Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 4, Europe

Linear Pottery

Linearbandkeramik (LBK) Culture

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD: c. 6500-6000 B.P.

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD: Follows the Western European Mesolithic tradition and precedes the Middle Neolithic period.

LOCATION: The Linear Pottery culture is distributed throughout northwestern and central Europe. Remains of the Linear Pottery culture are also found in western Ukraine, Moldova and northern Romania. Linear Pottery material is found from the Paris basin in the west to the Dnestr river in the east. In the south, Linear Pottery remains extend to the Drava (Drau) river and in the north to the mouth of the Odra (Oder) river.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Ceramics decorated

with incised or impressed lines or bands; shoe-last adzes; and long houses.

REGIONAL SUBTRADITIONS: Earliest Linear Pottery ceramics (alteste Linearbandkeramik); earlier Linear Pottery ceramics (altere Linearbandkeramik): Ackovy, Flomborn, Gniechowice styles; music note (Notenkopf) style in the Czech Republic, East Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and the western Ukraine; nonmusic note incised lines in western Germany and the Netherlands; Zeliezovce style in Moravia, Slovakia, and southern Poland; Sarka style in Silesia and Bohemia; Rubane Recent in the Paris basin.

IMPORTANT SITES: Bylany, Darion, Langweiler 8, and

Olszanica.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

Climate. Today's temperatures are 20 C lower than the mean annual temperature during the Early Neolithic period. For example, the mean annual temperature was 11.40 C in the Aldenhovener plateau of the Rhineland, Germany. Precipitation in the Linear Pottery period was 8-22% greater than today. As a result, winters were relatively mild and wetter, whereas summers were drierer.

Topography. Linear Pottery sites are usually located on or near the low-lying terraces of rivers or major streams. Most Linear Pottery settlements were located on loess or other fertile soils. Studies conducted in various regions of Germany indicate that 48-97 percent of Linear Pottery sites were located on loess soils.

Biota. The dominant vegetation was a mixed-broadleaf forest of elm, linden, maple, ash, and oak. In sandy soils and mountainous regions, conifers predominated. Through time, there was a decline in linden and oak frequencies. Linear Pottery people cleared the primary forest near their settlements to cultivate cereals. After-

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ward, secondary growth flora-wild apple, wild pear, and hawthorn-appeared around settlements.

Settlements

Settlement System. The Linear Pottery settlement system consisted of individual structures, single settlements, and settlements in a region. The size of Linear Pottery settlements varied; some were single farmsteads whereas others were hamlets and villages. Enclosures and fortified settlements were established in the western and central zones of this culture. Settlements were arranged in multisite clusters along rivers or streams. Around Strach6w in the Sle'za river basin, Silesia, there are four or five clusters of sites in a 70-km2 area. Clusters were 1.5-3.0 km apart and extended over 2-3 km areas. Most settlements were located less than 500 m from a water source. Sites located farther from a water source, such as Erkelenz-Kiickhoven in the Rhineland and Asparn in Austria, had wood-lined wells. Settlements were located on level terrain or terrain with a slight gradient. There is some specialization among Linear Pottery settlements. Sites located near sources of flint and stone specialized in producing those products for export.

Housing. A Linear Pottery settlement consisted of 1-10 or more contemporary long houses. Approximately 2000 Linear Pottery long houses were excavated. The length of these structures varies from 7-45 m, and their width ranges from 4-7 m. They were 4 m high and usually oriented northwest-southeast or north-south. Frames were built of five rows of wooden posts, two exterior and three interior. Walls were constructed of wattle and daub, and roofs were gabled. Most houses were constructed of oak and could have lasted 25-40 years. An estimated 3,900 person-hours were required to erect one 45-m-long, 7-m-wide structure at Bylany, in the Czech Republic. Typical long houses had a tripartite internal division: a northern, middle, and southern section. Probably the middle area was used for living and the southern section for storage. The function of the northern area is unclear. Some Linear Pottery structures consisted of bipartite houses with north and middle

sections; there were also single unit structures consisting of only the middle section. The later phase settlements occasionally had one tripartite long house; the remaining structures consisted of bipartite and single unit houses. The extremely long long houses were probably functionally different from other structures. They may have been used for communal and/or ritual activities or as dwellings for the most important person of the village. Various pits were dug around long houses. At Vaihingen in western

Germany, the settlement was divided by a fence, which suggests a division of households into separate social units or wards.

