Funnel Beaker Culture

Ebben a tanulmányban-egy a magyar őskorkutatásban már fél évszázada ismert-az északkelet-magyarországi régióban található salgótarjáni Pécs-kő szikla többrétegű magaslati lelőhelyen előkerült cseréptöredéket mutatok be, amelynek kulturális hova-tartozását csak 2017-ben sikerült remélhetőleg véglegesen tisztázni. 1 Kutatástörténet 1960-ban május 17. és 25. között Patay Pál és Korek József ásatást végeztek a salgó-tarjáni Pécs-kő sziklánál. A területet korábban rablóásatások bolygatták, amely alkal-makkor leletek kerültek elő, és ők a kincskeresők után már az év áprilisában próbaá-satással kísérleteztek. A magaslati badeni települést kb. 60 m 2-en egymásba nyitott, a teraszosodást követő szelvényekkel, ásónyomos technikával kutatták meg, a jelensége-ket és a leleteket ásónyomonként különítették el. A jelenségek és a leletek értékelését Korek József adta közre. 2 A lelőhelyet az eredeti publikáció a Baden-kultúra önálló, többrétegű telepeként mutatta be, amely a badeni kultúra Északkelet-Magyarországon elterjedt késői, ún. Ózd-Piliny nevű csoportjához tartozik. A leletanyag minden darabját a badeni kultúra leleteként leltározták be a szécsényi Kubinyi Ferenc Múzeum gyűjteményébe 1960-ban. 1986-ban B. Kovács István doktori disszertációjában szlovák lelőhelyekkel kiegé-szítve tárgyalta újra az Ózd-Piliny-csoportot, és elnevezéséből javasolta, hogy töröljék a Piliny nevet. Megállapította, hogy a Salgótarján környéki lelőhelyek külön csoportot képeznek, amelynek kerámiadíszítési jellegzetességei részben átfedik az Ózd-csoportot (pl. a kerámiafelület seprűzésének, az ózdi típusú lapos gombok, a plasztikus bordák al-kalmazásának a tekintetében), de a Salgótarján-csoport Ózd-csoporttól való különállását szerinte a Nógrád megyei lelőhelyeken feltűnően magas számban alkalmazott speciális kerámiadíszítési mód, a létraminta és a barbotin feltűnése indokolja. 3 1 HORVÁTH 2018, 126 2 KOREK 1968. 3 B. KOVÁCS 1986, 110, 111-134. 16 db meghatározó lelőhelyet sorolt az általa alkotott új badeni, ún. Salgótarján-csoportba: Várgede/Hodejov-Vár-hegy, Rimaszombat/ Rimavská Sobota-Nyugat-Lakótelep, Felsőpokorágy/Vyšná Pokoradz-Banka, Felsővály/Vyšné Valice-Desko-vár, Nagybalog/ Veľký Blh-Zsibóka és-Ó-vár, Ozsgyán/ Ožďany-Bikk, Alsósziklás/Nižný Skálnik-Maginhrad, Baracca/Barca-Kovalcsík-tag, Feled/Jesenské, Dúlháza/Dulovo, Zeherje/Zacharovce-Nagy-hegy, Beretke/Bretka-Peskő-barlang. A leletek többsége felszíni gyűjtésből vagy régi ásatásból szárma-zik, tehát szórvány! Az általa a Salgótarján-csoportra jellemzőnek tartott kerámiajellemzők kivétel nélkül más kultúrák meghatározó bélyegei, tehát nem a badeni kultúrára jellemzőek, mint ahogy azt a saját csoportértékelésemben megállapítottam (HORVÁTH 2018, 146-152).

This anthology deals with the use of place and space at the time of the Funnel Beaker Culture (3900-2800 calBC)in Denmark. The eight articles deal specifically with questions on the use and experience of environments and social space - with focus on architecture, settlement and landscape use like vegetation. These questions are discussed on the background of important archaeological find grous, such as megalithic tombs, settlements, causewayed enclosures and bog finds. Contributions by: Niels H. Andersen, Lars Holten, Torsten Madsen, Poul Otto Nielsen, Mette Nissen, Almut Schülke, Lotte Sparrevohn and Jørgen Westphal. Each article is accompanied by a detailed English summary.

In the 4th millennium BC Moravia also saw the occurrence of intentional deposits of ceramic vessels – ceramic hoards. These are usually interpreted as votive offerings (sacrifice, votum) and associated with the then fertility and harvest rites, or with drinking rituals and the related libation ceremonies or oath drinks. This explicit interpretation, however, can be misleading. Some find contexts enable to consider these finds as possible grave goods (inclusive of cenotaphs) or only better preserved inventory of ordinary settlement pits. As examples the selected assemblages from Božice and Hnanice near Znojmo, Kostelec na Hané, Olomouc and Prostějov are named.

