Mondsee Group/Culture. © The Comparative Archaeology WEB

Added December 11, 2001. Updated February 4, 2009, 14:20 -5 hours GMT.

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Mondsee Group/Culture

Version 3.01

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 European chronological table

Graph of calibrated Mondsee 14C dates

Location

Mondsee is sometimes seen as a “culture” in its own right or as a “group” within the Funnel Beaker culture/interaction sphere (TRB) of Central Europe and southern Scandinavia (cf. Ruttkay et al. 2004:54-56). The Mondsee “Group” is named after Mondsee (Moon Lake), one of three lakes near Salzburg, Upper Austria. In the area remains of “lake dwellings” (German: Pfahlbauten) have and upland sites are reported (e.g. Ruttkay et al. 2004).

Dating

Precise dating is problematic The graph of calibrated Mondsee radiocarbon dates shows a maximum range of 3800-2800 cal BC, but dates have a very large standard deviation. The four phase typology is based purely on pottery classification (cf. Ruttkay et al. 2004).

Pottery

The most diagnostic Mondsee is identified by the deeply incised “stab and drag” (German: Furchenstich) technique executed in circular designs. The designs are filled with white paste. Naturally, not all pottery is decorated.

Overall, the pottery shows affinities with the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB), but it has also been connected with Altheim ceramics and some pots are reported to exhibits similarities with the later Cham pottery (Ruttkay 1990). However, the relationship with Altheim pottery has recently been negated (cf. Ruttkay et al. 2004). Furthermore, the pottery has been grouped together with Retz and Bajč pottery found in Lower Austria, Slovakia, and adjacent regions (e.g. Dimitrijevic 1981). Finally, similarities with Lasinja culture-related pottery in southeast Austria have been observed (e.g. Ruttkay et al. 2004, Ruttkay and Pucher 2006).

Stone Tools

The ground stone axes of the Mondsee group are similar to those of the Funnel Beaker culture. This includes flat-hammer, round-butted and knob-butted axes (Ruttkay et al. 2004, Zápotocký 1992).

Copper

There is considerable evidence of copper production, including crucibles. Nonetheless, the source of the copper has been an object of discussion. The ancient copper mine of the Götschenberg could be considered as a possible source, but it was later thought to have been exploited by people with Altheim pottery. Even more recent research suggests that the Götschenberg copper mining evidence is much later than Altheim (and by extension Mondsee). Instead, the site of Brixlegg-Mariahilfbergl, near Innsbruck, Austria, may be considered as the source (e.g. Höppner et al. 2005). Unfortunately, no Mondsee pottery is known from this site, even though the mine was already exploited by people using Münchshöfen pottery, which is a western style related to the Lengyel interaction sphere.

It is suggested that Mondsee copper was exported to the northern parts of the Funnel Beaker culture (e.g. Rutkay et al. 2004).

Economy

The size of domesticated bovines suggests a western European connection, rather than a relationship with the Funnel Beaker culture. According to Pucher and Engel (1997) animal husbandry was primitive. All domestic animals were comparatively small and suffered from malnutrition. Most male calves were slaughtered shortly after birth while most cows were slaughtered as early adults. Similarly, domesticated pigs were slaughtered early. This suggests meat consumption of both species. Dogs were also consumed occasionally. On the other hand, the age distribution of sheep and goats suggests the use of dairy products and perhaps the use of wool. However, the use of wool has not been archaeologically demonstrated for Central and Northern Europe during this period (cf. Ancient Textiles).

Hunting focused on red deer and chamois, particularly during the late autumn and winter.

Domesticated plants include emmer and einkorn, barley, linen (flax), and opium poppy. Wild nuts and fruit were gathered. They include hazelnut, apple, strawberry raspberry, blackberry and black elderberry (Ruttkay et al. 2004:53).

References and Credits

Baldia, M. O.

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

Dimitrijevic’, S.

1981 Zur Frage der Retz-Gajary-Kultur in Nordjugoslawien und ihre Stelleng im pannonischen Raum. Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 61. 1980:15-91.

Höppner, B., M. Bartelheim, M. Huijsmans, R. Krauss, K.-P. Martinek, E. Pernicka and R. Schwab

2005 Prehistoric Copper Production in the Inn Valley (Austria), and the Earliest Copper in Central Europe. Archaeometry 47, 2, 2005: 293–315.

Klassen, Lutz

1997 Die Kupferfunde der Nordgruppe der Trichterbecherkultur. Archaeologische Informationen 20/1:189-93.

Klassen, Lutz and Ernst Pernicka

1998 Eine kreuzschneidige Axthacke aus Südskandinavien: Ein Beispiel für die Anwendungsmöglichkeiten der Stuttgarter Analysendatenbank. Archäologisches Korresbondenzblatt 28/1:35 - 45.

Klassen, Lutz and Stephan Stürup

2001 Decoding the Riesebusch-copper: Lead-Isotope Analysis Applied to Early Neolithic Copper Finds From South Scandinavia. Praehistorische Zeitschrift 76/1, 2001:55-73.

Obereder, J . , E . Pernicka and E. Ruttkay

1993 Die Metallfunde und die Metallurgie der kupferzeitlichen Mondseegruppe: Ein Vorbericht. Archäologie Österreichs 4/2, 1993:5-9.

Pucher, Erich and Kurt Engl

1997 Studien zur Pfahlbauforschung in Österreich: Materialien 1. Die Pfahlbaustationen des Mondsees: Tierknockenfunde. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien.

Raetzel-Fabian, Dirk

1986 Phasenkartierung des mitteleuropäischen Neolithikums: Chronologie und Chorologie. B.A.R. International Series 316, 1986.

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, Otto Cichocki, Ernst Pernicka, and Erich Pucher

2004 Prehistoric Villages on the Austrian Lakes. In Menotti, Francesco (Ed.), Living on the Lake in Prehistoric Europe: 150 Years of Lake-Dwelling Research. Routledge. London. 2004:50-68.

Ruttkay, Elisabeth and Erich Pucher

2006 Eine Siedlungsgrube mit jungneolithischer inkrustierter Keramik aus Puch-Scheibenfeld, SG und VB Hollabrunn, Niederösterreich: Neue Beiträge zur Furchenstichkeramik und zum Scheibenhenkel. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 107A, 2006:267–304.

Šmíd, Miroslav

1999 Das dritte Hügelgräberfeld der Trichterbecher Kultur im Kataster von Náměšť na Hané, Bes. Olomouc. Pravěk, Nová řada 8, 1998:115-140.

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.

Zápotocký, Milan

1992 Streitäxte des mitteleuropäischen Äneolithikums. VCH, Acta Humanoria, Weinheim.

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