Books by Svea Mahlstedt
Frühe Monumentalität und soziale Differenzierung, 2015
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Papers by Svea Mahlstedt
Archäologie in Niedersachsen, 2021
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Siedlungs- und Küstenforschung im südlichen Nordseegebiet 44, 2021
Im Rahmen eines von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) geförderten Surveyprojekts zur Suc... more Im Rahmen eines von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) geförderten Surveyprojekts zur Suche nach mesolithischen Fundstellen mit Feuchtbodenerhaltung konnte im Sommer 2020 im westlichen Ostfriesland ein Bereich mit einer Birkenrindenbedeckung freigelegt werden, der ins späte Mesolithikum datiert. Dieser Befund wird archäologisch und botanisch vorgestellt, landschaftsgeschichtlich eingeordnet und als Birkenrindenmatte interpretiert.
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In: Borić, D. Antonović & B. Mihailović, Foraging Assemblages , 2021
The Zwischenahner Meer Lake is the only location in a wide area that has provided well-preserved ... more The Zwischenahner Meer Lake is the only location in a wide area that has provided well-preserved finds from the period of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. As these finds were discovered by bathers back in the
1950s, a survey project was designed to locate the original site and find more sites around the lake if possible.
Therefore, different methods of geophysical surveying, coring, and excavating on land and under water were undertaken. The following article gives an overview of the finds of the 1950s, some new radiocarbon dates,
and the first results of the intense survey conducted in 2015.
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In: J. Menne/M. Brunner. Grenzräume, Archäologie in Deutschland Sonderheft , 2020
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From the Early Preboreal to the Subboreal period - Current Mesolithic research in Europe, 2020
Hunter-gather mobility in the mesolithic can only be proofed by finds of raw material transport o... more Hunter-gather mobility in the mesolithic can only be proofed by finds of raw material transport on the one hand and isotope analysis on human remains on the other. This paper seeks to apply the results from some of these studies to an area where neither foreign raw material nor human remains have been found so far, taking into account some ethnological observations on hunter-gatherer mobility as well as theoretical approaches to mobility and orientation.
The area of research in Northwestern Germany is represented by surface assemblages from four sampling regions, that stand for the different landscape features as well as different settlement patterns. A distinct choice of certain landscape characteristics for settlement sites by Holocene hunter-gatherers, which are different per area, can be proofed. Altogether there seems to be a relation of bigger sites e.g. larger amounts of lithic finds and the access to larger water bodies.
In the following some ideas about the mobility of hunter-gatherers, their orientation in a flat wooded landscape and their motivation to leave places and move on are put forward. Applied to the area of northwestern Germany it could be shown that the archaeological data of assemblage or site size and site distribution together with information on the Mesolithic environment may lead to some distinct impressions on the mobility of regional hunter-gatherer groups during the Mesolithic.
Mobilität von mesolithischen Jägern und Sammlern kann im archäologischen Fundgut bisher nur anhand von Rohmaterialtransporten
oder durch Isotopenanalysen an menschlichen Knochen nachgewiesen werden. In diesem Artikel werden die Ergebnisse
aus entsprechenden Studien unter Zuhilfenahme von ethnologischen Beobachtungen sowie theoretischen Ansätzen zu Mobilität
und Orientierung auf eine Region angewandt, in der bisher weder Rohmaterialimporte noch menschliche Knochen aus dem
Mesolithikum gefunden wurden.
Die Untersuchungsregion Nordwestdeutschland wird anhand von vier Stichprobenregionen vorgestellt, die sowohl die unterschiedlichen
Landschaftstypen als auch unterschiedliche mesolithische Siedlungsmuster aufweisen. Dabei lässt sich eine
differenzierte Auswahl der Siedlungsplätze anhand von bestimmten Kriterien nachweisen, die sich wiederum regional unterscheiden.
Insgesamt zeigt sich ein Zusammenhang zwischen größeren Siedlungsplätzen bzw. Fundinventaren und der Nähe zu
größeren Gewässern.
Im Folgenden werden einige Ideen zur Mobilität von Jägern und Sammlern, den Orientierungsmöglichkeiten in einer flachen,
bewaldeten Landschaft und der Motivation der Wildbeuter ihre Lagerplätze zu verlassen und weiterziehen vorgestellt. Werden
diese Ansätze auf die Untersuchungsregion Nordwestdeutschlands übertragen, zeigt sich, dass die Fundplatzgröße bzw. die
Fundmenge pro Platz und die Fundplatzverteilung in Kombination mit Daten aus der Umweltrekonstruktion Einsichten zur Mobilität
der mesolithischen Jäger und Sammler liefern kann.
