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.
I'm going to talk about some aspects of prehistory in good old
Europe in terms of a radiocarbon based chronology for the period
between 3500 to 3000 B.C. The Neolithic cultures of the North
Middle European lowlands mainly used raw materials, which were
sufficiently available in the respective regions. An exception
was copper which, however, was very seldom used in the funnel
beaker culture. Other exceptions were amber and in some areas
flint.
Flint played a predominant role for the production of stone age
equipment. It is a material that is easy to work with, which can
be knapped excellently into the desired form; it can also be furnished
with a polished surface where necessary and has sharp cutting
functional edges. Alternative materials with comparable functions
such as volcanic glass, e.g. obsidian, or other silicone stones
such as chert occur very rarely in the dispersal areas of the
funnel beaker culture and then only in very small amounts. Therefore,
they are just of local significance. Moreover, flint is the most
important raw material for stone tools during the funnel beaker
culture.
What is especially striking is the various degrees of availability
of the raw material flint in the different dispersal areas of
the funnel beaker culture. (Wislanski 1979; Weisgerber 1981; Fig. 1).
In the northern group of the Funnel Beaker culture, in northern
and eastern Jutland, as well as on the Danish islands of Zealand
and Møn, limestone mountains exist with layers of nodules
of flint. (Weisgerber 1981, 456-473) Neolithic flint mining also
occurred in the most southern parts of Sweden. (Olausson e. a.
1981) Helgoland, an island off the German coast, which is situated
in the North Sea, also provided a typical kind of flint.
Near the border between the north and east group of the funnel
beaker culture, layers of nodules of flint are to be found on
the island of Rügen in the chalk cliffs there. In the area
of the east and south-east group of the funnel beaker culture
special flint varieties can be found in the middle of the Wistula
region: in the area of the eastern Lysa Gora it is the Swieciechow
flint, near Krzemionki the banded flint and in the western Lysa
Gora-area the chocolate flint are found. Flint was extracted in
these regions during the funnel beaker culture according to the
situation in open-cast or in underground mining from down to 11m
deep. In the Jurassic-Cracow mountain range, flint was mined in
flat extraction pits which are now visible as flat extraction
pits. (Weisgerber 1981, 578-626) Additionally, during the funnel
beaker culture, flint was imported from Volhynia to Kujavia in
Poland. (Balcer 1983, Fig. 34) The significance of the individual
deposits in the various Neolithic cultures varies.
Volhynian and Polish flint is never distributed further west than
the western border of the east group of the funnel beaker culture
(Fig. 2). Its regional grouping
has been defined by Konrad Jazdzewski (1936, 227; 336, tab. 70)
and later on slightly modified by others (Wislanski 1979, Fig.
98). Mainly differences in pottery style and pottery decoration
are the basis of this grouping. Of major interest is the fact
that flint trading adheres to the borders between the different
regional groups. Flint varies from the Lysa Góra, so-called
Swieciechow-flint and the banded flint from Krzemionki never appears
in the north group of the funnel beaker culture. As it seems,
an area for a specific ceramic style also denotes the demarcation
line for a sphere of trade. This may indicate a region of communication,
possibly a region for a common language as well.
In Polish Pommerania and in Silesia, small nodules of glacial
erratic Baltic flint are found. There just like in North Germany,
west of Rügen, flint does not occur in primary deposits close
to the surface. However, there is no lack of this material here.
In ice age moraines it is found in large amounts as erratic Baltic
flint, easily accessible in fields of gravel underneath the cliffs,
sorted out on barriers which are partly composed of larger boulders
(Clausen 1989). Flint, however, fundamentally exists in inland
moraines, but not in a sufficient amount or quality.
The north German moraine flint originates from primary deposits
in what is classified as today's Baltic Sea region. The deposits
near Rügen Zealand, Møn and in Scania play a significant
role in this respect and above all, those parts which were well-worn
as a result of the ice age glacier are important as suppliers
for erratic Baltic flint in North Germany. Due to the frequently
changing flowing direction of inland ice, a thorough mixture of
flint occurred from the individual primary deposits in moraines.
There is just one primary deposit of flint which is important
for the flint supply in Schleswig- Holstein. On Helgoland, an
island some 30 miles (44 km) off the mouth of the Elbe river,
a very special type of red flint with gray, yellow or white spots
can be collected.
