DOI Kapitel:
Changing Worlds – The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North
DOI Kapitel:Klimscha, Florian; Neumann, Daniel: A longue durée perspective on technical innovations in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic of the North European Plain
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0382
Florian Klimscha and Daniel Neumann
381
Grab A
Grab B
Grab C,D
Grab E
Grab 1,11
Grab III
- Phase 1
• Phase 2
« Phase 3
- Phase 4
- Phase 5
• Phase 6
Grab IV • Phase 7
Grab F,G,H« nachbestattete
Graber
A-H • nichtmegalithische
Graber
I - IV • Megalithgraber
5 m
Fig. 2 Wagon tracks discovered under a megalithic grave at
Flintbek dated to the Fuchsberg phase (after Vosteen 1996, 34
Abb. 24).
wheel tracks (Mischka 2011).15 Tracks of a wagon
with disc wheels were also found next to a megalithic
grave at Helvesiek, distr. Rotenburg (Wiimme), Lower
Saxony (Vosteen 1999 Nr. 66). At the end of the 4th
millennium calBC, wheel tracks are also known in
relation with stone heap graves in northern Jutland
(Bakker 2004, 288; Johannsen / Laursen 2010).
Two-dimensional depictions
Two-dimensional depictions of wagons are known
from pottery and megalithic slabs (Fig. 3). The pre-
historic cultures of Central Europe and the North
European Plain seem to have been averse to figura-
tive depictions, and the very small number of such
pictures thus does not reflect a sparse use of the wag-
ons, but rather a cultural taboo. This is well reflected
by the placing of depictions into positions where they
could not be seen, as at the Warburg I grave, distr.
Hoxter in the Warburg Borde, where yoked cattle-
pairs were portrayed as fork-shaped signs (Gunther
1990; 1997). These pictures were not meant for ev-
eryday use or view, but instead seem to have had a
magical quality. The Warburg grave is important
because it is securely dated into the Wartberg culture,
c. 3,400-3,050 calBC. The placing of the depictions
into a position where they were invisible after the
grave was build excludes the possibility that they
were created significantly later. Even though they do
not show wagons, but only cattle under a yoke, they
are of great importance, because they allow connect-
ing the date with other petroglyphs, like those from
a grave from Ziischen, city of Fritzlar (North Hesse),
with a wagon shown in the same style (Gunther
1990, 50 fig. 7,1-4), and the famous rock carvings of
two-wheeled wagons from the Kamenaja Mogila near
Myrne, rai. Melitopol, Ukraine (Gunther 1990, 53
fig. 9). The modern administration districts mask the
close vicinity of Ziischen and Warburg. From one site
to the other it is merely 36 km as the crow flies, while
the linear distance between the Wartberg culture
burials in Lower Saxony and Ziischen is c. 120 km.
Further wagon depictions are found on pot-
tery sherds from the southeastern TRB groups. A
rather ambiguous picture derives from a ceramic
15 It is necessary to point out, however, that the laboratory
responsible for the radiocarbon dating in Kiel at that time had
severe problems concerning the precision of their datings; cf.
Menennga 2017, 50-53 with a critical discussion.
381
Grab A
Grab B
Grab C,D
Grab E
Grab 1,11
Grab III
- Phase 1
• Phase 2
« Phase 3
- Phase 4
- Phase 5
• Phase 6
Grab IV • Phase 7
Grab F,G,H« nachbestattete
Graber
A-H • nichtmegalithische
Graber
I - IV • Megalithgraber
5 m
Fig. 2 Wagon tracks discovered under a megalithic grave at
Flintbek dated to the Fuchsberg phase (after Vosteen 1996, 34
Abb. 24).
wheel tracks (Mischka 2011).15 Tracks of a wagon
with disc wheels were also found next to a megalithic
grave at Helvesiek, distr. Rotenburg (Wiimme), Lower
Saxony (Vosteen 1999 Nr. 66). At the end of the 4th
millennium calBC, wheel tracks are also known in
relation with stone heap graves in northern Jutland
(Bakker 2004, 288; Johannsen / Laursen 2010).
Two-dimensional depictions
Two-dimensional depictions of wagons are known
from pottery and megalithic slabs (Fig. 3). The pre-
historic cultures of Central Europe and the North
European Plain seem to have been averse to figura-
tive depictions, and the very small number of such
pictures thus does not reflect a sparse use of the wag-
ons, but rather a cultural taboo. This is well reflected
by the placing of depictions into positions where they
could not be seen, as at the Warburg I grave, distr.
Hoxter in the Warburg Borde, where yoked cattle-
pairs were portrayed as fork-shaped signs (Gunther
1990; 1997). These pictures were not meant for ev-
eryday use or view, but instead seem to have had a
magical quality. The Warburg grave is important
because it is securely dated into the Wartberg culture,
c. 3,400-3,050 calBC. The placing of the depictions
into a position where they were invisible after the
grave was build excludes the possibility that they
were created significantly later. Even though they do
not show wagons, but only cattle under a yoke, they
are of great importance, because they allow connect-
ing the date with other petroglyphs, like those from
a grave from Ziischen, city of Fritzlar (North Hesse),
with a wagon shown in the same style (Gunther
1990, 50 fig. 7,1-4), and the famous rock carvings of
two-wheeled wagons from the Kamenaja Mogila near
Myrne, rai. Melitopol, Ukraine (Gunther 1990, 53
fig. 9). The modern administration districts mask the
close vicinity of Ziischen and Warburg. From one site
to the other it is merely 36 km as the crow flies, while
the linear distance between the Wartberg culture
burials in Lower Saxony and Ziischen is c. 120 km.
Further wagon depictions are found on pot-
tery sherds from the southeastern TRB groups. A
rather ambiguous picture derives from a ceramic
15 It is necessary to point out, however, that the laboratory
responsible for the radiocarbon dating in Kiel at that time had
severe problems concerning the precision of their datings; cf.
Menennga 2017, 50-53 with a critical discussion.