The Rössen Culture

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

In Germany a copper-using culture arose, whose type site is Rössen, Kr. Merseburg, Sachsen-Anhalt. This Central German site was excavated around the turn of the 19^th to the 20^th century by A. Götze. The location of the Rössen culture is largely west of the Lengyel interaction sphare. On the lower Oder an elongated east-west Rössen concentration of finds straddles the river. In northwest Germany Rössen finds often occur in marshes, meadows and river valleys, such as the Dümmer Lake region. This may mean that the northwestern-most sites are difficult to discover. For this reason, Schwabedissen (1979b) believed that the Rössen occupation was more intense than the archaeological data indicates. The northernmost outpost was Boberg, near Hamburg. The southern extent reached to the border of northern Switzerland.[1] Rössen overlaps with the Stroke-Ornamented pottery (Stichband Keramik or STK) between the Middle Elbe River and Upper Weser River tributaries.

Chronology

Based on the C¹⁴ dates compiled by Raetzel-Fabian (1986), Rössen probably starts between 4800/4700 cal BC and ends around 4600/4500 cal BC (Chronological Table).

Pottery

Seriation of form and decoration indicates that the pottery evolves out of Großgartach, specifically an intermediate phase called Planig-Friedberg, found in most parts of West Germany (Spatz 1996). Based on the seriation, early Rössen develops at a time when the late Stichbandkeramik (STK) still exists in Central and Southeast Germany as well as the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, the analysis of the pottery temper is minimal (Spatz 1996:40), preventing a detailed comparison of technological developments and relationships of the different pottery styles.

The heavily ornamented Rössen pottery gave way to a much less decorated style. Spatz (1996) suggests that this indicates a break (in the cultural tradition?). For example, at Hüde on the Dümmer Lake, Schwabedissen noted that the lowest layer contained Ertebølle-like ceramics with seemingly appropriate C¹⁴ dating.[2] The following layer contained Rössen-like pottery without surface decoration, which Schwabedissen believed to be similar to the Late Rössen’s Bischheim ceramics.[3] Bischheim, Michelsberg, Ertebølle and Early TRB ceramics[4] are largely undecorated.[5]

While Bischheim developed in the northwest Germany, in the South the change from the South German Middle Neolithic to the Late Neolithic (Jungneolithikum) or Epi-Rössen is marked by the appearance of Wauwil-like pottery (e.g. Spatz 1996:419).

Houses

The Rössen houses are derived from LBK long-houses. They are trapezoidal, reaching 50 m in length.

Enclosures

Villages were sometimes fortified with a stockade.

References and Credits

Baldia, M. O.

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

Raetzel-Fabian, Dirk

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

Schwabedissen, H.

1979a Zum Alter der Großsteingräber in Norddeutschland. In H. Schirnig (Ed.), Großsteingräber in Niedersachsen. Lax, Hildesheim, 1979:143-168.

1979b Der Beginn des Neolithikums im nordewestlichen Deutschland. In H. Schirnig (Ed.), Großsteingräber in Niedersachsen. Lax, Hildesheim, 1979:203-222.

1979c Die "Rosenhofen-Gruppe:" Ein neuer Fundkomplex des Frühneolithikums in Schleswig-Holstein. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt. 9/2:167-172.

Schlichterle, Helmut

1990 Siedlungen und Funde jungsteinzeitlicher Kulturgruppen zwischen Bodensee und Federsee. In Höneisen, Markus (Eds). Die Ersten Bauern 2: Einführung, Balkan, angrenzende Regionen der Schweiz. Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zürich, 1990b:134-156.

Spatz, Helmut

1996 Beiteräge zum Kulturkomplex Hinkelstein – Großgartach – Rössen: Der keramische Fundstoff des Mittelneolithikums aus dem Neckarland und seine zeitliche Gliederun. I - II. Materialhefte zur Archaeologie. Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Würtemberg. Theissverlag, Stuttgart.

Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.

[2] Not all archaeologists accept Schwabedissen's C¹⁴ based time span (cf. Menke 1989:65-66, Laux 1986).

[4] Early Neolithic I or EN I (formerly A/B), Baalberge, etc.

[5] In these cultures finger- and fingernail impressions are known. One can, therefore, stipulate a general evolutionary trend from elaborate surface decoration to minimal surface treatment through time.