The Baden Culture. © The Comparative Archaeology WEB

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The Baden Culture

Maximilian O. Baldia

List of Tables

Table 1. List of calibrated Baden C¹⁴ dates

List of Figures

Figure 1. Location of Baden

Figure 2. Graph of calibrated Baden C¹⁴ dates

Figure 3. Central European chronological table

Figure 4. Baden pottery from Austria

Introduction

The purpose of this text is to provide a general overview of the culture and is intended as a resource for students and teachers of European Archaeology.

Location

The Baden culture area extends roughly from the Sava River in Serbia to southern Poland and from just east of Munich (München), South Germany, to eastern Hungary. The area includes Bohemia, Moravia, and parts of Switzerland.

The type-site is the “Königshöhle” (King’s Cave) in Baden, south of Vienna, Lower Austria (Fig. 1). It was excavated by G. Calliano in 1892 and found to contain huge amounts of ashes and pottery.

The culture includes regional groups and phases, such as Boleraz (Boleráz), Kostolac, Pécel, Early Jevisovice (Jevišovice), Rivnac (Řivnáč) and Ossarn.

Geographically it overlaps with the later Funnel Beaker culture (TRB), the Globular Amphora culture, and the later Corded Ware culture. Around Lake Constance (Bodensee), on both sides of the Swiss and German border, the pottery occurs together with late Pfyn pottery that has exhibits a few trends to Horgen pottery around 3400 cal BC.

Chronology

In Hungary and adjacent regions Boleráz, Baden and Pécel are considered part of the Late Copper Age. Radiocarbon dates indicate that Baden develops at 3500/3400 cal BC. It probably ends around 2900 cal BC (Table 1, Fig. 2). It is succeded primarily by the Corded Ware culture, including later Jevisovice (Jevišovice), and the Vucedol (Vučedol) culture. C¹⁴ dates for Vučedol range from ca. 3050 – 2450 cal BC.

Pottery

The Baden pottery from Austria includes cups with exaggerated handles, that sometimes loop above the vessel.

In southern Poland and Moravia it appears that the later TRB pottery is either replaced, or gradually changes to the new Baden style. The earliest phase, called Baden I, is named Boleraz (Boleráz), after the type-site in Slovakia. However, the earliest dates come from Hlinsko,[1] a hilltop enclosure in Moravia, Czech Republic, north of Boleráz. Hlinsko and related hilltop sites in Moravia are seen as overlapping with the TRB. This also happens at the TRB hilltop site of Bronocice, southern Poland, where Baden-like pottery follows the TRB proper at a slightly later date.

The new Moravisan pottery is often decorated with characteristic grooves or channels, hence the term Channel Ware. The pottery of Cernavoda in the Danube/Dobrogea area, Coţofeni (Cotofeni) western Romania, and Ezero in the south, exhibit similarities, suggesting a wide ranging communication network. This is may have extended beyond Hungary, via Bulgaria and northern Greece, to the Aegean Sea, judging by stylistic similarities of handled jugs and cups.

Finds of Globular Amphora culture pottery (ca. 3200/3100 – 2500 cal BC) in Moravia suggest that this pottery style coexists in some regions with Baden. Although the Globular Amphora culture replaces the TRB in much of Poland and East Germany, this is not the case in the north of Slovakia, which appears to have been avoided by the Globular Amphora culture. Thus. on both sides of the Slovak/Polish border Baden is ultimately replaced by the wide-spread Corded Ware culture (German: Schnurkeramik).

At Sarvaš (Sarvas), Slavonija (Croatia), just south of Hungary, Baden strata are superimposed by layers containing Vucedol (Vučedol) culture artifacts.

Burials

Burials occur in rectilinear graves dug into the ground (pits). They are orientated more or less east-west. Interred skeletons are often flexed (German: Hocker), as at Franzhausen, Austria. However, in the early phases in Moravia, long-mounds (long-barrows) and tumuli exist. These seem to be derived from the TRB’s Baalberge phase. They contain cremation “urns.” Cremation burials are also known from Austria.