Population, Health, and Disease. Population estimates for Linear Pottery settlements range from several to over 200 people. At Bylany, in the Czech Republic, 141 long houses belonging to 25 occupational phases were excavated, which is approximately 6 houses per phase. In the Netherlands, the population of individual settlements ranged from 60 to over 200. Cemetery data suggest that the site of Elsloo had a population of 85, but domestic architecture suggests that populations for the different occupational phases ranged from 72-216. Regional populations varied in central Europe. For example, there were 4.1 persons per km2 in the Bronocice region of Southeastern Poland with a total of 1300 people per occupational phase, whereas in the Lower Rhine Bay area, it was only 1.45 persons per km2. The latter increases to 16.7 persons per km2 if only the loess lands are included in the calculation. Cemetery data from Nitra, Slovakia, indicate that life expectancy was low for the Linear Pottery people. Of 73 individuals, only 9 reached the age of 50. Women between the ages 15 and 30 had a high death rate. Burial data from Bavaria indicate an average age at death for adult women of 34 years and for men 40 years. Childbirth probably ended the lives of many women. There is an underrepresentation of children in cemeteries. Child mortality was high in preindustrial societies; thus 50 percent of Linear Pottery population died before 15 years of age. East German data show that women were 149-164 cm in height (average 157 cm), whereas men were 158-176 cm tall (average 166 cm).

Economy

Subsistence. Linear Pottery culture economic organization can be viewed at three levels: household, interhousehold, and intervillage. The clusters of Linear Pottery sites in a small region probably represent economic cooperative units. Fortifications and enclosures indicate that households and villages could be organized for major communal tasks. Linear Pottery people practiced horticulture, raised livestock, hunted, fished, and gathered wild resources. They practiced fixed-plot horticulture. Cultivated fields were located within 1 km of the settlements. The most popular cereal cultivated by the Linear Pottery people was emmer wheat. Plant foods probably made up at least 65 percent of the diet. Hunting played a minor role in the economy; typically no more than 10 percent of the faunal

assemblage at a site can be assigned to wild species. In the Aisne valley of northern France, wild animals make up 5-20 percent of the faunal assemblage.

Wild Foods. The Linear Pottery people exploited a wide variety of wild resources, including berries, honey, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, hazelnuts, acorns, aurochs, deer, wild pigs and other ungulates. Carp, sturgeon, wild goose, and wild duck remains provide evidence for fishing and the exploitation of waterfowl. Wild plants could have been used for food, oil, fiber, fodder, medicine, or construction purposes.

Domestic Foods. The Linear Pottery people raised domestic cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and dogs. Cattle were the most important source of meat for human consumption, although at some sites, the bones of sheep/ goat or pig predominate. The Linear Pottery people cultivated emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, barley, oats, flax, lentils, and peas. Poppy, a nonlocal plant that originated in the western Mediterranean basin, has been found at some sites. It is unclear whether it was cultivated or occurred as a crop weed.

Utensils. Ceramic and flint artifacts are the most common materials recovered from Linear Pottery sites. Bone artifacts, such as awls, spoons, or spatulas, might be more common were it not for the high acidity of loess soils. Bone artifacts only preserved are in calcareous loess. Obsidian artifacts occur in Hungarian, Slovakian, and southern Polish sites. End scrapers, retouched blades and flakes, borers, sickle blades, and burins are among the flint tools most frequently found. Grinding stones are found at various sites. Clay spindle whorls were recovered at some sites used for textile production. Ceramics consist of two types, fine and coarse. Most vessels are bowls fired at low temperatures, 700-800° C. Some were decorated with incisions, impressions, or applied pieces of clay. Incised pottery sometimes has painted ornamentation.

Ornaments. Necklaces were made of Spondylus shell, animal teeth, or stone beads. Spondylus shell was also used for armbands and buckles. Red ocher is found in some graves, suggesting that it was used for body decoration.

Trade. The presence of artifacts made of nonlocal materials, including flint, stone, obsidian, radiolarite, pottery, and Spondylus shell, indicates that the Linear Pottery people traded with other communities. The habitat of shellfish of the genus Spondylus is the Mediterranean, especially the Aegean and Adriatic seas.

Linear Pottery 193

Radiolarite from the Bakony mountains in Hungary was traded within the Carpathian basin.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. Many archaeologists speculate from ethnographic analogy that Linear Pottery society was matrilocal and perhaps even matrilineal. In the recent past, long houses were frequently associated with matrilocal and bilocal societies.

Political Ol'ganization. Linear Pottery society is usually viewed as egalitarian, with individual settlements politically autonomous. Settlements in clusters may have been connected by kinship or common membership in non-kin associations. Status differences were based on age and sex, as reflected by the distributions of artifacts found in burials. More recently, Milisauskas has argued for the presence of big men or charismatic leaders. Some archaeologists argue that Linear Pottery societies were hierarchically organized and nonegalitarian. Van de Velde sees social inequality in Northwestern Europe, whereas Modderman suggests that there was an increase in inequality over time.

