DOI Kapitel:
Changing Worlds – The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North
DOI Kapitel:Philippi, Alexandra: The Schöningen group and the cultural development around 4,000 calBC
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0410
Alexandra Philippi
409
perforated lugs. A new 14C-date from Schoningen con-
firms the chronological position of this pottery type
(Fig. 6): A cattle tooth from feature 31 yielded a result
of 4,228-3,963 calBC (2o; COL-4555.1.1: 5,230 ±39
BP; calibration by Oxcal v4.3.2, Bronk Ramsey 2017;
r:5 IntCall3 atmospheric curve: Reimer et al. 2013).
The date corresponds to the expected time frame and
fits well to the data from Salzmiinde-Schiepzig (e. g.
Schmutz 2017, 135).
In the northern Harz foreland and in the middle
Elbe-Saale area around 4,000 calBC we see regional
differences which can be traced back to different in-
novation dynamics and varying degrees of influence
of western and eastern cultural influences (see also
Muller 2001, 424). Due to the dominant Michelsberg
elements, the Schoningen group can be understood as
a variation of the Michelsberg culture. It is a precedent
for cultural structures that are rather unstable and
dynamic phenomena that can appear in various forms.
The time around 4,000 calBC and the
origin of the early Funnel Beaker culture
In the context of the Schoningen group, the question
of the formation of the Funnel Beaker culture arises.
In the second half of the 5th millennium calBC, the
north and parts of the North German Plain were still
inhabited by late Mesolithic hunter-gatherer com-
munities with pointed-bottom pottery: the Ertebolle
culture (s. Hartz 2010, 132-140; this volume). In
the Netherlands, Lower Saxony and possibly also
Westphalia (cf. Stapel, this volume), it is the Swift-
erbant culture which documents a Mesolithic tradi-
tion (e.g. Raemaekers 1999; Ten Anscher 2012).
At the transition from the Ertebolle culture to the
early Funnel Beaker culture from c. 4,100 calBC
onwards, a change in the agricultural subsistence,
but also in the pottery inventory, can be observed in
the Baltic Sea region (Sorensen 2015, 385). Apart
from new vessel shapes and techniques, other types
of decoration also appear. Therefore the question
of possible external origins of these early Neolithic
ceramics arises.
Hypotheses on the origin of the Funnel
Beaker culture
First of all, the south-eastern Europe theory of
Becker (1947) should be mentioned, according to
which the south Scandinavian Funnel Beaker culture
people migrated from an unspecified area in south-
eastern Europe (Becker 1947).
Furthermore, a central European origin was
postulated, which assumes an acculturation of lo-
cal Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Two research ap-
proaches can be distinguished: On the one hand
there is the idea of the origin of the Funnel Beaker
culture pottery based on the copy of older organic
vessels. This acculturation is suggested to go back
to contacts with Danubian groups (Childe 1949,
129-135; Klassen 2004, 151). V. Gordon Childe was
the most important representative of this idea. On
the other hand, the Rossen and Baalberge cultures
were considered to be decisive for the development
of Funnel Beaker pottery. However, today numerous
14C-dates prove the end of the Rossen culture some
time before the beginning of the Funnel Beaker cul-
ture, and further 14C-dates verify the beginning of the
Baalberg culture in Central Germany not before c.
3,750 BC (Muller 2001, 51-52). According to this
information, they both had no significance for the
development of the Funnel Beaker culture.
Other theories are still relevant today. Accord-
ing to them, the Michelsberg culture and the late
Lengyel culture have been involved in the formation
of the Funnel Beaker culture around 4,000 calBC
(Klassen 2004, 152-154). Recent research suggests
that the area of southern Lower Saxony played an
important role in the development of the early Fun-
nel Beaker pottery (see Grohmann 2010, 418; Mul-
ler 2011, 294-296). In southern Lower Saxony and
also in the neighbouring regions of Westphalia and
Thuringia, a strong presence of late Lengyel elements
in the Michelsberg pottery spectrum can be observed
(Klassen 2004, 288). In these areas, vessel forms
appear which differ from those of the Michelsberg
culture and give the various cultural complexes a
different character. The Lengyel influence can be
seen here not only in the form of decorated rims and
isolated flat-bottomed vessels, but also in the regular
appearance of a number of other flat-bottomed ves-
sels with typical Michelsberg profiles, of which the
funnel beakers are the most characteristic. In addi-
tion, many of these vessels have rim ornamentation
in the form of fingertip impressed decoration, the
origin of which may also be attributed to the fusion
of Michelsberg and late Lengyel elements, and which
is also one of the characteristics of the early Funnel
Beaker culture (Klassen 2004, 288).
