International Research Fellowship Program: Changes in Chert Acquisition Strategies during the Neolithic of Southwest Germany

Harris Susan K, Goleta CA

Investigators

Abstract

0901893 Harris This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twelve-month research fellowship by Dr. Susan K. Harris to work with Dr. Nicholas J. Conard at the University of Tuebingen in Germany. This project is conducting an intensive analysis of artifacts from the only excavated Neolithic chert quarry on the Swabian Alb of southwest Germany. During the course of the Neolithic numerous key changes have been observed in the social organization of peoples living in Central Europe. Among these changes are increased regionalization, intensified resource use, and stratification of social structure. Through the Neolithic the main source of tool stone for a broad region of southern Germany was the Jurassic chert of the Swabian Alb plateau. This project explores changes in raw material exploitation across three Neolithic time periods, ca. 5000 ? 2200 B.C. Early Neolithic (Linearbandkeramik or LBK, ca. 5500-4900 B.C.) people were the first farmers in Central Europe, where they introduced cultivated cereals, domesticated cattle, sheep and pigs, the region?s first sedentary villages, and distinctive ceramic vessels. During the course of the Neolithic further significant changes occurred in the degree of social integration and economy of peoples living in central Europe. Among the more valuable commodities that archaeologists can see traded over long distances was high-quality stone for making tools. As the first stone raw material source to be excavated on the Swabian Alb of southwest Germany, the Asch ?Borgerhau? site is vital to understanding the role of raw material acquisition, transport, and trade within the Neolithic economy. Results of this investigation will greatly increase the available data on chert acquisition for central Europe. As a new and well-dated site, Asch ?Borgerhau? provides a valuable comparison to other quarry sites outside of Baden-Württemberg. Within the region of southwest Germany only settlement sites have been excavated, and on the Swabian Alb itself the Neolithic remains almost completely unexplored. Therefore, the Asch ?Borgerhau? quarry site fills an important gap in our understanding of the settlement patterns and economic organization of the region. This research will further result in a comparative database for future research on chert quarrying in the Neolithic.