In the extensive rescue research at Modřice, in 2015, another example of a little-known phenomenon has been uncovered. Two groups of inhumation graves contained a total of twenty skeletons on which basic anthropological and paleopathological analysis was performed. The graves with the skeletons in the outstretched position on the back with the orientation oscillating around NW-SE did not contain any grave goods, but thanks to the absolute data and stratigraphic relations they can be dated to the Funnel Beaker culture and connected with other similar localities from Moravia, Lower Austria and Poland. It is likely that some other already discovered inhumation graves, which figure in the literature as generally prehistoric, undated or early medieval burial components, may be of the same age.
KEY WORDS: Eneolithic, Funnel Beaker culture, burial ground, Moravia, absolute chronology, anthropological analysis, paleopathology.

Prehistoric strata and settlement features were discovered in Prague-Bubeneč. The reported situations date to the Early Aeneolithic, the Early and Final Bronze Age, the Late Hallstatt period and the transitional phase between the Early and Late Roman period.

Excavations at the Książnice Wielkie 1 site were carried out in the 1920s by Józef Żurowski. The site is known to Neolithic researchers primarily as a settlement of the Funnel Beaker culture (Burchard, Eker 1964) and as a cemetery of the Corded Ware culture (Machnik 1964). Furthermore, ceramic materials found there became the basis for distinguishing the Wyciąże-Książnice group2 of the Proto-Baden horizon (Kozłowski 1971; 1989), which refers to the oldest influences from the Baden complex on the local group of the Polgár circle, and the Książnice Wielkie type (Machnik 1966) – the oldest horizon of Corded Ware funerary finds in western Lesser Poland. This article presents the results of analyses of selected flint artefacts – originating from the reutilization of axes – discovered in the context of pottery of the Funnel Beaker culture and the Funnel Beaker-Baden assemblages.

The purpose of this contribution is to present part of the outputs from an excavation in 
Malá Ohrada in PragueStodůlky. In 1979-1981 several rescue 
excavations were carried out there under the leadership of J. Kovařík  and J. Havel. 
A calf skeleton was ‘deposited’ in settlement feature 15, among settlement and burial 
features of a multi­period nature. The feature also contained other finds of animal teeth and bones. The conducted 
archaeozoological analysis focused on the species composition of the assemblage, 
taphonomy of the bones, representation of individual anatomical parts and the age of 
selected taxons.
The conclusions drawn from this analysis were augmented by radiometric data.
 On the basis of analysis of characteristic ceramic material, the feature in  question can be chronologically classified as dating from the Salzmünde phase of the Funnel Beaker culture.  The occurrence of a polished stone knife in the same feature is not limited to a certain chronological period, but we are rather inclined to believe that this artefact was used 
during the Aeneolithic, with a probable overlap  into the Bronze Age.
According to AMS dating of a sample taken from the animal skeleton, the measured 
values  seem to fit within the range of 4479 ± 24 BP, i.e. 3338–3034 BC. 
The earlier part of the measured data corresponds to the current absolute chronology of the Funnel Beaker culture, or better to say, to its final, Salzmünde  phase.
 Bones from at least four animal skeletons or their parts were recovered from feature 
15.
An almost complete skeleton belonged to a calf (Bostaurus) which died at the age of 
5-6 months. 
No traces were visible on the calf’s bones which could be considered as kitchen 
practices (cutting, slicing, scorching), not even bite marks  or erosion. Given these indices, we believe that the animal ended up in the feature 
shortly after its death which  probably happened in autumn or early winter months.
In the Aeneolithic period, finds of complete or partially  preserved cattle skeletons are a known and well-described phenomenon in Europe. 
They are usually attributed  to activities associated with ritual acts, 
but the case of the calf discovered in Malá Ohrada does not seem to  support such an interpretation. The skeleton’s intentional deposition may point
 to disposal of an animal which had died of natural causes. Analysis of other animal 
skeletons from the same pit revealed the presence of two  stoats (Mustela erminea) and one owl.

