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#0385
384
A longue duree perspective on technical innovations in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic of the North European Plain
Plough marks
Plough marks are known from the whole North
European Plain. The assumed plough marks from
under barrow no. 8 at Sarnowo, com. Kozlowo, are
problematic due to the discrepancy between the 14C-
date (4,459-4,343 calBC; GrN-5035: 5,570±60 BP)
and the archaeological expectation for the dating
of the Wiorek-phase (around 3,800 calBC) to which
they are assigned (Wiklak 1980, 72-73; Tegtmeier
1993, 25). Their interpretation has also been chal-
lenged with plausible arguments, for instance the
lack of the typical criss-cross pattern, and it was
proposed that they rather represent a burnt tim-
ber structure (Niesiolowska-Sreniowska 1999).
Further evidence is known from Zar^bowo, distr.
Gmina Zakrzewo, Kuyavia, dated to the later part
of the Wiorek phase around 3,400 calBC by a 14C-
date (GrN-5044: 4,624±40 BP, 3,521-3,338 calBC,
94.3 %; cf. Sherratt 1981,270; Tegtmeier 1993,25).
Plough marks from Groningen-Ooosterpoortwijk,
the Netherlands, have been dated by a small series
of radiocarbon analyses to around 3,000 calBC.
A possibly earlier date was published recently for
plough marks under a barrow at Hojensvej, Egense
sn., Syddanmark, Fyn (POZ-28068: 4,900±40 BP,
3,770-3,637 calBC; cf. Thrane 1982; Mischka2013,
298 fig. 4). These are contemporary to the plough
marks discovered at Flintbek, distr. Rendsburg-Eck-
ernforde, Holstein (Befund 50 and 59), which have
been dated to 3,700-3,450 calBC (Mischka 2013,298
figs. 3; 4,2), and Aldersro, Zealand, which were dated
to 3,650-3,535 BC (Mischka 2013, 298 fig. 4). Fi-
nally, one early date for Avebury, Wiltshire, England,
needs to be mentioned, where plough marks have
been discovered that might be older than 3,700-3,370
calBC (Tegtmeier 1993, 25; Vosteen 1999, 36).
Apart from the examples associated with radiocar-
bon datings, there is considerable evidence linked to
graves of the Fuchsberg/EN II phase substantiating
an assumed beginning around 3,600 calBC.22 While
this is even before the earliest evidence for wagons,
it should be kept in mind that the sparse evidence of
wheel tracks is also associated with the Fuchsberg
phase; therefore new research might push their be-
ginning back to the same date as that for ploughing.
22 Classified as FN C or ‘dolmenzeitlich’ in the older litera-
ture; cf. Thrane 1982, 21; 1989, 122-124; Tegtmeier 1993,
24-25; Vosteen 1999, 35-36; cf. also: Louwe Koojmans 2006,
199 fig. 10; Mischka 2013, 298 fig. 4 no. 8.13-15.
Wooden ploughs
The oldest ploughs known in Central Europe, clas-
sified as type Asteriagen, are yet poorly understood;
this type requires more and better preserved finds
for a clear interpretation. The two known finds are
dated to around 3,000 calBC and to the second half
of the 3rd millennium calBC (cf. Hecht 2007). The
construction of ploughs of type Walle, on the other
hand, can be inferred from the completely preserved
find of such a plough from the Tannhauser Moor at
Aurich-Walle (Eastern Frisia, Lower Saxony; Precht
1998; cf. also Tegtmeier 1993). Type Walle ploughs
are made from a single piece of trunk wood with a
branch. The sole is made from the trunk, while the
branch in its natural shape and angle is the foun-
dation for the beam. The mentioned find is radio-
metrically dated to 1,940-1,510 calBC, but the type
it represents is considerably older, as a recent late
3rd millennium dating of a fragment of a type Walle
plough from Mehlbergen-Balge, distr. Nienburg/We-
ser (middle Weser) demonstrates (Drenth / Lanting
1997,54; Hecht 2007,197). This is also confirmed by
a fragment of a type Walle plough from layer XIII-
XII of Ezerovo II-Tell Dipsis, Varna prov., Bulgaria,
dated to around 3,000 calBC (Petrequin et al. 2006;
Horvath 2015), and the petrogylphs on Cimbergo,
rock 8 (‘de la baita’), in the Vai Camonica, where
cattle are shown under a yoke, pulling a plough in the
style already encountered at Warburg and Ziischen
(Tegtmeier 1993, 117; Fedele 2006, 51).23
Copper figurines of yoked cattle
Two metal figurines of cattle under a yoke derive
from a hoard found at Bytyn, near Poznan, Greater
Poland, a third one from the Liskova cave, Slova-
kia; yet another find (bought from an arts dealer)
is thought to come from Dieburg, southern Hesse.
The hoard from Bytyn (Fig. 5; cf. Wislanski 1979,
237 fig. 136) was originally explained as an import
from Anatolia (Kopacz / Tunia 1978, 196-199), but
this interpretation has changed during the last four
decades. Matuschik (2002; 2006) has convincingly
dismissed the idea of the Bytyn finds belonging to the
Early Bronze Age, by dating their metal composition
as well as the accompanying axes from the hoard.
23 The identification of the sign with a plough of type Walle
is based on the prominently displayed technical details of the
depiction, i.e. in the construction of the beam, the sole, and a
handle. If this analogy is accepted, type Walle ploughs likely
already emerged before the middle of the 4th millennium calBC.
