Funnel Beaker Culture

It is a well‐known and geographically widespread problem in archaeozoology that the discrimination between remains of domesticated animals and their wild ancestors is not always possible. Due to an overlap in size as well as other features substantial parts of bone and teeth assemblages sometimes cannot be assigned either to the wild or the domestic form. In this paper we apply the logarithmic size index (LSI) method as a tool for discrimination between aurochs (Bos primigenius) and domestic cattle (Bos primigenius f. taurus). By comparing LSI data from definite aurochs with data from Neolithic bovids within a limited geographical area we show that the overlap of both groups is larger than previously thought.

Our analysis also shows that the LSI width values are suited for both differentiating domesticated vs. wild animals as well as sexes within the single groups. For future studies but also for correcting known results we present division lines between LSI values of aurochs and cattle. The analysed data indicates that female and male aurochs had comparable heights while the latter had a generally more sturdy physique in southern Scandinavia. We consequently expect that the investigated Middle Neolithic assemblages contain a significantly higher number of aurochs bones than previously assumed.

De senere års stærkt øgede interesse for detektorbrug blandt danske amatørarkæologer har ført til en kraftig forøgelse i indleveringen af danefæ i form af metalgenstande. Ofte når historier om spændende skattefund fra middelalderen og de metalrige perioder af oldtiden frem til nyhedsmediernes forsider. Store møntskatte og smykkefund imponerer og udlægges som et drømmeresultat af de ofte mange timers indsats med afsøgning af danske pløjemarker. Metaldetektorens længe ventede udslag kan dog også dække over noget i første omgang mere undseeligt. Noget, der ikke skinner, men som i sjældne tilfælde alligevel vidner om værdi og prestige, og som tilmed giver et indblik i en befolkning, hvis levn efter mere end 5.500 i jorden ikke længere fremstår let forståelige i nutiden. Et sådant fund er kobberøksen fra Glim.

Between August 2014 and July 2017, the Konrad Jażdżewski Foundation of Archaeological Research conducted a series of aerial surveys, which aimed to re-examine the location of the Kuyavian long barrows, known from archival sources. Over a dozen of the barrows were explored by professor Konrad Jażdżewski in the
1930s. The other ones are now completely levelled. The aerial survey was carried out on the area of the following villages : Obałki, Leśniczówka (currently Arciszewo), Lubomin, Śmieły, and Łania (c.f W. Chmielewski 1952). In the summer of 2015, a survey over the valley of the Zgłowiączka river was conducted. It encompassed the villages of Dęby Janiszewskie and Janiszewo, which according to descriptions, consisted of numerous Kuyavian long barrows. The aerial surveys in search of Kuyavian long barrows are still in progress. Until now, almost 130 flights have
been made, which resulted in nearly 7500 photographs taken. On the basis of the obtained results, it seems that the applied method is very effective. Thanks to the flights over Izbica Kujawska and Lubraniec, it was possible to locate the 17 long barrows cemeteries at Dęby Janiszewskie, Janiszewo, Leśniczówka, Lubomin, Obałki, Śmieły and Łania.The obtained results are relevant from the point of view of conservation works. As the long barrows are situated on arable land, they are gradually being destroyed and threatened with obliteration.

In 2015 werd in Oosterdalfsen een bijzonder grafveld opgegraven. Dit artikel bevat een overzicht van de eerste resultaten. Er kwamen 137 graven uit de trechterbekerperiode tevoorschijn in combinatie met de ligging van een aarden monument, een grafheuvel en een gebouwplattegrond uit dezelfde periode.

