Journal of Neolithic Archaeology
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Das Kollektivgrab Großenrode I
No full textDas 1988 untersuchte Kollektivgrab Großenrode I ist eines von zwei Holzkammergräbern, die nur 60 m voneinander entfernt lagen. Radiokarbondaten und Pfeilbewehrungen aus Flint datieren die Anlage grob in die Zeit vor 3000 v. Chr. Die Konstruktion aus Holz und Trockenmauerwerk weist Beziehungen in den mitteldeutschen Raum auf und gehört zu den größten Anlagen ihrer Art.Excavated in 1988, the non-megalithic burial chamber Großenrode I represents a grave type distributed mainly in east Central Germany ("Mauerkammergrab"). One key feature of this type is a construction consisting of wood and dry stone walls. According to radiocarbon dates and arrowhead typology the grave can be dated shortly before 3000 BC and is thus roughly contemporaneous with the neighbouring Grave II
Einführung
No full textDas Calden-Projekt begann 1988 als kleine Probegrabung zur Datierung eines Erdwerks und führte zu einem mehrjährigen Forschungsunternehmen, das völlig neue Interpretationsansätze für diese Objektgruppe ermöglichte und „nebenbei" die bis dahin gültige Chronologie der Wartbergkultur umstieß. Bisherige Publikationen waren kleinere „work in progress"-Berichte; dieses special gibt einen aktuellen Überblick über die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen und dient als (farbige) Ergänzung zur Gesamtpublikation, die in der ersten Jahreshälfte 2000 erscheinen wird.In 1976 a causewayed enclosure was discovered from the air at Calden near Kassel in the most northern part of Hesse. The partial destruction of a smaller part of the ditch system through limestone quarrying led to the setting up of the Calden project (1988 - 1996): the detailed investigation of the enclosure itself, a newly discovered gallery grave nearby (Calden II) and a radiocarbon dating project for many late Michelsberg and Wartberg sites. A complete account of the results will be published in 2000
Die Stele von Wellen: Mondkalender - Mondsymbolik?
No full textDrei verzierte steinerne Stelen aus Nordhessen gelten als Unikate im mitteleuropäischen Raum - direkte Vergleichsstücke existieren bislang nicht. Die Datierung in das Neolithikum ist aufgrund der Ornamentik und - in einem Fall - der Fundumstände einigermaßen gesichert. Ihre Deutung blieb jedoch weitgehend unklar. Vor kurzem nun hat Klaus Albrecht eine Interpretation der Stele von Wellen als Mondkalender vorgeschlagen.Three stelae from northern Hesse with rich ornamentation are considered unique in the Central European megalithic context. In one case (Ellenberg I) re-use in the Beaker period gives a direct chronological indication (t.a.q.) to the period of construction; the decoration has its best parallels between c. 3500 - 2500 BC (esp. Bernburg, Single Grave Culture). The stelae have usually been interpreted as anthropomorphic representations. In the case of the Wellen stone Klaus Albrecht now proposes an interpretation as a moon calendar, counting the days of visibility as well as Full Moon and New Moon phases
Bohemica aus der Sammlung des Göttinger Seminars für Ur- und Frühgeschichte - zu einer ältestbandkeramischen Siedlung in Nordböhmen
No full textAuch "Grabungen" in Museen und Sammlungen fördern bisweilen bemerkenswerte Funde zutage - in diesem Fall aus der Lehrsammlung des Seminars für Ur- und Frühgeschichte in Göttingen. Vorgelegt werden eine Reihe von bandkeramischen Funden vom Unterlauf der Eger in Böhmen, darunter Material von einer bisher unbekannten Siedlung (?) der ältesten Linienbandkeramik.In 1997 old material of the Linear Pottery Culture was rediscovered by the author within the collection ("Lehrsammlung") of the "Seminar für Ur- und Frühgeschichte" in Göttingen. The finds belong to settlements in the Ohre River area of Bohemia, among them sherds from an yet unknown settlement (?) of the Earliest Linear pottery phase
Digitale Archäologie. Nachlass von Jürgen Hoika †
Get PDFThis article describes the recovery of research data of Jürgen Hoika, saved on ten 5,25 inch floppys between 1988 and 1994. All data could be read and interpreted thanks to the use of the popular formats Word Perfect 5.1 and dBase III. In addition, the latest version of a data collection of Jürgen Hoika, comprising 1033 records of megalithic graves in Schleswig-Holstein, is roughly presented to introduce the potential of the dataset. Thanks to the generous consent of Evelin Hoika, the dataset is now freely available
Confrontation of Social Strategies? – Danubian Fortified Settlements and the Funnel Beaker Monuments in SE Poland
Get PDFIn Südostpolen scheinen im vierten Jahrtausend v. Chr. zwei ver- schiedene Kulturtraditionen aufeinanderzutreffen, das „Danubische Neolithikum“, repräsentiert durch die Lublin-Wolhynische Kultur und die Modlnice-Gruppe der Lengyel-Kultur, die Złotniki-Wyciąże- Gruppe des Polgakreises sowie die Südostgruppe der Trichterbe- cherkultur. Diese Traditionen unterscheiden sich deutlich im Hinblick auf ökonomische, soziale und rituelle Strategien zu unterscheiden, zu denen auch die Aufnahme der „megalithischen Idee“ im Kontext der Trichterbechergesellschaften gehört. Insgesamt ist von einer Transformation der danubischen Tradition hin zur Trichterbechertra- dition auszugehen. Nach einer Diskussion verschiedener Erklärungs- modelle dieses Wandels wird ein neuer Entwurf vorgelegt, der dem archäologischen Befund eher gerecht werden sollte und theoretisch im Habermas ́schen Denken begründet ist.In south-eastern Poland, two distinct cultural traditions seem to meet and merge during the 4th Millenium BC, the “Danubian Circle” represented by the Lublin-Volhynian culture, the Modlnica group of the Lengyel culture and the Złotniki-Wyciąże group of the Polgar cycle and the south-eastern Group of the Funnel Beaker culture. Differences include economic strategies, social structures and ritual orientations, including the application of the “megalithic idea” by the Funnel Beaker societies. Generally, a transformation from the Danubian to the Funnel Beaker patterns can be described. After a discussion of different models explaining this process, an alternative approach is proposed considering the specifics of the south-eastern Polish archaeological evidence and grounded on theoretical approaches following Jürgen Habermas