Conflict. Fortifications constructed of wood and earth, mainly in the western zone of the culture area, demonstrate that conflict occurred during the Linear Pottery period. Two types of fortifications were built: enclosures of an entire settlement and fortifications located near settlements. Enclosed areas usually range from 0.5- 4.0 ha in area. At Langweiler 8 in western Germany, three ditches enclose an area over 5,000 m2. No evidence for houses was found inside this area. At K6In-Linden- thai in Germany and Menneville in northern France, fortifications encircled long houses. An oval area, roughly 6 ha in area, formed the enclosure at Menneville. This extremely large defensive work had gaps or entrances, usually less than 5 m wide, in the ditch system. The V-shaped ditch was 1.7-2.5 m deep and had remains of post molds at the bottom. Most fortifications belong to late Linear Pottery; however, an irregular ditch, 170 m long, belonging to an early phase, was excavated at Eilsleben in eastern Germany. Some archaeologists interpret various enclosures as kraals or ritual places. The enclosures were possibly used for various purposes. They may have protected local inhabitants; furthermore, domestic animals such as cattle could have been kept inside the enclosures. Projectile points for fighting or hunting are found in the western Linear Pottery zone. At Talheim in Germany, a mass grave was found containing over 30 men, women and children;

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most of them were killed by ax blows to the head. Other Linear Pottery settlements with evidence of conflict are Schletz in Austria and Herxheim in Germany.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Death and Afterlife. At least 2000 excavated burials have been attributed to the Linear Pottery culture. The majority are inhumations, although cremation was also practiced. The largest cemetery, Wandersleben-Gotha in Thuringia, Germany, yielded 175 inhumations and 123 cremations. But at Niedermerz in the Rhineland, only 6 out of 102 burials were cremations. Most graves contain only one individual. Burials are found in settlements and specialized cemeteries, the latter reflecting the importance of communal identity. The largest cemeteries such as Nitra in Slovakia and Aiterhofen-Odmuhle, Niedermerz, and Vaihingen in Germany, each have from 70 to over 200 burials. At Vaihingen, an abandoned ditch and pits near the ditch belonging to an early occupation were used by later occupants as a burial area. Large cemeteries are rarely found in various regions of Linear Pottery. Most individuals were buried in a flexed position with their heads oriented toward the east. Approximately 60 percent of the graves contain burial goods, including pottery vessels, adzes, flint tools, red ocher, and necklaces made of shell or stone beads. At Nitra, 10 of the 23 (45 percent) females had no burial goods whereas only 6 of 27 (25 percent) males were without any offerings. There is regional variability in the gender-specific association of grave goods. Nonetheless, arrowheads are usually associated with males as hunters and possibly warriors. The placement of Spondylus shell ornaments in graves reflected a higher or different status of the deceased. The rare finds of exotic vessels and human figurines at Linear Pottery sites are probably associated with rituals.

Suggested Readings

Bach, A. (1978). Neolithische Populationen im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet.

Weimar: Weimarer Monographien zur Urund Fruhgeschicte. Bakels, C. C. (1978). Four Linearbandkeramik Settlements and Their

Environment: A Paleoecological Study of Sittard, Stein, Elsloo, and Hienheim. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia II.

Bogucki, P. (1988). Forest Farmers and Stockherders: Early Agriculture and Its Consequences in North-Central Europe. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Bogucki, P., and R. Grygiel (1993). "The First Farmers of Central Europe." Journal of Field Archaeology 20: 399-426.

Coudart, A. (1989). "Tradition, Uniformity and Variability in the Architecture of the Danubian Neolithic." In Bylany Seminar 1987, ed. J. Rulf. Prague: Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, 199-231.

Gregg, S. A. (1988). Foragers and Farmers: Population Interaction and Agricultural Expansion in Prehistoric Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gronenborn, D. (1999). "A Variation on a Basic Theme: The Transition to Farming in Southern Central European," Journal of World Prehistory 13: 123-210.

Hachem, L. (1995). "La Representation de la chasse dans les espaces villageois rubanes de la vallee de l'Aisne (France)." Anthropozoologica 21: 197-205.

Hachem, L., Y. Guichard, J.-P. Farruggia, J. Dubouloz, and M. Ilett (1998). "Enclosure and Burial in the Earliest Neolithic of the Aisne Valley." In Understanding the Neolithic ofNorthWestern Europe, ed. M. Edmonds and C. Richard, Glasgow: Cruithne Press, 127-140.

Hiiusser, A ed. (1998). Krieg oder Frieden? Herxheim vor 7000 Jahren.

Herxheim

Howell, J. M. (1983). Settlement and Economy in Neolithic Northern France. BAR International Series 157.

Luning, J. (1998). "L'organisation regionale des habitats rubanes: sites centraux et sites secondaires (groupements de sites)". Anthropologie et Prehistoire 109: 163-185.

Jeunesse, C. (1997). Pratiques funeraires au Neolithique Ancien: Sepultures et necropoles danubiennes 5500--4900 avo J.-c. Paris: Editions Errance.

Kaufmann, D. ed. (1990). Jahresschrift fur Mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte, 73 (this issue is devoted to Neolithic fortifications and enclosures).

Krause, R. (1998). "Bandkeramischen Siedlung mit Grabenwerk".

