Added January 2, 2000. Updated March 20, 2009, 13:59 -5 hours GMT.
This page will be updated occasionally
to add and revise information.
The Funnel
Beaker Culture (TRB)
Version 4.15
By
Maximilian O. Baldia
(Copyright © January 2, 2000 - March 20,
2009. All rights reserved)
(Some links are under
construction and may not yet function)
Introduction
The purpose of this text is to provide a general overview of the culture for students and teachers of European Archaeology.
List of Figures
Map of North and part of Central Europe
Central and North German chronological table
The
TRB culture area and adjacent cultures
Location
The Funnel Beaker (TRB) interaction sphere is centered on the upper Oder/Odra River on the Polish/German border (Baldia 1995). It covers parts of southern Norway, southern Sweden, all of Denmark, eastern Holland (Netherland/Netherlands), northern Northwest Germany, North Germany, Central Germany, East Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, northeastern Austria, northern Slovakia and western Ukraine.
Background
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Fig. 1.
Lugged Funnel Beaker from a megalithic tomb at Totenstadt, Oldendorf, Niedersachsen, Germany (Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum; Photo: M. Baldia
1979, December 30, 2008 ©). |
Sometimes considered the first farmers of the North European Plain, the TRB is named after the characteristic ceramic beaker with a funnel shaped rim called Trichterrandbecher or simply Trichterbecher) in German. Therefore, the “culture” is called Trichterbecherkultur (TBK) in German, Tragtbægerkultur (TBK) in Danish, Trechterbeker cultuur in Dutch, Kultura pucharów lejkowatych (KPL) in Polish, and Kultura nálevkoviitých pohárů (KNP) in Czech, etc.
Describing the TRB phenomenon as a culture is to some extent a misnomer, because the large geographical area in which funnel beakers were made was occupied by many “groups” with different developmental trajectories. Some of them are considered cultures in their own right by a number of archaeologists, while others consider them (sub)groups. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to call the TRB an interaction sphere (Baldia, 1995, 2004).
Regions
The TRB is often divided into several geographical regions: North Group, West Group, Middle Elbe Group, East Group, South East Group, and the South Group. Unfortunately, this nomenclature is not very systematic. Their boundaries are geographically fuzzy and change in time. For example, the Baalberge group is part of the Middle Elbe and the South Group during the early part of the TRB.
The regional groups often consist of different (sub)groups with differing chronological phases. In addition, there are several “cultures” that exhibit stylistic similarities, but they are not always viewed as part of the TRB. These include not only the Michelsberg culture, of Germany and eastern France, but also the Altheim culture in southeastern Germany, western Bohemia and northern Austria. Likewise, the North Austrian Mondsee culture is often seen as a TRB (sub)group.
The TRB’s region of origin is a long-standing concern of European archaeologists. Different origin proposals have been debated (Baldia 1995, Chapter 3). Historically, the origin has primarily been sought in the North or the East Group.
Dating
All extremely early 14C dates from the North Group have been dismissed. The same is true for the northernmost part of the East Group. However, in Kujavia, a small part of the East Group, the extraordinarily early date from a destroyed long-barrow of Sarnowo, Włocławski, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland (Bakker et al. 1969) is commonly used to date the beginning of the TRB as early as 4455 cal. BC (e.g. Midgley 1992, Whittle 1996:195). Nonetheless, many TRB specialists, including Bakker have reservations about the Sarnowo 14C date (e.g. Bakker 2002:184, Milisauskas 2002:206). Thus, the culture probably started no earlier than 4100/4000 cal BC in a much broader region (Baldia, 1995, 2004).
In general, the TRB can be divided into an early phase (4100/4000 –
3600/3400 cal BC) and a later one (3600/3400 – 2900/2800 cal BC). However, some
researchers suggested that the later TRB may have lasted as late as
2800/2700 cal. BC in some areas
(Lanting and van der Pflicht 2000, J. Müller 2001).
Evolution
Due to the traditional preoccupation with cultural origins some early archaeologists saw the TRB as a “Nordic culture,” perhaps derived from the autochthonous Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture. Others used to assume that the TRB evolved in Poland from the Later Linearbandkeramik (LBK). Again, others have proposed a relationship with the farming communities of the Rössen-derived Bischheim culture and the subsequent Michelsberg culture of western Central Europe. Finally, a connection with the Lengyel culture or the “Lengyel-Polgár cycle” (Lengyel-Polgar sphere) of eastern and southeastern Europe is plausible.
