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The Ertebølle Culture
Version 1.00
By
Maximilian O. Baldia
(Copyright © 2008 - October 31,
2008. All rights reserved)
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.
List of Figures
Map of North and part of Central Europe
Central and North German Chronological
Table
Location
The North European Late Mesolithic cultures discussed here occur in southern Scandinavia, northern Germany, and the southern Baltic shore of eastern Germany and Poland.
In Denmark the Late Mesolithic culture is named after the type-site of Ertebølle on the Limfjord, in northeastern Jutland. There a shell midden was excavated near the ancient shoreline in 1893-1907 (Müller-Karpe 1968:539 No. 542).
In Germany the type-site is the Ellerbek[1] neighborhood in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, where artifacts, animal bones, and plant remains were dredged up between 1876-1903 (Müller-Karpe 1968:539 No. 329) in what is now the Kiel Bay (Kieler Förde). In northern East Germany the Ertebølle culture is often referred to as the Lietzow culture or Lietzow-Group (Terberger and Piek 1998).
In Poland Late Mesolithic sites occur in the lowland of Pomerania, the Masurian Lake District, Northeast Masovia (Mazowieckie), Greater Poland, Lower Silesia and parts of central Poland (Nowak 2001). Ertebølle-related sites remain relatively close to the coast, reaching as far east as Kępa Swaezewska, near the western beginning of the Mierzeja Hlenska of the Gdańsk (Danzig) Bay (Jankowska 1998).
The Swifterband culture is found near the North Sea from Netherland across northern West Germany to the mouth of the Elbe River (van Ginkel et al. 1999:22 unnuberd Fig., Lanting and van der Plicht 2000).
Dating
Table 1 illustrates Late Mesolithic chronologies for three different regions. Early 14C dates of food-crusts from Ertebølle pots and of pig bone from Schlamersdorf in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, suggest that the culture begins ca. 5400/5000 cal. BC (Hartz and Lübke 2006, Hallgren 2004). In Denmark, the beginning is equally old, but the end of has traditionally been placed around 4000/3900 cal BC. In North Germany it ends around 4100 cal BC. In both regions the culture is replaced by the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB).
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Table 1.
Chronology of the Late Mesolithic |
|
|
|
Southern
Scandinavia (Price et al. 2001) |
North
Germany (Hartz and
Lübke 2006) |
Netherland/Northwest
Germany (Roever 2004) |
|
Phase Facies cal
BC |
Facies cal BC |
Phases cal BC |
|
Early Ertebølle Trylleskove 5400 – 4800 |
Jäckelberg 5450 – 5100 |
Swifterband 1 5100/5000-4600 |
|
Middle Ertebølle Stationsvej 4800 – 4300 |
Rosenfelde 5100 – 4750 |
Swifterband 2 4600-3900/3800 |
|
Late Ertebølle Alekistebro 4300 – 3900 |
Jarbock 4750
– 4450 |
Swifterband 3 3900/3800-3400 |
|
Timmendorf 4450 –
4100 |
In Poland remnants of Mesolithic cultures are thought to survive next to the farming societies of the Later Bandkeramik (Linienbandkeramik LBK), Stichbandkeramik (Stroke Ornamented Potery or STK), Lengyel culture and the Eastern Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) until 3500 cal BC (Nowak 2001). Later dates are debated.
For Netherland Roever divided the Swifterband culture into phases (Table 1). The last period ends 400-600 years after the end of the Ertebølle culture in North Germany and Southern Scandinavia.
Pottery
According to Hallgren (2004) Ertebølle started to make pottery around 4600 cal BC. It consists of thick-walled pointed-bottom pottery often with a mildly funnel-shaped neck. Elongated flat-bottomed ceramic bowls are interpreted as lamps. The ceramic temper consists of grog (chamotte), crushed stone and organic matter from plant remains. The pots were built up from clay coils, which were pinched together using the H, U or N-technique. The pottery is often undecorated. The type and frequency of decoration varies by region. In Denmark single rows of “nail” or “finger” impressions occur around the rim. In Southern Sweden decorations cover large areas of the pots.
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Harpoon, fishhook, and comb |
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Perphorated antler ax |
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Figure 1.
Ertebølle artifacts (after Müller-Karpe 1968:539 Plate 288 No. 19, 20,
22) |
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The Ertebølle pottery is at times viewed as resulting from contact with northern Central European farming communities, such as Rössen and Lengyel. On the other hand the pottery in Sweden may be related to extremely early pottery from Mesolithic cultures located around the eastern Baltic (Hallgren 2004).
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|
a. Ceramic pot with decorative impressions
(after Roever 2004 Fig. 11c) |
|
|
b. Ceramic pot without decoration (after Roever 2004 Fig. 9b) |
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Figure 2.