The research on cemeteries with unchambered tombs of the Funnel Beaker Culture has a long tradition in south-eastern Poland. Within the course of the twentieth century, these necropolises were recorded in the areas of Sandomierz, Lublin and Western Małopolska lands. In recent years, they have also been identified in the Rzeszów Foothills. Due to field and cabinet works, carried out by various scientific centres for many years, it was possible to gather a lot of information about this phenomenon in this Trichterbecherkomplex zone. It relates mainly to the morphology of tombs and graves and their spatial relationships. Relatively much is known about the age and sex structure of individuals buried there and accompanying artefacts. A novelty in recent times is a significant increase in data in terms of radiocarbon dates. They are some of the most crucial and desired sorts of information, explaining the time of functioning of such necropolises. This fact is particularly intriguing as for e.g. the attempt to determine time relations with over similar forms present in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian zone and the places of local settlement systems.

Although Jan Kowalczyk’s work on the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) did not particularly refer to western Lesser Poland, many of his general and detailed reflections on Neolithic archaeology can be utilized to better characterise this culture in this territory. The TRB appeared there
c. 3750/3700 BC and existed until c. 2800 BC. “Funnel Beaker” acculturation of the late Lengyel-Polgár populations could play a large part in the origins of the local branch of this culture. For many years, the TRB seemed to be scarcely represented. This notion has changed since early 1970s onwards, due to more and more intensive investigations. Currently, western Lesser Poland is perceived as an equally important region of the TRB development as other the most important ones both in Lowland and Upland zones. The local TRB communities were characterised by varied patterns of settlement and economic behaviours. These patterns were correlated withecological differences.

Niniejszy, szósty tom serii "Studia i materiały do badań nad późnym neolitem Wysoczyzny Kujawskiej", prezentuje wyniki szerokoprzestrzennych ratowniczych badań wykopalisko-wych, jakie w latach 2008 i 2009 przeprowadzono na stanowisku Janowice 2, położonym we wschodniej części Kujaw. Na obszarze ok. 4,8 hektara odkryto m.in. unikatowe relik-ty osadnictwa społeczności neolitycznych, które mają wielką istotność poznawczą. Ocena ta dotyczy przede wszystkim źródeł poświadczających zamieszkiwanie terenu stanowiska w okresie późnego neolitu. Publikacja obejmuje także źródła dokumentujące wcześniejsze fazy osadnicze w Janowicach, kiedy to obszar ów był zamieszkiwany przez najstarsze ugru-powania rolnicze. Dzięki dobremu stanowi zachowania źródeł możliwe było wykonanie szeregu analiz specjalistycznych oraz integracja ich rezultatów w wieloaspektowej i wielo-dyscyplinarnej monografii.

The following upload is the first 38 pages of a catalogue covering Neolithic finds from a 640 sq. km large area of central East Jutland, Denmark. The catalogue is 870 pages long, and at the end of the upload, you will find a link through which you can access and freely download the complete catalogue.
The East Jutland project is a settlement archaeological project that I initiated in the late 1970’es. I published an outline of the project and its theoretical background in 1982 (Settlement Systems of Early Agricultural Societies in East Jutland, Denmark: A Regional Study of Change. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 1, 197-236. After that, the project grounded to a halt due to lack of time and not least a lack of a suitable technology to handle the huge amounts of accumulating data in a satisfactory way.
After stepping back from my position at the University of Aarhus In 2006, I resumed the project. I then had the time to collect data and the knowledge to handle them within the frames of modern information technology. The data presented in the catalogue I collected between 2007 and 2017, and I am currently working on a volume that contains analyses and syntheses of the data. Meanwhile I have chosen to publish the catalogue to make the comprehensive set of data including material from several unpublished excavations available.

In recent years Neolithic enclosures have been excavated at Kignaesbakken and Torøgelgårdsvej on each side of Roskilde Fjord in Zealand, Denmark. At both sites monumental palisade constructions with several rows of palisade fences have been erected during a period of cultural diversity between 2900-2450 calBC. Finds of flint adzes suggest, that the period of use can be narrowed down to a shorter period around 2600-2500 BC. Due to the small number of artifacts recovered at the enclosures, interpretations of their function are mainly based on constructional elements. The palisaded enclosures form a diverse group of constructions separated from earlier periods' causewayed camps of Sarup type by the lack of system ditches, thereby supporting a presumed transition from a social hierarchy based on inherited power connected with the Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB) to one that is based on achieved power. The development shown by the structures is interpreted as an expression of a continually shifting hierarchical situation with an increased focus on individual status and a decline in large sacrificial ceremonies, linking the monumental constructions to ideas connected with the early Battle Axe Culture of southern Sweden (SNSK), where the closest parallels to the enclosures of Roskilde Fjord can be found.