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The Archaeology of Europe’s Drowned Landscapes, 2020
Open Access!
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-37367-2_5.pdf
Only in t... more Open Access!
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-37367-2_5.pdf
Only in the last 20 years have German research institutes and heritage agencies turned their attention to the investigation of the settlements that were inundated by rapid sea-level rise during the Holocene. Over 142 sites have been recorded so far, the majority on the Baltic coastline, and mostly of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic date. Underwater excavations on the Baltic coast of sites such as Timmendorf-Nordmole, Neustadt and Strande demonstrate the presence of large and well-preserved assemblages of stone, antler and wooden artefacts and other cultural features, comparable to the better-known underwater settlements of Denmark. Research within the framework of the SINCOS project has led not only to the discovery of numerous Stone Age settlements but also to a high-resolution reconstruction of the changes in coastal palaeogeography associated with the Littorina transgression. It has also raised the profile of the submerged Stone Age as a significant feature of the cultural heritage and demonstrated the value of and the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration. Fewer finds have been recovered on the North Sea coast, and this reflects the different environmental history of marine transgression, the greater thickness of marine sediments masking the prehistoric land surface and the greater technical challenges required to access it. Most finds here have been disturbed, a notable exception being the Late Neolithic votive deposit of an aurochs at Hamburger Hallig. The situation is also influenced by the legal and structural requirements imposed on research and the protection of sites by the relevant authorities in the various federal states: Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Baltic Sea), Schleswig-Holstein (North Sea and Baltic Sea) and Lower Saxony (North Sea).
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Archäologie in Niedersachsen. Schwerpunkt: Geschichte der Dinge, 2020
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In: G. Bailey, N. Galanidou, H. Peeters, H. Jöns, M. Mennenga (eds.): The Archaeology of Europe’s Drowned Landscapes. Coastal Research Library 35, 2020
Only in the last 20 years have German research institutes and heritage agencies turned their atte... more Only in the last 20 years have German research institutes and heritage agencies turned their attention to the investigation of the settlements that were inundated by rapid sea-level rise during the Holocene. Over 142 sites have been recorded so far, the majority on the Baltic coastline, and mostly of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic date. Underwater excavations on the Baltic coast of sites such as Timmendorf- Nordmole, Neustadt and Strande demonstrate the presence of large and well-preserved assemblages of stone, antler and wooden arte- facts and other cultural features, comparable to the better-known underwater settlements of Denmark. Research within the framework of the SINCOS project has led not only to the discovery of numerous Stone Age settlements but also to a high-resolution reconstruction of the changes in coastal palaeogeography asso- ciated with the Littorina transgression. It has also raised the profile of the submerged Stone Age as a significant feature of the cultural heritage and demonstrated the value of and the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration. Fewer finds have been recovered on the North Sea coast, and this reflects the different envi- ronmental history of marine transgression, the greater thickness of marine sediments mask- ing the prehistoric land surface and the greater technical challenges required to access it. Most finds here have been disturbed, a notable exception being the Late Neolithic votive deposit of an aurochs at Hamburger Hallig. The situation is also influenced by the legal and structural requirements imposed on research and the protection of sites by the relevant authorities in the various federal states: Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Baltic Sea), Schleswig-Holstein (North Sea and Baltic Sea) and Lower Saxony (North Sea).
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Siedlungs- und Küstenforschung im südlichen Nordseegebiet, 2018
Das Zwischenahner Meer bietet als relativ großer Binnensee auf den ersten Blick besonders vielver... more Das Zwischenahner Meer bietet als relativ großer Binnensee auf den ersten Blick besonders vielversprechende Bedingungen für die Erhaltung steinzeitlicher Besiedlungsspuren in der nordwestdeutschen Geestlandschaft. Bereits in den 1950er Jahren waren einige Funde gemacht worden, die auf eine Besiedlung im späten Mesolithikum und frühen Neolithikum hinwiesen. Im Rahmen eines interdisziplinär angelegten Surveyprogramms wurde die Region des Zwischenahner Meeres zwischen 2014 und 2017 archäologisch, bodenkundlich, archäobotanisch und paläolimnologisch prospektiert. Die Ergebnisse aus fünf Grabungskampagnen an Land und unter Wasser weisen entgegen der ursprünglichen Erwartung sehr heterogene Erhaltungsbedingungen für steinzeitliche Siedlungsplätze auf, die eng mit der komplexen Landschafts- und Seeentwicklung verknüpft sind. Die Siedlungsplätze sind häufig von Erosionsprozessen betroffen: zwei von drei Ausgrabungen an Land wiesen vor allem verlagerte Steingeräte in aufgearbeitetem Sediment auf, während ein Fundplatz durch seine geschützte Lage in einer uferferneren Senke über 300 steinzeitliche Grubenbefunde erbrachte. Die Unterwassergrabungen im Flachwasserbereich erfassten einen Bereich sehr guter organischer Erhaltung mit reichen botanischen und zoologischen Funden. Auf dem Fundplatz Neue Badestelle fanden sich eine Knochenspitze und eine fragmentierte T-förmige Geweihaxt sowie zahlreiche Exemplare der Wassernuss (Trapa natans), deren Früchte nun zum ersten Mal in Nordwestdeutschland subfossil nachgewiesen wurden.
