Bischheim culture
The Bischheim culture is a Central European culture of the Neolithic Age at the transition from the Middle to the New Neolithic, approx. It was described in 1938 by the prehistorian Armin Stroh as a Bischheim group within the late Rössen culture and is named after the place where it was found in Bischheim near Kirchheimbolanden ( Donnersbergkreis ) in Rhineland-Palatinate . The culture following on Bischheim is the Michelsberg culture .
During the Bischheim culture, copper was already used south of the Alps-Danube line in the manufacture of tools and jewelry ; A small copper chisel and a ring made of copper were discovered at a site of the Bischheim group in Lower Franconia .
Finds
Between 1997 and 2001, settlement remains of the Bischheim culture were discovered during archaeological investigations prior to a planned open- cast lignite mine near the village of Garzweiler . The Garzweiler open-cast lignite mine is an open-cast mine operated by RWE Power AG in the Rhenish lignite district in the city of Jüchen in North Rhine-Westphalia (Rhein-Kreis Neuss). The excavations of the Rhenish Office for Ground Monument Preservation took place south of the Garzweiler district. Post holes were discovered that describe the floor plans of three houses. Numerous rubbish pits were also found from which ceramics, flint tools and millstone fragments were recovered. These investigations provided information about house construction, the flint industry and ceramic production. Until then, the Bischheim culture was hardly known from the northern Rhineland.
Soil samples from the post marks of the houses and conspicuous layers of charcoal in the garbage pits were examined in order to be able to draw conclusions about the eating habits and the cultivated grains from the remains of charred plant material such as fruits and seeds. According to documents, mainly different types of wheat were found. There were also numerous forage plants such as hazelnuts and the like. Other crops such as poppy seeds or legumes such as peas and lentils were hardly found.
The main focus of such vegetation studies of settlement areas is on cultivation methods, harvesting methods and the composition and change in biodiversity. The development of agriculture is fundamental to the Neolithic societies after the Neolithic Revolution . The pollen analysis can provide information about clearing and climatic changes. Even the composition of the weed flora is of interest. It turned out that in this phase of the Neolithic cultivation fire cultivation played a special role in the development of arable farming sites and thus in the expansion of agriculture. The finds on the edge of the Garzweiler opencast mine also give indications of a possible change in the economic method at the beginning of the following Michelsberg culture, which is evident from the pollen profiles.
literature
- Andrea Zeeb-Lanz: Bischheim: Young Neolithic settlement remains. - In: Mathilde Grünewald (Ed.): Archeology between Donnersberg and Worms . Pp. 147–150, West and South German Association for Ancient Research e. V., Regensburg 2008 ISBN 978-3-7954-2042-0
Individual evidence
- ↑ The investigation of charred plant remains from settlements of the Bischheim culture (PDF; 8 kB)
- ↑ Wolfram Schier: Extensive fire cultivation and the spread of the Neolithic economy in Central Europe and Southern Scandinavia at the end of the 5th millennium BC Chr. Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 84, Issue 1, pages 15–43, DeGruyter, 2009