DOI chapter:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI chapter:Hartz, Sönke: Hunter-gatherer pottery from the Baltic Sea coast – some regional examples from Schleswig-Holstein
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0215
214
Hunter-gatherer pottery from the Baltic Sea coast - some regional examples from Schleswig-Holstein
between 1970 and 1980 under the direction of H.
Schwabedissen (Schwabedissen 1994). C. 330 m2
were excavated systematically, some further 300 m2
were opened for trial trenches to document the find
layers. The find layers are very rich and more than
4,000 potsherds were recovered (Nydahl in prep.),
which make Rosenhof one of the richest sites con-
cerning pottery along the western Baltic coast.
Early conventional 14C dates suggested that the
settlement was inhabited from c. 5,000 until 3,800
calBC, however, in spite of the large excavation area,
there were doubts whether the earliest layers already
contained pottery or not. The follow-up investiga-
tions in 2001 and 2002 (Grube-Rosenhof LA 58, area
A), which were to answer this open questions, were
restricted to the refuse layers of the settlement on an
area of c. 60 m2. The complete inventory has been
presented by J. Goldhammer (Goldhammer 2008),
therefore, only a short summary of the results will
be given here.
The material from area A comprises approxi-
mately 350 pottery fragments of which c. 310 belong
to thick-walled, coarsely tempered pointed-based
vessels, and 40 to oval lamps. The number of lithic
artefacts totals c. 5,500 pieces, 2 °/o of which have
been identified as tools (Hartz 2004; Goldhammer
2008). Soft-hammered blades with parallel edges are
the dominating type, corresponding cores and reduc-
tion waste from the preparation of striking platforms
appear as well. Among the 130 flint tools, axes are the
most prominent group. They are represented in al-
most equal shares by oblong-oval (‘flake-axe like’) core
adzes and by oblong-oval and trapezoidal, flat-trimmed
flake axes. The third most common group of lithic
artefacts are transverse arrowheads. These projectiles
were made from blades and, in terms of size and form,
do not form a uniform group. The remaining tools
consist of blade scrapers with a partially asymmetric
front, concave and straight-truncated blades, thick
core borers, various edge-retouched pieces and ham-
mer stones. The single occurrence of an angle burin
illustrates the relative insignificance of this implement
in the Ertebolle culture of East Holstein.
A group of antler and bone implements com-
pletes the tool inventory. T-shaped axes and punches
with distinctive wear traces were made from red
deer antlers. Slender points used for leisters and two
needle-like awls along a heavy chisel were made from
bones. From the re-excavations 134 wooden arte-
facts were recovered, among these are leister prongs,
paddles, fragments of spears, net floats, fragments
of a bow and pointed hazel sticks. The majority of
the leister prongs were made from the core wood of
pipfruit, but pieces of hazel, dog wood, ash and elm
are found as well. The wooden implements further
consist of four paddle fragments with blades of round
to oval and elongated shapes.
By the results from the old excavation, where
cultural layers to a thickness of 0.6 m were recovered,
and the high frequency of lithic tools and pottery
sherds, Grube-Rosenhof LA 58 is suggested as a base-
camp settlement. There is evidence from the animal
bone material that the site was inhabited throughout
the year with both summer and winter hunting activi-
ties (D. Heinrich, pers. comm.). The adaptation of
refined excavation techniques has revealed almost
4,000 fish remains, with a high proportion of marine
species. From the re-excavation six radiocarbon dates
are available. They indicate a habitation from 4,800
to 4,600 calBC (Goldhammer 2008).
Site context of Wangels LA 505
The site Wangels LA 505 is situated in the western
part of the Oldenburg Graben valley on the northern
edge of an isolated sandy peninsular. The excavation
was conducted from 1996-1999, covering an area of
approximately 300 m2. Cultural layers were observed at
depths of up to 1.5 m beneath the surface, which is 2.3
to 2.5 m below present sea level. They consist of grey
medium to coarse-grained gravel containing numer-
ous molluscs. The excavation demonstrated that, after
an initial occupation phase between 4,300 and 3,700
calBC, the site was resettled by Neolithic farmers of
the late Funnel Beaker culture (Middle Neolithic V)
between 2,900 and 2,700 calBC (Hartz 1997/1998).
The terminal Mesolithic inventory from Wan-
gels encompasses a number of find categories which
are typical of waterlogged sites. These are large
potsherds, implements of bone and antler (T-axes,
punches, bone points) as well as wooden artefacts,
mammal and bird bones, fish remains, molluscs
and plant remains (Hartz 1997/1998; Heinrich
1997/1998). The flint tools inventory comprises c.
350 flat trimmed trapezoidal flake axes and c. 250
transverse arrowheads as well as borers, scrapers
and flint knives (Faasch 2016). Special attention
is paid to stone axes which were produced of non-
local amphibolith, suggesting contacts with farming
communities south and east of the river Elbe. More
than 201 wooden artefacts were recovered from the
settlement layers (Klooss 2010), among these are
45 leister prongs, mainly made of pipfruit and ha-
zel. Other wooden implements are paddles, spears,
pointed sticks, and there are also antler tools like T-
axes, punches and polished shafts with crafted ends.
