DOI chapter:
Changing Worlds – The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North
DOI chapter:Klimscha, Florian; Neumann, Daniel: A longue durée perspective on technical innovations in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic of the North European Plain
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0378
Stone Age Borderland Experience (MAN 60, 2022, 377-401)
377
A longue duree perspective on technical
innovations in the Late Mesolithic and
Early Neolithic of the North European Plain
Florian Klimscha and Daniel Neumann
Abstract This paper examines the technical innovation trajectories of polished stone axes, copper melting, arsenic copper
alloys, cattle-drawn ploughs, and wheeled vehicles in the North European Plain and discusses their emergence, spread, and
relation to the neolithisation. Even though Late Mesolithic societies in the northern lowlands did not adopt the Neolithic
economy for more than a millennium, they maintained networks on different scales and got into contact with new technolo-
gies from the 6th millennium calBC onwards. But innovations were rather consumed, not adopted, even though knowledge
about new technologies reached the North European Plain. It is argued that the reason for this mode of interaction may be
seen in a lack of mandatory sociotechnical substructures in hunter-gatherer-fisher groups. Only with the shift to the Neo-
lithic way of life these groups began to lay the foundations on which new technologies could be created locally. This transfor-
mation at the end of the Early Neolithic (EN II) is accompanied by a rapid adoption of other innovations, e. g. wheeled vehicles
and experiments in local re-melting of copper items.
Keywords Technical innovation, metallurgy, wheel & wagon, ploughing, FN II / Fuchsberg stage, Funnelbeaker culture,
Mesolithic, North European Plain
Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag befasstsich mit den Innovationsgeschichten des geschliffenen Steinbeils, der Kupfermetallur-
gie, Arsenkupferlegierungen, des von Rindern gezogenen Pflugs und der Raderfahrzeuge in der nordeuropaischen Tiefebene
und erbrtert deren Emergenz, Verbreitung und Verhaltnis zur Neolithisierung. Auch wenn die spatmesolithischen Gesellschaf-
ten der Tiefebene die neolithische Wirtschaftsweise furmehrals ein Jahrtausend ablehnten, unterhielten sie doch Kontaktnetz-
werke unterschiedlicher Reich weite und gerieten dadurch self dem 6. Jahrtausend v. Chr mit wichtigen Innovationen in Kontakt.
Der Beitrag fuhrt dies auf die fehlenden soziotechnischen Substrukturen von Jager-Sammler-Fischer-Gruppen zuruck, was
lediglich die Konsumption, nicht aber die Adaption dieser Innovationen erlaubte. Erst mit dem Wechsel zur neolithischen
Lebensweise bauten ebenjene Gruppen, vermutlich unbewusst, die notwendigen Fundamente auf auf denen neue Technolo-
gien auch lokal produziert werden konnten. Am Ende des Fruhneolithikums (FN II) fuhrte dieser Weg zur schnellen Annahme
von Rad und Wagen sowie ersten Experimenten im Umschmelzen von Kupferobjekten.
Introduction
Innovations are what makes prehistory tick. Without
technical change and ‘progress’, there would not be a
sequence from a Stone Age to a Bronze Age and an
Iron Age. Pyrotechnology, agricultural tools, weap-
ons, dwellings, and many other aspects of prehistoric
life changed over time and were thereby further de-
veloped (improved in a technical, rather modern
sense); this in turn is interwoven with social changes
of different scale. The challenge in retrospective is
that this improvement was not solely made to gain
market advantages (as often implied by underlying
theory), but considerably influenced by ideological
and social aspects as well as individual agendas. In-
dividuals chose ‘the new’ for often erratic and eso-
teric reasons. Thereby seemingly obvious possibili-
ties to exploit new technology were often ignored.
