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#0386
Florian Klimscha and Daniel Neumann
385
Fig. 5 Two cattle figurines made from copper from a hoard
found at Bytyn (after Matuschik 2002, 111 fig. 1).
The figurines are made from an arsenic-copper alloy
(Mondsee copper) which is known from the early 4th
millennium to around 3,400 calBC.24 The axes from
Bytyn have good analogies in objects from the hoard
from Riesebusch, Schleswig-Holstein, currently dated
to around 3,500/3,400 calBC (cf. Matuschik 2002,
117). The copper figurine from Dieburg (Fansa 2004,
91 fig. 125; cf. Matuschik 2002, 111 fig. 1; 2006, fig.
8,1) can be loosely typologically associated with the
Bytyn hoard (Matuschik 2002, esp. 112). In con-
trast to the latter, however, the horns of the cattle
are aligned lower and the legs are less massive. If
the dating is accepted, though, the curved shape of
the horns is interesting and might signify the same
horn shape as depicted in the signs at Warburg and
Ztischen (‘C-shaped’) in another medium.
The Liskova figurine was found at the entrance
area of a cave, together with human bones, ceramics,
and copper finds. It is attributed to the Pre-Boleraz
horizon (Struhar 2010). Klassen (2000, 125-128)
argued for a similar age when he discussed the Bytyn
find, thereby suggesting the production of small cop-
per figurines in Central Europe already in the 36th
century calBC. A similar motive is indeed known
from the handle of a TRB beaker found at Kreznica-
Jara, south of Lublin, Lesser Poland,25 which be-
longs to the phase Bronocice II, currently dated to
24 However, it is still accounted for in southeastern Europe
until the early 3rd millennium calBC, which might challenge
Klassen’s (2000) argument for a date of Bytyn between 3,800
and 3,400 calBC.
25 Vosteen 1999 Taf. 107,62; Milisauskas / Kruk 1982, fig.
2,2; Fansa 2004, 85 fig. 114; Bakker 2004, 283 fig. 1,284;
Vosteen 1999 Nr. 62 Taf 107; Dinu 1981, fig. 9,1.
c. 3,650-3,400 calBC. The handle is connected to
the Bytyn figurines only via its motive, not by its
production technique or style, but it does not date
the hoard. However, as both the dating of the metal-
composition as well as that of the associated flat axes
are acceptable, the only argument that could force a
later date would be the technical complexity of the
Bytyn finds. Not only the comparability with the
axes from Riesebusch, but also the arsenical copper
composition as well as the motive of two pairs of
cattle under a yoke all indicate an age of 3,650-3,400
calBC. Usually, the figurines from Liscova, Bytyn,
and Dieburg are interpreted as having been part of
wagon models.26 The best analogies for contemporary
copper figurines cast in the lost wax-technique are
known from the Caucasus, where cattle figurines -
however, without a yoke - were discovered in the
princely burial of the Majkop kurgan (cf. Hansen
2009 for good illustrations). These can probably be
dated to around 3,800 calBC. Miniature wheels from
Majkop contexts have shown that the possibility of
wagon models exists (Klimscha 2018), and the use
of cattle-traction has recently been supported by the
discovery of cattle burials with nose-rings (Reinhold
et al. 2017). From 3,800-3,600 calBC onwards yoked
cattle-pairs were used to pull vehicles in the northern
Pontic area, and the dating is also confirmed by the
very early existance of sledge models and assumed
wheeled ceramic vessels from the transition phase
of Tripolye B2 and Cl (around 3,600 calBC; cf. TyceB
1998, 23 fig. 5; Matuschik 2006, 281 fig. 3,1).
Early copper in the north
Imports of copper axes, shaft-hole axes, and axe-adzes
are already known for the Ertebolle culture. Both
typology and chemical analyses suggest that the earli-
est finds were imported from either the Carpathian
Basin or the Balkan region (Klassen 2000). The met-
allurgy of both regions has received great attention
in the scientific community due to spectacular finds
of gold and copper, which are considered as indica-
tors of the earliest stratified societies. Such finds are
unknown in the North European Plain, and often the
introduction of metal there is disregarded, because
the number of finds is low and objects are notoriously
26 Such figurines must have been cast in the lost-wax-technique,
and it was supposed to be unthinkable that metallurgy was prac-
ticed to such an extend in Europe before the Early Bronze Age.
Because of the rather short chronology used during the 1970s, a
deduction from Anatolia seemed very possible.