In Hungary the Early and Middle Copper Age cultural practices continue into the later Copper Age. This includes the tradition of placing the dead into large, cemeteries, such as Alsónémedi, south of Budapest. In eastern Hungary large numbers of round mounds (tumuli) with pit graves appear. However, the tumuli of the Körös River area do not occur in the same sites as Baden. The tumuli, termed “Kurgans,” are equated to mounds built of the Yamna culture of the south Russian steppe and the Hungarian pottery seems to exhibit some similarities. The interred individuals are frequently covered in red ocher.

Wheels and Wagons

Starting in the Boleráz phase pottery resembling rectangular four-wheeld wagons appears. This complements the evidence for wheeled vehicles from the TRB and suggests that the use of wheeled transport existed throughout Central and parts of Northern Europe by at least 3400 cal BC.

Stone tools

Ground stone tools include various shaft hole axes.

Copper

The use of copper artifacts, including earring-like objects becomes relatively common. Two molds or forms for daggers from Sarvaš (Sarvas), Slavonija (Croatia), indicate a sophisticated smelting technique. Copper rings with curled open ends, such as those found in Baden-Königshöhe, are found in Austrian sites.

Chipped stone implements include triangular arrow heads.

Economy

Exchange or even actual trade of goods includes copper, which made its way as far north as Scandinavia during the Boleráz phase. In Denmark and adjacent North Germany, the TRB exhibits the first evidence of copper in the non-megalithic timber burial chambers of the Konenshøj type.

Settlement

The settlement pattern indicates a movement away from the great Hungarian Plain into the surrounding uplands and the sandy interfluves between the Danube and Tisza Rivers. In Moravia the Baalberge stone enclosed hilltop village of Rmíz, is remodeled during the later TRB II/Boleráz phase. Several new enclosed sites appear, including Hlinsko and Hrad u Bílovice. Both exhibit evidence of stone walls.

At Sarvaš (Sarvas) and Vucedol (Vučedol), Slavonija (Croatia) post built, rectangular to trapezoidal houses with one round end have been documented (apsidal houses).

The Swiss Pfyn village of Arbon Bleiche 3, the ca. 8 by 4 m large wooden pole houses were rectilinear, aligned in rows along multiple streets. Occasionally, much smaller houses were also constructed, perhaps as utility buildings.

References and Credits

Baldia, M. O.

1995 A Spatial Analysis of Megalithic Tombs. Vol. 1-2. Ph. D. Dissertation. Southern Methodist University.

1998 The Hilltop Villages Near Rmíz. The Comparative Archaeology WEB©

1998 The oldest persevered textile from the Neolithic/Eneolithic in Central / Northern Europe? The Comparative Archaeology WEB©.

1988 The Oldest Wagon Tracks and a megalithic tomb. The Comparative Archaeology WEB©. (Periodically updated)

1998 The First OCR Dates from the Czech Republic. The Comparative Archaeology WEB©. (Periodically updated)

1999 Rmíz Index of Figures: Collection of maps, drawings and photographs of Central Moravian Neolithic/Copper Age walled sites, burial mounds, artifacts, human and animal remains, textiles, etc. The Comparative Archaeology WEB©. (Periodically updated)

2001 The Iceman’s Food Fight. The Comparative Archaeology WEB©. (Periodically updated)

Baldia, M. O., C. (Chandler) Baldia and D. Frink

1998 The Czech American Research Project: 1998 Activity Report. The Comparative Archaeology WEB©. (Originally published on by Christel Chandler on the Weber State University web site. Major updates and revisions)

Baldia, M. O. and M. Šmíd (Smíd)

1998/01 Rmíz: The oldest fort with stone faced rampart and its significance in the Neolithic/Copper Age Moravian landscape. Presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in the symposium: Prehistoric communication: The first wheels, roads, metals, and monumental architecture. Friday, March 27, 1998 in Seattle, Washington, USA. The Comparative Archaeology WEB©.