This variety of flint has been collected and distributed at least
since the beginning of the middle Neolithic on the west coast
of Schleswig-Holstein, along the coast of Lower Saxony down to
the Netherlands (Beuker 1986).
The settlers of the funnel beaker culture in the North middle
European lowlands encountered quite a variety of flint types from
various locations. In North Germany, erratic Baltic flint was
available, however, in quite different degrees of quality almost
everywhere. Worn out nodules from the sun and frost which were
easy to collect on the surface were totally unsuitable for the
production of large tools such as axes and chisels. Even the production
of large blades was not possible from such raw material that had
tears in it due to weather conditions. For this reason, the proportion
of flake tools in comparison to blades is evidently larger in
inland settlements of the funnel beaker culture in Schleswig-Holstein
than in the coastal settlements. Frequently remains of destroyed
tools and tears and broken off pieces of flint as a result of
temperature deviations were used as a basic form far from the
original area of the raw material. (Arnold 1981, table 1) In those
areas waste was utilized as much as possible. Independent of those
small pieces of equipment, which were made by the respective user
himself or by members of his settlement from locally accessible
raw material, large axes, chisels and blades are also found at
larger distances from the original area of the raw material. This
bears witness to the fact that transportation from the source
of the raw material to the consumer took place. (i. e. Olausson
e. a. 1981, 201, Fig. 190)
If as in the eastern and the south-eastern group of the funnel
beaker culture flint was mainly produced from a primary deposit
area, then its path can be retraced, since flint from the different
sources exhibits typical characteristics in quality and appearance.
Volhynian flint was sold e.g. over more than 500 km away as far
as Kujavia in the Warta-Notec region (Fig. 3).
In North Germany, where flint was mainly used from secondary deposits,
channels of distribution can not be easily reconstructed. But
even there, the possibility exists of naming places at which flint
was extracted and processed. Such places can be identified as
a result of special types of waste (Fig. 4). There the situation
is similar to other flint mining areas, also to those in Poland.
There just like here, tradesman settlements working with flint
differentiate profoundly in the materials found there from the
places where the tools were finally employed. (Balcer 1988, 71)
The differentiation of both types of settlement is made possible
through extensive knowledge regarding the production of large
flint tools (Hansen & Madsen 1983) From the nodules of flint
large decortification flakes were removed first of all, which
were the size of a man's hand and contained large amounts of cortex.
Flakes of this kind were practically hardly ever found in normal
farmer's settlements. In the course of this process, roughouts
which mostly had a square form with a square or oval-pointed intersection
were made from nodules. The use of such a roughout is normally
not recognizable. Different types of semi-finished tools were
produced from the roughouts.
The flakes of this process exhibit, on the other hand, special
technical details. Mostly due to the squared intersection of the
desired tool, typical roughly faceted platforms occur on the flakes
which drop off during the shaping of the semi-finished object.
It is nearly always possible to recognize what was to be the final
product of such a semi- finished piece of work. No doubt this
is supposed to become a flint ax. From the semi-finished work,
the raw form of the ax or chisel which was able to be sanded is
completed with a final imprinting of flaking mostly by using a
punching technique. (Arnold 1981, Fig. 1) In this form axes and
chisels were able to be carried around by journeymen and sold
even over a large distance.
This is suggested, however, in the results of an analysis carried out on depots from the funnel beaker culture in North Germany. (Rech 1979, 19; 39; Fig. 5) To a large extent, they contain unpolished axes and chisels. However, it has frequently been reflected upon about associating such depot finds with religious practices. Now and again, the idea is even ruled out that they have something to do with workshop or commercial depots. (Rech 1979, 76) A series of facts, however, speak in favor of a totally profane interpretation. In one case, an ax was found together with a quartzite grindstone tub or metate. On another occasion, several semi-finished products were supposed to be produced from the same nodule or unpolished axes which resembled each other so much that they were more than likely made by the same person. There are cases in which axes which were lying in a depot shows sign of carving repairs, but in the area in need of repair no polishing work had to that point been undertaken. (Westre LA 12, district of Nordfriesland; Hinz 1954, 237 m. Table 25, 1.2) Then again, blades or cores were found together with axes.
In some cases, the impression is certainly gained that journeymen
or dealers had hidden a part of their wares here. It could have
illustrated certain precautions against being raided and robbed
and that the unfinished product was only sanded and polished in
the company of and for the consumer. That what the journeyman
carried around with him was of no use to anyone without the final
touches being carried out.
In order to complete the work, a grindstone was necessary which
was difficult to make and demanded carefully selected raw material.
This tool might have been found in the possession of a journeyman.
Obviously grindstones were carefully guarded as an important component
for the production of tools. Another factor which emphasizes this
is the fact that they were almost always found in fragments which
frequently showed clear traces of having been deliberately destroyed.
(Hoika 1987, 68. 120, Fig. 33)
Concerning the extraction and working with flint, Schleswig-Holstein
disposes over different kinds and qualities of information. From
some sites (Staberhuk, district of Ostholstein), large amounts
of roughouts and typical flakes belonging to them were gathered
from the surface and thus ended in collections and museums.
At other locations (Neukirchen, district of Schleswig-Flensburg;
Arnold 1981 and Hemmingstedt-Hohenheide, district of Dithmarschen;
Clausen 1994), working sites were excavated. Obviously heaps of
flakes indicate the former workshop.
At these places the extracted roughouts were worked on to blade
cores or in other cases to the state of being semi-finished in
order to be further processed to axes. From these workshops they
managed to reach the "consumers" who would also have
lived quite a distance away.
Thus there are reasons to assume, that the transport of high-quality
flint products took place in the funnel beaker culture. In the
south-western Baltic Sea area, the path would have automatically
been from the North and Baltic Sea coastlines into the interior
of the country.
Simultaneously, during the final phase of the funnel beaker culture
in the western part of the Baltic Sea region, banded flint was
extracted from underground mines on the middle Wistula at Krzemionki
by people of the Globular Amphora culture (Balcer 1983). The special
features of this raw material make it easy to identify. Due to
its unique appearance, the tools which were produced from it are
still, till today, regarded as „beautiful" objects.
Especially axes from this material were transported more than 600 km, as the crow flies, as far as western Pomerania. Due to the focus of dispersion water vessels may have been used on rivers for transportation purposes. In the hinterland, other types of transport have to be taken into consideration. Were carts with wheels used as well? Or was the flint transported by humans or animals?
Let us make a little jump now.
In the North group of the funnel beaker culture the deceased were
regularly equipped with amber beads. Also in depots and now and
again in settlements, amber beads were also found.
Amber is not available everywhere. It exists in the moraines of
North Germany, but they are sparsely spread out over a large area.
This occurrence however could not have fulfilled the large demand
within the funnel beaker culture; for that it was too difficult
to find the desired materials. Evidently amber was also not transported
from the Samlandic coast resp., Kaliningrad peninsula in the eastern
Baltic Sea region, where it is available in huge amounts to the
western Baltic Sea region. One reason that bears testimony to
this is that it is practically unknown in the east group and the
Pomeranian Lupawa group of the funnel beaker culture. On the contrary,
it must have been acquired in the vicinity of the consumer areas.
Since amber floats in water it was able to be gathered partly
after having being washed up in considerable amounts on the water's
edge and in the accumulation areas of fine-grained light material
on the coasts of the Baltic Sea and especially that of the North
Sea whereas special weather conditions, e.g. after storms made
collecting the washed-up objects along the shore worthwhile. One
has to imagine therefore that a specific collecting economy existed
among the coastal inhabitants in certain coastal regions. From
there the amber must have been transported inland. Where production
took place can not be identified with full certainty.
Whereas amber due to its light weight is easily transportable
flint, on the contrary, requires a special technique or special
measures. The transport from the middle Wistula to Kujavia and
from there to the west must have taken place using boats on the
Wistula and Notec. The same goes for the transportation of the
Helgoland flint over to the mainland. Quite different conditions,
however, were required for the distribution inland however from
the coasts and rivers.
It is conceivable that the subsequent distribution took place
by passing on the objects from hand to hand with the help of charity
institutions. If this be the case, then a social system of exchange
must have existed here which can hardly be explained. Why should
a functioning system of commerce suddenly end at this point because
technical changes are necessary to uphold the system? The question:
which overland transport possibilities were conceivable at this
time could perhaps help us further.
In 1904, the Danish archaeologist, Sophus Müller, attempted to retrace the course of the bronze age paths using the alignment of burial mounds. He pointed out that burial mound alignments ran either in the direction towards fjords or they linked up to possible paths through marshy areas.
This process does not seem to be applicable in the same manner
to Neolithic megalithic tombs. (Hoika 1986)
The Oldenburger Graben, today a silted up fjord in East Holstein
has been very closely examined from a geological point of view.