The Neolithic settlement and land use history in
northwestern Germany is subject to detailed archaeological
and palynological investigations that
are carried out within the framework of the DFG
priority program “Early Monumentality and Social
Differentiation –the Emergence of Neolithic Monuments
and Early Complex Societies in Northern
Central Europe”. Up to now, only little is known
about the settlement structure and the environmental
conditions and changes in northwestern Germany
during the 4th and 3rd millennium BC, although
various megalithic monuments, grave mounds as
well as surface finds indicate that the area was settled
by the West Group of the Funnel Beaker and the
subsequent Single Grave Cultures. Therefore, five
local research areas were selected that bear high poenclosures, in order to shed light on the cultural
context of Neolithic societies in Northern Europe
since 4100 BC (compiled by Müller 2009; 2011).
In Northwestern Germany, the distribution area
of the west group of the Funnel Beaker Culture
(TRB) and the Single Grave Culture (EGK) is to
be investigated. Several traces were left by both cultures
in the areas between the Elbe and Ems rivers.
The most prominent features are the numerous
megalithic tombs that – at least partly – still shape
today’s landscape (Fig. 1). They have often been objects
of scientific research as their architecture and
distribution reveal regional differences in settlement
intensities and land use. In addition, a few flat graves,
hoards, and settlements with building features are
known (complied by Assendorp 1999; Kossian
2005; Laux 1995; Strahl 1990), while no causewayed
enclosures have yet been identified from the
mentioned area (compiled by Richter 2002, 3 pp.).
Therefore, this setting is ideally suited for investigations
into the Neolithic colonisation history of
the 4 th and the early 3 rd millennia BC. The research
project of the Lower Saxony Institute for Historical
Coastal Research (NIhK) commences here.
Within the project it is necessary to explore whether
the rare TRB settlement features can be considered
to be characteristic for this epoch and which
settlement pattern might be presumed. Hence, the
localisation and the extensive examination of wellpreserved
TRB and EKG settlements are of great
significance (Nösler et al. 2011). The relationships
between graves and coexistent settlements and the
existence of hierarchical structures among single
settlements and graves, respectively, are important
topics that will be addressed within the examinations.
It is also of great importance to know which natural
preconditions the Neolithic settlers had to
deal with and which climatic and ecological changes
they had to face. Palynological investigations
will give insights into these developments. A number
of further questions are to be investigated. For
example, when was the TRB established on the
Northwestern German Plain? From which cultures
(Ertebølle, Swifterband, Rössen / Bischheim) did
the TRB evolve? Which culture(s) influenced the
TRB, and what reasons were crucial for this development?
The transition from the TRB to the EGK,
including when and why it took place, will also be
analysed. The state of the art prior to the project’s
commencement and its first results shall be presented
in the following.

Central questions in the classical debate on the neolithisation of Denmark and Scania are re-formulated and tested. A transitional stage between the Ertebølle and the Funnel Beaker Cultures is outlined. Consideration is also given to C14-dates of food residues on pottery, which are demonstrated to be significantly affected by reservoir effect.
The introduction of livestock took place no later than ca. 3950 cal. BC. TRB pottery was present at the same time or a little later. Phenomena usually considered typically Neolithic, such as polished flint axes and monumental graves, were absent in the initial stages of the Neolithic. For several centuries subsequent to the introduction of farming, part of the population continued to subsist primarily on marine resources.
Three explanatory models for the introduction of agriculture are evaluated: migration, food crisis, and socio-economic competition. The original arguments in support of the first explanation are demonstrated to be false, but the model may be re-formulated as a variant of the third. The second appears to be of little explanatory relevance but has potential for future substantiation. It is suggested that the main reason for the introduction of livestock and cereals was the social prestige and personal pleasure that could be gained by those who distributed and consumed products of farming – which may have included beverages such as beer.
The introduction of cattle husbandry and cultivation is described as just one aspect of a long-term process of socio-economic transformation – a process characterised by continuous innovation and inflation of social and ritual symbols.