Archiiologie in Deutschland 4: 6-11.

Krause, R. (I 999). Die bandkeramischen Siedlungsgrabungen bei Vaihingen an der Enz. Kreis Ludwigsburg (Baden-Wurttemberg).

Mainz: Berichte der Romisch-Germanischen Kommission 1998. Kruk, J. (1980). The Neolithic Settlement of Southern Poland. Oxford:

BAR International Series 93.

Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa, A. (1997). Strach6w, osiedla neolitycznych rolnik6w na Slsku. Wrodaw: WERK.

Lenneis, E. (1995). "Altneolithikum: Die Bandkeramik". In Jungsteinzeit im Osten Osterreichs, ed. E. Lenneis, C. Neugebauer-Maresch, and E. Ruttkay. St. PoIten-Vienna: Niederosterreichisches Pressehaus, II-56.

Luning, J. (1997). "Wohin mit der Bandkeramik? Programmatische Bemerkungen zu einem allgemeinem Problem am Beispiel Hessens". In Chronos, ed. C. Becker, M.-L. Dunkelmann, C. MetznerNebelsick, H. Peter-Rocher, M. Roeder, and B. TerZan. Espelkamp: Marie Leidorf, 23-57.

Mattheusser, E. (1991). "Die geographische Ausrichtung bandkeramischer Hiiuser." In Studien zur Siedlungsarchaologie. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, 3-49.

Milisauskas, S., and J. Kruk (1984). "Settlement Organization and the Appearance of Low Level Hierarchical Societies during the Neolithic in the Bronocice Microregion, Southeastern Poland." Germania 62: 1-30.

Milisauskas, S., and J. Kruk (1989). "Neolithic Economy in Central Europe". Journal of World Prehistory 3: 403-446.

Modderman, P. J. R. (1970). Linearbandkeramik aus Elsloo und Stein.

Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 3.

Modderman, P. J. R. (1988). "The Linear Pottery Culture: Diversity in Uniformity". Berichten van de Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek 38: 63-139.

Nieszery, N. Linearbandkeramische Graberfelder in Bayern. Espelk-

amp: Marie L. Leidorf.

Pavlik, J. (1972). "Neolithisches Griiberfeld in Nitra". Slovenskti Archeol6gia 20: 5-106.

Rulf, J. ed. (1987). Bylany: Seminar 1987. Prague: Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

Sherratt, A. (1997). Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe: Changing Perspectives. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Startin, W. (1978). "Linear Pottery Culture Houses: Reconstruction and Manpower." Proceedings ofthe Prehistoric Society 44: 143-159.

Veit, U. (1992). "Burials within Settlements of the Linienbandkeramik and Stichbandkeramik Cultures of Central Europe: On the Social Construction of Death in Early-Neolithic Society." Journal of European Archaeology I: 107-140.

Velde, P. van de (1979). On Bandkeramik Social Structure. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 12.

Velde, P. van de (1990). "Bandkeramik Social Inequality-A Case Study". Gerrnania 68: 19-38.

Wahl, J., and H. G. Konig (1987). "Anthropologisch-traumatologi- sche Untersuchung der menschlichen Ske!ettreste aus dem bandkeramischen Massengrab bei Talheim, Kr. Heilbronn." Fundberichte aus Baden-Wurttemberg 12: 65-186.

Whittle, A. (1996). Europe in the Neolithic: The Creation of New Worlds. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Wind, H. (\996), "Archiiologie einer Katastrophe und deren Vorgeschichte". In Ratsel um Gewalt und Tod vor 7,000 Jahren, ed. by H. Windl, Ausstellung im Museum fUr Urgeschichte Asparn a.d. Zaya, pp.7-29.

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Cultural Aspects

The economy was based on cereals and domesticated animals. The population varied over the phases of occupation (Soudsky and Pavlu 1972). For example, there were seven long houses during the light green phase. If 10 families occupied these long houses, then the population of the entire settlement ranged from 35-70 people, depending on how many persons are assigned to a single family.

References

Pavhi, I., J. Rulf, and M. Zapotocka (1986). "Theses on the Neolithic Site of Bylany." Pamatky Archeologicke 77: 288-412.

Soudsky, B. (1962). "The Neolithic Site of Bylany." Antiquity 36: 190-

200.

Soudsky, B., and I. Pavlu (1972). "The Linear Pottery Culture Settlement Patterns in Central Europe." In Man. Settlement and Urbanism, ed. P. J. Ucko, R. Tringham, and G. W. Dimbleby. London: Duckworth, 327-328.

SITES

Bylany

TIME PERIOD: 6500-6000 B.P.

LOCATION: Bylany is located in the eastern part of central Bohemia, the Czech Republic, in a basin at the confluence of the Bylanka stream and three nameless tributaries (Pavhl et al. 1986 Soudsky 1962).