In the second half of the 4th millennium BC, we see a marked changes in the early Neolithic culture. This takes place some centuries after the initial introduction of agriculture and sees striking developments such as the opening of the landscape, involving clearance of the forest, the introduction of the ard for ploughing and the construction of houses.
The transition to a settled and sedentary farming lifestyle must also have demanded mental adaptations, whereby the farmers were required to forge new and stable alliances. These alliances appear to be confirmed by a series of communal works, involving monumental structures, with the building of megalithic monuments such as dolmens and passage graves as well as the extensive and land-demanding causewayed enclosures. The causewayed enclosures were essentially used only a few days but were remembered for centuries.
Since the 1970s, excavations have been undertaken in the Sarup area, on the island of Funen, Denmark, to obtain detailed information about the activities that took place there between about 3600 and 3000 BC. This paper presents the results of excavations and studies of two well-preserved causewayed enclosures, the Barkaer-structures (un-chambered longbarrows) and more than 30 megalithic monuments, as well as investigations of several settlements, some with houses. This research has provided an insight into a complex farming culture, which appears to have been firmly consolidated by major communal construction works, whereby teams and networks were created within some form of cooperative structure.
The full article will be published in February 2021.

The absolute chronology of settlement at Mro-
wino  is  based  on  a  series  of  radiocarbon  deter-
minations.  The  only  conventional  determination
(using  the  radiometric  technique)  was  made  in
Groningen (GrN) in the 1980s. All the others were
made using the AMS technique in the Poznań Ra-
diocarbon Laboratory (Poz). The measurements,
divided in two stages, were made in 2018. In the
first stage, 16 samples were dated, containing sin -
gle animal bones, selected from 16 FBC features.
For the most part, these were pits of an indetermi-
nate household purpose or ones having a storage
function. In addition, animal remains from Build-
ing A and a hearth were sent to be dated. Howev-
er, due to too low a collagen content, five samples
were excluded from measurements. For this rea-
son, in the second stage, three samples of single
fragments of charred pinewood were subjected to
measurements. A decision was also made to mea-
sure  14 C in the carbonate (apatite) fraction in one
of the bone samples. Information on all samples is
given in Table 16.1.
The  measurements  yielded  16  absolute  age
determinations of samples from 15 Mrowino fea-
tures (two determinations refer to Pit 10). A vast
majority of the determinations were obtained for
single bone or charcoal fragments (only the sam-
ple measured in Groningen could have contained
a few bones). The results fit into the range of 4635–
4300 BP with the exception of the determination
for the sample from Pit 40, which turned out to
be younger. This determination is excluded from
further discussion; hence, the series to be analyzed
still comprises 15 determinations.
To calibrate the determinations and make sta-
tistical calculations, the OxCal v4.3.2 software was
employed.  At  the  2-sigma  probability,  the  cali-
brated values of all the determinations from the
Mrowino  settlement  set  the  period  of  637  years
fitting into the interval of 3517–2880 BC. At the
1-sigma  probability,  the  period  shortens  to  613
years fitting between 3498 BC and 2885 BC. In the
indicated time intervals, the calibration curve has
three vast plateaus coincident with ca. 3520-3360
BC, 3350-3090 BC and 3100-2920 BC, respective-
ly. Most of the Mrowino determinations fall on the
second and longest plateau. In an attempt to divide
chronologically the period of site settlement and
determine the time brackets of successive settle-
ment  phases,  several  chronological  models  were
designed. To do so, 13 determinations were used
as the two oldest determinations (Poz-107406 and
Poz-107092) were eliminated due to the material
that was measured (wood and apatite fraction).
The  most  credible  statistically  and  consistent
with  the  cultural  assessment  and  stratigraphic
observations,  Model  #3  assumes  that  there  were
three settlement phases on the site in question. It is
supplemented by Model #4, developed to narrow
down the chronology of the oldest phase.
Thus, the beginning of the phase MRO-A1 fits
into period 3368-3103 BC (95,4%) or 3313-3108
BC (68,2%; the highest probability 3260-3108 BC,
64,4%). Its end and the start of the phase MRO-A2
fit into period 3226-3021 BC (95,2%) or 3134-3068
BC (68,2%). The end of the phase MRO-A2 and
the beginning of the phase MRO-B fit into period
3076-2901 BC (95,4%) or 3033-2911 BC (68,2%).
The last phase (MRO-B) ends between 3078 and
2508 BC (95,4%) or 2999-2827 BC (68,2%). Esti-
mated duration of the phase MRO-A1 is 205 or
108  years  (95,4%  or  68,2%,  respectively)  and  of
the phase MRO-A2 – 130 or 67 years (95,4% or
68,2%).  The  three-phase  model  thus  obtained  is
distinguished by the best statistical parameters, in-
cluding an excellent value of goodness of fit index
A model  = 115%.
In  Model  4,  only  four  determinations  were
used, referring directly to Buildings A, B and C. 
In it, the moment of the construction of the dwell-
ing structures fits into the interval of 3530-3106
BC (2-sigma) or 3374-3180 BC (1-sigma). The fire
that destroyed the structures took place in 3330-
2908  BC  (2-sigma)  or  in  3271-3067  BC  at  the
1-sigma probability.