In: F. Koch-Heinrichs (Hrsg.), Das Ende der Steinzeit. Die ersten Bauern in der Oberlausitz. Begleitband zur Ausstellung „Das Ende der Steinzeit. Die ersten Bauern in der Oberlausitz“ vom 08.02.2020 bis 10.01.2021, Museum der Westlausitz Kamenz (Kamenz 2020) 35–49.

The discussion on the mutual relations of various elements within the Funnel Beaker culture has been on for almost half a century now. It currently involves the third generation of researchers, and it is quite likely that the next generations will still have something more to add to this exchange of views (K. Jażdżewski 1970a, p. 49). Half a century has passed since that publication and now we can only assent to the Professor and risk the statement that in the next 50 years this problem will continue to be valid. This paper is intended as an attempt to sketch answer the fundamental question defined by Jażdżewski (1970a, p. 49): The essential question is whether the northern, western and southern elements balance within the Funnel Beaker culture, or whether one of
them is dominant, prime and decisive for further development. In other words, I intend to predominantly focus on the geo-cultural significance of the communities of the Funnel Beaker culture. In parallel with the essential part of the analysis, I will make an attempt to illustrate the threads of the contemporary discourse which directly relate to Jażdżewski’s thoughts.

KulturanálevKovitýchpohárů v severočesKémpolabí (ca40.-33.stoletípř.Kr.) milanZápotocký 1. Česká skupinA kultury nálevkovitých pohárů (knp) A její teritoriální rozdělení; úkol práce 1 Kultura nálevkovitých pohárů (KNP) představuje svébytnou kulturně historickou formaci s charakteristickou strukturou materiální kultury, jejíž hlavní složky -keramika a broušené nástroje -jsou ve většině případů spolehlivě odlišitelné od předchozích i následných skupin. Interpretována je zpravidla jako polygenetický útvar formující se zhruba na přelomu 5. a 4. tis. před Kr. na rozsáhlém území severní části střední Evropy a jižní Skandinávie. Zatímco u tří ze čtyř hlavních větví KNP -severní, západní a východní, sídlících na pláních Velké evropské nížiny -je při jejich vzniku akcentován podíl mezolitické populace, při genezi jižní větve, usazené v oblastech sprašových půd, se zvažuje účast pozdně lengyelských skupin. Tomuto jižnímu vzorci odpovídá i rozsah teritoria české skupiny KNP, omezený na pás kvalitních půd v severní polovině země. Lokality KNP jsou zde soustředěné do čtyř regionů: východočeského, východostředočeského, západostředočeského a severozápadočeského. Celkový obraz doplňuje několik menších sídelních enkláv (Rakovnicko, Berounsko, Pojizeří) a lokality vysunuté do neosídlené krajiny Českolipska, Děčínska či Posázaví (Zápotocký 2008a; obr. 1). Pro naše téma je podstatné, že mezi Archeologie ve středních Čechách 17, 2013, str. 387-513 1 Práce byla dokončena s finanční podporou Grantové agentury ČR v rámci grantového projektu č. 405/10/1499. Obr. 1. Kultura nálevkovitých pohárů v Čechách (podle: Zápotocký 2008a, obr. 15), naznačeno rozdělení na regiony; obdélník -rozsah zpracovaného území jednotlivými sídelními regiony existují v tomto období, ale i později, značné rozdíly, zčásti reálné, zčásti dané stavem výzkumu. Analýza na regionální úrovni by proto měla situaci zpřehlednit, a umožnit tak porovnat vztah mezi nimi, s cílem postihnout sídelní dynamiku panující v zemi v době KNP. Naším tématem je čtvrtý ze sídelních regionů, tedy severozápad Čech, přičemž primárním úkolem je soupis a zhodnocení materiálů z jeho východní části. Geograficky jde o mapový výřez ca 70 × 50 km, zabírající Polabí od Mělníka po státní hranici včetně dolního Poohří a východního Podkrušnohoří (obr. 2; 3). Historicky a administrativně náleží většina jeho plochy k Litoměřicku a z litoměřického okresu pochází též většina dosud známých lokalit. Na JV a JZ zabírá ještě východní Lounsko a severozápad Mělnicka, na severu nálezově podstatně chudší Ústecko včetně té části Teplicka, již jsme nezahrnuli do soupisu KNP na Bílinsku (Zápotocký -Muška 1999, srv. obr. 2). Chronologicky jde o období vymezené existencí KNP ve zdejším regionu, od pozdní, schussenriedské fáze jordanovské kultury v ca 40. stol. před Kr. do nástupu klasického stupně badenské kultury, která na území SZ Čech střídá nálevkovité poháry v ca 33. stol. (srv. kap. 3.1, tbl. 1).

