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#0235
234
Paths of innovation - the site Dqbki, Poland, and the early forager pottery in the Baltic Sea region
fragments of one extremely large specimen indicate a
possible size > 30 cm long. The height could be mea-
sured on two lamps with 3 and 5.2 cm, respectively.
Approximately 50 °/o of the lamps are decorated,
mostly with cuts on the rim (Fig. 6.7), but some also
exhibit a horizontal row of impressions or perfora-
tions, similar to pointed-bottom vessels. Two lamps
have a different decoration with a horizontal row of
small vertical impressions below the end of the rim
(Fig. 6.8); in one case this ornament is repeated on
the vessel inside. The best parallels for this ornament
can be found in the eastern Baltic Narva culture, e. g.
at the Sventoji site (e.g. Rimantiene 2005).
Early forager pottery in the northern
Polish lowland
The Polish lowland is a crucial area to study contact
and networks of the 5th millennium calBC between
large cultural complexes of the western (Ertebolle
culture) and eastern Baltic (Narva culture) and eastern
Europe (Dubiciai type). Only few sites in northern
Poland provide evidence of forager groups with early
pottery. C. 23 km south of Dqbki the site Koszalin-
Dzierz^cino is situated, with a find spectrum covering
a time span from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages
(Ilkiewicz 1998). The forager pottery there consists
of mostly small fragments, with similar characteri-
stics to that of Dqbki, with rim sherds displaying the
same decorational features (rim cuts and a horizontal
row of impressions/perforations). Sherds from lamps
were also uncovered. A particular interesting find is
a pointed-bottom vessel with a sharp double-conical
profile and decoration on rim and shoulder. It differs
technically from the Dqbki pottery and the local ware,
and typological parallels can be found in the Dnepr-
Donec circle (Piezonka 2015). C. 150 km east of Dqb-
ki, the site of Rzucewo is situated. Besides finds of the
Rzucewo culture (a local branch of the Corded Ware
complex), a late Mesolithic pottery phase and TRB
pottery were also detected (Krol 1997; Kabacinski
et al. 2008). The late Mesolithic pottery closely resem-
bles the Dqbki ware, with technical and typological
similarities (Czekaj-Zastawny / Kabacinski 2018).
It can be mentioned, however, that impressions/per-
forations below the rim end have a rectangular shape
and the decorations are more variable than in Dqbki.
Three direct datings have been carried out on food
crusts from some of the sherds (Kabacinski et al.
2008). The dates between c. 4,400 calBC and 4,150
calBC confirm a Late Mesolithic forager ware in the
second half of the 5th millennium calBC.
Close to the Oder estuary the Tanowo sites are
situated on a moraine hill at a palaeolake, resem-
bling the environmental situation of Dqbki (e.g.
Galinski 2016). The settlement duration is esti-
mated between c. 5,000 calBC and 3,800 calBC
(Galinski 2016), and, according to the excavator,
early local pointed-bottom pottery is present at the
site from the beginning. The sites Tanowo 2 and 3
provided a large collection of forager pottery with c.
4,000 fragments, combined to c. 300 reconstructed
vessel units by the excavator, including pointed-
bottom vessels, lamps and Funnel Beaker vessels.
While pointed-bottom pottery is technologically
mostly quite similar to the Dqbki ware, the coiling
technique is dominated by U-joins and therewith
leaning more towards the western Baltic Ertebolle
culture, where U-technique is very common (e.g.
Prangsgaard 1992). The decoration on the other
hand shows rows of impressions/perforations and
rim cuts closely resembling Dqbki and other early
forager pottery from the Polish plain.
Lastly, at the inland site Chobienice close to
Poznan, few fragments of pottery with Late Meso-
lithic characteristics were uncovered (Kobusiewicz /
Kabacinski 1998). Rim fragments closely resemble
Dqbki and Rzucewo ware with impressions below the
rim and rim cuts. The impressions were carried out
with a rectangular tool. The site also yielded Brzesc
Kujawski pottery, and it is still a matter of discussion
whether occupational phases of groups with different
economies or a Neolithic group receiving forager ves-
sels by contact are to be postulated (Kobusiewicz /
Kabacinski 1998; Kabacinski 2016).
Overall, the early forager pottery in the 5th mil-
lennium calBC from the different sites in northern
Poland displays significant similarities, with paral-
lels in technical characteristics and especially deco-
rational features. Except Chobienice, all sites were
situated in close vicinity of the southern Baltic Sea,
and the similar typo-technology implies a regional in-
teraction and knowledge exchange network, probably
connected via waterways.
Comparative pottery analyses in
supraregional perspective: sites and
cultures
In the western and eastern Baltic Sea environments,
large hunter-gatherer techno-complexes with early
pottery existed in the 5th millennium calBC. To ex-
amine the cultural affiliations of the ceramics of
northern Poland a supraregional comparison was
Paths of innovation - the site Dqbki, Poland, and the early forager pottery in the Baltic Sea region
fragments of one extremely large specimen indicate a
possible size > 30 cm long. The height could be mea-
sured on two lamps with 3 and 5.2 cm, respectively.
