DOI chapter:
Changing Worlds – The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North
DOI chapter:Philippi, Alexandra: The Schöningen group and the cultural development around 4,000 calBC
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0412
Alexandra Philippi
411
Fig. 7 Enclosure landscapes in the Leine-Weser area (graphic: A. Philippi; map based on Bundesamt fur Kartographie und Geodasie).
use of the coastal zone from the Late Mesolithic to
the Neolithic and into the Bronze Age. Apart from
Ertebolle pottery, the site also yielded funnel-shaped
rims with impressions below the rim. Food crusts
of this pottery date between 4,100 and 3,800 calBC
(Lubke et al. 2000, 440; Glykou 2016, 201; see also
Terberger / Seiler 2004 fig. 18.1-2). A further site
which yielded ceramics of an early phase of the Funnel
Beaker culture is Brunn 17, distr. Mecklenburgische
Seenplatte (Vogt 2009). Here similarities to the Mi-
chelsberg culture can be observed in the tulip-shaped
beakers. If one supposes that southern Lower Saxony,
Westphalia and the middle Elbe-Saale region are the
probable areas of origin of the early Funnel Beaker
culture, it could be concluded that certain elements
were spread northwards or northeast via present-day
Schleswig-Holstein. This assumption is underlined by
the distribution of individual elements such as arcade
rims (Glykou 2016, 205).
Contact zones of Neolithic groups
Numerous contacts of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in
northern central Europe with Neolithic groups can be
documented especially by imports, e. g. of character-
istic stone tools (Schirren 1997, 245-246; Klassen
2004, 50-53). An adoption of ceramic technologies
from western Europe would therefore be quite con-
ceivable. Moreover, this area was connected to the
Neolithic cultures of central Europe via the Elbe and
Weser (Schirren 1997, 248), so it is possible that it is
a matter of an expansion of individual elements, e. g.
decoration or vessel forms, such as the clay discs, while
at the same time a dynamic development of regional
groups is taking place. Regional differences in the
ceramic inventory might thus be explained (Glykou
2016, 205). If we assume that the local group of the
Michelsberg culture in southern Lower Saxony had
been involved in the formation of the Funnel Beaker
culture, it is quite likely that the Schoningen group
was part of this development.
In addition, in Lower Saxony above all the en-
closures of Miisleringen, distr. Nienburg (Weser), and
Walmstorf, distr. Uelzen, are of particular importance
as contact points to the groups of the North German
Plain (Richter 2002; Freese 2010; Ramminger et al.
2013a; 2013b). They are part of a large number of
find complexes of this time period in Lower Saxony,
which include both forms of the Michelsberg and an
early phase of the Funnel Beaker culture. Over the last
two decades a series of studies on the Late Neolithic
and the enclosure between the Rhine and Elbe rivers
have been published. In particular, the area of south-
ern Lower Saxony has always played a recognisable
role in the question of the south-north transfer of the
enclosure idea and other Late Neolithic elements. In
contrast to the north Harz foreland, where a regional
analysis of the enclosures has already taken place, the
state of research in the neighboring area of Lower
Saxony to the west is still disparate. The main focus
of the research is the presentation and analysis of the
features and finds of new research conducted on the
enclosures of Rossing, distr. Hildesheim, and Miislerin-
gen, distr. Nienburg (Weser). Further enclosures have
been identified by surface finds and aerial photographs
in the area. The project aims at the processing of the
411
Fig. 7 Enclosure landscapes in the Leine-Weser area (graphic: A. Philippi; map based on Bundesamt fur Kartographie und Geodasie).
use of the coastal zone from the Late Mesolithic to
the Neolithic and into the Bronze Age. Apart from
Ertebolle pottery, the site also yielded funnel-shaped
rims with impressions below the rim. Food crusts
of this pottery date between 4,100 and 3,800 calBC
(Lubke et al. 2000, 440; Glykou 2016, 201; see also
Terberger / Seiler 2004 fig. 18.1-2). A further site
which yielded ceramics of an early phase of the Funnel
Beaker culture is Brunn 17, distr. Mecklenburgische
Seenplatte (Vogt 2009). Here similarities to the Mi-
chelsberg culture can be observed in the tulip-shaped
beakers. If one supposes that southern Lower Saxony,
Westphalia and the middle Elbe-Saale region are the
probable areas of origin of the early Funnel Beaker
culture, it could be concluded that certain elements
were spread northwards or northeast via present-day
Schleswig-Holstein. This assumption is underlined by
the distribution of individual elements such as arcade
rims (Glykou 2016, 205).
Contact zones of Neolithic groups
Numerous contacts of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in
northern central Europe with Neolithic groups can be
documented especially by imports, e. g. of character-
istic stone tools (Schirren 1997, 245-246; Klassen
2004, 50-53). An adoption of ceramic technologies
from western Europe would therefore be quite con-
ceivable. Moreover, this area was connected to the
Neolithic cultures of central Europe via the Elbe and
Weser (Schirren 1997, 248), so it is possible that it is
a matter of an expansion of individual elements, e. g.
decoration or vessel forms, such as the clay discs, while
at the same time a dynamic development of regional
groups is taking place. Regional differences in the
ceramic inventory might thus be explained (Glykou
2016, 205). If we assume that the local group of the
Michelsberg culture in southern Lower Saxony had
been involved in the formation of the Funnel Beaker
culture, it is quite likely that the Schoningen group
was part of this development.
In addition, in Lower Saxony above all the en-
closures of Miisleringen, distr. Nienburg (Weser), and
Walmstorf, distr. Uelzen, are of particular importance
as contact points to the groups of the North German
Plain (Richter 2002; Freese 2010; Ramminger et al.
2013a; 2013b). They are part of a large number of
find complexes of this time period in Lower Saxony,
which include both forms of the Michelsberg and an
early phase of the Funnel Beaker culture. Over the last
two decades a series of studies on the Late Neolithic
and the enclosure between the Rhine and Elbe rivers
have been published. In particular, the area of south-
ern Lower Saxony has always played a recognisable
role in the question of the south-north transfer of the
enclosure idea and other Late Neolithic elements. In
contrast to the north Harz foreland, where a regional
analysis of the enclosures has already taken place, the
state of research in the neighboring area of Lower
Saxony to the west is still disparate. The main focus
of the research is the presentation and analysis of the
features and finds of new research conducted on the
enclosures of Rossing, distr. Hildesheim, and Miislerin-
gen, distr. Nienburg (Weser). Further enclosures have
been identified by surface finds and aerial photographs
in the area. The project aims at the processing of the