A longue duree perspective on technical innovations in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic of the North European Plain
Plough marks
Plough marks are known from the whole North
European Plain. The assumed plough marks from
under barrow no. 8 at Sarnowo, com. Kozlowo, are
problematic due to the discrepancy between the 14C-
date (4,459-4,343 calBC; GrN-5035: 5,570±60 BP)
and the archaeological expectation for the dating
of the Wiorek-phase (around 3,800 calBC) to which
they are assigned (Wiklak 1980, 72-73; Tegtmeier
1993, 25). Their interpretation has also been chal-
lenged with plausible arguments, for instance the
lack of the typical criss-cross pattern, and it was
proposed that they rather represent a burnt tim-
ber structure (Niesiolowska-Sreniowska 1999).
Further evidence is known from Zar^bowo, distr.
Gmina Zakrzewo, Kuyavia, dated to the later part
of the Wiorek phase around 3,400 calBC by a 14C-
date (GrN-5044: 4,624±40 BP, 3,521-3,338 calBC,
94.3 %; cf. Sherratt 1981,270; Tegtmeier 1993,25).
Plough marks from Groningen-Ooosterpoortwijk,
the Netherlands, have been dated by a small series
of radiocarbon analyses to around 3,000 calBC.
A possibly earlier date was published recently for
plough marks under a barrow at Hojensvej, Egense
sn., Syddanmark, Fyn (POZ-28068: 4,900±40 BP,
3,770-3,637 calBC; cf. Thrane 1982; Mischka2013,
298 fig. 4). These are contemporary to the plough
marks discovered at Flintbek, distr. Rendsburg-Eck-
ernforde, Holstein (Befund 50 and 59), which have
been dated to 3,700-3,450 calBC (Mischka 2013,298
figs. 3; 4,2), and Aldersro, Zealand, which were dated
to 3,650-3,535 BC (Mischka 2013, 298 fig. 4). Fi-
nally, one early date for Avebury, Wiltshire, England,
needs to be mentioned, where plough marks have
been discovered that might be older than 3,700-3,370
calBC (Tegtmeier 1993, 25; Vosteen 1999, 36).
Apart from the examples associated with radiocar-
bon datings, there is considerable evidence linked to
graves of the Fuchsberg/EN II phase substantiating
an assumed beginning around 3,600 calBC.22 While
this is even before the earliest evidence for wagons,
it should be kept in mind that the sparse evidence of
wheel tracks is also associated with the Fuchsberg
phase; therefore new research might push their be-
ginning back to the same date as that for ploughing.
22 Classified as FN C or ‘dolmenzeitlich’ in the older litera-
ture; cf. Thrane 1982, 21; 1989, 122-124; Tegtmeier 1993,
24-25; Vosteen 1999, 35-36; cf. also: Louwe Koojmans 2006,
199 fig. 10; Mischka 2013, 298 fig. 4 no. 8.13-15.
Wooden ploughs
The oldest ploughs known in Central Europe, clas-
sified as type Asteriagen, are yet poorly understood;
this type requires more and better preserved finds
for a clear interpretation. The two known finds are
dated to around 3,000 calBC and to the second half
of the 3rd millennium calBC (cf. Hecht 2007). The
construction of ploughs of type Walle, on the other
hand, can be inferred from the completely preserved
find of such a plough from the Tannhauser Moor at
Aurich-Walle (Eastern Frisia, Lower Saxony; Precht
1998; cf. also Tegtmeier 1993). Type Walle ploughs
are made from a single piece of trunk wood with a
branch. The sole is made from the trunk, while the
branch in its natural shape and angle is the foun-
dation for the beam. The mentioned find is radio-
metrically dated to 1,940-1,510 calBC, but the type
it represents is considerably older, as a recent late
3rd millennium dating of a fragment of a type Walle
plough from Mehlbergen-Balge, distr. Nienburg/We-
ser (middle Weser) demonstrates (Drenth / Lanting
1997,54; Hecht 2007,197). This is also confirmed by
a fragment of a type Walle plough from layer XIII-
XII of Ezerovo II-Tell Dipsis, Varna prov., Bulgaria,
dated to around 3,000 calBC (Petrequin et al. 2006;
Horvath 2015), and the petrogylphs on Cimbergo,
rock 8 (‘de la baita’), in the Vai Camonica, where
cattle are shown under a yoke, pulling a plough in the
style already encountered at Warburg and Ziischen
(Tegtmeier 1993, 117; Fedele 2006, 51).23
Copper figurines of yoked cattle
Two metal figurines of cattle under a yoke derive
from a hoard found at Bytyn, near Poznan, Greater
Poland, a third one from the Liskova cave, Slova-
kia; yet another find (bought from an arts dealer)
is thought to come from Dieburg, southern Hesse.
The hoard from Bytyn (Fig. 5; cf. Wislanski 1979,
237 fig. 136) was originally explained as an import
from Anatolia (Kopacz / Tunia 1978, 196-199), but
this interpretation has changed during the last four
decades. Matuschik (2002; 2006) has convincingly
dismissed the idea of the Bytyn finds belonging to the
Early Bronze Age, by dating their metal composition
as well as the accompanying axes from the hoard.
23 The identification of the sign with a plough of type Walle
is based on the prominently displayed technical details of the
depiction, i.e. in the construction of the beam, the sole, and a
handle. If this analogy is accepted, type Walle ploughs likely
already emerged before the middle of the 4th millennium calBC.