Approximately 50 °/o of the lamps are decorated,
mostly with cuts on the rim (Fig. 6.7), but some also
exhibit a horizontal row of impressions or perfora-
tions, similar to pointed-bottom vessels. Two lamps
have a different decoration with a horizontal row of
small vertical impressions below the end of the rim
(Fig. 6.8); in one case this ornament is repeated on
the vessel inside. The best parallels for this ornament
can be found in the eastern Baltic Narva culture, e. g.
at the Sventoji site (e.g. Rimantiene 2005).
Early forager pottery in the northern
Polish lowland
The Polish lowland is a crucial area to study contact
and networks of the 5th millennium calBC between
large cultural complexes of the western (Ertebolle
culture) and eastern Baltic (Narva culture) and eastern
Europe (Dubiciai type). Only few sites in northern
Poland provide evidence of forager groups with early
pottery. C. 23 km south of Dqbki the site Koszalin-
Dzierz^cino is situated, with a find spectrum covering
a time span from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages
(Ilkiewicz 1998). The forager pottery there consists
of mostly small fragments, with similar characteri-
stics to that of Dqbki, with rim sherds displaying the
same decorational features (rim cuts and a horizontal
row of impressions/perforations). Sherds from lamps
were also uncovered. A particular interesting find is
a pointed-bottom vessel with a sharp double-conical
profile and decoration on rim and shoulder. It differs
technically from the Dqbki pottery and the local ware,
and typological parallels can be found in the Dnepr-
Donec circle (Piezonka 2015). C. 150 km east of Dqb-
ki, the site of Rzucewo is situated. Besides finds of the
Rzucewo culture (a local branch of the Corded Ware
complex), a late Mesolithic pottery phase and TRB
pottery were also detected (Krol 1997; Kabacinski
et al. 2008). The late Mesolithic pottery closely resem-
bles the Dqbki ware, with technical and typological
similarities (Czekaj-Zastawny / Kabacinski 2018).
It can be mentioned, however, that impressions/per-
forations below the rim end have a rectangular shape
and the decorations are more variable than in Dqbki.
Three direct datings have been carried out on food
crusts from some of the sherds (Kabacinski et al.
2008). The dates between c. 4,400 calBC and 4,150
calBC confirm a Late Mesolithic forager ware in the
second half of the 5th millennium calBC.
Close to the Oder estuary the Tanowo sites are
situated on a moraine hill at a palaeolake, resem-
bling the environmental situation of Dqbki (e.g.
Galinski 2016). The settlement duration is esti-
mated between c. 5,000 calBC and 3,800 calBC
(Galinski 2016), and, according to the excavator,
early local pointed-bottom pottery is present at the
site from the beginning. The sites Tanowo 2 and 3
provided a large collection of forager pottery with c.
4,000 fragments, combined to c. 300 reconstructed
vessel units by the excavator, including pointed-
bottom vessels, lamps and Funnel Beaker vessels.
While pointed-bottom pottery is technologically
mostly quite similar to the Dqbki ware, the coiling
technique is dominated by U-joins and therewith
leaning more towards the western Baltic Ertebolle
culture, where U-technique is very common (e.g.
Prangsgaard 1992). The decoration on the other
hand shows rows of impressions/perforations and
rim cuts closely resembling Dqbki and other early
forager pottery from the Polish plain.
Lastly, at the inland site Chobienice close to
Poznan, few fragments of pottery with Late Meso-
lithic characteristics were uncovered (Kobusiewicz /
Kabacinski 1998). Rim fragments closely resemble
Dqbki and Rzucewo ware with impressions below the
rim and rim cuts. The impressions were carried out
with a rectangular tool. The site also yielded Brzesc
Kujawski pottery, and it is still a matter of discussion
whether occupational phases of groups with different
economies or a Neolithic group receiving forager ves-
sels by contact are to be postulated (Kobusiewicz /
Kabacinski 1998; Kabacinski 2016).
Overall, the early forager pottery in the 5th mil-
lennium calBC from the different sites in northern
Poland displays significant similarities, with paral-
lels in technical characteristics and especially deco-
rational features. Except Chobienice, all sites were
situated in close vicinity of the southern Baltic Sea,
and the similar typo-technology implies a regional in-
teraction and knowledge exchange network, probably
connected via waterways.
Comparative pottery analyses in
supraregional perspective: sites and
cultures
In the western and eastern Baltic Sea environments,
large hunter-gatherer techno-complexes with early
pottery existed in the 5th millennium calBC. To ex-
amine the cultural affiliations of the ceramics of
northern Poland a supraregional comparison was