Gatersleben culture
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The Gatersleben culture (also known as the Gatersleben group ) is an archaeological culture from the Neolithic Age in the Middle Elbe-Saale region. It existed from around 4300 to 3900 BC. BC and thus belongs to the Young Neolithic in Jens Lüning's chronology . It was named by Ulrich Fischer in 1953 after the cemetery of Gatersleben in the Salzland district ( Saxony-Anhalt ).
chronology
The Gatersleben culture existed from about 4300 to 3900 BC. Chr. And thus belongs to the early Neolithic of the three-stage Central German chronology or the Young Neolithic according to the five-stage chronology according to Jens Lüning. In Central Germany it follows the stitch band ceramics and Rössen culture and is stylistically an offshoot of the Lengyel culture . Their appearance is to be paralleled with the unpainted level Lengyel III. A similar phenomenon in southern Germany is the Münchshöfen culture .
distribution
Statements on the distribution are only possible to a limited extent with the current state of research. This is due, on the one hand, to the comparatively small number of sites (Christoph Steinmann listed only 73 in 1994) and, on the other hand, to the controversial cultural classification of some sites. Nevertheless, three main settlement areas can be identified: The first is in the central Saale region in northern Thuringia and southern Saxony-Anhalt, the second between the Harz and the mouth of the Saale . Between these two focal points there are several sites in the Köthener Land with an unclear cultural classification. The third settlement focus is in Saxony along the Elbe in the vicinity of Riesa . There are also isolated sites in the eastern Altmark , in Jerichower Land and in Dresden .
The eponymous site is Gatersleben in the Salzlandkreis with three sites. The most important site is the Rössen cemetery in the Saalekreis .
- Distribution area of the Gatersleben culture in Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony
Material culture
Ceramics
According to Klaus Kroitzsch (1973), ceramics are divided into three phases. It is gray-toned, mostly profiled ceramics that are undecorated at the beginning of development. Characteristic are spherical cups, tripartite cup-like vessels, abdominal buckling pots, conical bowls, eyelet-carrying bottle-like vessels and pedestal shells. In the course of the three stages, the vessels are increasingly profiled.
Rock tools
Typical rock tools are axes and hatchets . The axes are stocky and wedge-shaped. They usually have a symmetrical, occasionally trapezoidal cross-section. The narrow sides are usually arched. The shaft hole sits in the middle or near the neck.
The cross axes have a trapezoidal outline and a plano-convex cross-section. The sides are curved to different degrees. The neck is slightly rounded or beveled, the cutting edge rounded in an arched shape.
Flat heels and flat shoe last wedges are rarer forms, but so far they have only been identified as grave goods.
Flint tools
Most of the flint tools from the Gatersleben culture are not retouched. At around 60 percent, blades and blade-shaped cuts are the most common form. Blade scratches and atypical cuts also occur. Cross- edged arrowheads and bow scrapers are rare .
Bone and antler implements
Only a small number of bone tools have survived. They are awls and awl-like devices. Axes and hoes made from deer antlers have also been identified.
Jewellery
Chains, pendants, buttons and arm rings have been identified as jewelry. Pearls made of limestone , marble and, more rarely, gagat as well as deer teeth and limestone imitations of deer teeth served as chain components. The pearls were mostly disc-shaped, more rarely tubular. The pendants are shells and miniature axes. Simple mussel buttons as well as double buttons made of mussels or boar teeth appear. The arm rings are made of marble. The first metal finds from Saxony-Anhalt may also be attributed to the Gatersleben culture: two small rolls made of sheet copper are said to have come from grave 7 of the Rössen cemetery . It is unclear whether all these jewelry items were typical of the entire Gatersleben culture, since jewelry finds are known almost exclusively from the Rössen burial ground.
Settlements
Settlements have so far only been handed down through pits. House floor plans are not known.
Economy
Due to the small number of finds, only very limited statements can be made about the economy. Emmer was the only crop that could be detected. Bone finds document the keeping of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs as well as the hunting of wild boar and deer.
Burials
The dead were usually buried in flat graves in a crouched position with their heads facing south. There are also isolated cremation graves.
literature
- Hermann Behrens : Graves of the Gatersleben group from the Rössen burial ground. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 52, 1968, pp. 67-80.
- Hermann Behrens: The Rössener, Gaterslebener and Jordansmühler Group in Central Germany. Fundamenta A 3, part Va. Cologne 1972, 270 ff.
- Klaus Kroitzsch : The Gatersleben group in the Elb-Saale area. In: Neolithic Studies. Volume 2 = Scientific articles from the Martin Luther University Halle. Volume 1972/12, 1973, pp. 5-126.
- Jan Lichardus : Rössen - Gatersleben - Baalberge. A contribution to the chronology of the Central German Neolithic and the origin of the funnel cup cultures (= Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity. Volume 17). 2 volumes. Habelt, Bonn 1976, ISBN 3-7749-1303-X .
- Joachim Preuss : Comments on the Gatersleben group in Central Germany. In: Annual journal for Central German Prehistory. Volume 45, 1961, pp. 70-86.
- Christoph Steinmann : Gatersleben (GL). In: Hans-Jürgen Beier , Ralph Einicke (Ed.): The Neolithic in the Middle Elbe-Saale area. An overview and an outline of the state of research (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Volume 4). Beier & Beran, Wilkau-Hasslau 1994, ISBN 3-930036-05-3 , pp. 85-98.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Johannes Müller: Radiocarbon chronology-ceramic technology-osteology-anthropology-spatial analyzes. Contribution to the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in the Middle Elbe-Saale area. Reports of the RGK 80, 1999, pp. 28–211
- ↑ Ulrich Fischer: The orientation of the dead in the Neolithic cultures of the Saale region. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 37, 1953, pp. 49-66.
- ^ Christoph Steinmann: Gatersleben (GL). 1994, p. 86.
- ^ Christoph Steinmann: Gatersleben (GL). 1994, pp. 86-87.
- ↑ a b c d e Christoph Steinmann: Gatersleben (GL). 1994, p. 87.
- ^ Christoph Steinmann: Gatersleben (GL). 1994, pp. 87-88.
- ^ Christoph Steinmann: Gatersleben (GL). 1994, p. 86.
- ^ Christoph Steinmann: Gatersleben (GL). 1994, p. 88.