I see the TRB as arising in a broad interactions sphere, which incorporates parts of the longstanding farming communities in Central Europe, including the Late Lengyel culture, and the Ertebølle hunter-gatherers in North and Northeast Europe during a period of highly unstable climate (M. Baldia 2004). This development would explain the many regional differences, the impetus for the development of the TRB interaction sphere and the continued relationships with contemporary cultures in the Danubian Basin.
The demise of the TRB varies by region. It probably ends the South and the South East Group around 3300/3200 cal. BC. This downfall is usually associated with the Baden culture. Around the same time, or only slightly later, the TRB is replaced by or evolves into the Globular Amphora culture in the East Group and adjacent regions to the west. In the North and West Group the TRB ends around 2900/2800 cal BC with the advent of the Single Grave/Corded Ware culture.
Pottery
The diverse TRB regions have largely been defined based on stylistic differences in pottery design and shape with emphasis on the funnel beaker (Fig. 1).
Although the pottery varies in time and space, there is an overarching unity traceable through specific pottery attributes throughout much of the TRB interaction sphere that goes beyond the funnel beaker itself (Baldia et al. 2008 a).
Economy
Domesticated cattle (bovines) predominate in most areas, but domesticated pigs were favored in of the North Group, where they were introduced at the beginning of the TRB (Edwards et al. 2007, Hartz et al. 2006). Like pigs, cattle provide meat, but they also produce milk for dairy products. Sheep and goats also provide meat and dairy products, but in addition, sheep could have provided wool (see below).
Wild and domesticated horse bones have also been found in various parts of the TRB. It is generally argued that they were most likely used for their meat, instead of riding or as draft animals. On the other hand, oxen appear to have been used as draft animals. This is illustrated by a TRB pot from Kręźnica Jara, near Lublin, Poland, (Milisauskas 2002). The pot handle was decorated with a pairs of yoked cattle. A similar pair of copper cattle is reported from Bytyń near Poznań, Poland (e.g. Vosteen 1999 Plate CVII No. 61-62). The importance of cattle in the economy seems to lead to an actual cattle cult in the second half of the TRB and the Globular Amphora culture. This is as indicated by numerous cattle burials associated with megalithic chambers (passage-graves) and burials in structures surrounded by megalithic stones.
Sheep and goats are not easily distinguishable in the archaeological record. Therefore, archaeologists often simply refer to sheep/goats. They appear to take on symbolic significance. Rams were depicted on pottery and molded in clay, especially in some parts of the South and the South East Group of Poland. For example, a ram figurine (33 cm high, 37 cm long) together with undecorated pottery were found at a site near Jordanów (Jordansmühl), Silesia, Poland (e.g. Milisauskas 1978:172). The ceramic figurine uses typical cord impressions, normally found on TRB pots, to indicate the ram’s fleece. However, in spite of occasional reports that the TRB used wool, the few remnants of textiles from Germany and the Czech Republic were made from flax (linen) (C. Baldia 2004). Spindle whorls, used to spin yarn exist primarily in the eastern and southern parts of the TRB. Only a few examples are reported at the southern edge of the North Group and as far west as the Dümmer Lake of Northwest Germany in the West Group.
The TRB is whiteness to several innovations that contribute to the development of our modern society. Concrete evidence for the first wheeled carts is indicated by wagon tracks under a megalithic long-mound in Flintbek, North Germany. Wheel symbols also appear on the large stones of some megalithic tombs of the TRB and the Wartberg culture, although they could also have been made by later cultures that reused these monuments. Ceramic decorations, such as those on the small pot from Bronocice, Poland, exhibit various wagon and wheel symbols. Around the same time pottery in the form of wagons occur in the Boleráz Phase of the Baden culture in Hungary and Austria. They were probably pulled by oxen rather than horses. This together with evidence of wooden trackways has raised questions about the likelihood of (road)ways in the TRB (e.g. Bakker 1976, 1991, Baldia 1995, 2004, Milisauskas 2002:214, Vosteen 1999). In the absence of applicable archaeological methods that can determine the existence of unpaved (road)ways, let alone date them, the notion has been vigorously opposed by many archaeologists.
