Settlement and landscape archaeology of the Earliest Linear Pottery Culture -. Two Settlement Chambers in the Central Franconian Gaeuland and in the Foothills of the Southern Franconian Alps as Key Areas of the Early Neolithic Period

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Silviane Scharl
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 529234507

The earliest Linear Pottery Culture (LBK; c. 5400-5250 BC) as the earliest stage of the Neolithic in Central Europe is quite well investigated: during the last three decades various settlements have been excavated and evaluated, the most important artefact categories have been analysed and chronological questions are part of current research projects. So far, however, research has focused on the analysis of single sites or large-scale developments – the latter mainly related to the question of emergence and spread of the earliest LBK. Cross-site analyses on the relations between households, settlements, settlement areas and overarching unities, as they have already been done for the later LBK, are still largely missing. The proposed project aims at investigating two settlement areas of the earliest LBK in Central Franconia/Northwest Bavaria with numerous surface sites and four state-of-the-art excavated settlements, the latter with an excellent preservation of features, large quantities of finds and numerous samples for scientific analysis. This constitutes optimal preconditions for settlement and landscape archaeological analysis. The project aims at a better understanding of the colonisation processes, settlement structures, social and economic conditions, networks and subsistence on the three scales settlement – settlement area – region. The methodological approach integrates various strands: the archaeological attribute analysis of finds and features as well as archaeobotanical and archaeozoological analyses constitute the basis. This, together with radiocarbon data, forms the basis for the reconstruction of the spatiotemporal development. Economic networks will be examined by lithic analysis, social networks can be investigated i.a. by typochronological comparison of pottery and lithic artefacts. Geostatistical methods will help to identify settlement structures and land use patterns. Lipid analysis on pottery sherds will provide information on the role of milk in subsistence of early LBK societies. With this in-depth analysis of two settlement areas and the nexus on different scales the project will contribute towards a more differentiated understanding of local and regional processes of Neolithisation and thus contribute towards a better understanding of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Central Europe.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants