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By
Maximilian O.
(Copy Right © 1992-December
30, 2006.
All rights reserved)
Map of North and part of Central
Europe
Location of the Lengyel type-site
Lengyel painted pottery from Poland
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.
The type-site is located in
the town of Lengyel in Tolna county,
Lengyel is really a
widespread interaction sphere, rather than a narrowly defined unified culture.
The interaction sphere is centered about the western Central European part of
the
The Lengyel distribution
overlaps with the Tisza
culture and the Stichbandkeramik (STK) or Stroke-Ornamented Pottery. Lengyel pottery occurs in
western
There are numerous regional indirect chronologies. Indirect chronologies, also called typochronologies, are based on the determination of (pottery) types. The types are arranged in a perceived chronological order. Sometimes the order is buttressed through successive stratigraphic sequences or through cross dating with other cultures. Based on this approach Lengyel is divided into the following phases: Proto-Lengyel, Lengyel I, Lengyel II, Lengyel III (Classical Lengyel), and Lengyel IV (Epi-Lengyel).
Čízmář,
Pavúk, Procházková andŠmíd (2004) attempt correlate various regional
typologies into the unifying indirect Lengyel chronology. The authors focus on
areas locate Proto-Lengyel north of the Sopot-Lengyel
culture, which is usually deemed the the origin of Lengyel.
Instead, they argue that Proto-Lengyel is found in Transdanubia
and
Absolute dating is relatively
limited. Nevertheless, the site of Oslonski
in Poland had twenty-four C14 before 1997 (Grygiel
and Bogucki 1997 Fig. 8). The pooled probability graph of these dates yields
a calculated to range of maximally 4900 to 3400 cal BC. However, the
site is now dated between 4300-4000 cal BC (Bogucki 2006). In
Through special efforts by the
Vienna Radiocarbon Laboratory (VERA), including
My own calibration and analysis of the more useful dates Lengyel C14 dates (available to me before November 2006) imply that Lengyel becomes recognizable around 5000 cal BC. Its demise occurs around 4000 cal BC. This is roughly in agreement with the Stadler’s 1995 analysis of 68 dates ranging of 4900-4300 cal BC[2] for Lengyel I – III and Lengyel IV, which which ranges from ca. 4250-3950 cal BC.[3]
Unfortunately, the end of Lengyel
is perhaps most debated and has caused misunderstandings about the development
of other cultures and the development of long-mounds (earthen long-barrows).
Ulrich Fischer (personal communication) questions the coexistence of Lengyel
and the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB)
long-mounds as proposed by Magdalena Midgley (1992). However
Midgley lists four Lengyel dates yielding a range of
4300-3750 BC[4], suggesting contact
between the Lengyel IV Brześć Kujawski group and the TRB (Midgley 1992:501). The late dating of Lengyel is also supported
by several other Polish archeologists, e.g. Jankowska,
who following L. Czerniak, suggests 3800-3600 BC for
the Late Brześć Kujawski
Lengyel group (Jankowska 1999?). However, this may be
to late, given the above discussion. Similarly M. Šmíd supports a
coexistence of Epi-Lengyel and the Early Funnel Beaker culture, i.e. Baalberge
pottery, based on excavations in Central Moravia,
In general, Lengyel continues the agricultural practices of the LBK, but some sites indicate a greater reliance on hunting (cf. Milisauskas 1978:142). I believe, that this may be the result of a relatively rapid drop in temperature after the LBK.
For Lower Austria, the evolution of Neolithic cultures and their relationships, including long distance trade, are outlined in Ruttkay 1983 (cf. Höckmann 1984).
Some of the early Lengyel pottery is painted. However utilitarian pots and later Lengyel ceramics are not painted.
In Poland, Lengyel pottery was
generally made from clay tempered with fine-grained sand. The rather thick
walls ..., with a matte, easily rubbed (slightly burnished?) surface,
often show signs of ... (poor firing), as variegated spots have been
left (Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa 1970:62). The
Lengyel mixes with the Stichbandkeramik
culture STK, which also developes out of the LBK (ibid.). The Samborzec group
of the upper Vistula River, which has strong LBK roots, “gradually” abandones
the STK ornaments in favor of the shapes and
ornamentation of the Lengyel and Tisza types (Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa 1970:71). Lengyel settlements of
the Upper Oder “passed on their cultural heritage to the local groups that
emerged here - the Ocice group and ... the Jordanów group.” On the Middle and
To the south, the Austro-Moravian Painted Ware is a regional
variant of Lengyel painted pottery. It is thought to arrive in this region from
farther east around 4700 cal BC. However, Austrian dates are among the
oldest, suggesting a concomitant beginning throughout the Lengyel around 5000
cal. BC to me.
To the west, i.e. in southern
The Lengyel longhouses are derived from the LBK. Not surprisingly, the architecture is similar throughout the former LBK area, which is occupied not only by Lengyel, but also by the Hinkelstein, STK, Rössen etc. The new architecture abandons the triple segmentation of the LBK houses and there is a change from a primarily rectangular to a primarily trapezoidal floor plan. Some houses have a porch-like extension at the wider or distal end. The Lengyel houses are of sturdy construction, that appears to use deeper bedding trenches for the posts. This may mean that there was some kind of need for stronger construction (cf. Bogucki 1988:67:68). In my opinion, the changes in architecture may be a technological adaptation to the sudden decline in climatic conditions following the warm period that ended with the demise of the LBK. I suspect that the longhouses are replaced by smaller rectangular houses after ca. 4300 BC.
