Klimsch, Florian ; Heumüller, Marion ; Raemaekers, Daan C. M.; Peeters, Hans; Terberger, Thomas; Klimscha, Florian [Editor]; Heumüller, Marion [Editor]; Raemaekers, D. C. M. [Editor]; Peeters, Hans [Editor]; Terberger, Thomas [Editor]: Materialhefte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Niedersachsens (Band 60): Stone Age borderland experience: Neolithic and Late Mesolithic parallel societies in the North European plain (Rahden/Westf.: Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH, 2022)

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A singularity in continuity? The transition to farming in northwest Europe re-examined from the perspective of multiculturalism

Diet U haplogroup H and J haplogroups
Terrestrial diet
BLA2
BLA19
BLA20
8800-8600 cal. BC
Fresh water fish
BLA1
BLA8
BLA9
BLA11
BLA12
BLA14
BLA15
BLA21
BLA24
3800-3400 cal. BC
Herbivores
BLA17
BLA25
BLA27
3900-3400 cal. BC
BLA5
BLA10
BLA13
BLA16
BLA17
BLA23
BLA28
BLA29
3500-3000 cal. BC

Table 2 The human remains from the Blatterhohle. Combination of isotopic analysis (‘diet’), genetic analysis
(‘haplogroups’), and general 14C dates for each of the four groups (based on Bollongino et al. 2013, table 1).

ties in the 5th millennium? The introduction date
of animal husbandry is safely set by the few bones
from sheep at Hardinxveld-Giessendam De Bruin,
directly dated at 4,520-4,356 calBC (Qakirlar
et al. 2020, table 13.5). Because there are no wild
sheep or goat in the area, it is certain that these
animals were introduced to the site. More difficult
are the bones from pig and cattle from the same as-
semblage: their interpretation as domestic is based
purely on their relatively small size. Mitochondrial
aDNA analysis has so far been restricted to four pig
bones from Swifterbant S4 (c. 4,300-4,000 calBC;
Kranenburg / Prummel 2020). One bone analysed
was from a ‘domestic pig’, one from a ‘wild boar’
and two from ‘domestic pig / wild boar’. All four
had maternal ancestry in the European wild boar
population (ANC-A and ANC-C). The state of ani-
mal husbandry in the 5th millennium is difficult to
determine, as noted by Rowley-Conwy (2013; for an
extensive discussion of the dataset: Qakirlar et al.
2020). The 2020-2022 project ‘Early Domesticated
Animals in the Netherlands (EDAN)’ will address
this dataset; it comprises high-resolution dating and
statistical modelling as well as isotopic and aDNA
analysis. The start of cereal cultivation is more clear.
All sites dated before 4,300 calBC lack any evidence
of cereal cultivation (Brinkkemper et al. 1999), all
sites on the 4,300-4,000 calBC plateau in the cali-
bration curve yielded the remains of emmer wheat

and naked barley.3 Moreover buried cultivated fields
were recovered at three sites in the Swifterbant re-
gion (Huisman et al. 2009; Huisman / Raemaekers
2014; Raemaekers / De Roever 2020).
After 4,000 calBC animal husbandry is well-
documented. Recent zooarchaeological analysis
of Schipluiden material (Hazendonk group, c.
3,900-3,500 calBC) makes clear that at that stage
cattle husbandry was of great importance (Kamjan
et al. 2020), providing an end date for the transition to
farming (contra Dusseldorp / Amkreutz 2020). Cattle
bones dominate the bone spectrum, and the kill-off
pattern indicates that these animals were kept both
for meat and dairy consumption. The importance of
dairy is also clear from the animals’ extended birthing
season, which would have facilitated a longer period
of milk production and hence human consumption.
The Blatterhohle cave
We start this analysis by a most intriguing site, albeit
located outside the area of the Swifterbant culture.

3 See Out 2009, table 9.2, for a comprehensive overview.
Swifterbant S4 (Schepers /Bottema-Mac Gillavry 2020),
Nieuwegein (unpublished) and Tiel-Medel (unpublished) can
now be added to her overview.