385
Fig. 5 Two cattle figurines made from copper from a hoard
found at Bytyn (after Matuschik 2002, 111 fig. 1).
The figurines are made from an arsenic-copper alloy
(Mondsee copper) which is known from the early 4th
millennium to around 3,400 calBC.24 The axes from
Bytyn have good analogies in objects from the hoard
from Riesebusch, Schleswig-Holstein, currently dated
to around 3,500/3,400 calBC (cf. Matuschik 2002,
117). The copper figurine from Dieburg (Fansa 2004,
91 fig. 125; cf. Matuschik 2002, 111 fig. 1; 2006, fig.
8,1) can be loosely typologically associated with the
Bytyn hoard (Matuschik 2002, esp. 112). In con-
trast to the latter, however, the horns of the cattle
are aligned lower and the legs are less massive. If
the dating is accepted, though, the curved shape of
the horns is interesting and might signify the same
horn shape as depicted in the signs at Warburg and
Ztischen (‘C-shaped’) in another medium.
The Liskova figurine was found at the entrance
area of a cave, together with human bones, ceramics,
and copper finds. It is attributed to the Pre-Boleraz
horizon (Struhar 2010). Klassen (2000, 125-128)
argued for a similar age when he discussed the Bytyn
find, thereby suggesting the production of small cop-
per figurines in Central Europe already in the 36th
century calBC. A similar motive is indeed known
from the handle of a TRB beaker found at Kreznica-
Jara, south of Lublin, Lesser Poland,25 which be-
longs to the phase Bronocice II, currently dated to
24 However, it is still accounted for in southeastern Europe
until the early 3rd millennium calBC, which might challenge
Klassen’s (2000) argument for a date of Bytyn between 3,800
and 3,400 calBC.
25 Vosteen 1999 Taf. 107,62; Milisauskas / Kruk 1982, fig.
2,2; Fansa 2004, 85 fig. 114; Bakker 2004, 283 fig. 1,284;
Vosteen 1999 Nr. 62 Taf 107; Dinu 1981, fig. 9,1.
c. 3,650-3,400 calBC. The handle is connected to
the Bytyn figurines only via its motive, not by its
production technique or style, but it does not date
the hoard. However, as both the dating of the metal-
composition as well as that of the associated flat axes
are acceptable, the only argument that could force a
later date would be the technical complexity of the
Bytyn finds. Not only the comparability with the
axes from Riesebusch, but also the arsenical copper
composition as well as the motive of two pairs of
cattle under a yoke all indicate an age of 3,650-3,400
calBC. Usually, the figurines from Liscova, Bytyn,
and Dieburg are interpreted as having been part of
wagon models.26 The best analogies for contemporary
copper figurines cast in the lost wax-technique are
known from the Caucasus, where cattle figurines -
however, without a yoke - were discovered in the
princely burial of the Majkop kurgan (cf. Hansen
2009 for good illustrations). These can probably be
dated to around 3,800 calBC. Miniature wheels from
Majkop contexts have shown that the possibility of
wagon models exists (Klimscha 2018), and the use
of cattle-traction has recently been supported by the
discovery of cattle burials with nose-rings (Reinhold
et al. 2017). From 3,800-3,600 calBC onwards yoked
cattle-pairs were used to pull vehicles in the northern
Pontic area, and the dating is also confirmed by the
very early existance of sledge models and assumed
wheeled ceramic vessels from the transition phase
of Tripolye B2 and Cl (around 3,600 calBC; cf. TyceB
1998, 23 fig. 5; Matuschik 2006, 281 fig. 3,1).
Early copper in the north
Imports of copper axes, shaft-hole axes, and axe-adzes
are already known for the Ertebolle culture. Both
typology and chemical analyses suggest that the earli-
est finds were imported from either the Carpathian
Basin or the Balkan region (Klassen 2000). The met-
allurgy of both regions has received great attention
in the scientific community due to spectacular finds
of gold and copper, which are considered as indica-
tors of the earliest stratified societies. Such finds are
unknown in the North European Plain, and often the
introduction of metal there is disregarded, because
the number of finds is low and objects are notoriously
26 Such figurines must have been cast in the lost-wax-technique,
and it was supposed to be unthinkable that metallurgy was prac-
ticed to such an extend in Europe before the Early Bronze Age.
Because of the rather short chronology used during the 1970s, a
deduction from Anatolia seemed very possible.