The Rössen culture or Roessen culture () is a

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

of the

middle Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wi ...

(4,600–4,300 BC). It is named after the necropolis of Rössen (part of

Leuna Leuna () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle, on the river Saale. The town is known for the ''Leuna works, Leunawerke'', at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes i ...

, in the

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, ...

district,

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

). The Rössen culture has been identified in 11 of the 16

states of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

(it is only absent from the Northern part of the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland () is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the north, Germany's ...

), but also in the southeast

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

, northeast

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, northern

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and a small part of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The Rössen culture is important as it marks the transition from a broad and widely distributed tradition going back to Central Europe's earliest Neolithic LBK towards the more diversified Middle and Late Neolithic situation characterised by the appearance of complexes like Michelsberg and

Funnel Beaker Culture The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK (, ; ; ), was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of local neolithic and mesolithic techno-complexes between the lower Elbe and middle V ...

Pottery

Rössen

vessels Vessel(s) or the Vessel may refer to: Biology *Blood vessel, a part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body *Lymphatic vessel, a thin walled, valved structure that carries lymph *Vessel element, a narrow wat ...

are characteristically decorated with double incisions ("goat's foot incision" or

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

'"Geißfußstich"') with incrustation of white paste. Grooved or stamped incisions are also common. Over time, the extent of the decorated areas appears to decrease so that on later vessels it is mostly restricted to the neck or entirely absent. Typical shapes include tall footed bowls, globular cups, rectangular sheet-made bowls and boat-shaped vessels. The surfaces of vessels are usually burnished; their colours range from brown via reddish brown and dark brown to grey-black.

Stone tools

The Rössen repertoire of

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

tools A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ...

is broadly similar to that of the Linear Pottery (LBK) tradition (blades with pyramid-shaped cores), but there is a marked change as regards the raw materials used. Dutch Rijkholt flint, which dominated the LBK tradition, is being replaced with veined 'Plattenhornstein' (Abensberg-Arnhofen type) of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n origin. The most typical solid rock tool is a pierced tall cleaver, but unpierced axes and adzes are also common.

Domestic architecture and settlement patterns

Only a few Rössen settlements have been excavated. Prominent examples are the sites of Deiringsen-Ruploh und Schöningen/Esbeck. The predominant structure is a trapezoidal or boat-shaped

long house A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from lumber, timber and ...

, up to 65 m in length. The ground plans suggest a sloping roofline. Multiple internal partitions are a frequent feature, probably indicating that several smaller (

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

?) units inhabited a house. Lüning suggests that Rössen settlements were true

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

communities. Some settlements were surrounded by earthwork

enclosures Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

. The majority of settlements were located in areas with

Chernozem Chernozem ( ),; also called black soil, regur soil or black cotton soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compounds. Chernozem is very fertile soil and can ...

soils; compared to LBK the area of settlement decreased.

Burial rites

The dead were mostly buried in a crouched position, lying on their right side and facing East. Graves were dug to a depth of 40 to 160 cm, occasionally they were covered with stone slabs. The exact shapes and sizes of graves are not well understood. Even less is known about possible

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

burials whose identification as belonging to Rössen is sometimes disputed. Cremated remains and

pyre A pyre (; ), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire. In discussi ...

ashes were collected together and accompanied by unburnt

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by researche ...

. Ceramic grave offerings include pedestalled cups, globular cups, lugged cups, bowls, flasks, amphoras, jugs and basins. Limestone rings, stone axes, flint blades and animal bones also occur.

Economy

Mixed agriculture was practiced, and cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were kept.

Origin of British/Irish Neolithic?

It is suggested the late Rössen culture may be ancestral to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

cultures of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(a group of cultures previously known as

Windmill Hill culture The Windmill Hill culture was a name given to a people inhabiting southern Britain, in particular in the Salisbury Plain area close to Stonehenge, c. 3000 BC. They were an agrarian Neolithic people; their name comes from Windmill Hill, a causeway ...

