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#0440
Wiebke Kirleis
439
fledged crop cultivation between c. 4,000 to 1,700 cal-
BCE. Focusing on domestic rather than burial sites
allows us to get insight into the routine practices of a
plant economy that may have varied between different
regions and social groups, and also into a diachronic
perspective of the uptake of sedentary agrarian life-
styles from the Early Neolithic all way through to the
Late Neolithic (Kirleis / Klooss 2014).
Material and Methods
Data on charred plant assemblages from 21 northern
German Neolithic sites comprise the baseline for this
evaluation, including published as well as unpublis-
hed data, all stored in the ArboDat database at Kiel
University.
The sites date to 4,000-1,700 calBCE, and only
such sites that cover at least two archaeological sub-
periods / combined sub-periods are considered (Ta-
ble 2). Plant assemblages that can only be dated to
more general units, e. g. the Funnel Beaker period as
such (4,000-2,800 calBCE), are excluded to avoid
background noise. Only data on charred plant remains
are considered. Data on water-logged plant material
are not included, as only two sites provided such mate-
rial: Bad Oldesloe-Wolkenwehe LA 154 with selective
preservation conditions due to recurrent desiccation
of the peat matrix (Kirleis et al. 2012), and the Middle
Neolithic V (3,000-2,900 calBCE) site Wangels LA505
with sound and reliable water-logged plant assem-
blages (Kroll 2001; Kirleis 2019a, 125); the latter
one is referred to for comparison in the discussion.
The archaeobotanical records are mostly related to
domestic sites, but for the sites Biidelsdorf LAI, Bad
Segeberg LA94, and Gadebehn 10, ditch systems are
recorded for certain periods that might also account
for ritual plant depositions.
The data included had to fulfill certain require-
ments to ensure a reasonable degree of comparability
and representativeness. Finds had to originate from
sites with a Neolithic domestic context, comprising
at least twenty-five charred cereal grains, ideally from
a minimum of three features. 25 cereal grains from
at least three features per site may seem to be a weak
criterion. However, this reflects the generally low find
concentrations of botanical remains for Neolithic sites
on the north European plain (Kirleis et al. 2012; cf.
Regnell / Sjogren 2006; Bogaard / Jones 2007).
The site Heringsdorf-Siissau LA38 was included de-
spite comprising only 13 cereal grains. For five other
sites, mass finds originating from only one or two
features were considered, since e.g. the Early Neo-
Archaeological sub-periods
absolute dates BCE
Early Neolithic, EN 1
4000-3500
EN lb
3800-3500
EN II
3500-3300
Middle Neolithic, MN
3300-2800
MN 1
3300-3100
MNIb
3200-3100
MN II
3100-3000
MN 111/IV
3000-2900
MN V
2900-2800(2600)
Younger Neolithic, YN 1
2850-2600
YN 2
2600-2450
YN 3
2450-2250
Late Neolithic, LN
2250-1700
LN II
(2350)2250-1950
LN II
1950-1700
Combined archaeological
sub-periods
absolute dates BCE
EN ll-MN lb
3500-3100
EN Ib/EN II
3800-3300
EN ll-MN la
3500-3200
EN ll/MN I
3500-3100
EN ll-MN II
3500-3000
MN Ib-MN IV
3200-2900
MN l-ll
3300-3000
MN ll-IV
3100-2900
MN ll-V
3100-2800(2600)
MN l-IV
3300-2900
MN V/YN 1
2900-2600
EN/MN
4000-2800(2600)
Table 2 Archaeological periodisation for the north European plain
(after Muller et al. 2012).
lithic site Rastorf LA6a/c provides evidence of only
rarely preserved charred linseeds, while the remain-
ing four other sites were included to ensure coverage
of archaeological periods that otherwise would have
been fully excluded (e.g. the Late Neolithic site Bosau
LA242). Not all periods are covered with a compa-
rable number of sites. Particularly from the Younger
Neolithic Single Grave culture there are only very few
sites known at all, from which very few were archaeo-
botanically investigated.