Gift-giving, barter, raiding, and personal mobility
were, among others, responsible for the distribution
of goods. There were no institutions that developed
new technology, but technology was tinkered with
by craftsmen who were often not aware of essen-
tial scientific principles. Knowledge was tacit and
kept within kin groups who did not necessarily have
an interest in making their know-how available to
377
A longue duree perspective on technical
innovations in the Late Mesolithic and
Early Neolithic of the North European Plain
Florian Klimscha and Daniel Neumann
Abstract This paper examines the technical innovation trajectories of polished stone axes, copper melting, arsenic copper
alloys, cattle-drawn ploughs, and wheeled vehicles in the North European Plain and discusses their emergence, spread, and
relation to the neolithisation. Even though Late Mesolithic societies in the northern lowlands did not adopt the Neolithic
economy for more than a millennium, they maintained networks on different scales and got into contact with new technolo-
gies from the 6th millennium calBC onwards. But innovations were rather consumed, not adopted, even though knowledge
about new technologies reached the North European Plain. It is argued that the reason for this mode of interaction may be
seen in a lack of mandatory sociotechnical substructures in hunter-gatherer-fisher groups. Only with the shift to the Neo-
lithic way of life these groups began to lay the foundations on which new technologies could be created locally. This transfor-
mation at the end of the Early Neolithic (EN II) is accompanied by a rapid adoption of other innovations, e. g. wheeled vehicles
and experiments in local re-melting of copper items.
Keywords Technical innovation, metallurgy, wheel & wagon, ploughing, FN II / Fuchsberg stage, Funnelbeaker culture,
Mesolithic, North European Plain
Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag befasstsich mit den Innovationsgeschichten des geschliffenen Steinbeils, der Kupfermetallur-
gie, Arsenkupferlegierungen, des von Rindern gezogenen Pflugs und der Raderfahrzeuge in der nordeuropaischen Tiefebene
und erbrtert deren Emergenz, Verbreitung und Verhaltnis zur Neolithisierung. Auch wenn die spatmesolithischen Gesellschaf-
ten der Tiefebene die neolithische Wirtschaftsweise furmehrals ein Jahrtausend ablehnten, unterhielten sie doch Kontaktnetz-
werke unterschiedlicher Reich weite und gerieten dadurch self dem 6. Jahrtausend v. Chr mit wichtigen Innovationen in Kontakt.
Der Beitrag fuhrt dies auf die fehlenden soziotechnischen Substrukturen von Jager-Sammler-Fischer-Gruppen zuruck, was
lediglich die Konsumption, nicht aber die Adaption dieser Innovationen erlaubte. Erst mit dem Wechsel zur neolithischen
Lebensweise bauten ebenjene Gruppen, vermutlich unbewusst, die notwendigen Fundamente auf auf denen neue Technolo-
gien auch lokal produziert werden konnten. Am Ende des Fruhneolithikums (FN II) fuhrte dieser Weg zur schnellen Annahme
von Rad und Wagen sowie ersten Experimenten im Umschmelzen von Kupferobjekten.
Introduction
Innovations are what makes prehistory tick. Without
technical change and ‘progress’, there would not be a
sequence from a Stone Age to a Bronze Age and an
Iron Age. Pyrotechnology, agricultural tools, weap-
ons, dwellings, and many other aspects of prehistoric
life changed over time and were thereby further de-
veloped (improved in a technical, rather modern
sense); this in turn is interwoven with social changes
of different scale. The challenge in retrospective is
that this improvement was not solely made to gain
market advantages (as often implied by underlying
theory), but considerably influenced by ideological
and social aspects as well as individual agendas. In-
dividuals chose ‘the new’ for often erratic and eso-
teric reasons. Thereby seemingly obvious possibili-
ties to exploit new technology were often ignored.
Gift-giving, barter, raiding, and personal mobility
were, among others, responsible for the distribution
of goods. There were no institutions that developed
new technology, but technology was tinkered with
by craftsmen who were often not aware of essen-
tial scientific principles. Knowledge was tacit and
kept within kin groups who did not necessarily have
an interest in making their know-how available to