), but there is no great similarity in the form of houses or pottery. According to alternative theories, the British Neolithic culture(s) came from Brittany.Culture de Windmill-Hill
/ref>

Kurgan hypothesis

In the context of the

Kurgan hypothesis The Kurgan hypothesis (also known as the Kurgan theory, Kurgan model, or steppe theory) is the most widely accepted proposal to identify the Proto-Indo-European homeland from which the Indo-European languages spread out throughout Europe and part ...

, certain intrusive elements are pointed to as some of the earliest evidence for penetration by Kurgan culture-based

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

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 presently prevailing view assigns it to indigenous non-Indo-European-speaking people.

Chronologically and geographically adjacent cultures

Rössen followed LBK. In its western distribution, the Hinkelstein, Großgartach and Planig-Friedberg complexes intervene between LBK and Rössen. Rössen is partially contemporaneous with the Southeast Bavarian

Middle Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wi ...

('Südostbayerisches Mittelneolithikum' or SOB, formally also known as Oberlauterbach Group). In the North, Rössen precedes the early Funnel beaker culture of Baalberge; in the South it is followed by the so-called post-Rössen groups ( Wauwil, Bischoffingen-Leiselheim/Strasbourg, Bischheim, Goldberg, Aichbühl, Gatersleben) and Lengyel (

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

), and the Münchshöfen Culture (

Genetics

In a 2017 genetic study published in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', the remains of a female ascribed to the Rössen culture was analyzed. She was found to be carrying V1a.

Gallery

File:Torso of richly decorated neolithic potttery, Museum of Western Bohemia, 187710.jpg, Pottery, Czech Republic File:Landesmuseum Württemberg Stuttgart Neolithikum 024.jpg, Pottery, Germany File:Schuchhardt Gräber von Rössen.jpg, Burials, Germany File:Landesmuseum Württemberg Stuttgart Neolithikum 025.jpg, Stone axe, Germany File:Grossenrode Palisade.jpg, Reconstructed palisade at Grossenrode, Germany, c. 4700 BC

Literature

General

J. P. Mallory James Patrick Mallory (born October 25, 1945) is an American archaeologist and Indo-Europeanist. Mallory is an emeritus professor at Queen's University, Belfast; a member of the Royal Irish Academy, and the former editor of the '' Journal of ...

, "Rössen Culture", ''

Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture The ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'' (''EIEC'') is an encyclopedia of Indo-European studies and the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The encyclopedia was edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams and published in 1997 by Fitzroy Dearborn. A ...

'', 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.

Origins/Development

*W. Meier-Arendt: ''Zur Frage der Genese der Rössener Kultur.'' In: ''Germania.'' 52/1, 1974, 1-15. *H.-J. Beier (Hrsg.): ''Der Rössener Horizont in Mitteleuropa.'' Wilkau-Haßlau 1994. *J. Erhardt: ''Rössener Kultur.'' In: H.-J. Beier, R. Einicke (Hrsg.): ''Das Neolithikum im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet.'' Wilkau-Haßlau 1996, 76-77.

Pottery and chronology

*H. Behrens: D''ie Rössener, Gaterslebener und Jordansmühler Gruppe im Mitteldeutschen Raum.'' Fundamenta A 3, Teil Va (Köln 1972.), 270 ff. *J. Lichardus: ''Rössen – Gatersleben – Baalberge. Ein Beitrag zur Chronologie des mitteldeutschen Neolithikums und zur Entstehung der Trichterbecherkulturen.'' Saarbrücker Beitr. Altkde. 17 (Bonn 1976). *K. Mauser-Goller: D''ie Rössener Kultur in ihrem südwestlichen Verbreitungsgebiet.'' Fundamenta A 3, Teil Va (Köln 1972), 231-268. *F. Niquet: ''Die Rössener Kultur in Mitteldeutschland.'' Jahresschr. Mitteldt. Vorgesch. 26, 1937. *H. Spatz/S. Alföldy-Thomas: D''ie „Große Grube“ der Rössener Kultur in Heidelberg-Neuenheim.'' Materialhefte Vor- und Frühgesch. Baden-Württemberg 11 (Stuttgart 1988). *Otto Thielemann: "Eine Rössener Prachtvase von Burgdorf, Kreis Goslar", Die Kunde, Jg.9,10/1941

