Added December 15, 1999. Updated February 4, 2009, 10:19 hours.

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The Michelsberg Culture

Version 4.10

Maximilian O. Baldia

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 Europe

Map of North and part of Central Europe

Central and North German Chronological Table

Map of Michelsberg culture location (Schwabedissen 1979b). Flintbek added

Location of Michelsberg type site

Location

The Michelsberg culture is named after the Michelsberg, a hill at Untergrombach, Kr. Bruchsaal, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The site was discovered in 1884. It was excavated by K. Schumacher in 1888-1889 and A. Bonnet 1896-1999 (Müller-Karpe 1974:938 No. 503). It turned out to be a hilltop village or earthwork partly surrounded with a ditch.

The Michelsberg sites distribution includes the area around the Middle Rhein (Rhine) River, Belgium and the Paris Basin. A few sites with Michelsberg pottery are reported from Central Germany and the Czech Republic.

Chronology

Michelsberg was thought to last from ca. 4400-3500 cal BC (e.g. Milisauskas 2002). Indeed, Jeunesse (1998:52 Fig 1 – 2) lists a number of early dates. A similar set of dates is provided by of Vanmontfort (2001:142 Fig. 3).[1] However, for various reasons, the early dates do not provide a clear start date and in my opinion the beginning of Michelsberg culture cannot be dated anymore precisely than 4300/4200 – 4100/4000 cal BC. The date lists by Jeunesse’s 1998 and Vanmontfort’s (2001) further suggest a demise of the Michelsberg culture around 3600/3500 cal BC. Wotzka (2000) places the end between 3640/3500 cal BC, based on nine ¹⁴C dates of the last Michelsberg Phase (MK V) from the sites of Ranstadt-Dauernheim “Auf der Alteburg” and Echzell “Wannkopf” in the Wtterau valley, Hessen/Hesse, Germany.

Evolution

In Germany, Schumacher saw parallels between the Michelsberg culture and the Late Mesolithic pottery making Kjøkkenmødinger culture (now Ertebølle culture) as early as 1908 (Lüning 1969). Similarities with the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) pottery were also noted and some researchers still include the Michelsberg culture in the TRB interaction sphere (i.e. “the TRB in the larger sense” (cf. Zápotocký 1991)). Until the 1960’s the culture was seen as part of the “lake dwelling sphere of the northern Alps and its piedmont,” which includes Aichbühl, Pfyn and Horgen. In the 1960’s the Michelsberg culture was separated from these cultures and seen as evolving out of Bischeim, a late phase of the Rössen culture in the Middle Rhein (Rhine) River region of Germany.

On the other hand, the American archaeologist Scollar (1959, 1961) stressed the Michelsberg culture’s western origin. Similarly Dubouloz (1998) argued that the pottery of the Paris Basin was possibly older than in Germany and suggested that its development should be associated with the Menneville Group of “Early Post-Rössen” and the initial phase of the Early Chasséen (Chassey) culture (Jeunesse 1998). In Belgium the pottery assemblage of Spiere “de Hel” began to be seen as a kind of western development that exhibit a geographically transitional subgroup, resembling Michelsberg and to some extent the neighboring cultures (Vanmontfort 2001, Vanmontfort et al. 1997). In addition to Spiere, this assemblage includes sites such as Blicquy, Brebiere, Corbehem, Estrun, Kemmel, Lievin, Lumbres, St-Jans-Cappel, Schorisse, and perhaps Etaples, Lauwin-Planque, Monchy-lc-Prcux, Sailly-Labourse.

In the east (Central Germany, Bohemia and possibly even Moravia) Michelsberg-like pottery occurs during the Baalberge Phase of the TRB’s Middle-Elbe and South Group, which begins to form around 4000/3800 cal BC. In the South Group and adjacent regions the Baalberge Phase gives way to TRB Phase II sometime between 3600/3400 BC (Baldia et al. in press a, in press b, exhibiting similarities to the Boleráz Phase of the Baden culture. Baden “influence” is even suggested on the Central German Schöninger Group (Raletzel-Fabian and Furholt 2006). In southern Germany near the Bodensee (Lake Constance), the Michelsberg culture gives way to the Horgen culture around 3600/3400 cal. BC. In the Northwest German state of Hessen (Hesse) and adjoining regions Michelsberg evolves into the Wartberg culture at that time. At the same time Michelsberg is replaced by the later Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB or Middle Neolithic I) at its northernmost fringes.

Ceramics

Fig. 1. Statistical seriation (correspondence analysis) of Michelsberg pottery by Höhn (1998 Fig. 4).

