Linearbandkeramik

UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO COPYRIGHT ISSUES IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO MAKE THE COMPLETE ARTICLE ACCESSIBLE HERE. PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS PAPER. The article presents the results of petrographic and geochemical analyses on Linear Band Pottery culture (LBK) ceramic materials from the Dzielnica site (Upper Silesia, southern Poland). The study area, situated in the northern foreland of the Moravian Gate, can be considered a melting pot for various cultural influences. This peculiar location resulted in multidirectional entanglements of the Early Neolithic inhabitants of the site. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the importance of pottery exchange in these foreign connections. The sherds ornamented in Alföld styles prove to be consistent with local geochemical and petrographic signature and, therefore, may be regarded as a result of implementation of exogenous decorative patterns. On the other hand, at least some of the vessels decorated in Šárka style should be considered to have been produced elsewhere. The archaeometric results indicate that the long-distance exchange of pottery was probably largely confined to occasional importation of vessels from the adjacent areas of Lower Silesia and northern Moravia. In addition, it may be tentatively suggested that some mundane, stylistically inconspicuous ceramics could have been passed through intra-regional circulation within the Upper Odra River basin.

Le présent article concerne la dynamique de peuplement de la Hesbaye (province de Liège, Belgique) durant le Néolithique ancien. Il s'appuie sur les résultats d'analyses en cours sur les sites de Remicourt, Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher, Waremme et Darion, et plus particulièrement sur l'étude de maisons excentrées présentes sur ces sites. Des résultats ont été dernièrement acquis en anthracologie et dans l'identification des sources d'approvisionnement en argile à poterie, complétant les résultats préliminaires de l'étude de la céramique et de l'analyse techno-fonctionnelle de l'industrie lithique. Les données présentées démontrent l'ancienneté de ces maisons par rapport au reste du village, permettant de les associer à une phase pionnière du peuplement régional. D'autres questions, relatives à l'économie et, plus globalement, à l'organisation de la société au Néolithique ancien sont également soulevées et proposées comme axes des recherches futures. Abstract This article examines settlement dynamics in Hesbaye (Liège Province, Belgium) during the Early Neolithic. It is based on the ongoing study of several sites (Remicourt, Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher, Waremme and Darion) and more specifically on outlying houses discovered at these sites. In addition to preliminary studies on pottery style and techno-functional aspects of flint tools, new results are presented on the anthracological remains and the sources of raw materials used for pottery. The evidence shows that the isolated houses are always earlier than the rest of the village and can thus be considered to reflect a pioneer phase of settlement. Questions relating to the economy and organisation of Neolithic society are also considered and future research is outlined.

The spatial analysis of the Neolithic village of Bischoffsheim led to the development of a new model of internal organisation
of the Linear Pottery culture settlements based on a series of precisely dated houses and on a Bayesian modelling
of numerous radiocarbon dates. The »orthogonal model«, similar in principle to the Hofplatz model but also
reflecting the row organisation observed at many sites, proposes the partition of the village, which displays a regular
division into quadrangular lots with successive buildings. These were rebuilt repeatedly (approximately every quarter of
a century) by the same social unit.

The second volume of the manifold research about the Bandkeramik enclosure of Herxheim and its ritual context contains artefact group analyses like stone implements, clay figurines and other small clay artefacts, faunal rests, mollusks and also further analyses of human bones from the rescue excavation. The importance of the natural scientific and archaeometric analyses (aDNA, isotopes, pottery raw material) is shown by their highly interesting results. New insights into the chronological position of the events at Herxheim are given by the interpretation of the 14C-dates. The volume also presents a synthesis and interpretative approaches for this special site.