The introduction of the full time Neolithic life was in many areas accompanied by major communal construction works such as megalithic monuments and causewayed enclosures.

The first causewayed enclosure to be discovered within the area of the Nordic Funnel Beaker culture was found at the Danish site of Sarup in SW Funen. Here to structures were found dated to 3400 and 3200 BC, corresponding to the times when, respectively, dolmens and passage graves were built in
Denmark.

Detailed and factual studies of the fill layers in the system-ditches, and in the ditches for the wooden palisades/fences, reveal that the primary use of the two sites extended over a very short period, perhaps only a few days or weeks!

The actual processes associated with building and using the enclosures must have constituted an important element in forging the communality that was necessary for a successful transition to a Neolithic way of life as sedentary farmers.

The full text to the article can be published in January 2020.
See further information on:
http://www.archeoaep.fr/?product=les-sites-ceintures-de-la-prehistoire-recente-nouvelles-donnees-nouvelles-approches-nouvelles-hypotheses

The aim of the article is to present and characterize the collection of flint axes made of Cretaceous flint from the interfluve of the Bug River and Neman that morphologically resemble the forms from the Neolithic cultures of the Polish Lowland (the Funnel Beaker Culture, Globular Amphorae Culture and Corded Ware Cultures). This group of objects consists of 10 items found in the Podlasie region. The presented axes are a small part of a large collection (50 flint axes) exhibited in the Museum of Podlasie in Bialystok. A new term for local Cretaceous flint has been introduced for the purpose of this study. Until now, this type of flint was known as Northeastern Flint, and although research to define this term has been done, it has never been fully finalized. Because of that, the author of this study has coined a new and more suitable term: Cretaceous flint from the interfluve of the Bug River and Neman. This includes a group of Cretaceous flints from the Podlasie area and contains all the local variations of it: Mielnik flint, Rybniki flint, flint
from the Cretaceous beds and marls and Krasne Siolo flint

"Landscape, Histories and Societies in the Northern European Neolithic" presents papers from two sessions of the conference of the European Association of Archaeologists held in 2011 in Olso. The papers of this volume describe new research on the relationships between landscape, history and society in the northern European Neolithic. They focus on the Funnel Beaker complex and related Neolithic contexts, with case studies extending from Poland and the Czech Republic to Norway and Scotland. Several case studies examine the significance of enclosures – from early causewayed enclosures in the north associated with the very beginnings of the Neolithic to the significance of palisade enclosures constructed towards the end of the Neolithic in Scotland and Sweden. The volume also includes new studies on the origin, significance and interpretation of Neolithic burial and megalithic architecture found in a range of landscapes across northern Europe.
Importantly, the volume also outlines the significance of other kinds of places that were not monumentalised in the same way, such as fens, the seashore and the wider environment, in the construction of Neolithic worldview. Finally, it concludes with a series of articles that consider the significance of particular forms of material culture – axes, grinding stones, pottery and food – in social reproduction in the Neolithic of northern Europe. Overall, the volume presents an important body of new data and international perspectives concerning Neolithic societies, histories and landscapes in northern Europe.

PhD Thesis, Part 3/3, german.
German abstract:
Die agrarische Wirtschaftsweise ist eines der definierenden Elemente des Neolithikums in Schleswig-Holstein. Doch ist es plausibel, dass diese Form der Ökonomie in gleicher Weise über mehr als 2000 Jahre betrieben wurde? Lassen sich einzelne Landnutzungsphasen identifizieren? Welches waren die bevorzugten Siedlungsräume der neolithischen Bewohner Schleswig-Holsteins zu unterschiedlichen Zeiten? Können Stabilität und Veränderung im archäologischen Fundbild als Wandel im Siedlungssystem erkannt werden?

Ausgehend von pollenanalytisch bestimmten Besiedlungsphasen nähert sich diese Arbeit solchen Fragen an. Dies geschieht vor allem anhand der Auswertung von Oberflächenfundplätzen, die eine oft vernachlässigte Informationsquelle darstellen. Durch eine systematische Verarbeitung von chronologischen und funktionalen Indikatoren gelingt es, die Orte prähistorischer Aktivität zeitlich und innerhalb des Siedlungsgefüges einzuordnen. Auf dieser Basis können chorologische Strukturen und naturräumliche Präferenzen für unterschiedlichen Tätigkeiten im Rahmen eines neolithischen Wirtschaftsgefüges analysiert werden. Dabei wird nicht nur deutlich, wie sich der Charakter der neolithischen Landnutzung wandelt, sondern auch, wie sich die Wechselwirkung zwischen kultureller und ökonomischer Veränderung gestaltet.