Memel culture
The Memel culture or Nemunas culture (English Neman culture ) was an archaeological culture from the Mesolithic to the Middle Neolithic from the 7th to the 3rd millennium BC. BC on the upper reaches of the Memel in today's Poland , Lithuania , Belarus and the Kaliningrad area .
In the north it bordered on the Kunda culture in the Mesolithic and on the Narva culture in the Neolithic . It developed from the Swiderien and was replaced by the funnel beaker culture (TBK).
Mesolithic
During the Atlantic , the climate became warmer and deciduous forests covered much of the mainland. The reindeer , the basis of life for the Paleolithic hunters, withdrew to the north and were replaced by forest animals (standing game). People adapted to the changed conditions. They still lived as hunters and gatherers , but covered shorter distances and stayed in the same place for longer periods of the season. Archaeologists found both smaller living spaces, which were only used once, and larger ones, to which the hunters repeatedly returned. Such places were mostly located near bodies of water.
People used arrows and spears for hunting and harpoons for fishing . The flint tools of the Mesolithic Memel culture were influenced by both southern European microlites and macrolites from northern Europe ( Maglemose culture ). Despite various influences, the culture remained relatively stable for 2500-3000 years. The flint artefacts therefore consisted of a relatively unchanged stock of arrowheads, trapezoidal knives and oval axes.
Neolithic
The Neolithic began here with the emergence of ceramics around the middle of the 5th millennium BC. The semi-Neolithic Memel culture followed the Mesolithic Memel culture. Most flint tools are similar in both cultures. A widespread new development has been the use of knives with sharpened and tapered tips. The ceramics of the Memel culture had pointed bottoms and were made of organic or quatzite-leaned clay. Some late specimens had flat bottoms. The pottery was smaller and more rounded than that of the Narva culture. It was decorated with a thin layer of white clay and rows of small impressions on the edge. The rest of the pottery had diagonal stripes that formed a fish net pattern or several rows of small impressions. Narva culture pottery was also found in the settlements. This phenomenon is explained by the flint trade, to which the Narva culture in the north had no access.
In the last phase of the Memel culture, ceramics became more diversified and showed the influence of the lagoon culture : with impressions through a funnel or herringbone decorations. Possibly the culture was followed by the funnel beaker culture and the spherical amphora culture .
literature
- Culture and City History Museum Duisburg (Ed.): Archaeological Treasures from Lithuania , 1992
- Wilhelm Gaerte : Prehistory of East Prussia , Gräfe & Unzer. East Prussian regional studies in individual representations 1. Königsberg 1929.