This is the detailed publication of my dissertation from 2021. Between 1989 and 2005, large parts of an Early Neolithic LPC settlement were excavated in Brunn am Gebirge, Wolfholz (AT). With at least 125  houses, which were also confirmed by the geophysical surveys in the past years, it is one of the largest settlements of the Linear Pottery culture in Austria, situated on the right side of the Danube. Currently, this is the only large settlement on the right side of the Danube, and it can therefore be regarded as a regional centre. The 500 years of continuous settlement from 5585 to 5095 calBC offer an ideal opportunity for the analysis of the development of the longhouses’ architecture from the Formative phase to the youngest phase of the LPC, during which the houses are no longer flanked by the characteristic longitudinal pits.
The first part of the publication presents an architectural overview of the Early Neolithic floorplans of Brunn am Gebirge, Wolfholz with its architectural history. The large number of houses as well as the duration of the settlement itself enabled studies on the changes in architecture, the durations of use, the orientations of the buildings as well as typology and chronology. Here, the older houses in site 2, which belong to the Formative phase Brunn 2 (5585 – 5265 calBC), are particularly significant. A broader spectrum of floorplan shapes – rectangular as well as the first trapezoidal shapes – appears in site 3, which is around 300 years younger than the oldest houses of Brunn. As opposed to site 2, these buildings are not oriented NW–SE anymore, but rather NE–SW. The reason for this change in orientation is not fully clarified, but it could be related to climatic circumstances on the site (e.g. longer/shorter phases of ground frost in spring) and the exact time of construction during the year.
The second part of the publication deals with all aspects of Early Neolithic housebuilding. Here, the focus mainly lies on the inner framework, which is the characteristic element of this architecture. The construction history of the buildings and the settlement as well as specific architectural features are analysed in order to subsequently compare the houses with each other. Especially the interior layout with smaller and larger rooms in the houses are important here and they can justifiably be described as modular constructions. Since walls were not preserved in most cases in Brunn am Gebirge, the spaces between two neighbouring transverse rows were analysed and then compared. This showed that, for example, leaving out the transverse row can result in a large room, from which the post-free middle part might have developed in the LPC architecture. Houses with naves that are wider in the east than in the west are a feature that has hardly been described up to now. The different-sized roof areas on both sides of the house could be an indication of roof pitches being different on each side, which could indicate one side facing the weather.
The activity zones were often located in the east sides of the houses, where the house-accompanying trenches are often interrupted, suggesting that entrances were situated here, as opposed to the consistent trenches on the west side.
In the third part, the houses of Brunn am Gebirge are supra-regionally compared with others within the area of distribution in order to work out the similarities and differences, which can lead to a better understanding of the transmission of architectural knowledge.
For the first time, house floorplans were projected on top of each other to recognise similarities and calculate correspondences. For this, each house floorplan first had to be scaled and adjusted in its orientation. Also, a projection point needed to be defined for every single case, with which two floorplans could be projected on top of each other. Astonishingly, identical structures can be found in floorplans that are up to 600 kilometres away from the houses of Brunn, which is evidence for specific construction plans and a shared understanding of LPC builders. With the help of modular constructions, the buildings could be expanded with relatively simple methods, or whole floorplans could be transferred onto other sites. The newly developed procedure could be a crucial step in comparing house floorplans, independent of chronology, typology or the location within the LPC settlement area, since, in addition to complete houses, floorplans in worse states of preservation can be compared in this way, as long as parts of the inner framework have been preserved.

The work, which consists of two volumes, is currently in print and will soon be available for purchase.

Rezension J. Lüning:

Lieber Herr Stadler,
Herzlichen Dank für die Zusendung der beiden Bände über die Häuser und Gruben der ältestbandkeramischen Siedlung Brunn am Gebirge (2022), die vor einigen Tagen bei mir eintraf. Es handelt sich zweifellos um die bisher am besten und ausführlichsten
dokumentierten, bandkeramischen Haus- und Grubenbefunde in hervorragenden Fotos und Plänen. Letztere geben mit ihren Höhenschichtenplänen ein ungewöhnlich anschauliches Bild der Gruben-Formenwelt, und die farbigen Befunddarstellungen und
Rekonstruktionen (z.B. Bd. a, 371ff.) werden zweifellos Eingang in jede Vorlesung und jeden Vortrag über diese Materie finden. Dieses nicht zuletzt auch wegen des präzisen und anschaulichen Textes von Herrn Minnich.
Kurzum: eine gelungene, schöne und beispielhafte Befundpublikation.
Mit besten Grüßen und Wünschen Ihnen und Ihren Mitautoren
verbleibe ich Ihr J. Lüning
Prof. em. Dr. Jens Lüning
Am Botanischen Garten 34
50735 Köln