DOI Kapitel:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI Kapitel:Kotula, Andreas: Paths of innovation – the site Dąbki, Poland, and the early forager pottery in the Baltic Sea region
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0227
226
Paths of innovation - the site Dqbki, Poland, and the early forager pottery in the Baltic Sea region
However, in eastern Europe and Russia, forager
groups with pottery had been known for a long time,
and in the Russian Far East and Japan, sites with
early pottery dating to the Pleistocene had been docu-
mented since the 1960s. Successively, forager sites
with pottery and 14C-data much older than early farm-
ing communities in the Near East were found to be
widespread in Eurasia, and since the 1990s attempts
have been made by western archaeologists to bring
together the evidence, assuming that the innovation
of forager pottery spread from East Asia moving
westward ultimately into Europe (Van Berg 1990;
1997; Hommel 2009). This idea has been popularised
and further developed since the 2000 s (e.g. Klassen
2004; Piezonka 2015). Modelling of early pottery 14C-
data indicates a diffusion of hunter-gatherer pottery
from east to west in Eurasia, starting with Pleistocene
dates in China, Japan, and the Russian Far East, with
gaps especially in Russia (Jordan et al. 2016).
In western Russia this innovation is known from
the 7th millennium calBC, reaching the area east of
the Baltic Sea in the 6th millennium calBC (Piezon-
ka 2015). The start of pottery production at coastal
Ertebolle sites in the western Baltic is then dated to
c. 4,600 calBC (Andersen 2008; Hartz 2008), and
this fits well with the idea of this innovation spread-
ing from east to west in northern central Europe. An
important part of the discussion on the introduction
of early pottery and neolithisation in the Baltic Sea
area is the site Dqbki in northern Poland (Ilkiewicz
1989; Timofeev 1998; Kabacinski etal. 2015) with
an occupational phase between c. 5,200-3,600 calBC
and an extensive early pottery ensemble. Since its
discovery in the 1970s, long-going research has been
undertaken, and new analyses of the pottery ensemble
provide insight into cultural affiliation of the ceramic
ware (Kotula 2015; cf. Czekaj-Zastawny 2015; Cze-
kaj-Zastawny / Kabacinski 2015). In this paper, the
early local pointed-bottom pottery will be discussed
in the supraregional context of the Baltic Sea area.
Site and significance
The site Dqbki is located in northern Poland in
the centre of the southern Baltic Sea area between
Szczecin and Gdansk, south of the present-day Baltic
Sea coast. Several Stone Age sites were detected dur-
ing systematic prospections in the 1970s on a sandy
elevation in a periglacial tunnel valley, nowadays sur-
rounded by bogs (D^bowska 1978). Geographical
analyses and topographical data could verify an island
situation in a freshwater lake at the time of Stone Age
occupation (Fig. 1; Lampe 2015). On the most promis-
ing site, Dqbki 9, excavations were first carried out
between 1979 and 1985. A mixed cultural layer was
uncovered at the elevated sandy settlement area, but
the adjacent bog area proved to be especially rich in
finds with excellent preservation conditions of organic
materials. On the basis of 14C-data from different lay-
ers of the bog sediments a chrono-stratigraphical se-
quence was postulated, providing early datings for the
presence of forager pottery and domestic animals and
forming a close parallel to the results from the Rosen-
hof site, as they were presented at that time (Ilkiewicz
1989; Schwabedissen 1994). The ceramic material
comprised of a Late Mesolithic ensemble exhibiting
parallels to the Ertebolle culture of the western Baltic,
with additional sherds supposedly originating from or
being influenced by southern Neolithic communities
(Ilkiewicz 1989). The pottery as well as supposedly
early domestic cattle bones were key points in the
discussion of the neolithisation in the Baltic Sea area,
while the decoration of the pointed-bottom vessels
was discussed as influence from the eastern European
Neman culture (Timofeev 1998).
New research on the site has been carried out
since 2004 (Kabacinski etal. 2015). Taphonomical
analyses pointed out a complex and disturbed bog
stratigraphy with the intermixing of the Stone Age
material by human and natural impact factors like
trampling and floodings (Kotula etal. 2015; 2018).
Additionally, new archaeozoological and genetic ex-
aminations of the Bos spp. remains rejected the pres-
ence of domestic animals at the site (Kabacinski et al.
2009; Schmolcke / Nikulina 2015). New excavations
enlarged the knowledge of find material and site struc-
ture considerably and uncovered Stone Age settlement
features on land c. 80 m south of the main bog excava-
tion area (Dqbki 10), pointing out that the settlement
was much larger than previously thought (Kabacinski
/ Terberger 2015). Numerous new 14C-dates attribute
the Stone Age occupation to the timespan between c.
5,200 calBC and 3,600 calBC (see below).