Enclosures, known as “Rondels,”
are surrounded by circular. A huge number of circular to oval ditches
enclosures are documented in
The burial practices of the Later
LBK continued. Flexed interments in a burial pit
(e.g. Podborský et al. 1993 Fig. 78) are most
common. Burial clusters
have been excavated in
Lengyel used copper in form of cylindrical beads, cold-hammered copper ribbons, including ribbons with their ends curled into spirals (e.g. Grigyel and Bogucki 1997). However copper occurs only in the “classical” phase (e.g. Grigyel and Bogucki 1997) i.e. Lengyel III, although Lengyel IV is suggested by Czech and Slovak archaeologists.
1995 A
Spatial Analysis of Megalithic Tombs. Vol. 1-2. Ph. D. Dissertation. Southern
Bogucki,
Peter
1988
2006 Archaeological Research at
Jankowska, Dobrochna
1999? Z badań nad osadnictwem poźńowstęgowym w Wielkopolsce. (Zur Forschung der spätbandkeramischen
Besiedlung in Großpolen. http://www.phil.muni.cz/archeo/sbornikm4/farkas.html (Accessed
Čízmář, Z., J. Pavúk, P. Procházková and M. Šmíd
2004 K problému
definováni finálního stádia lengyelské kultury. In Bernhard Hänsel and Etela Studeníková (Eds.), Zwischen Karpaten und Ägäis: Neolithikum und ältere Bronzezeit; Gedenkschrift für Viera Němejcová Pavúková. Internationale
Archäologie. Studia honoraria
21. Rahden, Westf.VML,
Verlag Marie Leidorf,
2004:207-232.
Farkaš, Zdeněk
1999? K otázke žiarového pohrebného rítu ĺudu s lengyelskou kultúrou v období mladého neolit. (Frage des Brandbestattungsritus beim Volk mit Lengyel–Kultur im
Verlauf des Jungneolithikums.) (http://www.phil.muni.cz/archeo/sbornikm4/farkas.html (Accessed
Grygiel, Ryszard and
1997 Early Farmers in
Hafner, Albert and
2001 Das Neolithikum
im 4. Jahrtausend v. Chr.: Tradition, Einflüsse und Entwicklung. Archäeologische Informationenen
24/2, 2001:291-309. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte e. V.,
Bonn.
Höckmann, O.
1984 Book review: Elisabeth Ruttkay, Das Neolithikum in Niederösterreich. Forschungsberichte zur
Ur- und Frühgeschichte, 12, Östereichische
Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Wien, 1983. In
Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa, Anna
1970 The Linear and Stroked Pottery
cultures. In Wiślański, T. (Ed.) The Neolithic in
1997 Strachów:
Osiedla Neolitycznych Rolników na Śląsku. Instytut Archeologii i
Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk. Wroclaw, Poland.
Lenneis, E., C. Neugebauer-Maresch,
E. Ruttkay
1995 Jungsteinzeit im Osten Österreichs. Forschungsberichte zur Ur- u. Frühgeschichte 17. Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus u. Verlagsgesellschaft, St. Pölten – Wien.
Midgley, Magdalena S.
1985 The Origin and function of the Earthen Long Barrows of
1992 TRB Culture: The First Farmers of the North European Plain. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Neugebauer-Maresch, C.
1995 Mittelneolithikum: Die Bemaltkeramik. 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. 1995:57-107.
Podborský, Vladimír, et al.
1993 Pravěké Dějiny Moravy. Vlastivěda Moravská Země a Lid, Nová Řada 3. Muzejní a vlastivědna společnost, Brno.
Ruttkay, Elisabeth
1983 Das Neolithikum in Niederösterreich. Forschungsberichte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte, 12, Östereichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Ur- und
Frühgeschichte, Wien.
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.
Stadler,
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.
Stadler,
2006 Absolutchronologie
der Mährisch-Ostösterreichischen Gruppe (MOG) der bemalten Keramik aufgrund von
neuen 14C-Datierungen. Archäologie Österreichs 16/17 Sonderausgabe,
2005/2006:53-67.
Wiślański, T. (Ed.)
1970 The Neolithic in Poland. Instytut
Historii Kultury Materialnej, Polskiej Akademii Nauk Wrocław, Warszawa, Krakow 1970b:178-231.
Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.
[1] Neugebauer-Maresch
1995
[2] Stadler 1995 Fig. 5, Table
1-2 (7 dates from Falkenstein, Lower Austria).
[3]
Stadler 1995 Fig. 6, Table 1-2 (5 dates, 1 from Pitten,
the rest from the lake dwelling site
Broniewice Bln-1313 : 5060±60BP = 68.2% confidence 3960BC
(1.00) 3780BC; 95.4% confidence 3990BC
(0. 94) 3770BC, 3750BC (0.06) 3700BC.
Krusza Zamkowa Bln-1811 : 5330±65BP = 68.2% confidence 4300BC (0.04)
4290BC, 4250BC (0.96) 4040BC; 95.4% confidence 4340BC (1.00) 4000BC.
Brzesc Kujavski Lod-165 : 5370±180BP = 68.2% confidence 4450BC (0.02)
4430BC, 4370BC (0.98) 3990BC; 95.4% confidence 4700BC (1.00) 3750BC.
Brzesc Kujavski Lod-163 : 5130±160BP = 68.2% confidence 4250BC (1.00)
3700BC; 95.4% confidence 4350BC (1.00) 3600BC.
SUM = 68.2% confidence 4300BC
(1.00) 3750BC; 95.4% confidence 4500BC
(1.00) 3650BC.