Through this the areas can be determined exactly where a problem-free
transition across the marsh is possible. If paths had existed
along the megalithic tomb alignments in the Neolithic period,
then such alignments must have been aimed at possible transition
points at the location of the Oldenburger Graben. This is evidently
not the case (Fig. 8). However,
one finds small rows of megalithic graves but it still remains
uncertain if they really mark the paths.
A long barrow in Flintbek in the center of Schleswig-Holstein
recently supplied information on the use of a two-wheeled cart
(Zich 1992). During excavation work, traces of a cart were exposed
which had been conserved under a long barrow and led to a dolmen
(Fig. 9). It is possible that
the barrow had been used to transport stones or earth for the
construction of a dolmen chamber. The weight of the stones or
of earth is probably responsible for the deep tracks.
And still it is not possible to gain absolute clarity on the issue
if proper roads really existed which served the purpose of communication
and the transportation of goods over large distances. The import
of copper objects, transactions with flint and amber as well as
numerous indications of cultural contact in the entire area of
dispersion of the funnel beaker culture and what is more, indicate
that intensive communication took place. As a result of cart tracks
and illustrations of cart on ceramic vessels (Milisauskas &
Kruk 1982; Wislanski 1979, Fig. 142), the existence of carts in
the funnel beaker culture has mainly been verified. And carts
need roads.
However much remains uncertain. What significance did water transportation
have? Which role did traffic play along the rivers and coasts?
Were there overland routes, which crossed over water-sheds from
one river system to the next or which short cuts existed? As in
so many cases, archaeological sources do not supply sufficient
information in order to reconstruct historical conditions with
all certainty and also to draw a rough picture of a historical
reality. In this, however, the written records are not very different.
Zusammenfassung
Zum Handel gehört Kommunikation. Flint war für die Trichterbechergesellschaften
von überragender Bedeutung und stand nicht überall in
guter Qualität zur Verfügung. Geräte aus Rohmaterial,
das aus dem Weichselgebiet stammt, gelangten bis in das westliche
Pommern. Die Westgrenze der Verbreitung solcher Geräte fällt
annähernd mit der der Ostgruppe der Trichterbecherkultur
zusammen. Sind archäologische Gruppen zugleich Kommunikationsräume,
so stellen Kommunikationsräume in diesem Fall zugleich Austauschräume
dar.
Bernstein wird in der Nordgruppe der Trichterbecherkultur zur
Herstellung von Perlen benutzt. Die Verbreitung von Bernsteinperlen
der Trichterbecherkultur hält sich an einen küstenparallelen
Streifen erstaunlicher Tiefe. Die Sitte Bernsteinperlen zu benutzten,
überschreitet aber in der Trichterbecherkultur nicht die
Grenzen der Nordgruppe.
Bronzezeitliche Grabhügel treten teilweise in Ketten auf.
Sophus Müller hatte die Erscheinung als bronzezeitliche Wegstrecken
gedeutet. Ähnliche Beobachtungen gibt es bei Megalitgräbern
der Trichterbecherkultur. Vermutlich sind sie aber nicht in gleicher
Weise zu deuten.
Summary
There is no trade without communication. Flint was of major importance
for the TRB. However the sources of good quality flint were limited.
Implements made from flint originating in the Vistula region reached
western Pommerania. This western border coincides with that of
the boundary between the TRB East and North Group. If such archaeological
groups represent regional communication zones, they must also
represent exchange systems.
In the North Group amber was used for beads. Their distribution
keeps to a broad strip of land parallel to the Mecklenburg/Schleswig-Holstein
coast. However the custom of using amber beads in the TRB does
not exceed the boundaries of its North Group.
Bronze Age mounds often align in long chains, interpreted as ("amber")
routes a century ago. The megalithic tombs sometimes have similar
alignments, suggesting communications lines.
References
Arnold 1981: V. Arnold, Ein aus Schlagabfällen rekonstruierbarer
Flintdolch vom Tegelbarg, Gemeinde Quern, Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg.
Offa 38 [= Festsschr. Struve], 1981. 153 - 160.
Babel 1981: J. Babel, Krzemionki, Gemeinde Bodzechów, Wojw.
Kielce und Gemeinde Boria, Woiw. Tranobrzeg. In: Weisgerber 1981,
586-595.
