Institute of Archaeological Sciences

Research projects

Mobility, Vulnerability and Resilience of Middle European Neolithic Societies at the end of the 4th millenium BC

One of the central topics of prehistoric archeology is the question of change in prehistoric societies, which factors triggered it, which areas of life were affected and how this change was expressed in material culture. Around 2800 BC there are profound changes in Central Europe which are connected on the one hand with a climatic cold period and on the other hand with the arrival of new population groups. The latter have their genetic origin in the Pontic-Caspian steppe and carry their uniform material culture (the so-called Corded Ware phenomenon) over eastern central Europe to the lakeside settlements of the French Jura, the Swiss Central Plateau and southern Germany. Due to their excellent preservation conditions and the possibility of being able to precisely date settlement phases with the help of dendrochronology, these are particularly well suited to understand the change that began at the end of the 4th millennium, which was the prerequisite for the rapid spread and acceptance of Corded Ware groups. For this purpose, various qualitative and quantitative methods from archeology and archeometry, in particular dendrochronology and ceramic analysis, as well as climate research are applied to sites that date back to between 3400 and 2800 BC and are assigned to the Horgen group due to their coarse ceramics. The investigations enable conclusions about the dating and layout of the settlements, the mode of subsistence, the manufacturing practice of the objects, as well as the mobility of the residents and their artefacts, which provide information about the local societal conditions in the lakeshore communities. This results in insights into the vulnerability, resilience and adaptability of these late Neolithic settlement groups to global socio-political, demographic and climatic changes.