Physical Features

Brown earth on loess is the most common soil in the settlement area. Surface material at Bylany is found over a very large area, 85 ha. The Neolithic settlement area was divided into five microareas, Bylany 1-5, which are separated from one another by streams, ravines, or marshland. Bylany 1 covers 30 ha and was divided into eight sections (A-H). It was here that an approximately 7-ha area was excavated (Pavlu et al. 1986). At anyone time, settlement size ranged from 1-2 ha. Over 140 long houses were excavated at Bylany: 134 houses at Bylany 1 or the southeastern part and 7 at Bylany 4 or the northwestern part. In Section A, there were 22 houses per 1 ha, and in section B, 28 houses per hectare. Most occupational phases had one large long house. Pits, silos, and ovens associated with one house were defined as building complexes.

Darion

TIME PERIOD: 6300-6100 B.P.

LOCATION: Darion is located in the Geer valley in Northeastern Belgium.

Physical Features

Darion is an example of a fortified Linear Pottery settlement. (Cahen et al. 1990; Keeley and Cahen 1989). Inside an enclosed area of 1.6 ha were four long houses and a large empty expanse. Luning (1998) estimates approximately 20 long houses at Darion and suggests that erosion destroyed the evidence of postmolds in large parts of the site. A V-sectioned ditch, 1.5-2.5 m deep, surrounded the settlement inside which was a palisade, 400 m in circumference, with three gaps presumably serving as gates.

Cultural Aspects

The adult population was estimated to be only 35. It was impossible for 35 people to defend a 400-m-long palisade; 80-100 were required. Perhaps there was mutual cooperation among the nearby Linear Pottery settlements, and additional defenders originating from other Linear Pottery settlements helped defend the

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fortification. According to Keeley and Cahen, constructing the fortification involved approximately 1650 person-days. For 35 adults, this translates into 48 workdays. Perhaps regional populations helped build the fortification. Keeley and Cahen suggest that the fortifications most likely served for protection against local Mesolithic hunters and gatherers. The hostile actions of foragers may have served as a catalyst to building the fortifications.

References

Cahen, D., L. H. Keeley, I. Jadin, and P.-L. van Berg (1990). "Trois Villages fortifies du Rubane Recent en Hesbaye liegoise." In Rubane et Cardial, ed. D. Cahen and M. Otte. Liege: 125-146.

Keeley, L. H., and D. Cahen (1989). "Early Neolithic Forts and Villages in NE Belgium: A Preliminary Report." Journal of Field Archaeology 16: 157-176.

Langweiler 8

TIME PERIOD: 6400-6000 B.P.

LOCATION: Langweiler 8 is located on the left bank of the Merzbach stream in the Southeastern part of the Aldenhovener plateau in Rhineland, Germany (Luning 1982).

Physical Features

Langweiler 8 was the largest Linear Pottery settlement in the region; it was continuously occupied for 400 years (Stehli 1989). Neighboring settlements were smaller and occupied for shorter periods. Langweiler 16 and Laurenzberg were single farmsteads, and Langweiler 2, Langweiler 9 and Laurenzberg 7 were hamlets consisting of two or three long houses (Boelicke et al. 1988). There were 14 occupational phases at Langweiler 8. The initial phase settlement occupied an area of roughly 1 ha and had three long houses. By phases, VI, VII, and VIII, the settlement area had increased to 6-7 ha and the number of long houses ranged from 9-11. During the last three phases, there was a decrease in the size of the settlement, to 2.5-3 ha, and the number of structures ranged from 7 to 4. In the last phase, the settlement had a ditched enclosure. The presence of the cortex on many flint artifacts suggests to Zimmermann (1995) that Langweiler 8 was a center of lithic artifact production and distribution for the region. Boelicke et al. (1988) utilized pits and individual houses at Langweiler 8 to define

activity areas of 25 m radius around long houses. Boelicke suggests that the northern area was associated with lithic artifacts.

Cultural Aspects

A variety of domesticated and wild plants was utilized by the Langweiler 8 people. Emmer and einkorn wheat were the most commonly cultivated cereals. Peas and flax were also cultivated. The list of wild plants recovered at Langweiler 8 is quite long: goosefoot, rye brome, black bindweed, nipplewort, sorrel, pink persicaria, vetch, and cleavers. Charcoal remains and seeds indicate that wild fruit trees, such as apple, were widely exploited. The preservation of animal bones was poor at Langweiler 8. The small sample of faunal data indicates that cattle were important in the subsistence strategy.

References

Boelicke, U., et al. (1988). Der bandkeramisehe Siedlungsplatz Langweiler 8, Gemeinde Aldenhoven, Kreis Diiren, vols. 1 and 2. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt.

Liining, J. (1982). "Research into the Bandkeramik Settlement of the Aldenhovener Platte in the Rhineland". Analeeta Praehistorica Leidensia 15: 1-29.

