TRB-Culture

The discussion on the mutual relations of various elements within the Funnel Beaker culture has been on for almost half a century now. It currently involves the third generation of researchers, and it is quite likely that the next generations will still have something more to add to this exchange of views (K. Jażdżewski 1970a, p. 49). Half a century has passed since that publication and now we can only assent to the Professor and risk the statement that in the next 50 years this problem will continue to be valid. This paper is intended as an attempt to sketch answer the fundamental question defined by Jażdżewski (1970a, p. 49): The essential question is whether the northern, western and southern elements balance within the Funnel Beaker culture, or whether one of
them is dominant, prime and decisive for further development. In other words, I intend to predominantly focus on the geo-cultural significance of the communities of the Funnel Beaker culture. In parallel with the essential part of the analysis, I will make an attempt to illustrate the threads of the contemporary discourse which directly relate to Jażdżewski’s thoughts.

The paper presents fins from the settlement of the
Funnel Beaker culture on Site 10 in Szumów, Puławy
district (AZP 74-78/69). The site is located on sands,
on the northern foreland of the Nałęczów Plateau, on
the Lubartów Upland. On the area of 25 ares there
were discovered 43 archaeological structures and a cultural layer, all linked with the Funnel Beaker culture.
The same affiliation has been attributed to potsherds,
spindle whorls, loom weights, diminutive axe presentations in clay, and also flint and stone artifacts. Use of
clay has been also confirmed by abundance of daub,
also constructional. On the ground of pottery style and
analogies from other sites we can date the settlement
in Szumów to the period 3650–3350 BC.

During the excavations in 1983-1985 carried-out by
Sławomir Jastrzębski on Site 1C in Gródek, Hrubieszów
district, 44 settlement structures of the Funnel Beaker
culture and also an ditch and a pit of the Lublin-Volhynia
culture were discovered. There was also revealed a few
pottery concentrations linked with the Funnel Beaker
culture and potsherds of the Tripolye culture. Samples
of organic material from 9 Funnel Beaker structures
and the ditch of the Lublin-Volhynia culture gave 12
radiocarbon dates. The paper presents assemblages of
artifacts from Neolithic structure, taking into account
their chronology.

The aim of this article is to present views for the origin of Niedźwiedź type tombs in the Eastern group of the
TRB culture. The characteristics of these structures include: the presence of a foundation trench in which a
wooden palisade or wattle-work structure was originally located, the frequent lack of unambiguous burial
traces and a lack of earthen mounds. Other characteristics of these structures such as: orientation, a trapezoid
or elongated shape clearly refer to all the long tombs of the TRB culture. The author presents the context of
the Niedźwiedź type tombs occurrence. At the same time, he indicates two fundamental sources of inspiration
which potentially may have been responsible for their genesis.

This paper is a preliminary report on the recent
discovery of the FBC longhouses at Líbeznice
in Central Bohemia. The rescue excavation,
carried out during motorway bypass construction
produced evidence of more than ten ground plans
of FBC longhouses and their remains. According to
the finds associated with the houses, it is possible
to date the houses to the Salzmünde phase of the
FBC. Analogical finds are very rare in Bohemia.
Two very similar dwelling structures were discovered
by Ivana Pleinerová at Březnoin in Northwest Bohemia and
another yet unpublished example
was recovered at Milan Zápotocký’s excavations
at Kozly (Mělník district). In Central Europe,
there is only a limited number of similar examples
from Poland, the Saale Region and Lower Saxony
but overall numerous examples of FBC houses
are known. It is likely that the longhouses with
post construction were the most prevalent type of
dwelling throughout the Neolithic/Copper Age in
Central Europe, even if evidence of them is very
limited for some periods.

Last two decades can undoubtedly be considered as the period when the dynamic - almost unprecedented in the speed - raising awarness on Kuyavian Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) agglomeration took place. At the time an interesting trand may be noticed. While in the first part of this period, research efforts focused on the earliest stages of the existence of this culture, tha latest few years abound in research and publications related to the later part of its existence. This global trend was accompanied by the evolution of my research interests connected with the TRB. One cannot fail to note that over time more sharply a lack of synthesized approach manifests itself, which could be a suplement and a continuation of the considerations presented in my previous book. This paper is an attempt to fill this important gap.

