Research Items

Abstract

A LATE BRONZE AGE SITE IN SOUTHERN BAVARIA.—The results of an investigation of a site near Istein in Southern Bavaria are described by Dr. R. Lais in vol. 24, Pt. 2, of the Bericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschafi zu Freiburg. The finds, some of which have an important bearing on the distribution of ceramic ornament in this part of the Central European area in the later Bronze Age, were derived in part from the surface, in part from excavation. Among them were a very fine triangular arrow-head of chert, polished stone axes, stone knives, clay spindle-whorls of double-cone shape and pottery, mostly fragmentary, but of sufficient size to show the character of the ornamentation. The decoration was in the form of rings in relief, incised dots and marks in lines and groups, parallel grooves, zigzags and dog's tooth. It was uniformly geometric with the single exception of a garlanded ornament or series of festoons composed of grooves. In regard to dating, the arrow-head, axes and knives clearly belong to the Neolithic Age, as do the numerous flint-flakes which were found, although some of these would appear to have been used later for the purpose of strike-a-lights. The pottery, however, belongs to a later period and may be an extension of the culture of the Black Forest. It is compared with pottery from an urn-burial at Rheinweiler, 5 km. to the north, and from Aichen, 50 km. to the east. These two finds are to be attributed to the Bronze Age rather than the early Iron Age as has been suggested. The Istein finds may be assigned to the latest phase of the Bronze Age.