The pottery has largely been analyzed along stylistic lines. In contrast to Rössen, Michelsberg pottery is largely undecorated. Lüning (1968) divided the pottery into five successive phases (MK I – V). These phases are thought to be chronologically sensitive and are still in use (Fig. 1) with only minor modification. The most spectacular pottery style development is the slender “tulip beaker,” which evolves from a funnel beaker-like pot into a tulip blossom-shape with a large funnel-like rim and small bulbous body during Phase IV/V (Fig. 1 and 2).

Economy

Fig. 2. Michelsberg pottery: tulip beaker and baking plate, (Photo: M. Baldia 1979)

Following Lichardus (1998), animals were systematically kept in herds. Cattle predominate, followed by pig and sheep/goat. Evidence of domesticated horses is also reported. However, in some instances hunting was also important (Steppan 1998). Domesticated wheat (emmer and einkorn) und barley was consumed (Lichardus 1998), but there is also evidence of lentils, peas, poppy, flax, broomcorn millet, and fruit (Stika 1996). Round pottery plates (Fig. 2) are attributed to bread baking.

According to Lichardus (1998), there is cause to believe that salt was produced in tulip beakers (Fig. 2). Subterranean flint mining supplied raw material for tools and was widely traded. Copper was apparently smelted.

Stone Tools

Polished flint axes (new form of macrolithic tools made from blades and flakes) were used in long-distance exchange (Louwe Kooijmans 1998:412).

Copper

Ceramic crucibles and other evidence point to copper smelting.

Houses

Solid house remains are rather rare and, therefore, the structures are not well understood. Twenty-three very large house-like structures have been found in the palisade and ditch earthwork/enclosure near Mairy on the Maas/Meuse River, Ardennes, France (Marolle 1998), but the function of these long structures called Bâtiments is debated. It is noteworthy that house remains in southern Germany provide evidence that waddle and daub walls decorated with protruding female breasts, a symbolism more commonly used in the Lengyel culture/interaction sphere.

Burials

Occasionally single and multiple burials of flexed skeletons occur in pits. However, these burials are not very elaborate and imply little effort to honor the interred. For example, at Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim, Germany, an adult women and two adult males together with three children, including an infant, were found in a pit with Michelsberg pottery (Ludwig 2008). It is possible that the majority of the deceased were not interred, but rather disposed in other ways not visible in the archaeological record.

Mines/Quarries

SpiennesBelgiumFlintScreen

Fig. 3. Modern flint flake with white cortex of limestone from the area of the Spiennes Michelsberg flint mine in Belgium (Poto: M. Baldia 2003).

Around 4300/4200 cal BC the Michelsberg culture introduced deep mining for flint, needed to produce various tools. Such flint mines (quarries) occur at Spiennes, Mesvin (e.g. Collet 2004, 2008) and Rijckholt-St. Geertruid (Baldia 1978, 1995). The color and texture of flint (Fig. 2) can vary, allowing identification of the source, usually by visual inspection.

Flint production may have taken on an “industrial characteristic,” that is, the mines were exploited by a specialized group of miners who controlled access to the quarries (Louwe Kooijmans 1998:412). However, De Grooth (1998:352) negates this interpretation based on the settlement analysis around the quarry of Rijkholt-Sint Geertruid in Limburg, Netherland and proposes that access to the mines was unrestricted to several nearby communities in a 30 km radius.

Earthwork/Enclosures

Fig. 4. The five-ditch Michelsberg earthwork of Salzkotten-Obertutdorf, Kr. Paderborn, Germany (after Schyle et al. 1998 Fig. 1).

Numerous hill top and valley spur earthworks, such as Salzkotten (Fig. 4) and Calden (Raetzel-Fabian 1999a, 1999b) in Germany, measure from ca. 5/10-100 ha. They are surrounded by palisades and/or wide, flat-based, interrupted by earth bridges (cause ways). Some of these causeways exhibit traces of complex wooden entrance structures. The earthworks suggest a greater emphasis on the corporate identity than in previous cultures to Louwe Kooijmans (1998:413). On the other hand, they may be seen as nodes in a communication network (Raetzel Fabian 2002).

References and Credits

Baldia, Maximilian O.

1978 Netherlands: The Neolithic flint mines of Ryckholt(/Rijckholt)-St.Geertruid. Old World Archaeology Newsletter, 2/2:7.

Beran, J.

1998 Die Michelsberger Fundgruppen in Mitteldeutschland. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:73-84.

Biel, Jörg, Helmut Schlichtherle, Michael Strobel and Andrea Zee (Eds.)

