Pfyn

Version 1.2

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.

Location

The Pfyn assemblage is located in South Germany and North Switzerland near Lake Constance (Bodensee). It was first delineated in the lake dwellings of Switzerland in 1854. Great preservation has lead to sensational finds. Pioneering research was published by Ferdinand Keller.

Dating (Chronological Table)

Pfyn treeing dating indicates a duration from ca. 3900 – 3400 cal BC (Billamboz 1998, Winiger 1998:178). At the village of Arbon - Bleiche 3, dated 3384-3306 BC a small fraction of Pfyn pottery shows changes that fall in line with the subsequent Horgen culture.

Evolution

Although it was originally seen as Michelsberg, Pfyn pottery is now viewed as a simplification process following the more elaborate Hornstaad pottery.

Pottery

Following Schlenker (1998) it is possibly that the occurrence of Michelsberg pottery in early Pfyn sites is due to import or some other relationship with the expanding Michelsberg sphere around Michelsberg IV/V. The Michelsberg-type pottery in question is made with sherd temper. Pfyn ceramics exhibit grit temper of crystalline granite. Pfyn fine ware is generally gray-black, while Michelsberg pottery has brown tones. Pfyn surface treatment exhibits careful hand smoothing, but only occasional burnishing. Michelsberg pottery is characteristically smoothed with tools. The pointed bottoms of the Michelsberg style contrasts with the flat bottoms of Pfyn, as do the handled jugs.

Further away from the Bodensee, towards Altheim in towards eastern Bavaria, an assemblage called Pfyn-Altheim, develops, which does not possess the full range of either assemblage. At Ödenahlen rare use of bone, wood and stone tools used to smooth pottery has been noted.

Copper

Copper smelting is documented and attributed to a connection with the Danubian Late Lengyel (e.g. Winiger 1998:178). Clay crucibles were made of local clay and tempered with organic matter, identified as the waste from thrashing (chaff). They were used for casting, but some seem to indicate use in smelting sulphide copper ore. Scientific analysis indicates that blow pipes had to be used to reach high temperatures (Maggetti et al. 1991).

Settlement and Houses

Settlements often occur in wetland areas. Relatively small rectangular houses were built more or less in rows. The villages were enclosed with a palisade. Evidence of the oldest cattle brier (or stable) has been uncovered in Switzerland.

The Swiss village of Arbon – Bleiche 3 has numerous ca. 8 by 4 m large wooden pole-built houses. They are rectilinear in shape and align with their gables (narrow end) in rows along multiple streets. Occasionally, much smaller houses were also constructed, perhaps as utility buildings.

References and Credits

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.

Billamboz, André

1998 Die jungneolithischen Dendrodaten der Pfahlbausiedlungen Südwestdeutschlands als Zeitrahmen für die Einflüsse der Michelsberger Kultur in ihrem südlichen Randgebiet. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:159-168.

Capitani, Annick de, Sabine Deschler-Erb, Urs Leuzinger, Elisabeth Marti-Grädel, and Jörg Schibler

2002 Die jungsteinzeitliche Seeufersiedlung Arbon/Bleiche 3. Archäologie im Thurgau 11, Departement für Erziehung und Kultur des Kantons Thurgau. Frauenfeld, Switzerland. 2002

Maggetti, M. D. Baumgartner and G. Galetti

1991 Mineralogical and chemical studies on Swiss Neolithic crucibles. In Ernst Pernicka and Günther A. Wagner. Archaeometry ’90. Birkhäuser. Basel, Boston, Berlin. 1991:95-104.

Schlichterle, H.

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

Strobel, Michael

1998 Diskontinuität oder Forschungslücke? Die Gruppen Aichbühl und Schussenried in Oberschwaben. In Jörg Biel et al. (Eds.) 1998:201-221.

Winiger, Josef

1998 Ethnoarchaeologische Studien zum Neolithikum Südwesteuropas. British Archaeological Reports International Series 701, Archaeopress, Oxford.

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.