The Salzmünde Group or Salzmünde Culture (
German: ''Salzmünder Gruppe'' / ''Salzmünder Kultur'') is the name for a late group from the
Funnelbeaker culture in central
Saale-
Elbe region of
Germany, which existed between 3400 and 3000 BC during the
Neolithic period.
Context
The
type site,
Salzmünde-Schiepzig (
Saalekreis
Saalekreis is a district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The district seat is Merseburg. Its area is . It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts Kyffhäuserkreis (Thuringia), Mansfeld-Südharz, Salzlandkreis, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Nords ...
) was excavated by
Nils Niklasson in 1921. He attributed the finds to a "nordic culture" which in his opinion also included the
Baalberge group. In 1938,
Paul Grimm grouped Niklasson's "nordic culture" and the Opperschöner pottery style together as the Salzmünde culture.
Distinguishing the central and east German prehistoric groups (
Hutburg,
Walternienburg-Bernburg, Salzmünde und
Schöningen) from one another is notoriously difficult with dramatic differences from author to author. For this reason,
Johannes Müller argues they should all be understood as subgroups within the Funnelbeaker culture.
The Salzmünde group fits in the
middle Neolithic according to the North German chronology, but in the
Younger Neolithic
Younger or Youngers may refer to:
People
* Younger (surname)
* List of people known as the Elder or the Younger
Arts and entertainment
* ''Younger'', an American novel by Pamela Redmond Satran
** ''Younger'' (TV series), an American sitcom ba ...
according to
Jens Lüning Jens may refer to:
* Jens (given name), a list of people with the name
* Jens (surname), a list of people
* Jens, Switzerland, a municipality
* 1719 Jens, an asteroid
See also
* Jensen (disambiguation)
* Jenssi
Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) i ...
's South and West German chronology. In the central Saale-Elbe region, the Salzmünde ceramic style is the local expression of Funnelbeaker phases TRB-MES IV and V.
In Bohemia, the latest material from the funnelbeaker culture (TRB C) belongs to the Salzmünde Group, which lasted longer here than in central Germany.
Settlement pattern
Some walled hilltop settlements are known, such as
Halle Halle may refer to:
Places Germany
* Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt
** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt
** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany
** Hall ...
,
Dölauer Heide,
Salzmünde-Schiepzig,
Mücheln and
Wallendorf. The settlement of Halle, Dölauer Heide was surrounded by a ditch with a
palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymology
''Palisade' ...
on the inside. The irregularly shaped fortifications enclose the entire plateau of the hill and were supplemented by at least two towers.
Most of the settlements of the Salzmünde Group are inadequately explored or have not been published. The type site, Salzmünde-Schiepzig, was destroyed by sand-mining and is only poorly published. The settlement of
Karsdorf
Karsdorf is a municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Geography
Karsdorf is located between Nebra (Unstrut) and Burgscheidungen on the Unstrut. In Steigra branches off in southwest direction a side road from t ...
,
Burgenlandkreis has yielded numerous Salzmünde finds.
Material remains
One or two handled pots of the Oppenschöner Type, amphorae, funnel rimmed bowls and decorated clay drums are characteristic of the Salzmünde group. Decorated ornamental
axes of the Saxon type have often been attributed to the Salzmünde group, but they are generally isolated finds.
Funerary practices
Settlement and
tumulus burials occur, as well as stone
cist graves and walled chamber graves. However burial in the ground, with the body laid on one side and the feet drawn up is most common. Grave offerings are usually meagre.
Subdivisions
Jonas Beran proposed a periodisation of the Salzmünde group in to periods with type sites at Zauschwitz and Mücheln respectively.
[Beran "Untersuchungen zur Stellung der Salzmünder Kultur im Jungneolithikum des Saalegebietes". In: ''Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas''. Vol. 2, Wilkau-Haßlau, 1993] From
radiocarbon analysis of the pottery it is possible to distinguish Salzmünde A, B and C, which can be matched up to the respective periods of the Funnelbeaker culture.
Genetics
In a 2017 genetic study published in ''
Nature'', the remains of three individuals ascribed to the Salzmünde group were analyzed. Of the two samples of
Y-DNA extracted, one belonged to
G2a2a1, and one belonged to
IJK.
mtDNA extracted were two samples of
H2, and one sample of
U3a1.
References
Bibliography
* Jonas Beran. 1993. "Untersuchungen zur Stellung der Salzmünder Kultur im Jungneolithikum des Saalegebietes". In: ''Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Mitteleuropas''. Vol. 2 Wilkau-Haßlau.
*
Cultural Association of the GDR (Ed.). 1972. ''Typentafeln zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte.''
dited R. Feustel/S. BarthelWeimar.
* Johannes Müller. 2001. ''Soziochronologische Studien zum Jung- und Spätneolithikum im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet (4100-2700 v. Chr.).'' Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen 21. Rahden, Leidorf.
* Johannes Müller. 1999. ''Radiocarbonchronologie – Keramiktechnologie – Osteologie - Anthropologie-Raumanalyse. Beiträge zum Neolithikum und zur Frühbronzezeit im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet.'' 80. Ber. RGK, 25-211.
*
*
* Joachim Preuß. 1996. ''Das Neolithikum in Mitteleuropa, Kulturen - Wirtschaft - Umwelt vom 6. bis 3. Jahrtausend v. u. Z.'' Weißenbach, Beier und Beran.
* Giannina Schindler. 1994. "Salzmünder Kultur." In
H.-J. Beier and R. Einicke (Edd.), ''Das Neolithikum im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet. Eine Übersicht und ein Abriß zum Stand der Forschung.'' Verlag Beier & Beran. Wilkau-Hasslau. 1994. 145-158.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salzmunde group
Funnelbeaker culture
Neolithic cultures of Europe
Archaeological cultures of Central Europe
Archaeological cultures in Germany