The Rzucewo (also ''Rutzau'' or ''Bay Coast culture'', german: Haffküstenkultur, 2700 BC)
[ was a local ]archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...
of late Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
. It centered at the coast of the Bay of Gdansk
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
(Danzig) and Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon ( pl, Zalew Wiślany; russian: Калининградский залив, transliterated: ''Kaliningradskiy Zaliv''; german: Frisches Haff; lt, Aistmarės) is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 ...
(Frisches Haff)[ and extended north to the ]Curonian Lagoon
The Curonian Lagoon (or Bay, Gulf; russian: Куршский залив, lt, Kuršių marios, pl, Zalew Kuroński, german: Kurisches Haff, lv, Kuršu joma) is a freshwater lagoon separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surfac ...
(Kurisches Haff) and up to Šventoji settlement in Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
.[ It is either named after the adjacent bays or after an archeological site in the village of ]Rzucewo
Rzucewo ( csb, Rzucewò; german: Rutzau) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Puck, within Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately east of Puck and north of the regional capital Gdańsk. ...
(Rutzau) near Puck.
The Rzucewo culture was a hybrid of Corded Ware culture
The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between ca. 3000 BC – 2350 BC, thus from the late Neolithic, through the Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture encompassed a va ...
and pre-Indo-European Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
and Globular Amphora cultures.[ Traditionally, Rzucewo was identified as a variation of Corded Ware culture; however, newest research suggests that the culture formed before Corded Ware.][ This culture specialized in exploitation of marine resources and existed in parallel to its mother culture for some time. Rzucewo settlements, consisting of characteristic houses reinforced against sea erosion, were located along the coast and further east.][ The Rzucewo people had domesticated cattle, pigs, some goats, but did little cultivation][ and engaged in fishery and hunting, especially of ]seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
s, then numerous along the Baltic coast. The Rzucewo culture people produced and widely traded amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
decorative items in specialist shops.[ A large number of amber artifacts was found in ]Juodkrantė
Juodkrantė (literally: ''Black Shore'', Kursenieki: ''Šatnūrta'' or ''Šatnūrte'', German: ''Schwarzort'') is a Lithuanian seaside resort village located on the Curonian Spit with a permanent population of about 720 people. A part of Neringa m ...
.
Formerly, this culture was interpreted as the earliest detection of the Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages.
One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...
.[ Tracing formation of the Balts to Rzucewo culture could explain differences between ]Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
and Eastern Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages.
One of the features of Baltic languages is the number o ...
and their languages (and possibly a stage of West Baltic–Pre- Slavic unity; see Balto-Slavic languages
The Balto-Slavic languages form a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family of languages, traditionally comprising the Baltic languages, Baltic and Slavic languages. Baltic and Slavic languages share several linguistic traits ...
),[ though linguistic conclusions based on this methodology are controversial and tentative at best, '']ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.)
Com ...
'' at worst. Typically, Polish and German archeologists place the culture just on the coast, while Lithuanian and Latvian scientists extend it much further inland describing coastal settlements as a cultural and economic center and inland villages as a periphery.[
]
See also
* Pitted Ware culture
The Pitted Ware culture ( 3500 BC– 2300 BC) was a hunter-gatherer culture in southern Scandinavia, mainly along the coasts of Svealand, Götaland, Åland, north-eastern Denmark and southern Norway. Despite its Mesolithic economy, it i ...
* Comb Ceramic culture
The Comb Ceramic culture or Pit-Comb Ware culture, often abbreviated as CCC or PCW, was a northeast European culture characterised by its Pit–Comb Ware. It existed from around 4200 BCE to around 2000 BCE. The bearers of the Comb Ceramic cultu ...
* Single Grave culture
The Single Grave culture (german: Einzelgrabkultur) was a Chalcolithic culture which flourished on the western North European Plain from ca. 2,800 BC to 2,200 BC. It is characterized by the practice of single burial, the deceased usually being ac ...
* Battle Axe culture
The Battle Axe culture, also called Boat Axe culture, is a Chalcolithic culture that flourished in the coastal areas of the south of the Scandinavian Peninsula and southwest Finland, from circa 2800 BC to circa 2300 BC.
The Battle Axe culture wa ...
* Fatyanovo-Balanovo culture
* Middle Dnieper culture
The Middle Dnieper culture (russian: Среднеднепровская культура, Sriedniednieprovskaya kul'tura) is a formative early expression of the Corded Ware culture, ca. 3200—2300 BC, of northern Ukraine and Belarus.
Distri ...
* Zvejnieki burial ground
The Zvejnieki burial ground is an archaeological site consisting of a large Stone Age (i.e. Mesolithic and Neolithic) cemetery with over 400 burials and associated grave goods. It is located along a drumlin on the northern shore of Lake Burtnieks ...
References
{{reflist, 2, refs=
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[{{cite book , first=Endre , last=Bojtár , title=Foreword to the Past: A Cultural History of the Baltic People , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5aoId7nA4bsC&pg=PA82 , publisher=CEU Press , year=1999 , page=82 , isbn=963-9116-42-4]
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Baltos lankos (literally: ''White Plains'' originating from a popular folk riddle White Plains'', black sheep''), founded in 1992, is a Lithuania-based publishing house specializing in the humanities and literature. It is one of Lithuania's best-k ...
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[{{cite book, first1=Johannes , last1=Hoops , first2=Hans-Peter , last2=Naumann , first3=Franziska , last3=Lanter , first4=Oliver, last4=Szokody , title=Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde , year=2001, publisher=Walter de Gruyter, page=423 , isbn= 3-11-017163-5, quote= ..die ihrerseits ehemals als frühester Nachweis der balt. Bevölkerung gedeuted wurde. , language=de, display-authors=etal]
[{{cite book, first=Sarunas , last=Milisauskas , title=European Prehistory: A Survey , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=roMxst3NKtwC , publisher=Birkhäuser , year=2002 , page=257 , isbn= 0-306-46793-3]
[{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjOZSFlDlyUC&pg=PA228 , title=Europe in the Neolithic: The Creation of New Worlds , first=A. W. R. , last=Whittle , edition=2nd , publisher=Cambridge University Press, year=1996 , isbn= 0-521-44920-0 , page=228]
Archaeological cultures in Germany
Archaeological cultures in Lithuania
Archaeological cultures in Poland
Archaeological cultures in Russia
Archaeological cultures of Central Europe
Corded Ware culture
History of Pomerania
Indo-European archaeological cultures