The origin and spread of the western linear pottery culture: Between forager and food producing lifeways in Central Europe

Abstract

The findings of the project addressing Early Neolithic lifeways in Central Europe were published in 2013 (P. Bickle, A. Whittle). As part of this research project, samples from human and animal skeletons from various Linearbandkeramik (LBK) sites of the immense area extending from Transdanubia to Alsace were submitted to stable isotope analyses in order to reconstruct the mobility, diet and social structure of Early Neolithic groups. However, owing to the nature of the submitted samples, the conclusions drawn from the analyses cannot be applied to the early LBK phase because very few human remains are known from this period, especially from East Central Europe. Interaction between households and groups — as well as the crucial issue of LBK origins — can principally be reconstructed from the study of the material culture, especially from the analysis of lithic tools and pottery (and their raw materials).The study focuses on the early LBK phase, on the comparison of the material culture of Mesolithic foragers and the LBK, and on the assessment of the finds from LBK households and settlements. This analysis is restricted to the Central European diffusion of the LBK, to the main axis extending from Transdanubia to southern Poland.