DOI Kapitel:
Changing Worlds – The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North
DOI Kapitel:Kirleis, Wibke: Subsistence change? Diversification of plant economy during the Neolithic in northern Germany
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0437
436
Subsistence change? Diversification of plant economy during the Neolithic in northern Germany
Fig. 1 Geographical distribution of the 21 Neolithic sites with archaeobotanical investigations in northern Germany (site no. according to
Table 1).
preferred economic activities of the Mesolithic groups
living there, and where agriculture and livestock breed-
ing became the basis of livelihood with a time lag of
about 1,400 years.2
However, recent studies showed that in the late
6th and 5th millennium calBCE both groups co-existed
in the northern European plain for quite some time
(e.g. Kirleis et al. in prep.; cf. Gerken / Nelson 2016;
Ismail-Weber 2017). Since settlements belonging to
the Linear Pottery (LBK) and subsequent Neolithic
groups (e. g. Rossen) have recently been discovered
outside the main loess regions, the separation of the
living environments of Mesolithic and farming groups
along natural boundaries is partly obsolete (Ismail-
Weber 2017). In contrast, natural transition zones are
of particular importance as border regions between
different habitats. They represent direct contact zones
between Mesolithic and Neolithic lifestyles and act as
catalysts for cultural exchange.
2 E.g. Hartz et al. 2007; Muller 2011; Kirleis etal. 2012;
Terberger et al. 2018.
In contrast to the interrelations between LBK or
post-LBK farmers and the Nordic Mesolithic, we can
observe a direct adoption of pastoral and agricultural
practices by southern Scandinavian and northern Ger-
man groups from 4,100 calBCE onwards. Even though
it is often argued that sub-Mesolithic groups were
found at certain sites until about 3,000 calBCE (e.g.
the cemetery of Ostorf), dietary calculations showed
that a primarily Neolithic society had been developed
that practiced varied combinations of different nutri-
tional strategies (Lubke et al. 2007; Olsen / Heine-
meier 2007; Fernandes et al. 2015). A comparison of
archaeobotanical inventories in particular indicates
that on the one hand, there are basic trends, but on the
other hand there are differences in the ways in which
plants are included, e.g. with respect to the integration
of gathered wild plants and the like.
The aim of this study is to present archaeobotani-
cal data from 21 Neolithic settlement sites in north-
ern Germany, with the highest site density in Holstein
(Fig. 1; Table 1), using this as a basis to identify how
plant use developed over time, from the uptake of
agrarian practices towards the establishment of fully-
Subsistence change? Diversification of plant economy during the Neolithic in northern Germany
Fig. 1 Geographical distribution of the 21 Neolithic sites with archaeobotanical investigations in northern Germany (site no. according to
Table 1).
preferred economic activities of the Mesolithic groups
living there, and where agriculture and livestock breed-
ing became the basis of livelihood with a time lag of
about 1,400 years.2
However, recent studies showed that in the late
6th and 5th millennium calBCE both groups co-existed
in the northern European plain for quite some time
(e.g. Kirleis et al. in prep.; cf. Gerken / Nelson 2016;
Ismail-Weber 2017). Since settlements belonging to
the Linear Pottery (LBK) and subsequent Neolithic
groups (e. g. Rossen) have recently been discovered
outside the main loess regions, the separation of the
living environments of Mesolithic and farming groups
along natural boundaries is partly obsolete (Ismail-
Weber 2017). In contrast, natural transition zones are
of particular importance as border regions between
different habitats. They represent direct contact zones
between Mesolithic and Neolithic lifestyles and act as
catalysts for cultural exchange.
2 E.g. Hartz et al. 2007; Muller 2011; Kirleis etal. 2012;
Terberger et al. 2018.
In contrast to the interrelations between LBK or
post-LBK farmers and the Nordic Mesolithic, we can
observe a direct adoption of pastoral and agricultural
practices by southern Scandinavian and northern Ger-
man groups from 4,100 calBCE onwards. Even though
it is often argued that sub-Mesolithic groups were
found at certain sites until about 3,000 calBCE (e.g.
the cemetery of Ostorf), dietary calculations showed
that a primarily Neolithic society had been developed
that practiced varied combinations of different nutri-
tional strategies (Lubke et al. 2007; Olsen / Heine-
meier 2007; Fernandes et al. 2015). A comparison of
archaeobotanical inventories in particular indicates
that on the one hand, there are basic trends, but on the
other hand there are differences in the ways in which
plants are included, e.g. with respect to the integration
of gathered wild plants and the like.
The aim of this study is to present archaeobotani-
cal data from 21 Neolithic settlement sites in north-
ern Germany, with the highest site density in Holstein
(Fig. 1; Table 1), using this as a basis to identify how
plant use developed over time, from the uptake of
agrarian practices towards the establishment of fully-