The artefact types exhibit general parallels to
the western Baltic ERT (Kotula in press). Among
organic tool types, T-axes are predominating, which
are often considered a typical tool type of the ERT,
but T-axes are also broadly distributed among Neo-
lithic societies (Kabacinski et al. 2014). Other tool
types like ulna-daggers and perforated shoulder
blades also have parallels in the ERT (Kabacinski /
Terberger 2015). The flint artefact production is
based on a local Mesolithic tradition, but similarities
to the ERT can be traced, too (Sobkowiak-Tabaka
2015). A large truncated blade can be connected to
Paths of innovation - the site Dqbki, Poland, and the early forager pottery in the Baltic Sea region
However, in eastern Europe and Russia, forager
groups with pottery had been known for a long time,
and in the Russian Far East and Japan, sites with
early pottery dating to the Pleistocene had been docu-
mented since the 1960s. Successively, forager sites
with pottery and 14C-data much older than early farm-
ing communities in the Near East were found to be
widespread in Eurasia, and since the 1990s attempts
have been made by western archaeologists to bring
together the evidence, assuming that the innovation
of forager pottery spread from East Asia moving
westward ultimately into Europe (Van Berg 1990;
1997; Hommel 2009). This idea has been popularised
and further developed since the 2000 s (e.g. Klassen
2004; Piezonka 2015). Modelling of early pottery 14C-
data indicates a diffusion of hunter-gatherer pottery
from east to west in Eurasia, starting with Pleistocene
dates in China, Japan, and the Russian Far East, with
gaps especially in Russia (Jordan et al. 2016).
In western Russia this innovation is known from
the 7th millennium calBC, reaching the area east of
the Baltic Sea in the 6th millennium calBC (Piezon-
ka 2015). The start of pottery production at coastal
Ertebolle sites in the western Baltic is then dated to
c. 4,600 calBC (Andersen 2008; Hartz 2008), and
this fits well with the idea of this innovation spread-
ing from east to west in northern central Europe. An
important part of the discussion on the introduction
of early pottery and neolithisation in the Baltic Sea
area is the site Dqbki in northern Poland (Ilkiewicz
1989; Timofeev 1998; Kabacinski etal. 2015) with
an occupational phase between c. 5,200-3,600 calBC
and an extensive early pottery ensemble. Since its
discovery in the 1970s, long-going research has been
undertaken, and new analyses of the pottery ensemble
provide insight into cultural affiliation of the ceramic
ware (Kotula 2015; cf. Czekaj-Zastawny 2015; Cze-
kaj-Zastawny / Kabacinski 2015). In this paper, the
early local pointed-bottom pottery will be discussed
in the supraregional context of the Baltic Sea area.
Site and significance
The site Dqbki is located in northern Poland in
the centre of the southern Baltic Sea area between
Szczecin and Gdansk, south of the present-day Baltic
Sea coast. Several Stone Age sites were detected dur-
ing systematic prospections in the 1970s on a sandy
elevation in a periglacial tunnel valley, nowadays sur-
rounded by bogs (D^bowska 1978). Geographical
analyses and topographical data could verify an island
situation in a freshwater lake at the time of Stone Age
occupation (Fig. 1; Lampe 2015). On the most promis-
ing site, Dqbki 9, excavations were first carried out
between 1979 and 1985. A mixed cultural layer was
uncovered at the elevated sandy settlement area, but
the adjacent bog area proved to be especially rich in
finds with excellent preservation conditions of organic
materials. On the basis of 14C-data from different lay-
ers of the bog sediments a chrono-stratigraphical se-
quence was postulated, providing early datings for the
presence of forager pottery and domestic animals and
forming a close parallel to the results from the Rosen-
hof site, as they were presented at that time (Ilkiewicz
1989; Schwabedissen 1994). The ceramic material
comprised of a Late Mesolithic ensemble exhibiting
parallels to the Ertebolle culture of the western Baltic,
with additional sherds supposedly originating from or
being influenced by southern Neolithic communities
(Ilkiewicz 1989). The pottery as well as supposedly
early domestic cattle bones were key points in the
discussion of the neolithisation in the Baltic Sea area,
while the decoration of the pointed-bottom vessels
was discussed as influence from the eastern European
Neman culture (Timofeev 1998).
New research on the site has been carried out
since 2004 (Kabacinski etal. 2015). Taphonomical
analyses pointed out a complex and disturbed bog
stratigraphy with the intermixing of the Stone Age
material by human and natural impact factors like
trampling and floodings (Kotula etal. 2015; 2018).
Additionally, new archaeozoological and genetic ex-
aminations of the Bos spp. remains rejected the pres-
ence of domestic animals at the site (Kabacinski et al.
2009; Schmolcke / Nikulina 2015). New excavations
enlarged the knowledge of find material and site struc-
ture considerably and uncovered Stone Age settlement
features on land c. 80 m south of the main bog excava-
tion area (Dqbki 10), pointing out that the settlement
was much larger than previously thought (Kabacinski
/ Terberger 2015). Numerous new 14C-dates attribute
the Stone Age occupation to the timespan between c.
5,200 calBC and 3,600 calBC (see below).
The artefact types exhibit general parallels to
the western Baltic ERT (Kotula in press). Among
organic tool types, T-axes are predominating, which
are often considered a typical tool type of the ERT,
but T-axes are also broadly distributed among Neo-
lithic societies (Kabacinski et al. 2014). Other tool
types like ulna-daggers and perforated shoulder
blades also have parallels in the ERT (Kabacinski /
Terberger 2015). The flint artefact production is
based on a local Mesolithic tradition, but similarities
to the ERT can be traced, too (Sobkowiak-Tabaka
2015). A large truncated blade can be connected to