Schönfeld culture

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Schönfeld culture
Age : Late Neolithic
Absolutely : 2900 BC BC to 2100 BC Chr.

expansion
Elbe area from Wendland to Bohemia
Leitforms

decorated bowls, clay drums , stemmed bone pendants, mug with handles

The Schönfeld culture is an archaeological cultural group from the late Neolithic in Germany.

Research history

The name is derived from the eponymous site of Schönfeld in the Stendal district . It was used for the first time in 1910 by Paul Kupka , who excavated the burial ground there in 1905 .

distribution

The Schönfeld culture was located on the Elbe from Wendland via the Middle Elbe-Saale area (focus) to Bohemia .

In terms of time, it follows the Elb-Havel , the funnel cup and the Bernburg culture . Elements of these cultures as well as of the spherical amphora culture can be found in the Fischbeck group, which is seen as an early variant of the Schönfeld culture.

As a regional group of the late Neolithic, the main phase of the Schönfeld culture runs largely at the same time as the individual grave culture / corded ceramics and the bell beaker culture . In the developed Schönfeld culture, two regional subgroups can be distinguished that overlap around Magdeburg:

  • Ammensleben Group (Central Saxony-Anhalt)
  • Schönfelder Nordgruppe (north of Saxony-Anhalt)

Ceramics

Ornate bowl of the Schönfeld culture from Krielow , Brandenburg; Museum of Prehistory and Early History , Berlin
Ornate bowl of the Schönfeld culture from Milow , Brandenburg; Jerichower Land District Museum , Genthin

Most of the ceramics of the Schönfeld culture are decorated with engravings. Zigzag lines and furrow stitch lines are known of ornaments. The decorated bowls, whose ornamentation is partially interpreted as a symbol of the sun, are particularly striking.

Settlements

So far, floor plans of small to medium-sized houses in post construction, some with fireplaces, have been verified (in Randau near Magdeburg, in Gerwisch in the district of Jerichower Land and in Brandenburg-Neuendorf ).

Burials

The most striking feature of the Schönfeld culture is the regular cremation , which is rare in other contemporary cultures. Any grave goods were put on the stake. The corpse burn was buried in ceramic vessels, mostly in flat graves . However, there are also subsequent burials in large stone graves.

Locations

literature

  • Walter Nowothnig: The Schönfeld Group. Its essence as a separation of the Saxon-Thuringian corded ceramics and its distribution. (= Annual publication for the prehistory of the Saxon-Thuringian countries , vol. 25: On the Neolithic Age of Central Germany ), Halle, State Institute for Ethnology, 1937.
  • Friedemann Kirsch: Two cremation graves of the Schönfeld culture near Arneburg, district of Stendal. In: excavations and finds. News bulletin of the state archeology. Vol. 39, pp. 184-188. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1994.
  • Johannes Schneider: On the early history of Rogätz, Wolmirstedt district. New finds of the Schönfeld culture, the younger Bronze Age and the Middle Ages in the Mittelberg area. In: Kreismuseum Wolmirstedt (Ed.): Wolmirstedter contributions. Volume 7, pp. 48-72. Wolmirstedt District Museum, Haldensleben 1984.
  • Heiner Schwarzberg : Schönfeld culture. In: H.-J. Beier and R. Einicke (eds.): The Neolithic in the Middle Elbe-Saale area and in the Altmark. An overview and an outline of the state of research. Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe, Volume 4. pp. 243–255. Beier & Beran. 1994. ISBN 3-930036-05-3
  • Joachim Schween: A Neolithic settlement with finds from the funnel beaker culture, Schönfeld culture and individual grave culture / bell beaker culture at the ship water in Hamburg-Bergedorf. In: Helms Museum Hamburg (ed.): Hammaburg, New Series, 13. pp. 31–49. Wachholtz, Neumünster 2003.
  • Günter Wetzel: The Schönfeld culture. German Publishing House of Knowledge, Berlin 1979.

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