Swifterband Pottery from the S3 Site (after Roever
2004) |
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The Ertebølle pottery has sometimes been seen as giving rise to the pottery of the TRB North Group. Although this view is disputed, it should be noted that it is not always easy to distinguish between Ertebølle and early TRB pottery. Nonetheless, Koch (1987, 1999) and others suggest that TRB pottery generally has thinner walls and uses more complex construction techniques.
According to Roever (2004) Swifterband pottery appears around 5000 BC. The 14C dates from food crusts of the pottery from Site S3 in Netherland dates to about 4300-4000 BC. The shape of the pottery is relatively similar to Ertebølle ceramics with pointed bottoms. The pottery is mostly decorated with rounded impressions, with decorations increasing through time. Later pottery may exhibit surface roughening. Some pottery forms are similar to those of the Funnel Beaker culture. Indeed, T. J. ten Anscher seest the pottery of his fourth and final phase of the Hüde-Swifterband culture (ca. 3950 – 3400 cal BC) as exhibiting TRB traits (cf. Kalis 1997:172). This pre-TRB West Group phase is appealing, but debated.
Houses
Ertebølle dwellings are difficult to identify. Nonetheless, a number of huts have been discovered. Grøn (2004) reviews the evidence, including the 5.2 x 3.2 m bark, twigs, and leaves floor of a dwelling in the underwater site of Møllegabet II, the 5.2 x 4.0 m structure of Lollikhuse, and the 3.2 x 2.3 m pit-dwelling of Nivå 10 in Scandinavia.
Economy
The Ertebølle economy focuses primarily on fishing, followed by hunting, and gathering. The first domesticated animal – the dog – also stems from the Early Mesolithic and may have been used as watchdog and as an aid in hunting. In the Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture dogs were apparently held in high esteem, because they were sometimes buried in their own graves, which are comparable to those of humans (see below). The use of domesticated cattle has also been ascribed to the Ertebølle culture, starting as early as ca. 4850 cal BC (Price 2000:270).
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Figure 2.
Dragsholm Grave I (after
Price et al. 2007) |
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Plant management occurs in many Mesolithic-like cultures throughout the world. One widely used plant was Goosefoot (Chenopodium). In Denmark goosefoot Chenopodium album was harvested (Koch 1999). Yet, grain impressions on Ertebølle pottery also suggest the use of domesticated cereals originating in the Near East. However, the use of early domesticates is now questioned.
Recent DNA analysis has shown that the presumably domesticated cattle are small representatives of the formidable wild ursus or auerochs. In fact, domesticated cattle and sheep/goat occur no earlier than ca. 4100 cal BC and are associated with the appearance of the Funnel Beaker culture in the southern part of the TRB North Group (Edwards et al 2007, Hartz et al. 2007, Scheu et al. 2007). A similar argument is made for domesticated cereals by Behre (2007).
The Swifterband culture’s economy is seen as being based on the hunter-gather model, with occasional farming activity.
Burials
There appears to be considerable diversity in burial practices. Interments of children, males and females are known. Burials are most often extended bodies placed into a pit. Cremation is also reported.
The two females at Dragsholm Grave 1 exhibit slightly different burial positions. Female A is slightly flexed and Female B is fully extended (Fig. 2). Burial goods included a bone point and an ornamented bone spatula. The burial is now dated to the Middle Ertebølle (Price et al. 2007).
The later Vedbæk (Vedbaek) cemetery showed evidence of twenty-two interred people; eight adult males, eight adult females and five infants (e.g. Price and Petersen 1987). A swan wing was associated with a mother and infant burial. Red deer antler was found with elderly adults, while males adults had flint knives and females were sometimes buried with shells and animal teeth adornments. The teeth included incisors of bears, aurochs and moose. Although it was initially reported that all these animals were extinct in Denmark at the time of the burials and had to be obtained from central or northern Sweden or the continent of Europe, it now seems that the auerochs still existed at that time.
References and
Credits
Behre, Karl-Erns
2007 Evidence for Mesolithic Agriculture in and
Around Central Europe? Vegetation History
and Archaeobotany 16, 2007:203–219.
Edwards,
Ceiridwen J., R. Bollongino, A. Scheu, A. Chamberlain, A. Tresset, J.-D. Vigne,
J. F. Baird, G. Larson, S. Y. W. Ho, T. H. Heupink, B. Shapiro, A. R. Freeman,
M. G. Thomas, R.-M. Arbogast, B. Arndt, L. Bartosiewicz, N. Benecke, M. Budja,
L. Chaix, A. M. Choyke, E. Coqueugniot, H.-J. Döhle, H. Göldner, S. Hartz, D.
Helmer, B. Herzig, H. Hongo, M. Mashkour, M. Özdoğan, E. Pucher, G. Roth, S. Schade-Lindig, U. Schmölcke,
R. J. Schulting24, E. Stephan, H.-P. Uerpmann, I. Vsörös, B. Voytek, D. G.
Bradley and J. Burger
2007 Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Shows A Near
Eastern Neolithic Origin For Domestic Cattle and no Indication of Domestication
of European Aurochs. Proceedings of the
Royal Society B 274, 2007:1377–1385. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0020, Published
online 3 April 2007.
Grøn, Ole
2004 Mesolithic Dwelling Places in South
Scandinavia: Their Definition and Social Interpretation, Antiquity 77/298, 2003:685-708.
Hallgren, F.
Hartz, S. and H.
Lübke
2006 New Evidence for a Chronostratigraphic Division of the Ertebølle Culture and the Earliest Funnel Beaker Culture on the Southern Mecklenburgian Bay. In Kind, C. J. (ed.), After the Ice Age: Settlements, Subsistence and Social Development in the Mesolithic of Central Europe. Materialhefte zur Archäologie in Baden-Württemberg 78, 61-77. Theiss, Stuttgart.
Hartz, S., H. Lübke and T. Terberger
2007 From Fish and Seal to Sheep and Cattle:
New Research into the Process of Neolithisation in Northern Germany. In: Whittle,
A. And Cummings, V. (Eds.), Going Over: The
Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition In North-West Europe. Proceedings of the
British Academy of Sciences 144, 2007: 567-594, British Academy of Sciences,
London.
Jankowska, D.
1998 Environmental Conditions during the
Neolithization of Pomerania. In: Zvelebil, Marek, Robin Dennell and Lucyna Domanska (Eds.) Harvesting the Sea, Farming the
Forest: The Emergence of Neolithic Societies in the Baltic Region. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs 10, 1998.
Sheffield Academic Press, Ltd. Sheffield, England. 1998:121-128.
Koch, Eva
1987 Ertebølle and Funnel Beaker Pots as Tools:
On Traces of Production Techniques and Use.
Acta Archaeologica 57, 1986:87-106.
1998 Neolithic Bog Pots from Zealand, Møn,
Lolland and Falster. Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab. København.
1999 Prehistoric
Plant Food of Denmark. 12 December 1999, http://home3.inet.tele.dk/evakoch/veg-uk.htm.
Lanting, J.
N. and J. van der Plicht
2000 De 14C-Chronologie van de nederlandse Pre- en Protohistorie III: Neolithicum. Palaeohistoria 41/42, 1999/2000:1-110.
Lübke, Harald
2000 Timmendorf-Nordmole
und Jäckelberg-Nord. Erste Untersuchungsergebnisse zu submarinen
Siedlungsplätzen der endmesolithischen Ertebølle-Kultur in der Wismar-Bucht,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis
Unterwasserarchäologie. 7,
Janus-Verlag, 2000.
Nowak, Marek
2001 The
Second Phase of Neolithization in East-Central Europe. Antiquity 75, 2001:582-592.
Price, T.
Douglas
2000 The Introduction to Farming in Northern
Europe. In T. Douglas Price (Ed.),
Europe’s First Farmers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
2000:260-300.
Price, T. D., S.
H. Ambrose, P. Bennike, J. Heinemeier, N. Noe-Nygaard, E. Brinch Petersen, P.
Vang Petersen and M. P. Richards
2007 New Information on the Stone Age Graves at
Dragsholm, Denmark. Acta Archaeologica 78/2,
2007:193-219.
Price, T. D., B.
Gebauer, S. Ulfeldt Hede, C. Sedlacek
Larsen, N. Noe-Nygaard, S. Mason, J. Nielsen, D. Perry.
2001 Sakkerup Huse: A Mesolithic Settlement in
NW Zealand, Denmark. Journal of Field
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Price, T. D. and
E. Brinch Petersen
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A Mesolithic Camp in Denmark. Scientific American, April 1987
Roever, J. P.
de
2004 Swifterbant-aardewerk: een analyse van de
neolithische nederzettingen bij Swifterbant, 5e millennium voor
Christus. Groningen, 2004. http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/faculties/arts/2004/j.p.de.roever/.
Scheu, A., S.
Hartz, U. Schmölcke, A. Tresset, J. Burger and R. Bollongino
2007 Ancient DNA provides no evidence for
independent domestication of cattle in Mesolithic Rosenhof, Northern Germany. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2007,
doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.08.012.
Terberger,
Thomas and Jürgen Piek
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absoluten Chronologie der Steinzeit in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Bodendenkmalpfege
in Mecklienburg-Vorpommern 45, 1997:7-39.
van Ginkel,
E., S. Jager and W. Van der Sanden
1999 Hunebedden:
Monumenten van een Steentijdcultuur. Uitgeverij Unipers Abcoude,
Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek.
Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.