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Copyright of Revue Archéologique de Picardie is the property of Revue Archeologique de Picardie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revue Archéologique de Picardie is the property of Revue Archeologique de Picardie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mit Beginn des DFG-Sonderforschungsbereiches 1266 „TransformationsDimensionen" stand im Rahmen des Teilprojektes „Spätmesolithische und Neolithische Transformationen in der nordmitteleuropäischen Tiefebene" auch die Frage des Überganges von mittelneolithischen Trichterbecher- zu jungneolithischen Einzelgrabgesellschaften im Vordergrund des Interesses. Aufgrund fehlender Siedlungsbefunde wurden 2016 erste siedlungsarchäologische Untersuchungen durchgeführt, dazu zählte eine geophysikalische und archäologische Prospektion im Bereich der Fundstelle Oldenburg LA 232 in Ostholstein. Dieser neolithische Siedlungsplatz befindet sich auf einer Geländeerhöhung im Feuchtgebiet des westlichen Oldenburger Grabens, einer ehemaligen Förde- und Lagunenlandschaft, und schließt eine ehemalige Uferzone mit ein. Die Untersuchungen ermöglichten es, eine trichterbecherzeitliche Besiedlung (ca. 3340–3020 cal BC) auf der Geländeerhöhung in Form von Gebäudestrukturen, Vorratsgruben und einem Werkplatz zur Produktion von Flintgeräten nachzuweisen. Eine zweite Besiedlungsphase (ca. 2930–2630 cal BC) ist durch eine Fundschicht mit Pfeilschäften, Konstruktionshölzern, Vorarbeiten und Pfählen im Bereich der neolithischen Uferzone belegt und gehört der Übergangsphase Mittelneolithikum V/Jungneolithikum 1 (Store-Valby/frühe Einzelgrabkultur) an. In dieser Transformationsphase lassen sich, ausgehend vom neu gegrabenen Fundplatz, auf regionaler Ebene sowohl Kontinuitäten als auch Diskontinuitäten nachweisen. Insbesondere die Platzkontinuität ist für das Verständnis des Transformationsprozesses vom Mittel- zum Jungneolithikum in der Norddeutschen Tiefebene von entscheidender Bedeutung. With the beginning of the DFG Collaborative Research Centre 1266 "Scales of Transformation - Human-Environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies", the subproject "Late Mesolithic and Neolithic Transformations on the Northern and Central European Plain" also focused on the question of the transition from Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker to Young Neolithic Single Grave societies. Due to the lack of settlement findings, first archaeological investigations were realised in 2016, including a geophysical and archaeological prospection in the area of the site Oldenburg LA 232 in East Holstein. This Neolithic settlement site is located on an elevation in the wetland of the western Oldenburger Graben, a former fjord and lagoon landscape, that includes the former shore zone. The investigations made it possible to detect a Funnel Beaker settlement (approx. 3340–3020 cal BC) on the elevation in the form of building structures, storage pits and a work site for flint tool production. The second settlement phase (approx. 2930–2630 cal BC) is recognized as a cultural layer with arrow shafts, construction timber, wooden pre-forms and piles in the area of the Neolithic riparian zone and belongs to the transitional phase Middle Neolithic V/Late Neolithic 1 (Store-Valby/Early Single Grave societies). In this phase of transformation, and using the newly excavated site as a starting point, continuity and discontinuity is shown at the regional level. In particular, the continuity of domestic locations is of decisive importance for the understanding of the transformation process from the Middle to the Young Neolithic in the North German Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of unanswered questions about the nature and development of the Late Neolithic in Orkney, we present a summary of research up to 2015 on the major site at the Ness of Brodgar, Mainland Orkney, concentrating on the impressive buildings. Finding sufficient samples for radiocarbon dating was a considerable challenge. There are indications, from both features and finds, of activity pre-dating the main set of buildings exposed so far by excavation. Forty-six dates on thirty-nine samples are presented and are interpreted in a formal chronological framework. Two models are presented, reflecting different possible readings of the sequence. Both indicate that piered architecture was in use by the thirtieth century cal BC and that the massive Structure 10, not the first building in the sequence, was also in existence by the thirtieth century cal BC. Activity associated with piered architecture came to an end (in Model 2) around 2800 cal BC. Midden and rubble infill followed. After an appreciable interval, the hearth at the centre of Structure 10 was last used around 2500 cal BC, perhaps the only activity in an otherwise abandoned site. The remains of some 400 or more cattle were deposited over the ruins of Structure 10: in Model 2, in the mid-twenty-fifth century cal BC, but in Model 1 in the late twenty-fourth or twenty-third century cal BC. The chronologies invite comparison with the near-neighbour of Barnhouse, in use from the later thirty-second to the earlier twenty-ninth century cal BC, and the Stones of Stenness, probably erected by