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Quartär, 2018
Many Mesolithic settlement remains that have been surveyed on the East Frisian moraine area durin... more Many Mesolithic settlement remains that have been surveyed on the East Frisian moraine area during the last decades have been described to be situated close to little bogs and former lakes. With the detection of pingo scars as landscape features East Frisia that in many cases have been filled by lakes during the early Holocene and showed traces of Mesolithic settlement in several cases the idea to compare those two phenomenons was born. This article gives an introduction to this idea by four case studies of Mesolithic sites at pingo scars and some ideas on the attraction of these landscape features to Mesolithic foragers.
Zusammenfassung: Für einige mesolithische Fundstellen, die in den letzten Jahrzehnten auf der Geestlandschaft Ostfrieslands nachgewiesen werden konnten, wurde eine topographische Lage unweit von kleinen Mooren oder ehemaligen Seen festgestellt. In den letzten Jahren wurden verstärkt Pingo-Ruinen als unter Permafrostbedingungen während der letzten Eiszeit entstandener Landschaftsmerkmale Ostfrieslands lokalisiert und untersucht, die in vielen Fällen im frühen Holozän mit Seen gefüllt waren und in einigen Fällen Spuren mesolithischer Besiedlung zeigten. Daraus entstand die Idee, diese beiden Phänomene zu vergleichen. Der vorliegende Artikel gibt hierzu eine Einführung anhand vier Fallstudien von mesolithischen Fundstellen auf Randwällen von Pingo-Ruinen sowie Anmerkungen zur Rolle dieser Landschaftsmerkmale für mesolithische Jäger und Sammler.
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Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis Unterwasserarchäologie, 2016
A survey project was conducted at Stone Age settlements at Zwischenahner Meer in Lower Saxony bet... more A survey project was conducted at Stone Age settlements at Zwischenahner Meer in Lower Saxony between 2014 and 2017. A number of old finds from the 1950s indicated late Mesolithic settlement. First excavation trenches were made in 2015 in shallow waters of up to three meters. A few stone artefacts, as well as botanic remains and fish bones were recovered. Additionally, a further survey was carried out supplying evidence of other interesting lake areas. Geophysical prospections and an underwater survey as well as systematic photographic documentation under water were all hampered, in all seasons, by the very soft, thick lake sediment, offering exceptionally poor visibility. The results of the investigations of 2015, however, verify the good conservation of organic materials some of which could be confirmed, using radiocarbon dating, as being from 5700 to 4500 cal BC.
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Oldenburger Jahrbuch, 2016
Between 2014 and 2017 an intense survey for waterlogged stone age sites was carried out around La... more Between 2014 and 2017 an intense survey for waterlogged stone age sites was carried out around Lake Zwischenahner Meer, north-western Germany. This paper presents the projects point of departure including finds from the 1950ies as well as some aspects of methodology for the recent investigations and some preliminiary results.
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Siedlungs- und Küstenforschung im südlichen Nordseegebiet, 2015
Seit Sommer 2014 besteht am Niedersächsischen Institut für historische Küstenforschung ein Projek... more Seit Sommer 2014 besteht am Niedersächsischen Institut für historische Küstenforschung ein Projekt zur Erforschung
steinzeitlicher Siedlungen im Bereich des Zwischenahner Meeres. Dort wurden in der Vergangenheit immer
wieder gut erhaltene Funde im See und im angrenzenden Feuchtbodenbereich gemacht, die mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit
in das 4.-6. Jahrtausend v. Chr. datieren. In diesen Zeitraum fällt der Beginn der produzierenden Wirtschaftsweise
und der Sesshaftigkeit. Der Ablauf dieser Entwicklung konnte für den nordwestdeutschen Raum bisher kaum nachvollzogen
werden. Hier bieten die Fundstellen am und im Zwischenahner Meer anhand der guten organischen Erhaltungsbedingungen
optimale Voraussetzungen für die Untersuchung des Neolithisierungsprozesses.