Stehli, P. (1989). "Merzbachtal-Umwelt und Geschichte einer Bandkeramischen Siedlungs-kammer". Germania 67: 51-76.

Zimmermann, A. (1995). Austausehsysteme von Silexartefakten in der Bandkeramik Mitteleuropas. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt.

Olszanica

TIME PERIOD: 6400-5900 B.P.

LOCATION: Olszanica lies on the southern edge of the Cracow-Czestochowa plateau in southeastern Poland. The site is located on a loess elevation above the floodplain of the Rudawa river, a left-bank tributary of the Vistula, which joins that river in the city of Cracow (Milisauskas 1986).

Physical Features

Olszanica lies at the western edge of the CracowMiechow loess concentration. Brown-earth soil covers the site. 01szanica is one of the largest Linear Pottery sites. The surface distribution of flint artifacts covers 50 ha. There are different occupational phases at Olszanica; thus at a single period only a portion of the site, 1

or 2 ha, was occupied. The total area excavated at Olszanica was 1.5 ha, which yielded 19 long houses (Milisauskas 1986; Milisauskas and Kruk 1993). They vary in size, construction, chronology, and probably function. The long houses were constructed of oak. They range in length from T--41.5 m, and their width varies from 4.75-7 m. Their average length was 17.2 m. Several long houses made up the community at a single period.

Cultural Aspects

Milisauskas (1986, 1989) analyzed the distribution of artifacts, features, and houses at Olszanica to define the specific activity areas in the settlement and individual structures. Some activities were spatially segregated by gender. For example, the different flint artifact frequencies in the eastern and western sides of the long house may reflect gender specialization of labor. Most end scrapers occur in the eastern side. They were used for hide and skin work, and perhaps this task was performed by women. Two pits in one excavation unit contained remains of ovens. Baked clay wads were found in oven pits. Richard Ford (1986) suggests that they were used for cooking, perhaps pit baking of food. Emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, spelt wheat, barley, millet, and oats were recovered. Wheat was the most frequently found domesticated plant. No animal bones were preserved at Olszanica. However, analyses of animal bones from neighboring Linear Pottery sites indicate that a wide range of domesticated and wild animals was exploited by these people. Cattle is the most frequently found domesticated animal. Pig is usually the next most frequently found domesticated animal. Sheep/ goat remains were also found. Some of the most frequently hunted animals are wild horse, red deer, roe deer, and wild pig.

Olszanica is located close to a Jurassic flint source. This site has yielded the largest sample of flint artifacts of any Linear Pottery site in central Europe. Over 42,000 flint artifacts were found in the excavated area of 1.5 hectares. There is evidence that the Linear Pottery

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people mined flint at Olszanica and exported it to other settlements in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic (Lech 1989). It was possible to measure the amount of the flint exported from Olszanica. The relative quantity of the Jurassic blades exported from Olszanica was estimated by the blade to core ratio. It was estimated that 16 flint blades were produced per core at Olszanica. Furthermore, it was assumed that 4 (25 percent) of the 16 blades were exported from Olszanica. Nonlocal products are found at Olszanica: ceramics, "chocolate" colored flint, stone and obsidian artifacts. For example, obsidian and most of the imported pottery came from Slovakia and Hungary. Approximately 80 percent of Olszanica's polished stone tools are made of a stone from the amphibole group; the closest source of this material is in Silesia.

References

Ford, R. I. (1986). "The Archaeobotany of Olszanica. Poland." In

Early Neolithic Settlement and Society at Olszanica, Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology. no. 19. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 261-262.

Lech, J. (1989). "A Danubian Raw Material Exchange Network: A Case Study from Bylany." In Bylany Seminar 1987, ed. J. Rulf. Prague: Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, 111-120.

Milisauskas, S. (1986). Early Neolithic Settlement and Society at Olszanica. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology, no. 19. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.

Milisauskas, S. (1989) "Specialized Activity Areas at Olszanica." In Bylany Seminar 1987, ed. J. Rulf. Prague: Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, 233-242.

Milisauskas, S., and J. Kruk (1993). "Archaeological Investigations on Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites in Southeastern Poland." In Case Studies in European Prehistory, ed. P. Bogucki. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 63-94.

SARUNAS MILISAUSKAS

Department of Anthropology

University at Buffalo

State University of New York

Buffalo, New York

United States

Magdalenian

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD: 18,000-11,000 B.P.

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD: Last tradition of the European Upper Paleolithic, follows the Solutrean tradition, precedes the Mesolithic traditions of Europe.

LOCATION: Western Europe, from northern Spain to Poland, but concentrated in France, Spain, Belgium, and Germany.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: A distinctive set of

typologically defined tools, based on prepared core blade production, including numerous blacked bladelets, dihedral burins, burins on truncations, end-scrap- ers on blades, perJoirs, and bees. An elaborate bone tool technology, including beveled sagaie bone points, singleand double-row barbed harpoons, and eyed needles. Production of mobiliary art on utilitarian and nonutilitarian objects, including animal, human, and geometric motifs, and of parietal art, including many of the celebrated painted caves of Southwestern France.

