerged coastal sites. In Schleswig-Holstein, sherds from pointed-bottomed vessels were found in the 1880s
in Kiel harbor, but excavated and stratified material did not appear before 1970. Since early pottery was associated from the
start with the terminal Mesolithic Ertebolle culture (ERT) and the neolithisation process, new investigations were conducted
between 1985 and 2006 both on inland and coastal sites of the ERT. The finds presented here come from coastal sites on the
Baltic Sea coast, since the variety and number of sherds from submerged sites with good preservation is obvious. The finds
should to some extend contribute to the understanding of the emergence, dispersal and disappearance of terminal Meso-
lithic pottery in the western Baltic.
Keywords Schleswig-Holstein, Ertebolle culture, coastal sites, early pottery tradition
Zusammenfassung In Schleswig-Holstein wurden self Beginn der 1980er Jahre Ausgrabungen auf Kustensiedlungsplatzen
der endmesolithischen Erteb0lle- und fruhesten Trichterbecherkultur durchgefuhrt. Drei uberreg Iona I bedeutende Fundstellen
liegen Im bstlichen Holstein in der Niederung des Oldenburger Grabens (Grube-Rosenhof LA 58, Wangels LA 505) und in der
Neustadter Bucht (Neustadt LA 156). Die auf diesen Fundplatzen geborgenen stratifizierten Tonscherben geben Einblicke in
die fruhen Keramiktraditionen des Nordens.
Zahlreiche gut erhaltene spitzbodige GefaEfragmente und Tonscherben von ovalen Lampen aus der spa ten Erteb0lle-Kultur
stellen die Grundlage fur Analysen zur Entstehung, Nutzung und Herstellungstechnik der altesten Keramikproduktion dar.
Da ruber hinaus lasstsich erforschen, wann die Ablbsung derspitzbodigen Ware durch die BechergefaEe derfruhneolithischen
Trichterbecherkultur stattfand.
Introduction
Early ceramic traditions have been given a central role
in understanding cultural contacts and technological
transfer among terminal Mesolithic hunter-gatherer
societies of the western Baltic region. These traditi-
ons are characterised by a pointed-bottomed pottery
connected to an economy based primarily on hunting,
gathering and fishing. Settlements are predominantly
found on the Baltic Sea coast, whereas sites in the in-
land and on the North Sea coast are very rare. Pottery
is a common constituent of those coastal settlements
especially on sites in the modern districts of Schles-
wig-Holstein, and on Jutland and Fyn.
In this article ceramics from three of the oldest
pottery-bearing coastal sites in Schleswig-Holstein
are discussed. In this region, ceramics associated
with the Ertebolle culture pre-date the first evidence
for agriculture by at least 500 radiocarbon years.
The material is presented here to illuminate ceramic
technology and the use of pottery in late hunter-
gatherer societies. It will be discussed what types of
vessels were produced, when pottery emerged, and
when it was replaced by funnel-shaped beakers at the
onset of the early Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture
(Trichterbecherkultur, TRB). The aim is to contrib-
ute to a better understanding of the emergence and
dispersal of late Mesolithic ceramic traditions and
their connection to the southern Scandinavian and
eastern Baltic regions.
Appearance of early ceramics in the
north
To present-day it is generally accepted in Schles-
wig-Holstein that according to radiocarbon dates
pottery production started at the Baltic Sea coast in
211
Hunter-gatherer pottery from the Baltic Sea coast -
some regional examples from Schleswig-Holstein
Sonke Hartz
Abstract The present study deals with Ertebolle pottery from the modern districts of Schleswig-Holstein, including sherds
from three submerged coastal sites. In Schleswig-Holstein, sherds from pointed-bottomed vessels were found in the 1880s
in Kiel harbor, but excavated and stratified material did not appear before 1970. Since early pottery was associated from the
start with the terminal Mesolithic Ertebolle culture (ERT) and the neolithisation process, new investigations were conducted
between 1985 and 2006 both on inland and coastal sites of the ERT. The finds presented here come from coastal sites on the
Baltic Sea coast, since the variety and number of sherds from submerged sites with good preservation is obvious. The finds
should to some extend contribute to the understanding of the emergence, dispersal and disappearance of terminal Meso-
lithic pottery in the western Baltic.
Keywords Schleswig-Holstein, Ertebolle culture, coastal sites, early pottery tradition
Zusammenfassung In Schleswig-Holstein wurden self Beginn der 1980er Jahre Ausgrabungen auf Kustensiedlungsplatzen
der endmesolithischen Erteb0lle- und fruhesten Trichterbecherkultur durchgefuhrt. Drei uberreg Iona I bedeutende Fundstellen
liegen Im bstlichen Holstein in der Niederung des Oldenburger Grabens (Grube-Rosenhof LA 58, Wangels LA 505) und in der
Neustadter Bucht (Neustadt LA 156). Die auf diesen Fundplatzen geborgenen stratifizierten Tonscherben geben Einblicke in
die fruhen Keramiktraditionen des Nordens.
Zahlreiche gut erhaltene spitzbodige GefaEfragmente und Tonscherben von ovalen Lampen aus der spa ten Erteb0lle-Kultur
stellen die Grundlage fur Analysen zur Entstehung, Nutzung und Herstellungstechnik der altesten Keramikproduktion dar.
Da ruber hinaus lasstsich erforschen, wann die Ablbsung derspitzbodigen Ware durch die BechergefaEe derfruhneolithischen
Trichterbecherkultur stattfand.
Introduction
Early ceramic traditions have been given a central role
in understanding cultural contacts and technological
transfer among terminal Mesolithic hunter-gatherer
societies of the western Baltic region. These traditi-
ons are characterised by a pointed-bottomed pottery
connected to an economy based primarily on hunting,
gathering and fishing. Settlements are predominantly
found on the Baltic Sea coast, whereas sites in the in-
land and on the North Sea coast are very rare. Pottery
is a common constituent of those coastal settlements
especially on sites in the modern districts of Schles-
wig-Holstein, and on Jutland and Fyn.
In this article ceramics from three of the oldest
pottery-bearing coastal sites in Schleswig-Holstein
are discussed. In this region, ceramics associated
with the Ertebolle culture pre-date the first evidence
for agriculture by at least 500 radiocarbon years.
The material is presented here to illuminate ceramic
technology and the use of pottery in late hunter-
gatherer societies. It will be discussed what types of
vessels were produced, when pottery emerged, and
when it was replaced by funnel-shaped beakers at the
onset of the early Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture
(Trichterbecherkultur, TRB). The aim is to contrib-
ute to a better understanding of the emergence and
dispersal of late Mesolithic ceramic traditions and
their connection to the southern Scandinavian and
eastern Baltic regions.
Appearance of early ceramics in the
north
To present-day it is generally accepted in Schles-
wig-Holstein that according to radiocarbon dates
pottery production started at the Baltic Sea coast in