Since the summer of 2014, the Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research has been investigating
Stone Age sites in the area of the lake known as Zwischenahner Meer. In recent decades, well-preserved fi nds have
repeatedly been recovered from waterlogged and underwater sites. These fi nds can most probably be dated to between
the 6th and 4th millennium BC. Within this period lies the beginning of the development and spread of farming and a
sedentary life style. So far, this development in northwestern Germany is only partially understood. The Zwischenahner
Meer area with its good preservation conditions for organic material offers an excellent opportunity to obtain insights
into the Neolithization process.
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Besides a large number of blanks, the flint assemblage from Timmendorf-Nordmole I includes
severa... more Besides a large number of blanks, the flint assemblage from Timmendorf-Nordmole I includes
several worked flint tools. These can be characterised as typical of the late Ertebølle culture. Their composition underlines the highly specialised character of Timmendorf-Nordmole I as a hunting
and fishing camp site, an interpretation also indicated by the organic tools. In particular the different tool types are described. The most frequent are flake axes, truncated blades and transverse
arrowheads. While the former can be seen as woodworking tools to prepare hunting equipment, the blade tools are interpreted as knives to process the kill. This is supported by the find of a
hafted truncated blade.
A comparison of the flake axes with assemblages from synchronic sites in the southern Baltic
Sea area provided no proof for different regional groups as regards the style and size of axes.
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Posters by Svea Mahlstedt
1st Conference of Early Neolithic of Europe (ENE), Barcelona, 06.-08.11.2019 , 2019
In the area of the northern Netherlands and northwestern Germany, the introduction of the Neolith... more In the area of the northern Netherlands and northwestern Germany, the introduction of the Neolithic is delayed for about two millennia compared to the southern neighbour areas.
The transition from the late Swifterbant culture to the first appearance of the Funnelbeaker Groups (TRB) in the eastern Netherlands, the western part of Lower Saxony to the northern Westphalia raises numerous questions, from cultural discontinuities to gradual transitions.
This process describes the transformation from the Subneolithic of hunter-gatherer societies to a fully neolithic society in northwestern Europe, which can be understood here (delayed to the Middle and South German region) as the Early Neolithic. The Swifterbant phenomenon (approx. 5000–4000 BC) is proofed to perform a gradual integration of Neolithic features, like the introduction of ceramics, animal husbandry and horticulture.
The Early Neolithic in this area marks a technological and socio-cultural transition zone, which we can identify around 4000–3500 BC. Although the first megalithic buildings of the TRB West Group were erected around 3600 BC, Swifterbant sites and findings can still be traced.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3526155
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Seit Juli 2014 befasst sich ein Forschungsprojekt des Niedersächsischen Instituts für historische... more Seit Juli 2014 befasst sich ein Forschungsprojekt des Niedersächsischen Instituts für historische Küstenforschung mit einem intensiven Survey nach frühneolithischen Siedlungen am Zwischenahner Meer. Das Zwischenahner Meer ist ein See auf der saalezeitlichen Geest im westlichen Niedersachsen. Auf den entsprechend sandigen Böden erhalten sich Fundstellen dieser meist nur sehr schlecht erhalten haben. Im See wurden jedoch schon in den 1950er Jahren jungsteinzeitliche Funde gemacht, die auf eine sehr gute organische Erhaltung hinwiesen. Im Rahmen von ersten Untersuchungen im Uferbereich an Land und unter Wasser konnten mehrere Verdachtsbereiche lokalisiert und bei Sondagegrabungen bereits einige gut erhaltene Fundstellen entdeckt werden, die nach ersten Radiocarbondatierungen in das 5. und 6.Jahrtausend v.Chr. fallen. Offenbar bieten die Feuchtbodenbereiche am Zwischenahner Meer die Möglichkeit, die wichtige Epoche des frühen Neolithikums in der Region zwischen Swifterbant- und Ertebøllekultur näher zu beleuchten.
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Conference Papers by Svea Mahlstedt
Mobility is seen as key to understand Stone Age lifeways and subsistence of hunter-gathererfisher... more Mobility is seen as key to understand Stone Age lifeways and subsistence of hunter-gathererfisher communities. A large variety of different aspects is summarized in the concept of mobility. Economical decisions are important motives for hunter-gatherer mobility. This has repeatedly been shown, using, for instance, ethnographic analogies (e.g. Groß et al. 2019) or theoretical constructions, as the marginal value theorem (e.g. Venkataraman et al. 2017). Applied to archaeological sites, a reconstruction of the local environment is quite often available and thus allows us to develop further analysis and theories regarding prehistoric movements in a landscape (e.g. Boethius et al. 2022). However, other important aspects are harder to trace archaeologically: Where are the borders of mobility (physically and mentally)? When did people stop and turn around? Can we trace the reasons for these limits of mobility, which in turn result in regional behavior? At which point did orientation strategies like piloting and homing (Golledge 2003) as well as traditions, songs, or stories may have played a part in everyday mobility? In this session, we want to discuss and shed light on as many aspects of mobility in huntergatherer-fisher communities as possible. We welcome a wide range of contributions (from ethnographic to archaeological and computational methods), considering not only the different environments in which the foraging communities lived, like open steppe-like environments, forests, mountainous landscapes, and maritime areas but also look at different methods and means of analysis, e.g. origin of raw materials, shape of sites, rhythmicity of settlement, navigation or theoretical attempts. Single case studies are welcomed as well.