REGIONAL SUBTRADITIONS: Paris Basin, Perigord, Pyre-

nees.

IMPORTANT SITES: G6nnersdorf, Pincevent, La Madeleine.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

Climate. The Magdalenian occurred during the final phases of the Pleistocene, following the Glacial Maximum about 18,000 B.P. Dynamic oscillations of glacial advance and retreat resulted in major changes during the Magdalenian period, although the climate can be characterized as predominantly cool to cold. Precipitation was generally very low, as much of the world's water was locked up in the continental glaciers. It must be realized that the climatic periods listed below are considered time-transgressive, that is, the actual dates of climatic and environmental changes vary from region to region, according to location and proximity to the major glacial phenomena. Warming events and interstadials were felt first in the southern regions and only later in the northern regions. This is further complicated during the Magdalenian by the notorious "radiocarbon plateau," which yields equivalent dates for a couple of thousand years (c. 13,000-11,000 B.P.) at the end of the Magdalenian period, when significant climatic oscillations (stadials and interstadials) were occurring. In general, the Lascaux interstadial, about 17,000 B.P., marks the beginning of the Tardiglacial, when the earliest Magdalenians appeared in the Perigord region. The Dryas I stadial marks a return to cold glacial climate, beginning about 16,000 B.P. It is followed by the temperate B0lling

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interstadial, beginning about 13,300 B.P. The Dryas II, about 12,300 B.P., is a very brief cold period. Finally, the Aller6d, beginning about 11,800 B.P., is a relatively long temperate period during which other cultural traditions began to supplant the Magdalenian, and which marks the end of the Pleistocene.

Topography. The Magdalenian settlements occurred over a wide variety of geological and topographic settings, from the deeply incised limestone valleys of the Perigord to the relatively open and exposed river valleys of the loess plains of northern Europe. The Magdalenian is characterized by a pioneering expansion out of the core area of the Perigord. During the extreme glacial conditions, much territory previously occupied by earlier Upper Paleolithic traditions had been abandoned. The Upper Paleolithic and earliest Magdalenian seem to have been concentrated in the sheltered valleys of the Perigord, which featured numerous caves and rock shelters. As climatic conditions ameliorated after the Dryas I, Magdalenians moved south into the Pyrenees and northern Cantabrian Spain, north into the Paris Basin, Belgium, and the Rhine valley, and east into the valleys of the Jura in Switzerland and Germany.

Geology. Magdalenian settlement was constrained by the presence of continental ice sheets to the north and by more localized mountain glaciers in the Alps and Pyrenees. This is a diverse region of loess plains in the north, high mountains in the south, and dissected limestone basins and plateaus between. The limestone and chalk bedrock of much of Europe offers rich resources of high-quality flint.

Biota. The flora and fauna during the cold periods, which are best represented in the archaeological record, are consistent with a steppe tundra, a biotype of midlatitude cold climate that does not have a proper analog in current climates. Pleistocene biomes can be characterized as "plaids" including a consistent but rich mixture of species that is not found together in today's latitudinally or altitudinally "striped" environmental zones. The steppe tundra featured open grasslands, including artemesia and grasses, with sparse wooded zones, including relatively small willow, scotch pine, and birch along watercourses or in protected valleys. Fauna included big game herd species, principally reindeer and horse in the faunal assemblages of many archaeological sites, but also ibex and chamois in the mountain sites. Large bovids, bison and aurochs, figure prominently in cave art motifs, as do mammoth and woolly rhinoceros. Smaller faunal species are consistent with cold steppe

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environments, including Arctic hare and fox, collared lemmings, and Arctic ground squirrels.

Settlements

Settlement System. Mobile or nomadic hunter gatherers may leave a varied signature across the landscape. Both preservation and archaeological sampling probably bias the archaeological record of the Magdalenian. The history of prehistory began in the Perigord, where deeply stratified cave mouths and rock shelters have attracted both prehistoric hunter gatherers and modern prehistorians. Thus those sites that yielded long stratigraphic sequences indicated by qualitative and quantitative changes in stone tool typology dominate the archaeological record in the literature. More recent investigations have demonstrated the information potential of open-air sites in other regions, when preservation has permitted analyses of faunal remains and spatial configurations. The cave and rock shelter sites may frequently have represented longer-term or multiseasonal residential sites. Some of them may have served as aggregation locations, where dispersed groups could have come together for ritual and social purposes. The open-air sites in other regions appear to have more restricted seasonality and were likely to have been shorter-term seasonal camps of mobile groups exploiting a variety of resources across fairly large regions.

