How was Bell Beaker economy related to Corded Ware and Early Bronze Age lifestyles? Archaeological, botanical and palynological evidence from the Hegau, Western Lake Constance region

Lechterbeck, Jutta; Kerig, Tim; Kleinmann, Angelika; Sillmann, Marion; Wick, Lucia; Rösch, Manfred

doi:10.1179/1749631413y.0000000010

Cited by 20 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The radiocarbon dates from the cemeteries of Augsburg, Hugo-Eckener-Straße, and Haunstetten, Postillonstraße clearly show a succession from latest LN to earliest EBA burials shortly after 2150 BC. This fits very well to recent radiocarbon dates for the Bell Beaker settlement of Engen-Welschingen, Guuhaslen, and its relation to our new dates for nearby Singen: the 2σ calibrated ranges of the three dates from Welschingen fall between 2490 BC and 2110 BC [ 57 ] and the EBA at Singen probably does not start before 2150 BC.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Rewriting the Central European Early Bronze Age Chronology: Evidence from Large-Scale Radiocarbon Dating

et al. 2015

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The transition from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe has often been considered as a supra-regional uniform process, which led to the growing mastery of the new bronze technology. Since the 1920s, archaeologists have divided the Early Bronze Age into two chronological phases (Bronze A1 and A2), which were also seen as stages of technical progress. On the basis of the early radiocarbon dates from the cemetery of Singen, southern Germany, the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe was originally dated around 2300/2200 BC and the transition to more complex casting techniques (i.e., Bronze A2) around 2000 BC. On the basis of 140 newly radiocarbon dated human remains from Final Neolithic, Early and Middle Bronze Age cemeteries south of Augsburg (Bavaria) and a re-dating of ten graves from the cemetery of Singen, we propose a significantly different dating range, which forces us to re-think the traditional relative and absolute chronologies as well as the narrative of technical development. We are now able to date the beginning of the Early Bronze Age to around 2150 BC and its end to around 1700 BC. Moreover, there is no transition between Bronze (Bz) A1 and Bronze (Bz) A2, but a complete overlap between the type objects of the two phases from 1900–1700 BC. We thus present a revised chronology of the assumed diagnostic type objects of the Early Bronze Age and recommend a radiocarbon-based view on the development of the material culture. Finally, we propose that the traditional phases Bz A1 and Bz A2 do not represent a chronological sequence, but regionally different social phenomena connected to the willingness of local actors to appropriate the new bronze technology.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Rewriting the Central European Early Bronze Age Chronology: Evidence from Large-Scale Radiocarbon Dating

et al. 2015

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“…Remains of cereals as well as pulses were also recovered, and agricultural activity at the site is indicated by Late Neolithic colluvium formation on the southern slopes of the hill [ 2 ]. Abundant finds of cereals, predominantly emmer, are documented at lakeside settlements from the alpine foreland [ 19 , 20 ]. At Zürich-Mozartstrasse in Switzerland cattle dominated during the CW phase, and the landscape was more open than in previous periods [ 21 ].…”

Section: The Corded Ware Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A similar opening of the landscape for grazing is also documented from Jutland, Denmark, and more widely in northern Europe [ 6 , 22 ]. For Schleswig-Holstein and SW Germany on the other hand, detailed pollen sequences suggest a heavily forested landscape [ 23 , 20 ].…”

Section: The Corded Ware Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Diet and Mobility in the Corded Ware of Central Europe

2016

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Isotopic investigations of two cemetery populations from the Corded Ware Culture in southern Germany reveal new information on the dating of these graves, human diet during this period, and individual mobility. Corded Ware Culture was present across much of temperate Europe ca. 2800–2200 cal. BC and is represented by distinctive artifacts and burial practices. Corded Ware was strongly influenced by the Yamnaya Culture that arose in the steppes of eastern Europe and western Eurasia after 3000 BC, as indicated by recent aDNA research. However, the development of CW on different chronological and spatial scales has to be evaluated. Examination of the CW burials from southern Germany supports an argument for substantial human mobility in this period. Several burials from gravefields and larger samples from two large cemeteries at Lauda-Königshofen "Wöllerspfad" and at Bergheinfeld “Hühnerberg” contributed the human remains for our study of bone and tooth enamel from the Corded Ware Culture. Our results suggest that Corded Ware groups in this region at least were subsisting on a mix of plant and animal foods and were highly mobile, especially the women. We interpret this as indicating a pattern of female exogamy, involving different groups with differing economic strategies.

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“…However, the next two archeological horizons in Europe that were dominated by pastoral populations in the east (Corded Ware) and the west (late Bell Beaker), relied on different agricultural strategies and focused on single isolated farmsteads that often did not leave a distinct signal of cultivated and gathered wild plants. In those rare instances when these settlements could be identified as in case of the Engen-Welschingen "Guuhaslen" site, a similar set of wild gathered plants has been noted that also included ruderals nettle (Urtica dioica L.), hemlock (Conium maculatum L.), white violet (Viola alba Besser), elderberry (Sambucus nigra L. and Sambucus ebulus L.), and broadleaf plantain (Plantago major L.) (Lechterbeck et al, 2014). The history of plant assemblages from graves and megalithic tombs due to intentional activities toward their putative ritual and therapeutic use is lacking.…”

Section: Early Archaeobotanical Evidence From Excavated Sitesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Celtic Provenance in Traditional Herbal Medicine of Medieval Wales and Classical Antiquity

2020

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The Celtic linguistic community dominated large spans of Central and Western Europe between 800 BC and 500 AD, but knowledge of their traditional medicine is very limited. Multiple progressive plant gains in Neolithic settlements along the Danube and up the Rhine valleys suggested that taxon diversity of gathered plants peaked at the Balkans and was subsequently reduced as crop and gathered plants packages were adopted and dispersed throughout Neolithic Europe. This process coincided with the Bronze Age migration of the R1b proto-Celtic tribes, and their herbal traditions were occasionally recorded in the classic Greco-Roman texts on herbal medicines. The provenance of Celtic (Gallic) healing methods and magical formulas as recorded by Pliny, Scribonius Largus, and Marcellus Empiricus can still be found in the first part of the medieval Welsh (Cymry) herbal manuscript Meddygon Myddfai (recipes 1-188). Although the majority of Myddfai I recipes were based on the Mediterranean herbal tradition of Dioscorides and Macer Floridus, they preserved the unique herbal preparation signatures distinct from continental and Anglo-Saxon counterparts in increased use of whey and ashes as vehicles for formulation of herbal remedies. Six plants could be hypothetically attributed to the Celtic (Welsh) herbal tradition including foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.), corn bellflower (Legousia speculum-veneris L.), self-heal (Prunella vulgaris L.), sharp dock (Rumex conglomeratus Murray), water pimpernel (Samolus valerandi L.), and river startip (Scapania undulata L.) This review provides initial evidence for traces of Celtic framework in the Welsh herbal tradition and warrants further investigations of bioactivity and clinical applications of the described plant leads.

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How was Bell Beaker economy related to Corded Ware and Early Bronze Age lifestyles? Archaeological, botanical and palynological evidence from the Hegau, Western Lake Constance region

Cited by 20 publications

References 24 publications

Rewriting the Central European Early Bronze Age Chronology: Evidence from Large-Scale Radiocarbon Dating

Rewriting the Central European Early Bronze Age Chronology: Evidence from Large-Scale Radiocarbon Dating

Diet and Mobility in the Corded Ware of Central Europe

Celtic Provenance in Traditional Herbal Medicine of Medieval Wales and Classical Antiquity

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