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by Annabell Zander, Ann-Katrin Meyer, Daniel Groß, Julia Goldhammer, Andreas Kotula, Thomas Richter, Sascha Krüger, Aimée Little, Harald Lübke, Svea Mahlstedt, Andy Needham, Diederik Pomstra, Caroline Posch, Rick Schulting, Benjamin Spies, Birgit Gehlen, Mathias P Bjørnevad-Ahlqvist, Becky Knight, Erwin Cziesla, Eileen Eckmeier, Werner M Schön, Felicitas Faasch, Berit Valentin Eriksen, Marcel J L T Niekus, Markus Wild, Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny, Luc Amkreutz, and Harry K Robson Archäologische Informationen (Journal of the German Prehistoric Society)
The 26th Annual Meeting of the German Mesolithic Workgroup took place in Wuppertal from 10-12 Mar... more The 26th Annual Meeting of the German Mesolithic Workgroup took place in Wuppertal from 10-12 March 2017 and was organised and hosted by Annabell Zander (University of York) and Birgit Gehlen (CRC 806, University of Cologne). In sum, more than 70 academics, students and amateur archaeologists from 8 different countries attended this conference. The international programme consisted of 24 talks and 10 poster presentations which were held in English and German. The presentations ranged from international to regional themes concerning the Final Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Early Neolithic.
Key words – Mesolithic; Final Palaeolithic; Early Neolithic; Westphalia
http://www.dguf.de/index.php?id=9
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Books by Svea Mahlstedt
Papers by Svea Mahlstedt
1950s, a survey project was designed to locate the original site and find more sites around the lake if possible.
Therefore, different methods of geophysical surveying, coring, and excavating on land and under water were undertaken. The following article gives an overview of the finds of the 1950s, some new radiocarbon dates,
and the first results of the intense survey conducted in 2015.
The area of research in Northwestern Germany is represented by surface assemblages from four sampling regions, that stand for the different landscape features as well as different settlement patterns. A distinct choice of certain landscape characteristics for settlement sites by Holocene hunter-gatherers, which are different per area, can be proofed. Altogether there seems to be a relation of bigger sites e.g. larger amounts of lithic finds and the access to larger water bodies.
In the following some ideas about the mobility of hunter-gatherers, their orientation in a flat wooded landscape and their motivation to leave places and move on are put forward. Applied to the area of northwestern Germany it could be shown that the archaeological data of assemblage or site size and site distribution together with information on the Mesolithic environment may lead to some distinct impressions on the mobility of regional hunter-gatherer groups during the Mesolithic.
Mobilität von mesolithischen Jägern und Sammlern kann im archäologischen Fundgut bisher nur anhand von Rohmaterialtransporten
oder durch Isotopenanalysen an menschlichen Knochen nachgewiesen werden. In diesem Artikel werden die Ergebnisse
aus entsprechenden Studien unter Zuhilfenahme von ethnologischen Beobachtungen sowie theoretischen Ansätzen zu Mobilität
und Orientierung auf eine Region angewandt, in der bisher weder Rohmaterialimporte noch menschliche Knochen aus dem
Mesolithikum gefunden wurden.
Die Untersuchungsregion Nordwestdeutschland wird anhand von vier Stichprobenregionen vorgestellt, die sowohl die unterschiedlichen
Landschaftstypen als auch unterschiedliche mesolithische Siedlungsmuster aufweisen. Dabei lässt sich eine
differenzierte Auswahl der Siedlungsplätze anhand von bestimmten Kriterien nachweisen, die sich wiederum regional unterscheiden.
Insgesamt zeigt sich ein Zusammenhang zwischen größeren Siedlungsplätzen bzw. Fundinventaren und der Nähe zu
größeren Gewässern.