Subsistence

*J. Lüning: ''Steinzeitliche Bauern in Deutschland - die Landwirtschaft im Neolithikum.'' Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 58 (Bonn 2000). *U. Piening: ''Pflanzenreste Die Pflanzenreste aus Gruben der Linearbandkeramik und der Rössener Kultur von Ditzingen, Kr. Ludwigsburg.'' In: Fundber. Baden-Württemberg 22/1, 1998, 125-160.

Architecture

*M. Dohrn: ''Neolithische Siedlungen der Rössener Kultur in der Niederrheinischen Bucht.'' München 1983. *A. Jürgens: ''Die Rössener Siedlung von Aldenhoven, Kr. Düren.'' In: ''Rhein. Ausgrab.'' 19, 1979, 385-505. *R. Kuper: ''Der Rössener Siedlungsplatz Inden I.'' Dissertations-Druck, Köln 1979. *J. Lüning: ''Siedlung und Siedlungslandschaft in bandkeramischer und Rössener Zeit.'' In: ''Offa.'' 39, 1982, 9-33. *H. Luley: ''Die Rekonstruktion eines Hauses der Rössener Kultur im archäologischen Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen.'' In: ''Arch. Mitt. Nordwestdeutschl.'' Beiheft 4. Oldenburg 1990, 31-44. *H. Luley: ''Urgeschichtlicher Hausbau in Mitteleuropa. Grundlagenforschung, Umweltbedingungen und bautechnische Rekonstruktion.'' Universitätsforsch. prähist. Arch. 7. Bonn 1992. *K. Günther: ''Die jungsteinzeitliche Siedlung Deiringsen/Ruploh in der Soester Börde.'' Münster 1976.

Burial

*R. Dehn: ''Ein Gräberfeld der Rössener Kultur von Jechtingen, Gde. Sasbach, Kr. Emmendingen.'' in: ''Archäologische Nachr.'' Baden 34, 1985, 3-6. *J. Lichardus: ''Rössen-Gatersleben-Baalberge.'' Saarbrücker Beitr. Altkde 17. Bonn 1976. *F. Niquet: ''Das Gräberfeld von Rössen, Kreis Merseburg.'' Veröff. Landesanstalt Volkheitskde. 9. Halle/S. 1938.

Post-Rössen groups

*''Die Kugelbechergruppen in der südlichen Oberrheinebene.'' Sonderheft. Cahiers Assoc. Promotion Rech. Arch. Alsace 6, 1990. *Jens Lüning: ''Die Entwicklung der Keramik beim Übergang vom Mittel- zum Jungneolithikum im Süddeutschen Raum.'' Bericht der RGK 50.1969, 3-95. *M. Zápotocká, ''Zum Stand der Forschung über die relative Chronologie des frühen Äneolithikums in Böhmen.'' In: J. Biel/H. Schlichtherle/M. Strobel/A. Zeeb (Hrsg.), ''Die Michelsberger Kultur und ihre Randgebiete - Probleme der Entstehung, Chronologie und des Siedlungswesens.'' Kolloquium Hemmenhofen, 21–23 February 1997. Materialh. Ur- u. Frühgesch. Baden-Württemberg 43. Stuttgart 1998, 291-302. *A. Zeeb: ''Poströssen – Epirössen – Kugelbechergruppen. Zur Begriffsverwirrung im frühen Jungneolithikum (Die Schulterbandgruppen – Versuch einer Neubenennung).'' In: H.-J. Beier (Hrsg.), Der Rössener Horizont in Mitteleuropa. Wilkau-Haßlau 1994, 7-10.

Source of translation

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossen Culture Neolithic cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures in Austria Archaeological cultures in Belgium Archaeological cultures in France Archaeological cultures in Germany Archaeological cultures in the Netherlands Archaeological cultures in Switzerland 5th-millennium BC establishments