1998 Die Michelsberger Kultur und ihre Randgebiete: Probleme der Entstehung, Chronologie und des Siedlungswesens. Materialhefte zur Archäologie in Baden-Württemberg, 43, Theiss, Stuttgart.

Collet, Hélène

2004 Les mines neolithiques de Spiennes: Etat des connaissances et perspectives de recherche. Actes du XIVème Congrès de l'UISPP. Bar International series 1303, 2004, http://minesdespiennes.org/ (Accessed February 4, 2009)

Collet, Hélène, Ivan Jadin and Michel Woodbury

2008 Apport à la chronologie radiocarbone des minières néolithiques. Bulletin d’information 4. http://minesdespiennes.org/ (Accessed February 4, 2009)

De Grooth, Marjorie E. Th.

1991 Socio-economic aspects of Neolithic flint mining: A preliminary Study. Helenium 31/2:153-189.

1998 The Flint Mines at Rijckholt-Sint Geertruid and Their Socio-economic Interpretation. In Mark Edmonds and Colin Richards (Eds.), Understanding the Neolithic of North-Western Europe. Cruithny Press, Glasgow, 1998:351-369.

Dubouloz, J.

1998 Réflexions sur le Michelsberg ancien en Bassin Parisien. n Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:9-20.

Fritsch, B., M. Moute, I. Matuschik, J. Müller and C. Wolf (Eds.)

1998 Tradition und Innovation: Prähistorische Archäologie als historische Wissenschaft. Festschrift für Christian Strahm. Internationale Archäologie 3, VML 1998, Leidorf, Rahden/Westf., Germany (1997).

Jeunesse, C.

1998 Pour une origine occidentale de la culture de Michelsberg? In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:29-46.

Louwe Kooijmans, L. P.

1998 Understanding the Mesolithic/Neolithic Frontier in the Lower Rhine Basin, 5300-4300 cal. BC. In Mark Edmonds and Colin Richards (Eds.), Understanding the Neolithic of North-Western Europe. Cruithny Press, Glasgow, 1998:407-427.

Lichardus, J.

1998 Die Michelsberg Kultur strukturell gesehen. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:261-276.

Ludwig, R.

2008 Zwei Männer, eine Frau und drei Kinder: Das tragische Schicksal einer jungsteinzeitlichen Familie aus Heidelberg-Handschuhsheim. Kurpfälzisches Museum der Stadt Heidelberg 284, das Kunstwerk der Monats, December 2008. http://www.museum-heidelberg.de/servlet/PB/show/1276865/KdM%20November%202008.pdf Accessed February 4, 2009.

Lüning, J.

1998 Betrachtungen über die Michelsberg Kultur. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:277-290.

Marolle, C.

1998 Le site de Michelsberg des « Hautes Chanvrières » avec bâtiments et enceinte à Mairy, Ardennes – France. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:21-28.

Matuschik, Irenäus

1992 Senkofen-„Pfatterbreite“, eine Fundstelle der Michelsberger Kultur im östlichen Alpenvorland. Bayrische Vorgeschichtsblätter, 57:1-32. Beck’sche Verlagshandlung, München.

Müller-Karpe, H.

1974 Handbuch der Vorgeschichte: Kupferzeit. III/1-3. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München.

Meyer, Michael and Raetzel-Fabian, Dirk

2006 Neolithische Erdwerke im Überblick. www.jungsteinsite.uni-kiel.de, 15. Dezember 2006

Milisauskas, Sarunas (Ed.)

2002 European Prehistory: A Survey. Kluwer Academic / Planum Publishers, New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow.

Pfeffer, Ingo

1999 Ein Spätmichelsberg-Komplex in Ostwestfalen: Der Gaulskopf bei Warburg-Ossendorf. JungsteinSite, 14 November 1999, http://www.jungsteinsite.uni-kiel.de/.

Raetzel-Fabian, Dirk

1986 Phasenkartierung des mitteleuropäischen Neolithikums. Chronologie und Chorologie. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 316, Oxford.

1990 Diskontinuität im Neolithikum Südwestdeutschlands? In: Frank M. Andraschko and Wolf-Rüdiger Teegen (Eds.), Gedenkschrift für Jürgen Driehaus (Ed.), Mainz: 161-176.

1997 Absolute Chronologie. In: Klaus Günther, Die Kollektivgräber-Nekropole Warburg I-V. Bodenaltertümer Westfalens 34, Mainz: 165-178.

1999a Calden - Erdwerk und Galeriegräber des 4. Jahrtausends v. Chr. JungsteinSite, 14 November 1999, http://www.jungsteinsite.uni-kiel.de/.