Im Folgenden werden einige Ideen zur Mobilität von Jägern und Sammlern, den Orientierungsmöglichkeiten in einer flachen,
bewaldeten Landschaft und der Motivation der Wildbeuter ihre Lagerplätze zu verlassen und weiterziehen vorgestellt. Werden
diese Ansätze auf die Untersuchungsregion Nordwestdeutschlands übertragen, zeigt sich, dass die Fundplatzgröße bzw. die
Fundmenge pro Platz und die Fundplatzverteilung in Kombination mit Daten aus der Umweltrekonstruktion Einsichten zur Mobilität
der mesolithischen Jäger und Sammler liefern kann.
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-37367-2_5.pdf
Only in the last 20 years have German research institutes and heritage agencies turned their attention to the investigation of the settlements that were inundated by rapid sea-level rise during the Holocene. Over 142 sites have been recorded so far, the majority on the Baltic coastline, and mostly of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic date. Underwater excavations on the Baltic coast of sites such as Timmendorf-Nordmole, Neustadt and Strande demonstrate the presence of large and well-preserved assemblages of stone, antler and wooden artefacts and other cultural features, comparable to the better-known underwater settlements of Denmark. Research within the framework of the SINCOS project has led not only to the discovery of numerous Stone Age settlements but also to a high-resolution reconstruction of the changes in coastal palaeogeography associated with the Littorina transgression. It has also raised the profile of the submerged Stone Age as a significant feature of the cultural heritage and demonstrated the value of and the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration. Fewer finds have been recovered on the North Sea coast, and this reflects the different environmental history of marine transgression, the greater thickness of marine sediments masking the prehistoric land surface and the greater technical challenges required to access it. Most finds here have been disturbed, a notable exception being the Late Neolithic votive deposit of an aurochs at Hamburger Hallig. The situation is also influenced by the legal and structural requirements imposed on research and the protection of sites by the relevant authorities in the various federal states: Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Baltic Sea), Schleswig-Holstein (North Sea and Baltic Sea) and Lower Saxony (North Sea).
Zusammenfassung: Für einige mesolithische Fundstellen, die in den letzten Jahrzehnten auf der Geestlandschaft Ostfrieslands nachgewiesen werden konnten, wurde eine topographische Lage unweit von kleinen Mooren oder ehemaligen Seen festgestellt. In den letzten Jahren wurden verstärkt Pingo-Ruinen als unter Permafrostbedingungen während der letzten Eiszeit entstandener Landschaftsmerkmale Ostfrieslands lokalisiert und untersucht, die in vielen Fällen im frühen Holozän mit Seen gefüllt waren und in einigen Fällen Spuren mesolithischer Besiedlung zeigten. Daraus entstand die Idee, diese beiden Phänomene zu vergleichen. Der vorliegende Artikel gibt hierzu eine Einführung anhand vier Fallstudien von mesolithischen Fundstellen auf Randwällen von Pingo-Ruinen sowie Anmerkungen zur Rolle dieser Landschaftsmerkmale für mesolithische Jäger und Sammler.
steinzeitlicher Siedlungen im Bereich des Zwischenahner Meeres. Dort wurden in der Vergangenheit immer
wieder gut erhaltene Funde im See und im angrenzenden Feuchtbodenbereich gemacht, die mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit
in das 4.-6. Jahrtausend v. Chr. datieren. In diesen Zeitraum fällt der Beginn der produzierenden Wirtschaftsweise
und der Sesshaftigkeit. Der Ablauf dieser Entwicklung konnte für den nordwestdeutschen Raum bisher kaum nachvollzogen
werden. Hier bieten die Fundstellen am und im Zwischenahner Meer anhand der guten organischen Erhaltungsbedingungen
optimale Voraussetzungen für die Untersuchung des Neolithisierungsprozesses.
Since the summer of 2014, the Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research has been investigating
Stone Age sites in the area of the lake known as Zwischenahner Meer. In recent decades, well-preserved fi nds have
repeatedly been recovered from waterlogged and underwater sites. These fi nds can most probably be dated to between
the 6th and 4th millennium BC. Within this period lies the beginning of the development and spread of farming and a
sedentary life style. So far, this development in northwestern Germany is only partially understood. The Zwischenahner
Meer area with its good preservation conditions for organic material offers an excellent opportunity to obtain insights
into the Neolithization process.
several worked flint tools. These can be characterised as typical of the late Ertebølle culture. Their composition underlines the highly specialised character of Timmendorf-Nordmole I as a hunting
and fishing camp site, an interpretation also indicated by the organic tools. In particular the different tool types are described. The most frequent are flake axes, truncated blades and transverse
arrowheads. While the former can be seen as woodworking tools to prepare hunting equipment, the blade tools are interpreted as knives to process the kill. This is supported by the find of a
hafted truncated blade.
