Rössen culture
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Rössen culture, ca. 4700—4600 cal. BC, the successor to the Groβ-Gartach culture. It is named after a cemetery in Rössen, Sachsen-Anhalt, today a part of Merseburg. It is found from the upper and middle [Elbe]] into northeastern France, the southeastern Low Countries, and the upper Danube valley of Germany, focussing on the fertile Chernozem soils.
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[edit] Chronology
Rössen is normally divided into three phases, Planig-Friedberg with decorations covering the whole surface of the vessel, classical Rössen and the late Rössen, where decoration is often restricted to the neck of the vessel or wholly missing.
[edit] Settlements
Settlements are sometimes surrounded by a ditch. The longhouses are larger than in the LBK and either of trapezoidal or ship-shape.
[edit] Economy
Mixed agriculture was practiced, and cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were kept. Inhumations were in cemeteries; positioning was either flexed or supine.
It is suggested the late Rössen culture may be ancestral to the neolithic culture of Great Britain and Ireland, but there is no great similarity in the form of the houses or the pots.
[edit] Kurgan-Hypothesis
In the context of the Kurgan hypothesis, certain intrusive elements are pointed to as some of the earliest evidence for penetration by Kurgan culture-based Indo-European elements, but Mallory indicates this idea has failed to gain any real acceptance. Older, now largely discarded theories attempted to make this a very early Indo-European culture; the present consensus assigns it to indigenous non-Indo-European-speaking people.
[edit] Sources
- J. P. Mallory, "Rössen Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.
- Joachim Preuß: Das Neolithikum in Mitteleuropa. Kulturen-Wirtschaft-Umwelt vom 6. bis 3. Jahrtausend v.u.Z., Übersichten zum Stand der Forschung. 3 Bde. Beier und Beran, Wilkau-Haßlau, Weißbach 1996, 1998, 1999. ISBN 3-930036-10-X