the thirtieth century cal BC. The Ness, including Structure 10, appears to have outlasted Barnhouse, but probably did not endure as long in its primary form as previously envisaged. The decay and decommissioning of the Ness may have coincided with the further development of the sacred landscape around it; but precise chronologies for other sites in the surrounding landscape are urgently required. The spectacular feasting remains of several hundred cattle deposited above Structure 10 may belong to a radically changing world, coinciding (in Model 2) with the appearance of Beakers nationally, but it was arguably the, by now, mythic status of that building which drew people back to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Das Galeriegrab von Niedertiefenbach stellt einen besonderen Befund der späten Wartberggruppe im Neolithikum der Deutschen Mittelgebirgsschwelle dar; nur hier findet sich ein in zehn Straten geborgenes Bestattungskollektiv von mindestens 177 Individuen. Eine umfangreiche Serie von Radiokarbondatierungen belegt ein wesentlich höheres Alter des Grabes als bisher publiziert und erlaubt die Modellierung einer Bestattungssequenz zwischen 3.350 und 2.900 cal BC. Eine neue paläopathologische Untersuchung, vorerst nur an den Schädeln vorgenommen, zeigt einen hohen Krankenstand mit zahlreichen entzündlichen Prozessen. Mit einer verheilten Trepanation bei einem Kind wird aber zugleich auch ein besonderes Wissen im Bereich der medizinischen Versorgung deutlich. Erste Analysen zur aDNA mittels Hochfrequenzsequenzierung (HTS) belegen die Anwesenheit mitochondrialer DNA mit den Haplogruppen U5 und X2. Der erstmalige Einsatz eines CAD/CAM-Computersystems (CEREC) bietet eine detaillierte Erfassung morphologischer und pathologischer Merkmale an den Zähnen und Kiefern mit noch folgender metrisch-statistischer Analyse. The gallery grave from Niedertiefenbach is a remarkable site in the German Mittelgebirge, dating to the Late Neolithic late Wartberg. It is unique in that it contains a stratified sequence of at least 177 individuals. A new and extensive series of radiocarbon dates indicates that the burial is older than previously published and allows the modelling of a sequence of burials between 3350 and 2900 cal BC. A new palaeopathological analysis, at present only carried out on the skulls, shows a high rate of disease with many inflammatory processes. However, a healed trepanation on the skull of a child also provides evidence of special medical knowledge and health care. First results of analyses of ancient DNA using high-frequency sequencing (HTS) indicate that mitochondrial DNA of haplogroups U5 and X2 was present. The first use of a CAD-CAM computer system (CEREC) provides a detailed assessment of the morphological and pathological characteristics of the teeth and jaws and the data for subsequent metric statistical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyse the correlation between finds and ditches, the duration of ditch fills, and the manner of the demise of Late Neolithic rondels (Kreisgrabenanlagen) in the Czech Republic. Two comparable long-term projects are discussed here: Kolín (central Bohemia) and Vchynice (northwest Bohemia). Qualitative, quantitative, and spatial analyses of the different categories of finds (pottery fragments, lithics, daub, and faunal remains) from the ditch fills show that only finds from the bottom layers of the ditches were contemporary with the primary function of the rondels. However, the bottom layers often only contained a few artefacts. The richest parts of the ditches, the middle and upper layers, from both sites illustrated similar characteristics: after the rondels lost their primary function, the ditches were filled by both natural and cultural agents over a long period. As a consequence, some previous, and widely accepted, interpretations of the relationship between individual areas of rondels and their relationship with surrounding features, as well as the relationship of the finds from ditch fills to rondel function and chronology, need to be revisited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eines der seltenen chalkolithischen Einzelgräber mit einem kupfernen Nietdolch ermöglicht die Diskussion der Einführung der frühen Metallurgie in Nordmitteleuropa und Südskandinavien. Obwohl im Mittelelbe-Saale-Gebiet und in der Trichterbecher-Nordgruppe eine eigenständige Metallurgie nachweisbar ist, bleiben die Dolche aus Aspenstedt und Bygholm singulär. Anders als im südlichen Mitteleuropa setzt sich das Prinzip 'Dolch' als Bewaffnungsform erst wesentlich später durch. Möglicherweise ist dies auf andere soziale Verhältnisse zurückzuführen. One of the rare Chalcolithic single graves with a copper rivet dagger serves as the basis for discussion of the introduction of early metallurgy in Northern Central Europe and Southern Scandinavia. Although an independent metallurgy is demonstrated in the Central Elbe-Saale region and in the northern group of the Funnel Beaker Culture, the daggers from Aspenstedt and Bygholm are singular. The use of the dagger as a weapon in this region began considerably later than in Southern Central Europe. This might possibly be the result of different social circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]