Expansion of the Michelsberg culture
With the further expansion of the Michelsberg culture
in the early 4th millennium calBC, a large amount of
Michelsberg pottery finds can be found in the middle
409
perforated lugs. A new 14C-date from Schoningen con-
firms the chronological position of this pottery type
(Fig. 6): A cattle tooth from feature 31 yielded a result
of 4,228-3,963 calBC (2o; COL-4555.1.1: 5,230 ±39
BP; calibration by Oxcal v4.3.2, Bronk Ramsey 2017;
r:5 IntCall3 atmospheric curve: Reimer et al. 2013).
The date corresponds to the expected time frame and
fits well to the data from Salzmiinde-Schiepzig (e. g.
Schmutz 2017, 135).
In the northern Harz foreland and in the middle
Elbe-Saale area around 4,000 calBC we see regional
differences which can be traced back to different in-
novation dynamics and varying degrees of influence
of western and eastern cultural influences (see also
Muller 2001, 424). Due to the dominant Michelsberg
elements, the Schoningen group can be understood as
a variation of the Michelsberg culture. It is a precedent
for cultural structures that are rather unstable and
dynamic phenomena that can appear in various forms.
The time around 4,000 calBC and the
origin of the early Funnel Beaker culture
In the context of the Schoningen group, the question
of the formation of the Funnel Beaker culture arises.
In the second half of the 5th millennium calBC, the
north and parts of the North German Plain were still
inhabited by late Mesolithic hunter-gatherer com-
munities with pointed-bottom pottery: the Ertebolle
culture (s. Hartz 2010, 132-140; this volume). In
the Netherlands, Lower Saxony and possibly also
Westphalia (cf. Stapel, this volume), it is the Swift-
erbant culture which documents a Mesolithic tradi-
tion (e.g. Raemaekers 1999; Ten Anscher 2012).
At the transition from the Ertebolle culture to the
early Funnel Beaker culture from c. 4,100 calBC
onwards, a change in the agricultural subsistence,
but also in the pottery inventory, can be observed in
the Baltic Sea region (Sorensen 2015, 385). Apart
from new vessel shapes and techniques, other types
of decoration also appear. Therefore the question
of possible external origins of these early Neolithic
ceramics arises.
Hypotheses on the origin of the Funnel
Beaker culture
First of all, the south-eastern Europe theory of
Becker (1947) should be mentioned, according to
which the south Scandinavian Funnel Beaker culture
people migrated from an unspecified area in south-
eastern Europe (Becker 1947).
Furthermore, a central European origin was
postulated, which assumes an acculturation of lo-
cal Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Two research ap-
proaches can be distinguished: On the one hand
there is the idea of the origin of the Funnel Beaker
culture pottery based on the copy of older organic
vessels. This acculturation is suggested to go back
to contacts with Danubian groups (Childe 1949,
129-135; Klassen 2004, 151). V. Gordon Childe was
the most important representative of this idea. On
the other hand, the Rossen and Baalberge cultures
were considered to be decisive for the development
of Funnel Beaker pottery. However, today numerous
14C-dates prove the end of the Rossen culture some
time before the beginning of the Funnel Beaker cul-
ture, and further 14C-dates verify the beginning of the
Baalberg culture in Central Germany not before c.
3,750 BC (Muller 2001, 51-52). According to this
information, they both had no significance for the
development of the Funnel Beaker culture.
Other theories are still relevant today. Accord-
ing to them, the Michelsberg culture and the late
Lengyel culture have been involved in the formation
of the Funnel Beaker culture around 4,000 calBC
(Klassen 2004, 152-154). Recent research suggests
that the area of southern Lower Saxony played an
important role in the development of the early Fun-
nel Beaker pottery (see Grohmann 2010, 418; Mul-
ler 2011, 294-296). In southern Lower Saxony and
also in the neighbouring regions of Westphalia and
Thuringia, a strong presence of late Lengyel elements
in the Michelsberg pottery spectrum can be observed
(Klassen 2004, 288). In these areas, vessel forms
appear which differ from those of the Michelsberg
culture and give the various cultural complexes a
different character. The Lengyel influence can be
seen here not only in the form of decorated rims and
isolated flat-bottomed vessels, but also in the regular
appearance of a number of other flat-bottomed ves-
sels with typical Michelsberg profiles, of which the
funnel beakers are the most characteristic. In addi-
tion, many of these vessels have rim ornamentation
in the form of fingertip impressed decoration, the
origin of which may also be attributed to the fusion
of Michelsberg and late Lengyel elements, and which
is also one of the characteristics of the early Funnel
Beaker culture (Klassen 2004, 288).
Expansion of the Michelsberg culture
With the further expansion of the Michelsberg culture
in the early 4th millennium calBC, a large amount of
Michelsberg pottery finds can be found in the middle