Denkmäler der Schnurkeramik (ca. 2800–2500 vor Chr.) in Vliněves gehören wie in der Menge, so in der Qualität zu den bedeutendsten Komplexen dieser Kultur in Böhmen. Noch dazu beschränken sich diese nicht nur auf die üblichen Gräberquellen, aber bestehen gleichzeitig auch aus zahlreicheren Siedlungsbelegen, im böhmischen Milieu durchaus nicht üblichen. Diese stammen von der Grabung des Archäologischen Instituts in Prag, die 1999 bis 2008 in der dortigen Sandgrube realisiert wurde, und welche auf einer Fläche von 70 ha durchgeführt wurde. Zwei Gräber wurden auf der Fundstelle schon an der Wende des frühen und des älteren Äneolithikums deponiert (Michelsberg-/Trichterbecherkultur; 39.–38. Jh. vor Chr.). Weitere Äneolithische Gräber von der Fundstelle gehören der Schnurkeramik (75 Gräber mit 76 Bestattungen). 26 Bestattungen gehörten den Männern (34 % von der gesamten Anzahl der 76 Bestatteten), 36 den Frauen (48 %) und 14 Bestattungen blieben nicht bestimmt (18 %). In Vliněves sind Gräber von allen drei Fundgruppen vertreten, wobei Funde der dritte (typologisch jüngste) Fundgruppe zahlenmäßig dominiert. Spuren der schnurkeramischen Siedlung oder von Siedlungen kamen in Vliněves im Prinzip auf zwei Weisen zum Ausdruck. In erster Reihe handelte es sich um Komplexe, in welchen das zuständige Material kulturell ganz dominierte, in zweiter Reihe um zahlreiche Intrusionen in anders datierten Objekten.

As one of the dominant objects of the Early and Middle
Neolithic in northern-middle Europe, megalithic monuments
are one important part of archaeological research asking for
corporate structures and social developments. The analysis
of possible social implications and the influence of megalith
building on socioeconomic features of the communities involved
in this practice can be broadened by the inclusion of
ethnographic examples. Recent megalith building activities
can be found in Nagaland, north-eastern India. These building
traditions reflect competitive behaviour and the social
representation of individuals and/ or communities. The close
connection between megalith building and »feasts of merit«
illustrates the socioeconomic meaning of this tradition. Due
to the requirement of high amounts of resources and labour
force, feasting activities and megalith building are influential
regarding the balance and development of social relations
and positions. Thus, in analysing the social implications of
megalithic constructions, an inclusion of economic and spatial
information is promising. In this study, questions dealing
with the importance of competitive behaviour, cooperation
and the possibility to detect a social differentiation resulting
from inequalities among individuals will be asked.
One of the areas with dense evidence of Funnel-Beaker
activities in Northern Germany is south-eastern Schles wig-
Holstein and north-western Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Extensive research on environmental conditions,
settlements and grave structures by various projects provides
good conditions for further analyses. An analysis of the occurrence
of various grave goods in different grave types and
a comparison of house sizes reveals no greater differences
among the data set. Hence, a social differentiation or inequality
based on unequal access to material goods and the
ability to build unusual large houses is rejected. The comparison
of megalith building traditions and the economic
productivity – as reflected by the occurrence of flint axes –
reveals interesting variation among local communities and
different regions. As a result of this study, megalithic monuments
can be interpreted as important objects of representative
and competitive character, affecting social structures of
the related communities.