A comparison of the flake axes with assemblages from synchronic sites in the southern Baltic
Sea area provided no proof for different regional groups as regards the style and size of axes.
Posters by Svea Mahlstedt
The transition from the late Swifterbant culture to the first appearance of the Funnelbeaker Groups (TRB) in the eastern Netherlands, the western part of Lower Saxony to the northern Westphalia raises numerous questions, from cultural discontinuities to gradual transitions.
This process describes the transformation from the Subneolithic of hunter-gatherer societies to a fully neolithic society in northwestern Europe, which can be understood here (delayed to the Middle and South German region) as the Early Neolithic. The Swifterbant phenomenon (approx. 5000–4000 BC) is proofed to perform a gradual integration of Neolithic features, like the introduction of ceramics, animal husbandry and horticulture.
The Early Neolithic in this area marks a technological and socio-cultural transition zone, which we can identify around 4000–3500 BC. Although the first megalithic buildings of the TRB West Group were erected around 3600 BC, Swifterbant sites and findings can still be traced.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3526155
Conference Papers by Svea Mahlstedt
Key words – Mesolithic; Final Palaeolithic; Early Neolithic; Westphalia
http://www.dguf.de/index.php?id=9
1950s, a survey project was designed to locate the original site and find more sites around the lake if possible.
Therefore, different methods of geophysical surveying, coring, and excavating on land and under water were undertaken. The following article gives an overview of the finds of the 1950s, some new radiocarbon dates,
and the first results of the intense survey conducted in 2015.
The area of research in Northwestern Germany is represented by surface assemblages from four sampling regions, that stand for the different landscape features as well as different settlement patterns. A distinct choice of certain landscape characteristics for settlement sites by Holocene hunter-gatherers, which are different per area, can be proofed. Altogether there seems to be a relation of bigger sites e.g. larger amounts of lithic finds and the access to larger water bodies.
In the following some ideas about the mobility of hunter-gatherers, their orientation in a flat wooded landscape and their motivation to leave places and move on are put forward. Applied to the area of northwestern Germany it could be shown that the archaeological data of assemblage or site size and site distribution together with information on the Mesolithic environment may lead to some distinct impressions on the mobility of regional hunter-gatherer groups during the Mesolithic.
Mobilität von mesolithischen Jägern und Sammlern kann im archäologischen Fundgut bisher nur anhand von Rohmaterialtransporten
oder durch Isotopenanalysen an menschlichen Knochen nachgewiesen werden. In diesem Artikel werden die Ergebnisse
aus entsprechenden Studien unter Zuhilfenahme von ethnologischen Beobachtungen sowie theoretischen Ansätzen zu Mobilität
und Orientierung auf eine Region angewandt, in der bisher weder Rohmaterialimporte noch menschliche Knochen aus dem
Mesolithikum gefunden wurden.
Die Untersuchungsregion Nordwestdeutschland wird anhand von vier Stichprobenregionen vorgestellt, die sowohl die unterschiedlichen
Landschaftstypen als auch unterschiedliche mesolithische Siedlungsmuster aufweisen. Dabei lässt sich eine
differenzierte Auswahl der Siedlungsplätze anhand von bestimmten Kriterien nachweisen, die sich wiederum regional unterscheiden.
Insgesamt zeigt sich ein Zusammenhang zwischen größeren Siedlungsplätzen bzw. Fundinventaren und der Nähe zu
größeren Gewässern.
Im Folgenden werden einige Ideen zur Mobilität von Jägern und Sammlern, den Orientierungsmöglichkeiten in einer flachen,
bewaldeten Landschaft und der Motivation der Wildbeuter ihre Lagerplätze zu verlassen und weiterziehen vorgestellt. Werden
diese Ansätze auf die Untersuchungsregion Nordwestdeutschlands übertragen, zeigt sich, dass die Fundplatzgröße bzw. die
Fundmenge pro Platz und die Fundplatzverteilung in Kombination mit Daten aus der Umweltrekonstruktion Einsichten zur Mobilität
der mesolithischen Jäger und Sammler liefern kann.
