18

J. TROELS-SMITH

called Landnam with cattle grazing on exten-
sive commons. Radiocarbon datings have
documented that in Denmark together with
Scania and North-Germany this phase
started c. 3000-2600 be or in calibrated years
c. 3800-3400 BC, while in Central Europe
and Switzerland it was delayed until c. 2000
be (calibrated c. 2520 BC), and appeared in
connection with the corded ware vessels
(Schnurkeramik) and the cultures of the
Bronze age (Troels-Smith 1981 and 1982). 2)
That the author’s theory of 1954 included
the concept that the leaf-foddering husban-
dry of the Danish Ertebolle-culture2 was re-
lated to the Danubian-culture, the Cortail-
lod-culture, the Michelsberg-culture etc.
There is now an extensive material to eluci-
date this also from Czechoslovakia, Poland
and Germany. A survey of this will be pub-
lished later.
In this paper, however, I will concentrate
on two places in the Canton of Schaffhausen
in NE Switzerland, namely Egelsee NW of
Thayngen and Wezer south of this town.
The pollen-diagram of Egelsee (fig. 2) is
important because it covers the time span of
all the neolithic cultures of Switzerland. In
each sample were counted about 2000 pollen
grains (by Dr. Svend Jorgensen). Thick
horizontal lines discriminate between the
different periods or cultures, and in the mar-
gin to the right are radiocarbon-datings (un-
calibrated). Contemporaneous with the
Danubian culture is the first trace of cereals
(4160 be; 5040 BC) together with the annual
Common Cow-Wheat (Melampyrum pre-
tense L.) but no indications of grazing-areas.
- Just after c. 3600 be (4450 BC) a faint de-
crease in the beech-pollen curve indicates
that man has made an impact on the environ-
ment. The next section illustrates the Pfyn-
culture contemporaneous with Weier
c. 3100-2700 be (3885-3485 BC), and the first
marked Beech- (and Elm-) regression. The


Fig. 5. Thayngen-Weier. Plan from the excava-
tion of the settlement. Leaf-fodder, twigs and
leaves of elm, birch, oak, lime, Norway maple
and ash were concentrated in the hatched areas
(after Guyan 1954, fig. 34).

Thayngen-Weier. Plan der Ausgrabung der Sied-
lung. Laub-Futter, Zweige und Blatter von
Ulme, Birke, Eiche, Linde, Spitzahorn und Esche
waren in den schraffierten Feldern konzentriert.

traces of leaf-fodder husbandry are as usual
faint. There are a few pollens of the self-
pollinating wheat and annual weeds. After
the second beech-regression, c. 2000 be
(2520 BC) clear evidence of herding on com-
mons appears for the first time, and the
Plantago lanceolate is present with up to c. 1
per cent. This is about 2000 years after the
establishment of the leaf-fodder husbandry,
and the herding culture is contemporary
with the corded ware pottery. Later on,
about 1300 be (Bronze Age, c. 1595 BC), the
commons were definitely established when
Plentago lanceolate reached about 2 per
cent.
From Weier is shown a diagram of tree-pol-
len (fig. 3). The column to the left represents
beech and then elm, both of which are de-