Oxen may also have pulled a simple plow (ard) as indicted by furrows preserved below burial mounds in the North and East Group. The plow marks from Sarnowo, Poland, are usually considered the oldest and believed to date as early as 4455 cal. BC, but the marks and their early 14C date are debated (Milisauskas 2002:206). There is more solid evidence that that the fields were probably plowed sometime after 4100/4000 cal BC and most definitely by 3600/3400 cal BC to grow domesticated plants.
The cultivated plants of the TRB included emmer, einkorn, club wheat, barley and flax (linen). These plants originated in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East centuries earlier. Round pottery plates, similar to those of the Michelsberg culture, are seen as evidence for bread baking (Koch 1999). The flax seeds are not only edible and can also be used to make linseed oil. The fibers from retted flax stems were used to weave linen textiles (C. Baldia 2004, Baldia et al. 2008a). Wild fruits, such as apples, and nuts were also collected (Bieniek and Lityńska-Zająk 2001, Koch 1998, 1999).
Copper and flint mining occurs in the TRB. Copper was smelted and traded over long distances, while flint was mostly traded on the local and to some extent on the regional level.
Copper and Gold
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Fig. 2. Gold Ring 1, Himmelpforten, Kr. Staade, Germany (After Schlicht
1979:170 Fig. 1). |
Copper smelting is reported from the southern and southeastern portions of the TRB and the Mondsee Group. Copper was introduced into the North Group during the Nordic Early Neolithic, although a few copper artifacts from (largely?) ill defined context suggested to occur even be for the TRB in this area. There is also some evidence for the use of gold ornaments.
Enclosures/Earthworks
The function of earthworks (enclosures) is debated. They have been seen as defensive structures, ritual or trade centers, cattle corals, etc. Earthworks are often located on promontories. They consist of earth walls with outside ditches, palisades and fences. The largest number is reported from Central Germany (Elbe-Saale Group) and Moravia, Czech Republic (South Group). In Central Moravia a few enclosures exhibit stone walls (M. Baldia 2004, Baldia et al. 2008a, 2008b). In many earthworks no traces of contemporary houses have been located. However, a number have been found and excavated in the North Group, Elbe-Saale Group and the South Group.
Burials
The TRB is perhaps most famous for its megalithic tombs (Baldia 1995). Mega means big and lithic relates to stone. The “large stone” architecture consists of three main components: the mound, the chamber or grave, and the upright stones that enclose the mound. The long-mounds (long-barrows) are rectangular, trapezoidal, (nearly) square, diamond- or lozenge-shaped mounds. There are also round mounds (tumuli) and oval to kidney-shaped ones. The mounds may be made of soil, sand, clay. Some are made mostly of rocks, similar to the cairns in Ireland and Great Britain. Some may have a layer or mantel of rock. Detailed excavations reveal complex layers, designed to keep the burial dry (Hansen 1993a, 1993b). Some long-mounds are surrounded by wooden poles instead of megaliths and have wooden chambers or graves. Long-mounds of this kind are true earthen long-barrows. Unfortunately, long-mounds with a megalithic enclosure that cover wooden chambers or graves are often also called earthen long-barrows, leading to confusion.
Megalithic chamber are made of large (megalithic) stones. There are rectangular, trapezoidal, and polygonal chambers. The smallest and probably oldest chamber is called the primeval dolmen (German: Urdolmen) consist of a pair of side-stones and two end-stones that are covered by a single capstones. Later dolmen may have an entrance on top or in place of one of the end-stones. Better preserved chambers exhibit a complex entrances structure, including thresholds, doorframes and sliding gates. Some dolmen(s) with entrance also have a passage, usually consisting of one or more pairs of side-stones. In well preserved tombs the passage normally connects the chamber entrance with the edge of the mound. The presumably later passage-graves are usually larger and have the entrance on one of the chamber’s long-sides.
In addition to megalithic chambers there are various sub-megalithic chambers, wooden chambers and graves.
Treatment of the deceased bodies varies. In the North and part of the East Group the skeletons are mostly extended. In the South Group flexed interments predominate. Cremations appear throughout most regions. In Moravia and adjacent areas the Later TRB places the cremation remains into pottery “urns” which are covered by long-barrows (Baldia et al. 2001, Baldia et al. 2008a). In the West Group there are numerous well dated cremation graves without known mounds.
References and Credits
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TRB Middle Elbe Group / Baalberge
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Mondsee
Please send comments or questions to Max Baldia.