For the database presented here, an application
of frequency measurings is not appropriate. Instead,
absolute numbers of cereal grains were considered
and included for calculations at each site. This site
data provide the baseline for the application of an
aoristic approach to allow for a diachronic perspec-
439
fledged crop cultivation between c. 4,000 to 1,700 cal-
BCE. Focusing on domestic rather than burial sites
allows us to get insight into the routine practices of a
plant economy that may have varied between different
regions and social groups, and also into a diachronic
perspective of the uptake of sedentary agrarian life-
styles from the Early Neolithic all way through to the
Late Neolithic (Kirleis / Klooss 2014).
Material and Methods
Data on charred plant assemblages from 21 northern
German Neolithic sites comprise the baseline for this
evaluation, including published as well as unpublis-
hed data, all stored in the ArboDat database at Kiel
University.
The sites date to 4,000-1,700 calBCE, and only
such sites that cover at least two archaeological sub-
periods / combined sub-periods are considered (Ta-
ble 2). Plant assemblages that can only be dated to
more general units, e. g. the Funnel Beaker period as
such (4,000-2,800 calBCE), are excluded to avoid
background noise. Only data on charred plant remains
are considered. Data on water-logged plant material
are not included, as only two sites provided such mate-
rial: Bad Oldesloe-Wolkenwehe LA 154 with selective
preservation conditions due to recurrent desiccation
of the peat matrix (Kirleis et al. 2012), and the Middle
Neolithic V (3,000-2,900 calBCE) site Wangels LA505
with sound and reliable water-logged plant assem-
blages (Kroll 2001; Kirleis 2019a, 125); the latter
one is referred to for comparison in the discussion.
The archaeobotanical records are mostly related to
domestic sites, but for the sites Biidelsdorf LAI, Bad
Segeberg LA94, and Gadebehn 10, ditch systems are
recorded for certain periods that might also account
for ritual plant depositions.
The data included had to fulfill certain require-
ments to ensure a reasonable degree of comparability
and representativeness. Finds had to originate from
sites with a Neolithic domestic context, comprising
at least twenty-five charred cereal grains, ideally from
a minimum of three features. 25 cereal grains from
at least three features per site may seem to be a weak
criterion. However, this reflects the generally low find
concentrations of botanical remains for Neolithic sites
on the north European plain (Kirleis et al. 2012; cf.
Regnell / Sjogren 2006; Bogaard / Jones 2007).
The site Heringsdorf-Siissau LA38 was included de-
spite comprising only 13 cereal grains. For five other
sites, mass finds originating from only one or two
features were considered, since e.g. the Early Neo-
Archaeological sub-periods
absolute dates BCE
Early Neolithic, EN 1
4000-3500
EN lb
3800-3500
EN II
3500-3300
Middle Neolithic, MN
3300-2800
MN 1
3300-3100
MNIb
3200-3100
MN II
3100-3000
MN 111/IV
3000-2900
MN V
2900-2800(2600)
Younger Neolithic, YN 1
2850-2600
YN 2
2600-2450
YN 3
2450-2250
Late Neolithic, LN
2250-1700
LN II
(2350)2250-1950
LN II
1950-1700
Combined archaeological
sub-periods
absolute dates BCE
EN ll-MN lb
3500-3100
EN Ib/EN II
3800-3300
EN ll-MN la
3500-3200
EN ll/MN I
3500-3100
EN ll-MN II
3500-3000
MN Ib-MN IV
3200-2900
MN l-ll
3300-3000
MN ll-IV
3100-2900
MN ll-V
3100-2800(2600)
MN l-IV
3300-2900
MN V/YN 1
2900-2600
EN/MN
4000-2800(2600)
Table 2 Archaeological periodisation for the north European plain
(after Muller et al. 2012).
lithic site Rastorf LA6a/c provides evidence of only
rarely preserved charred linseeds, while the remain-
ing four other sites were included to ensure coverage
of archaeological periods that otherwise would have
been fully excluded (e.g. the Late Neolithic site Bosau
LA242). Not all periods are covered with a compa-
rable number of sites. Particularly from the Younger
Neolithic Single Grave culture there are only very few
sites known at all, from which very few were archaeo-
botanically investigated.
For the database presented here, an application
of frequency measurings is not appropriate. Instead,
absolute numbers of cereal grains were considered
and included for calculations at each site. This site
data provide the baseline for the application of an
aoristic approach to allow for a diachronic perspec-