Rössen culture — a Central European Middle Neolithic archaeological culture (4600-4300 BC). The culture was named after the Rössen necropolis (part of the town of Leuna, Saalekreis district, Saxony-Anhalt). Rössen culture sites have been discovered in 11 of Germany's 16 federal states (it is absent only in the north of the North German Plain), as well as in the southeastern Benelux countries, northeastern France, northern Switzerland, and a small part of Austria.
The Rössen culture is an important marker of the transition from the widespread tradition of the Linear Pottery culture, dating back to the Early Neolithic of Europe, to the more diverse cultures of the Middle and Late Neolithic, such as the Michelsberg culture and the Funnelbeaker culture (the former is a descendant of the Rössen — through the intermediary of the Bischheim group 4400-4200 BC, the latter is more invasive, occupying the extreme northeast of the former Rössen area). A variant of the Rössen culture is the Oberlauterbach group.
Rössen pottery has characteristic decorations in the form of double notches ("goat's hoof") with inlay of thickly ground white pigment. Also common are incisions in the form of grooves or stamped notches. Over time, the area of distribution of decorative elements decreases; on later vessels, they are usually found only on the neck or are completely absent. Typical vessel forms include: long footed bowls, spherical bowls, rectangular bowls, and boat-shaped vessels. The surfaces of the vessels are usually polished; their colors range from brown to reddish-brown, black, and gray-black. The range of Rössen flint tools largely resembles that of the Linear Pottery culture (adzes with pyramidal bases), however, there are noticeable differences in the raw materials used. Dutch Rijkholt flint, which dominated the Linear Pottery culture, is displaced by veined flint from Bavaria (Abensberg-Arnhofen type). The most typical tool made from a single piece of stone is a perforated cleaver, though axes and scrapers without perforations are also found.
Only a few Rössen settlements have been excavated. The most characteristic examples are the settlements of Deiringsen-Ruploh and Schöningen/Esbeck. The predominant type of structure is the long house (up to 65 m), trapezoidal or boat-shaped. Judging by the layout, the roofs of the long houses were pitched. The interiors of the houses were often divided into rooms. Some settlements are surrounded by ditches. Most settlements are located in areas with chernozem soil. Compared to the Linear Pottery culture, the size (area) of settlements decreased. The deceased were mostly buried in a crouched position, lying on their right side facing east. Graves were dug to depths of 40 to 160 cm, sometimes covered with stone slabs. The exact shapes and sizes of the graves are not yet clear. Whether this culture used cremation remains a matter of debate; the attribution of cremated remains to the Rössen is disputed. Along with cremated remains, unburned grave offerings are found. Among the grave goods are ceramic pedestal cups, spherical cups, cups with ear-shaped handles, bowls, bottles, amphorae, jugs, and basins. Also found in the burials are limestone rings, stone axes, flint adzes, and animal bones. The Rössen culture represented a further development of one of the western groups of the Linear Pottery culture. In the western area, the Hinkelstein, Großgartach, and Planig-Friedberg complexes are intermediate between the two cultures.
The Rössen culture partially coincides chronologically with the southeastern Bavarian Middle Neolithic cultural complex, also known as the Oberlauterbach group. Contemporaries and neighbors of the Rössen culture were the Tisapolgár culture (Hungary-Slovakia) and late Mesolithic groups (Ellerbek and Ertebølle). Around 4400 BC, in the northern part of its distribution area, the Rössen culture is replaced by the early Funnelbeaker culture in Baalberge; in the south, it disintegrates into a number of so-called post-Rössen groups: Voville (northern France), Bischoffingen-Leiselheim/Strasbourg (Alsace-Lorraine), Bischheim (Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia), Goldberg, Aichbühl (Upper Swabia), Gatersleben (middle Elbe-Saale). In the southeast (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria), it is replaced by the Lengyel culture, and in southern Bavaria — by the Münchshöfen culture. Around 4200 BC, the Bischheim group absorbs most of the post-Rössen cultures with the formation of the Michelsberg culture.
G2a: Rössen culture, Central Europe (Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland).
Sources:
Maciamo Hay
Hallstatt culture