The aim of this paper is to re-evaluate two megaliths - tomb 8 at Sarnowo and tomb 1 at Świerczynek. A starting point of the analysis is presentation of conceptions of  a palimpsest and perspectivism, which, in this case, are effective analytical tools. The general conclusion resulting from the present work is long duration and variety of forms of megaliths space use.

This paper deals with Dutch flint axe depositions associated with the Middle Neolithic Funnelbeaker Culture (Trichterbecher Kultur – TRB). Large flint axes were acquired as finished products from southern Scandinavia and were deposited in specific, waterlogged places in the landscape. The application of new empirical research techniques has revealed unexpected patterns of use and treatment of these axes. Moreover, contextual analysis shows significant differences in terms of size and wear patterns compared with axes retrieved from megalithic tombs. The evidence strongly suggests that the observed differences may have been linked to completely different use-lives between the two classes of axes. Drawing on ethnographic analogy, it will be argued that the large flint axes deposited in natural places in the landscape became animated with special powers through the act of production. Given the highly ritualized treatment that accompanied their exchange, they must have played an important role in TRB cosmology.

Keywords: Neolithic; selective deposition; craftsmanship; cosmology; megaliths

The ways of dealing with the dead and the relationship the living had with death are one of the key elements
constituting every culture. The present article is inspired by the terror management theory and it attempts to
adapt it to the conditions of the Middle Neolithic Kuyavia. The area was inhabited by societies which fundamentally
followed different sepulchral patterns. The author of the paper aims to outline the position of funerary behaviours
in the rhythm of cultural transformations of that time.

Abstract: This article presents the fi rst results of archaeological investigations of the Funnel Beaker period settlement
Lavenstedt 178, district of Rotenburg (Wümme). Apart from an occupation layer containing a large amount of fi nds, a
well and the ground-plan of a house belonging to this period were recorded in the course of the excavations. For Northwest
Germany this provides the fi rst opportunity to obtain information not only about building structures but also about
activities and infrastructural installations.

Inhalt: Im folgenden Beitrag werden die ersten Ergebnisse der archäologischen Untersuchungen der trichterbecherzeitlichen
Siedlung von Lavenstedt 178, Ldkr. Rotenburg (Wümme), vorgestellt. Bei den Ausgrabungen konnten neben
einer Kulturschicht mit einer großen Menge an Fundmaterial auch ein Brunnen und ein Gebäudegrundriss dieser Zeitstellung
dokumentiert werden. Damit ist hier zum ersten Mal für Nordwestdeutschland die Möglichkeit gegeben, neben
Gebäudestrukturen auch Informationen über Aktivitäten und infrastrukturelle Einrichtungen zu gewinnen.

In the course of wide-area excavations of Site 52 in Pawłosiów there were identified 26 spindle whorl of the Funnel Beaker culture in various state of preser­vation. In analysis of the collection a detail metric and quantitative characteristics of the artifacts has been ap­plied . Comparison of the analyzed material with oth­er collections of that kind from Funnel Beaker sites in the Carpathian and Sub-Carpathian regions followed the same criteria. It revealed both similarities (domination of flattened spindle whorls) and dissimilarities (in dimensions). The presence of medium-high and high form in Pawłosiów indicates relations with east­ern peripheries of the Funnel Beaker culture. Use of high spindle whorls in this culture (also in its Baden­-like variant) and also in the Tripolye culture in the 2nd half of the 4th century is being contributed to economic transformations related to wool processing.

The remains of a levelled hunebed with seven pairs of sidestones were excavated during the winter of 1969-1970. Almost all structural parts had been removed or destroyed, but the contents of the chamber remained in  situ, although fragmented. A large number of (mainly reconstrucable) pots, many flint artefacts (arrowheads, bikkels, axes) and amber beads were found. In addition, sherds of an EGK amphora, three Bell beakers and two Bell Beaker knives indicate later activity. A sherd of a kogelpot dates the destruction of the hunebed to the late 10th or 11th century AD.

This paper concentrates on the problem of occurence of clay plates within the region of Polish Lowland. The sources are findings known from the literature as wall as those excaveted recently. Comparative analyses related territorially to Europe and chronologically to the period 4400-3800 BC