Balcer 1983: B. Balcer, Wytwórczosc narzedzi
krzemiennych w neolicie ziem Polski (Wroclaw - Warszawa - Kraków
- Gdansk - Lódz 1983)
Balcer 1988: B. Balcer, The Neolithic Flint Industries in the
Vistula and Odra Basins. Przeglad Archeologiczny 35, 1988, 49
- 100.
Beuker 1986: J. R. Beuker, De import van Helgoland-vuursteen in
Drenthe. Nieuwe Drentse Volksalmanak 1986, 111 - 135.
Clausen 1989: I. Clausen, Geröllstrände - Rohstoffbasen
steinzeitlicher Flinthandwerker. AGSH aktuell Arch. Gesellsch.
Schleswig-Holstein 1989, 14 - 20.
Clausen 1994: I. Clausen, Hemmingstedt, Kr. Dithmarschen. Neolithische
Siedlung, LA 2. In: Neunter Arbeitsbericht des Landesamtes für
Vor- und Frühgeschichte von Schleswig-Holstein. Grabungsberichte
der Jahre 1984-1987. Offa 51, 1994, 221-228.
Hansen u. Madsen 1983: P. Vemming Hansen u. B. Madsen, Flint Ax
Manufacture in the Neolithic. An Experimental Investigation of
a Flint Ax Manufacture Site at Hastrup Vænget, East Zealand.
Journal Danish Arch. 2, 1983, 43 - 59.
Hinz 1954: H. Hinz, Vorgeschichte des nordfriesischen Festlandes.
Vor- u. Frühgesch. Denkm. u. Funde Schleswig-Holstein 3.
Neumünster 1954.
Hoika 1986: J. Hoika, Die Bedeutung des Oldenburger Grabens für
Besiedlung und Verkehr im Neolithikum. Offa 43 [= Festschr. A.
Bantelmann], 1986, 185 - 208.
Hoika 1987: J. Hoika, Das Mittelneolithikum zur Zeit der Trichterbecherkultur
in Nordostholstein. Untersuchungen zu Archäologie und Landschaftsgeschichte.
Offa-Bücher 61 (Neu münster 1987).
Jazdzewski 1936: K. Jazdzewski, Kultura Puharów Lejkowatych
w Polsce Zachodniej i Srodkowej (with German summary). Bibljoteka
Prehistoryczna 2. Poznan 1936.
Milisauskas & Kruk 1982: S. Milisauskas & J. Kruk, Die
Wagendarstellung auf einem Trichterbecher aus Bronocice in Polen.
Arch. Korrbl. 12, 1982, 141 - 144.
Müller 1904: Sophus Müller, Vei og bygd i sten- og bronzealderen.
Aarbøger 1904, 1 - 64.
Olausson e. a. 1981: D. Seitzer Olausson, E. Rudebeck & U.
Säfvestad. Die südschwedischen Feuersteingruben - Ergebnisse
und Probleme. In: Weisgerber 1981, 183 - 204.
Rech 1979: M. Rech, Studien zu Depotfunden der Trichterbecher-
und Einzelgrabkultur des Nordens. Offa-Bücher 39 (Neumünster
1979).
Weisgerber 1981: G. Weisgerber, 5000 Jahre Feuersteinbergbau.
Die Suche nach dem Stahl der Steinzeit. Ausstellung im Deutschen
Bergbau-Museum vom 24. Oktober 1980 bis 31. Januar 1981. Veröffentl.
Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum 22. 2. Aufl. Bochum 1981.
Wislanski 1979: T. Wislanski, Ksztaltowanie sie miejscowych
Kultur rolniczo-hodowlanych. Plemiona kultury pucharów
lejkowatych. In: W. Hensel (Ed.), Prahistoria ziem Polskich II:
Neolit (Wroclaw - Warszawa - Kraków - Gdansk 1979) 165-260.
Zich 1992: B. Zich, Ausgrabungen auf dem stein- und bronzezeitlichen
Grabhügelfeld von Flintbek, Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde.
Ein Vorbericht. Mitt. Arch. Gesellsch. Schleswig-Holstein 3, 1992,
6-21.
Please send any suggestions and remarks to:
Dr. Jürgen Hoika
Archäologisches Landesmuseum der Christian-Albrechts-Universität
Schloss Gottorf
D-24837 Schleswig
Germany
Hoika@t-online.de
FAX: (+)49-(0)4621-813-535