1999b Der umhegte Raum - Funktionale Aspekte jungneolithischer Monumental-Erdwerke. Jahresschrift für mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte 81, 1999:81-117.

2000a Die ersten Bauernkulturen. Jungsteinzeit in Nordhessen. Vor- und Frühgeschichte im Hessischen Landesmuseum in Kassel 2. 2^nd revised edition. Kassel.

2000b Calden. Erdwerk und Bestattungsplätze des Jungneolithikums. Architektur, Ritual, Chronologie. Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie, Bonn.

2002 Monumentality and Communication: Neolithic Enclosures and Long Distance Tracks in West Central Europe. JungsteinSite, 5. January 2002, http://www.jungsteinsite.uni-kiel.de/.

Raetzel-Fabian, Dirk and Martin Furholt

2006 Frühbadener Elemente im Neolithikum Mitteldeutschlands: Die Schöninger Gruppe. JungsteinSite, 10. Oktober 2006, http://www.jungsteinsite.uni-kiel.de/.

Reiter, S.

1998 Die Keramik von Bruchsal Aue. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:121-126.

Scollar, Irwin

1959 Regional Groups in the Michelsberg Culture: A Study in the Middle Neolithic of Central Europe. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, XXV:52-134.

1961 The Late Neolithic in Belgium, Western Germany and Alsace. L'Europe à la fin de l'âge de la pierre. Acte du Symposium consacré aux problèmes du Néolithique européen. Prágue-Liblice-Brno 5-12 octobre 1959, L'Académie tchécoslovaque des Sciences, Praha, 1961:519-548.

Schlichterle, H.

1998 Was sucht Michelsberg in den Ufersiedlungen des Bodensees? In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:169-176.

Schyle, D., W.-D. Becker, B. Langenbrink, J. Meurers-Balke, J. Orschiedt, U. Tegtmeier, J. Weinstock

1998 Das jungneolithische Erdwerk von Salzkotten-Obertutdorf, Kr. Paderborn: Die Ausgrabungen 1988-1992, Bodenaltertümer Westfalens 33, von Zabern, Mainz.

Steppan, K.

1998 Archäologisch Untersuchungen der Säugetiere aus den Graben der Michelsberger ‚Erdwerke’ in Bruchsal, Landkreis Karlsruhe.: Die Bedeutung der Haus- und Wildsäugetiere im Rahmen der jungneolithischen Ernährungswirtschaft in Südwestdeutschland. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:143-158.

Stika, Hans-Peter

1996 Cultivated plant remains of the late Neolithic Michelsberg Culture at Heilbronn-Klingenberg (southwest Germany) - a comparison of different features, find assemblages and preservation conditions relating to the representation of archaeobotanical remains. Vegetation History and Archaeobot 5, 1996:57-64.

Vanmontfort, Bart

2001 The Group of Spiere as a New Stylistic Entity in the Middle Neolithic Scheldt Basin. Notae Praehistoricae 21, 2001:139-143.

Vanmontfort, Bart, Christian Casseyas & Pierre M. Vermeersch

1997 Neolithic Ceramics from Spiere “De Heland” Their Contribution to the Understanding of the Earliest Michelsbergculture [sic]. Notae Prehistoricae 17, 1997:123-134.

Vermeersch, Pierre M. and Laurence Burnez-Lanotte

1998 La culture de Michelsberg en Belgique: État de la question. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:47-54.

Wotzka, Hans-Peter

1998 Zur Michelsberger Höhenlage mit Grabwerk in Ranstadt-Dauerheim, Wetteraukreis. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:85-95.

2000 Forschungen zur Siedlungs-, Wirtschafts- und Umweltgeschichte im Niddatal zur Zeit der späten Michelsberger Kultur. Berichte der Kommission für Archäologische Landesforschung in Hessen, Heft 5, 1998/1999. Kommission für Archäologische Landesforschung in Hessen 2000/5:27-39.

Zeeb, A.

1998 Die Goldberg-gruppe und das frühe Michelsberg. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:213-220.

Zápotocký, Milan

1991 Michelsberg und die relative Chronologie des Frühen und Älteren Äneolithikums in Böhmen. In Jankowska, D. (Ed.), Die Trichterbecherkultur: Neue Forschungen und Hypothesen II. Poznań, Instyitut Prahistorii Universitetu im. Adam Mickiewicza w Poznańiu Zakład Archeologii Wielkopolski IHKM PAN w Poznańiu, Poznań, Poland, 1991:127-131.

1998 Zum forschungsstand über die relative Chronologie des frühen Äneolithikums in Böhmen. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:303-302.