Frühbadener Elemente im Neolithikum Mitteldeutschlands: die "Schöninger Gruppe"

Abstract

Early Baden Elements in the Neolithic of Central Germany – the »Schoningen Group« Some cultural complexes still do not fit reliably into the  seemingly well-established chronology of the Mittelelbe-Saale-Region. One example is the enigmatic Schoningen pottery,  named after a settlement site in Lower Saxony. When R. Maier  presented the material in 1987, it could only be dated broadly to the Younger Neolithic due to an apparent lack of convincing  typological parallels. In 1993 J. Beran assigned several new  complexes (e.g. Salzmunde, Oberwerschen; both in Sachsen- Anhalt) to the »Schoningen group« as he called it then. Based on very general typological resemblances, he dated it to the  beginning of the Younger Neolithic, regarding it contemporary  with early Michelsberg (MK I / II; c. 4200 / 4000 B.C.). On the  whole the typochronological suggestion was followed by D.  Kaufmann in 1994. In this paper we point to the hitherto unrecognized fact that the Schoningen bowl, as the dominant and most characteristic type, is very closely related to early Baden (Boleraz) pottery. Furthermore, parallels for almost all other typological features can be found in Boleraz and to some extent in Altheim. Therefore Schoningen pottery can be placed in the context of Baalberge and perhaps early Salzmunde (c. 3700–3350 B.C.). We consider the Schoningen types not a cultural »group« sensu stricto, but a bundle of time-specific styles, resulting from a strong Boleraz and perhaps Altheim influence on the Mittelelbe-Saale-Region.