In 2015 at Dalfsen (the Netherlands) archaeologists made an amazing discovery. They found a burial ground dating from the TRB-period (3000-2750 BC) comprising 141 burial pits. The TRB is dated in the last phase of
the Middle Neolithic period and is well known for its megalithic monuments which are widespread through large parts of northern Europe.
Until recently few non-megalithic burial grounds were known and the find of the Dalfsen burials created new opportunities to study the mortuary ritual in more detail. It sheds light on the social organisation of local
TRB communities in this part of the world.
The results not only provide evidence for the existence of large multi-person burial mounds during the TRB-period, but also provide intriguing evidence of continuity from this period to the period of the Corded Ware
culture – a transition now often interpreted in terms of migration.
This volume is the first scientific publication dealing with this unique site. It contains a detailed description and interpretation of the site. A catalogue in which all graves and finds are described in detail, is available separately.

The Corded Ware Culture (c. 2900–2300 BC) is found in a large area, from Russia to the Netherlands and from Scandinavia to Switzerland. Supra-regional elements include beakers decorated with cord and/or spatula imprints, battle-axes, and a funerary customs involving crouched inhumations under barrows with gender-specific placement of the body gender-specific funerary gifts.

Analysis of ceramics from well-preserved settlements from the Dutch coastal zone have provided very valuable new information on the Corded Ware chronology, social organisation, ideology, subsistence, and use of material culture. A critical review of the commonly applied chronological models shows that many of the underlying premises cannot be supported due to problems with (broad calibration and sample reliability of) 14C dates. This study shows that in the Neolithic Dutch coastal zone, the thin-walled ceramics reflect supra-regional (Corded Ware ) affiliations, whereas the medium-thick-walled and thick-walled ceramics reflect persistent regional (Vlaardingen) traditions. The beakers decorated with cord and spatula impressions were used primarily for cooking; indications for the often proposed use of alcohol (and associated rise of individualisation and elites) were not found.

It is argued in this study that the Corded Ware Culture represents an economic alliance, a dynamic totality as well as a network linking regional groups – each with a distinct economic base, material culture and ideology. These communities all participated in a vast supra-regional network that was a platform for inter-community exchanges of goods, skills, ideas and possibly people. Affiliation to this supra-regional network was a vital aspect for all regional groups involved, and membership to it was expressed by using a set of common traits. Decorated thin-walled beakers act as symbols of these supra-regional networks and thus embody both functional and ideological roles.

Based on reconstruction of the spatial context of causewayed enclosures and long barrows of the Proto-and Early Eneolithic period, we attempt to model the phenomenon of the ritual landscape in Central and North Bohemia. Discussing the purpose and meaning of the long barrows and enclosures, they are being described as funerary and religious structures related to the cult of ancestors. An alternative explanation views them primarily, in economic terms, as territorial markers delineating the areas controlled by different communities. It seems likely that both of these interpretations are valid and well characterise the true nature of such structures. Both types of monuments should not be perceived as isolated structures, but just the opposite as they are part of a pattern of regional and super-regional identity of communities and individuals. In fact, they are crucial elements of the overall system of structuring of the prehistoric landscape.