Community Organization. Magdalenians left a wide variety of small-scale archaeological sites across the landscape. The visibility of community organization depends on the geological context and archaeological investigation of the sites. Cave and rock shelter sites are physically constrained by the walls and roofs; their excavation has often been concentrated on vertical stratigraphy rather than by horizontal expanse. Open-air sites are spatially unrestricted and, when excavation procedures have been concentrated on spatial structure, have yielded a variety of campsite organizational patterns consistent with the variety of modern hunter gatherer campsites. Short-term hunting camps, longer seasonal occupations at residential sites, and lithic raw material procurement and exploitation sites have been identified.

Housing. Nomadic hunters have not invested heavily in permanent settlements or architecture. The majority of sites in the Perigord occur in cave mouths and rock shelters, which provide sufficient shelter without constructed housing. Internal features depend on the spatial layout of the natural setting and generally consist of hearths, flint-knapping areas, and trash dumps. In open-

200Magdalenian

air sites, the situation is quite different. Housing is rarely preserved to any extent and must be inferred from the presence and distribution of other artifactual remains. In the Isle valley, rectangular to oval distributions of pebbles and cobbles have been interpreted as temporary house floors. The concept of "negative evidence" has been utilized to infer tent locations at Pincevent, where neither post molds nor architectural remains were present. Slightly more substantial circles of stones around hearths suggest tent bases at Etiolles and Gonnersdorf. It is probable that these tents were constructed of animal skins placed over light wood and/or antler structures. Campsite structure varies according to the role or type of site; a seasonal occupation site at Pincevent features several residential units, each with a major hearth, adjacent tool maintenance and food preparation areas, sleeping areas, and associated external hearths, knapping areas, and trash dumps. Verberie features distinct butchering areas, knapping locations, hearths, and dense trash dumps.

Population, Health, and Disease. Human populations in mid-latitude Pleistocene landscapes were never very large. This may be especially true for much of the Magdalenian outside the Perigord. Human population is inversely proportional to its dependence on reindeer. Some have argued for dense late Paleolithic populations, based on the density of sites and the quantity of materials in those sites. They argue that the diverse faunal resources in regions such as the Perigord are indicative of rich food sources, and that Magdalenian exploitation of reindeer was directed toward aggregations of relatively dense populations during certain times of the year. Evidence from large-scale excavations at open-air sites suggests camp populations in the dozens rather than hundreds, consistent with expectations for mobile or nomadic hunter gatherers in such environments. Skeletal remains from several hundred individuals are known for the Magdalenian. Although many of these are quite fragmentary, they exhibit continuity with some degree of gracilization since the early Upper Paleolithic and homogeneity among Magdalenian populations. Paleopathology includes evidence of arthritis, scoliosis, and varied trauma.

Economy

Subsistence. The Magdalenian, more that any other Upper Paleolithic Tradition, was characterized by specialized big game hunting. In many cases, the dominant species was reindeer, leading Lartet and Christy to label the Magdalenian the Age of the Reindeer. It has been

argued that such specialized hunting throughout the Upper Paleolithic was evidence of logistical organization, that is, systematic dependence on a single resource for subsistence throughout the year, regardless of the presence of other potential resources. Mellars points to faunal assemblages from the earliest Upper Paleolithic in which reindeer made up 90-95 percent of the faunal remains. Others have argued that, although climatic regimes may explain monospecific assemblages in early Upper Paleolithic assemblages, it is only in the Magdalenian that cultural preference for single species exploitation truly exists. In high-altitude Pyrenean sites, such as La Vache or Les Eglises, the dominant species was ibex, whereas on the Cantabrian coast faunal assemblages are dominated by red deer. In many sites, horse was the dominant species during the Magdalenian. Seasonal variation in species and the fashion in which they were exploited differ from region to region.

Wild Foods. There is very little evidence for the use of vegetal foods. The archaeological record is dominated by the remains of wild animals, notably large herd animals, including reindeer, horse, saiga antelope, bison, ibex, chamois, and red deer. Fox and wolf were taken for their fur. Small mammals, such as hare and ground squirrel, were also eaten. In the southwest of France, salmon runs constituted an important food resource.

Industrial Arts. Magdalenian tools, like those of many other nomadic hunters, were lightweight and portable. The stone tool industry was based on very standardized blades and bladelets. Direct percussion of prepared cores was a highly skilled activity. High-quality raw materials were frequently transported long distances to provide an adequate technical basis for this blade production. Bone and antler raw materials for more plastic production were obtained as bypro ducts of hunting, particularly of reindeer.

Utensils. Blades were transformed into a variety of cutting, scraping, grooving, and piercing tools. There was also an abundant bone industry, which includes pierced batons, points, and barbed harpoons, made on antler, bone, and ivory. Very significant in Magdalenian technology are compound tools, with multiple-edge shapes on the same blade, and composite tools made from backed bladelets mounted laterally on bone points. These latter barbed points were probably themselves components of compound projectiles, propelled by spear throwers.

Ornaments. Stone, ivory, and shell beads, pierced animal teeth, and pendants are not uncommon, particularly