Hunter-gatherer pottery from the Baltic Sea coast - some regional examples from Schleswig-Holstein
between 1970 and 1980 under the direction of H.
Schwabedissen (Schwabedissen 1994). C. 330 m2
were excavated systematically, some further 300 m2
were opened for trial trenches to document the find
layers. The find layers are very rich and more than
4,000 potsherds were recovered (Nydahl in prep.),
which make Rosenhof one of the richest sites con-
cerning pottery along the western Baltic coast.
Early conventional 14C dates suggested that the
settlement was inhabited from c. 5,000 until 3,800
calBC, however, in spite of the large excavation area,
there were doubts whether the earliest layers already
contained pottery or not. The follow-up investiga-
tions in 2001 and 2002 (Grube-Rosenhof LA 58, area
A), which were to answer this open questions, were
restricted to the refuse layers of the settlement on an
area of c. 60 m2. The complete inventory has been
presented by J. Goldhammer (Goldhammer 2008),
therefore, only a short summary of the results will
be given here.
The material from area A comprises approxi-
mately 350 pottery fragments of which c. 310 belong
to thick-walled, coarsely tempered pointed-based
vessels, and 40 to oval lamps. The number of lithic
artefacts totals c. 5,500 pieces, 2 °/o of which have
been identified as tools (Hartz 2004; Goldhammer
2008). Soft-hammered blades with parallel edges are
the dominating type, corresponding cores and reduc-
tion waste from the preparation of striking platforms
appear as well. Among the 130 flint tools, axes are the
most prominent group. They are represented in al-
most equal shares by oblong-oval (‘flake-axe like’) core
adzes and by oblong-oval and trapezoidal, flat-trimmed
flake axes. The third most common group of lithic
artefacts are transverse arrowheads. These projectiles
were made from blades and, in terms of size and form,
do not form a uniform group. The remaining tools
consist of blade scrapers with a partially asymmetric
front, concave and straight-truncated blades, thick
core borers, various edge-retouched pieces and ham-
mer stones. The single occurrence of an angle burin
illustrates the relative insignificance of this implement
in the Ertebolle culture of East Holstein.
A group of antler and bone implements com-
pletes the tool inventory. T-shaped axes and punches
with distinctive wear traces were made from red
deer antlers. Slender points used for leisters and two
needle-like awls along a heavy chisel were made from
bones. From the re-excavations 134 wooden arte-
facts were recovered, among these are leister prongs,
paddles, fragments of spears, net floats, fragments
of a bow and pointed hazel sticks. The majority of
the leister prongs were made from the core wood of
pipfruit, but pieces of hazel, dog wood, ash and elm
are found as well. The wooden implements further
consist of four paddle fragments with blades of round
to oval and elongated shapes.
By the results from the old excavation, where
cultural layers to a thickness of 0.6 m were recovered,
and the high frequency of lithic tools and pottery
sherds, Grube-Rosenhof LA 58 is suggested as a base-
camp settlement. There is evidence from the animal
bone material that the site was inhabited throughout
the year with both summer and winter hunting activi-
ties (D. Heinrich, pers. comm.). The adaptation of
refined excavation techniques has revealed almost
4,000 fish remains, with a high proportion of marine
species. From the re-excavation six radiocarbon dates
are available. They indicate a habitation from 4,800
to 4,600 calBC (Goldhammer 2008).
Site context of Wangels LA 505
The site Wangels LA 505 is situated in the western
part of the Oldenburg Graben valley on the northern
edge of an isolated sandy peninsular. The excavation
was conducted from 1996-1999, covering an area of
approximately 300 m2. Cultural layers were observed at
depths of up to 1.5 m beneath the surface, which is 2.3
to 2.5 m below present sea level. They consist of grey
medium to coarse-grained gravel containing numer-
ous molluscs. The excavation demonstrated that, after
an initial occupation phase between 4,300 and 3,700
calBC, the site was resettled by Neolithic farmers of
the late Funnel Beaker culture (Middle Neolithic V)
between 2,900 and 2,700 calBC (Hartz 1997/1998).
The terminal Mesolithic inventory from Wan-
gels encompasses a number of find categories which
are typical of waterlogged sites. These are large
potsherds, implements of bone and antler (T-axes,
punches, bone points) as well as wooden artefacts,
mammal and bird bones, fish remains, molluscs
and plant remains (Hartz 1997/1998; Heinrich
1997/1998). The flint tools inventory comprises c.
350 flat trimmed trapezoidal flake axes and c. 250
transverse arrowheads as well as borers, scrapers
and flint knives (Faasch 2016). Special attention
is paid to stone axes which were produced of non-
local amphibolith, suggesting contacts with farming
communities south and east of the river Elbe. More
than 201 wooden artefacts were recovered from the
settlement layers (Klooss 2010), among these are
45 leister prongs, mainly made of pipfruit and ha-
zel. Other wooden implements are paddles, spears,
pointed sticks, and there are also antler tools like T-
axes, punches and polished shafts with crafted ends.