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-37367-2_5.pdf
Only in the last 20 years have German research institutes and heritage agencies turned their attention to the investigation of the settlements that were inundated by rapid sea-level rise during the Holocene. Over 142 sites have been recorded so far, the majority on the Baltic coastline, and mostly of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic date. Underwater excavations on the Baltic coast of sites such as Timmendorf-Nordmole, Neustadt and Strande demonstrate the presence of large and well-preserved assemblages of stone, antler and wooden artefacts and other cultural features, comparable to the better-known underwater settlements of Denmark. Research within the framework of the SINCOS project has led not only to the discovery of numerous Stone Age settlements but also to a high-resolution reconstruction of the changes in coastal palaeogeography associated with the Littorina transgression. It has also raised the profile of the submerged Stone Age as a significant feature of the cultural heritage and demonstrated the value of and the need for multi-disciplinary collaboration. Fewer finds have been recovered on the North Sea coast, and this reflects the different environmental history of marine transgression, the greater thickness of marine sediments masking the prehistoric land surface and the greater technical challenges required to access it. Most finds here have been disturbed, a notable exception being the Late Neolithic votive deposit of an aurochs at Hamburger Hallig. The situation is also influenced by the legal and structural requirements imposed on research and the protection of sites by the relevant authorities in the various federal states: Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Baltic Sea), Schleswig-Holstein (North Sea and Baltic Sea) and Lower Saxony (North Sea).
Zusammenfassung: Für einige mesolithische Fundstellen, die in den letzten Jahrzehnten auf der Geestlandschaft Ostfrieslands nachgewiesen werden konnten, wurde eine topographische Lage unweit von kleinen Mooren oder ehemaligen Seen festgestellt. In den letzten Jahren wurden verstärkt Pingo-Ruinen als unter Permafrostbedingungen während der letzten Eiszeit entstandener Landschaftsmerkmale Ostfrieslands lokalisiert und untersucht, die in vielen Fällen im frühen Holozän mit Seen gefüllt waren und in einigen Fällen Spuren mesolithischer Besiedlung zeigten. Daraus entstand die Idee, diese beiden Phänomene zu vergleichen. Der vorliegende Artikel gibt hierzu eine Einführung anhand vier Fallstudien von mesolithischen Fundstellen auf Randwällen von Pingo-Ruinen sowie Anmerkungen zur Rolle dieser Landschaftsmerkmale für mesolithische Jäger und Sammler.
steinzeitlicher Siedlungen im Bereich des Zwischenahner Meeres. Dort wurden in der Vergangenheit immer
wieder gut erhaltene Funde im See und im angrenzenden Feuchtbodenbereich gemacht, die mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit
in das 4.-6. Jahrtausend v. Chr. datieren. In diesen Zeitraum fällt der Beginn der produzierenden Wirtschaftsweise
und der Sesshaftigkeit. Der Ablauf dieser Entwicklung konnte für den nordwestdeutschen Raum bisher kaum nachvollzogen
werden. Hier bieten die Fundstellen am und im Zwischenahner Meer anhand der guten organischen Erhaltungsbedingungen
optimale Voraussetzungen für die Untersuchung des Neolithisierungsprozesses.
Since the summer of 2014, the Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research has been investigating
Stone Age sites in the area of the lake known as Zwischenahner Meer. In recent decades, well-preserved fi nds have
repeatedly been recovered from waterlogged and underwater sites. These fi nds can most probably be dated to between
the 6th and 4th millennium BC. Within this period lies the beginning of the development and spread of farming and a
sedentary life style. So far, this development in northwestern Germany is only partially understood. The Zwischenahner
Meer area with its good preservation conditions for organic material offers an excellent opportunity to obtain insights
into the Neolithization process.
several worked flint tools. These can be characterised as typical of the late Ertebølle culture. Their composition underlines the highly specialised character of Timmendorf-Nordmole I as a hunting
and fishing camp site, an interpretation also indicated by the organic tools. In particular the different tool types are described. The most frequent are flake axes, truncated blades and transverse
arrowheads. While the former can be seen as woodworking tools to prepare hunting equipment, the blade tools are interpreted as knives to process the kill. This is supported by the find of a
hafted truncated blade.
A comparison of the flake axes with assemblages from synchronic sites in the southern Baltic
Sea area provided no proof for different regional groups as regards the style and size of axes.
The transition from the late Swifterbant culture to the first appearance of the Funnelbeaker Groups (TRB) in the eastern Netherlands, the western part of Lower Saxony to the northern Westphalia raises numerous questions, from cultural discontinuities to gradual transitions.
This process describes the transformation from the Subneolithic of hunter-gatherer societies to a fully neolithic society in northwestern Europe, which can be understood here (delayed to the Middle and South German region) as the Early Neolithic. The Swifterbant phenomenon (approx. 5000–4000 BC) is proofed to perform a gradual integration of Neolithic features, like the introduction of ceramics, animal husbandry and horticulture.
The Early Neolithic in this area marks a technological and socio-cultural transition zone, which we can identify around 4000–3500 BC. Although the first megalithic buildings of the TRB West Group were erected around 3600 BC, Swifterbant sites and findings can still be traced.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3526155
Key words – Mesolithic; Final Palaeolithic; Early Neolithic; Westphalia
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