ÚSTAV ARCHEOLOGICKÉ PAMÁTKOVÉ PÉČE BRNO, V.V.I. PRAVĚK SUPPLEMENTUM 33 MIROSLAV ŠMíd nálevkovité poháry na Moravě S příspěvkem Martiny roblíčkové BRNO 2017 Vydání této publikace bylo financováno Jihomoravským krajem. Rediguje Andrea Matějíčková Recenzenti: Phdr. Miroslav dobeš, Ph.d. Mgr. Pavlína Kalábková, Ph.d. © Ústav archeologické památkové péče Brno, v. v. i.

This is a paper written for and published by the SABA International Student Conference in Bamberg 2016. It deals with the earliest emergence of wheels in Neolithic Central Europe and the Early Bronze Age in the northern Pontic areas between 3500 and 2200 BC and shows some of the results of my MA thesis about the same topic.

In my PhD thesis I aim to bridge the gap between the site-oriented reports and the general supra-regional discussions of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition through a systematic description of the material remains from the sites of the Swifterbant Culture by means of a regional study. A further focus is on the social relations between neighbouring cultures in the German Rhineland and Denmark, as it appears from the material legacy, resulting in a discussion of the nature of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in northwestern Europe from a long-term perspective.

In Windehausen konnte ein rechteckiges Grubenhaus aus dem Spätneolithikum mit einer Grundfläche von etwa 7 Quadratmetern dokumentiert werden. Das daraus stammende keramische Fundmaterial ist unverziert, es kommen doppelkonische Vorratsgefäße mit glatter Randleiste und unterrandständigen Griffleisten beziehungsweise -knubben sowie Schalen vor. Stilistisch sind Gefäßformen erkennbar, die sowohl der Salzmünder Kultur wie auch einer frühen Bernburger Kultur angehören können. Radiometrisch datiert der Befund in das mittlere Spätneolithikum (3300-3100 v.u.Z.), also in die TRB-MES-Phase IV nach J. Müller, und ist damit zeitgleich zur Salzmünder Kultur und vor der klassischen (eingliedrigen) Bernburger Kultur anzusetzen. Es wird dafür plädiert, in den thüringischen Fundstellen dieser Zeitstellung, die durch die Abwesenheit eindeutig auf die Salzmünder Kultur beschränkter Kulturmerkmale, dafür aber durch die Anwesenheit doppelkonischer Töpfe mit glatten Randleisten, Kannen mit gerillten Bandhenkeln vom Typ Oldisleben, einer ansonsten weitgehenden Verzierungslosigkeit der Keramik und der Bestattungssitte in Kollektivgräbern gekennzeichnet ist, die frühe Bernburger Kultur zu erkennen.

Short description of the causewayed enclosures, large monuments built of earth and wood, from the middle of the 5th and to the late 4th millennium BC. Based on the results of excavations at the site of Sarup in Denmark, it is suggested here that these monuments must have been constructed by a large number of people, but were originally only used for a few days. Subsequently the ditches saw repeated re-cutting with new depositions of materials. Every single ditch seems to have had its own history for hundreds of years.
It is suggested that the collective efforts in planning and building enclosures and megalithic features provided the early farmers with a collective point of reference. This was the “glue” which bound them together during the transitional period to a Neolithic way of life. The early farmers must have been organized in a cooperative way without any signs of a hierarchical structure.

This dataset comprises the core spatial and temporal structure of the 'Lifestyle as an Unintentional Identity in the Neolithic' project. The data consist of spatial and chronological information on 2,154 Neolithic settlement sites from c. 4900 to 3300 BCE in two separate regions, the eastern part of Bohemia (Czech Republic) and the Morava River basin (Czech Republic, parts of Austria and Slovakia). To gather as much data as possible, all available sources including published works, find and excavation reports in archives, museum collections and unpublished records and both existing and legacy databases were examined. The dataset is deposited at the Zenodo data repository with an open access license. There is a reuse potential in aggregating the data with data from different regions and/or time periods for various spatial and temporal analyses.