Identities overseas? The long barrows in Denmark and Britain
Get PDFNeolithic scholars have debated the significance of similarities between British and south Scandinavian ceramic styles and burial methods since the 1930s. Close parallels in design and practice between these two geographically distant areas have often been interpreted as the result of both direct and indirect contact and exchange. This paper engages with the central issue of this debate by examining contact and identity through the prism of non-megalithic long barrows. Can these structures be understood as a medium through which interactions were negotiated? Could they have been the means of articulating a shared “overseas” identity? In this paper, the various and sundry criteria associated with non-megalithic long barrows (i. e. barrow construction, grave design, grave goods, ritual practices) are qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. The object is not only to assess the levels of similarity between these various criteria, but also to determine if those selfsame categories can be combined in such a way as to make a British / south Scandinavian collective identity a viable focus for academic pursuit
Causewayed enclosures and megalithic monuments as media for shaping Neolithic identities
Get PDFIn this paper I proffer the opinion that acceptance of the real Neolithic way of life, to become a full-time farmer, was a long and complicated process which, in Northern Europe, reached its peak during the second half of the fourth millennium. Here we see the introduction and acceptance of the ard. This demanded clearance of large areas, but also provided the possibility of cultivating greater areas and poorer soils. It must have created room for more inhabitants. This, in turn, could have given rise to various discrepancies which they man-aged to handle through the performance of many ritual activities. These are apparent today as traces of the construction of numerous megalithic features and of causewayed enclosures in which the special activities took place. We find these activities materialised in the special treatment of, especially, human bones, animal bones, ceramics, flint axes, querns and grinding stones and of grain. These materials have for the most part been subject to major transformation, for example burning and fragmentation, conferring on them a new significance. The deposition of these fragments in various places and the great efforts expended in building the megaliths and the enclosures must have bound people together, creating a network between the people who participated in these activities, and henceforth maintaining and reinforcing this or new networks by way of these actions. To employ a modern concept, they were using team building as a basis for acceptance of the Neolithic way of life.The proposals presented here are the result of archaeological research carried out in the Sarup area, on the SW part of Funen, Denmark, since 1971.Within a small area of 12 km2, numerous Neolithic monuments such as houses, megalithic structures and causewayed enclosures have been found and excavated. Some of the results of this research are presented in this article
Stone people: monuments and identities in the Channel Islands
Get PDFThis paper deals with two intersecting issues of identity: the special identity of communities living on the Channel Islands off the coast of northwest France in the 5th and 4th millennium BC, as expressed through monuments; and the identity that seems to have been attributed to the megalithic blocks of stone themselves. Insular identity is a well-worn theme but in the case of the Channel Island monuments leads directly to questions concerning the particular character of blocks shaped or carved with human characteristics. The Câtel statue-menhir of Guernsey provides the starting point for consideration of the relationship of this unequivocally anthropomorphic representation to the disembodied female breasts found in chambered tombs of mainland France. The paper also discusses how the megalithic monuments of the Channel Islands are both comparable to yet different from those of adjacent regions, a circumstance that emphasises how these and similar island groups may have been places of encounter but also of communities expressing specific social and cultural identities
Megaliths, Landscapes and Identities: the case of Falbygden, Sweden
Get PDFToday, about 525 dolmens and passage graves are known in Sweden. These tombs were built in a short and intense period, c. 3300- 3000 BC, in the cultural setting of the Funnel Beaker (TRB) culture. The tombs occur in two distinct types of landscape. In Scania, Halland and Bohuslän, they are found close to the coast, in a strongly marine environment.The second and larger group of tombs is found in the inland area of Falbygden in Västergötland. Here, a remarkable concentration of at least 255 tombs coincides with one of the very few places in the region where bedrock consists of limestone and slate instead of Precambrian rocks.Spatial patterns are discernible in Falbygden but not very clearlyin Bohuslän. In Falbygden, the tombs are closely spaced, occur in clusters or groups of 5–15 tombs, and tend towards regular spacing within the groups. Also, the largest tombs tend to occur in the centre of the area, for instance in Karleby, where several of the largest tombs are found. I will discuss the spatial patterns in the Falbygden landscape at different spatial levels, and whether the spatial patterns are also discernible in other variables, such as tomb or pottery typology. I will also touch upon the relations between Falbygden and surrounding non-megalithic regions as visible in ongoing isotope studies