Capitani, Annick de, Sabine Deschler-Erb, Urs Leuzinger, Elisabeth Marti-Grädel, and Jörg Schibler

2002 Die jungsteinzeitliche Seeufersiedlung Arbon/Bleiche 3. Archäologie im Thurgau 11, Departement für Erziehung und Kultur des Kantons Thurgau. Frauenfeld, Switzerland. 2002

Forenbaher, Stašo

1993 Radiocarbon dates and absolute chronology of the central European Early Bronze Age. Antiquity 67 1993:218-220, 235-256.

Kruk, J., S. Milisauskas, W. Alexandrowicz, Z. Śnieszko

1996 Osadnictwo i zmiany środowiska naturalego wyüyn lessowych: Studium archeologiczne i paleogeograficzne nad neolitem w dorzeczu Nidzicy. Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk. Poland.

Pavelčik, Jiŕi

1979 Depot měděných šperků z Hlinska u Lipníku nad Bečvou. Památky Archeologické, LXX/2:319-339, Praha

1981 The Hilltop Settlement of the Channeled-Ware People at Hlinsko by Lipník. In J. Hrala (Ed.), Archaeological News in the Czech Socialist Republic. Xe Congrès International de Scences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques, Mexico 1981:46-48, Prague and Brno.

1991 Der Vorboleráz-Horizont in Hlinsko bei Lipnik nad Bečvou. In: Die Trichterbecherkultur: Neue Forschungen und Hypothesen, II, Jankowska, Dabrochna (Ed.), Poznań, Poland, 1991:223-231.

Ruttkay, Elisabeth

1983 Das Neolithikum in Niederösterreich. Forschungsberichte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte, 12, Östereichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Wien.

1988 Zur Problematik der Furchenstrichkeramik des östlichen Alpenvorlandes: Beitrag zum Scheibenhenkelhorizont. SIA XXXVI:225-240.

1990 Beiträge zur Typologie und Chronologie der Siedlungen in dem Salzkammergut. In Die Ersten Bauern 2: Einführung, Balkan, angrenzende Regionen der Schweiz. Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zürich, 1990b:134-156.

Ruttkay, Elizabeth and Christian Mayer

1995 Spätneolitikum. In Lenneis, E., C. Neugebauer-Maresch, E. Ruttkay, Jungsteinzeit im Osten Österreichs. Forschungsberichte zur Ur- u. Frühgeschichte 17. Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus u. Verlagsgesellschaft, St. Pölten – Wien. 1995:108-209.

Šmíd (Smíd), Miroslav

1990 Přispevek k poznání eneolitických mohylových pohřebišť na střední Moravě. Pravěké a slovanské osídlení Moravy, 1990:67-89, Brno.

1992 Druhé eneolitické mohylové pohřebiště na katastru obce Náměšť na Hané, okr. Olomouc. Pravěk, Nova řada 1, 1991:44-65.

1991 Nové nálezy kultury s moravskou malovaou keramikou na Prostĕjovsku. AR XLIII:185-205.

1993 Nástin periodizace kultury s nálevkovitými poháry na Moravé. Pravěk, Nova řada 2, 1992:131-157, Brno.

1994 Ein Burgwall mit steinerner Stirnmauer aus der älteren Stufe der Trichterbecherkultur auf dem Burgwall Rmíz bei Laškov im Kataster der Gemeinde Náměšť na Hané, Kreis Olomouc, Land Mähren. Jahresschrift für mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte, 76:201-230.

1995 Výsledky zjišťovacího výzkumu na eneolitickém hradisku Rmíz u Laškova. Pravěk, Nova řada 3, 1993:19-77.

1998 Sídliště kultury s nálevkovitými poháry u Laškova, okr. Prostějov. Pravěk, Nova řada 6, 1996:97-138.

Stadler, Peter

1995 Ein Beitrag zur Absolutchronologie des Neolithikums in Österreich auf Grund der ¹⁴C-Daten. In Lenneis, E., C. Neugebauer-Maresch, E. Ruttkay, Jungsteinzeit im Osten Österreichs. Forschungsberichte zur Ur- u. Frühgeschichte 17. Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus u. Verlagsgesellschaft, St. Pölten – Wien. 1995:210-224.

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.