Bücher der Reihe Materialhefte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Niedersachsens

This volume of the Materialhefte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte presents the results of a long-running archaeological excavation in the Lichtenstein cave near Osterode am Harz [Germany, state of Lower Saxony, district of Göttingen]. Based on the extensive finds assemblage, which amongst others comprises numerous remains of pottery vessels and more than 200 bronze objects, the site can be dated to the 10th-9th centuries B.C. and thereby to a younger part of the Urnfield Period. Particularly important for Urnfield Period research is the assemblage of more than 4.000 unburnt human bones, found in the cave without anatomical connection. Based on extensive aDNA analysis, these skeletal elements could be assigned to 57 individuals, 42 of whom form a biological kinship group spanning 4-5 generations and comprising four genetically closely related family units. The amount and composition of the human bone assemblage, alongside further indications, leave little doubt that the Lichtenstein cave bone material is the result of the secondary deposition of selected skeletal elements, and that the cave therefore functioned as a family tomb for almost a century. This is the first time that a regular multi-stage burial custom, practised over a longer period of time and involving secondary burial in a cave, has been documented for the Urnfield Period. In addition, the rich finds assemblage and the numerous features from Lichtenstein cave provide detailed insights into the accompanying funerary rites and the beliefs of the cave's Urnfield Period users that significantly expand our understanding. The results of the extensive scientific analyses, amongst others focusing on the human and animal bone and the botanic macroremains, as well as the results of isotopic investigations, will be published shortly in a subsequent volume.

These conference proceedings contain a foreword by the editors, 26 papers of an international conference at Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover from 20th to 22nd May 2019, and a list of authors. The papers are divided into chapters on "Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain" [16 papers on the interaction between Mesolithic and Neolithic communities] and on "Changing worlds - The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North" [10 papers on more general aspects of the Neolithisation]. The contributions deal with Mesolithic pottery, sites of the Swifterbant and Linear Pottery Cultures, palaeobotanical data, lipid residue analyses, the initial Neolithisation of the lowlands, Neolithic hoards, foraging in a changing landscape, intercultural interaction and impacts, paths of innovation, long distance contacts, mobility and migration, multiculturalism, the Rhine-Meuse Delta [Doggerland] from 5,500-2,500 B.C., the earliest metallurgy, a biological view of Neolithisation, the transformation 4,750-3,800 B.C., technical innovations, the Schöningen Group, Younger Neolithic causewayed enclosures, plant economy, and a Neolithic landscape preserved in a bog.

From 1963-70 and in 2016 some 2.6 ha of a Linear Pottery settlement were excavated. It was situated on a Loess ridge parallel to the River Rase, a western tributary of the River Leine, easterly adjacent to the Leine flood plain. This volume presents the entire evidence of features and finds for comparison with other sites. It focuses on pottery analysis and the classification and chronological order of the 54 houses excavated. These were attributed to certain types of construction and ground plan and brought into chronological order by means of construction characteristics and pottery finds. At the same time, the development of pottery was linked to the development of ground plans of buildings. The focus of occupation lay on Stage II or the Flomborn Phase, while Stage III was represented by a few features and finds only, and the settlement was finally deserted at the beginning of Stage IV - at least in the area excavated. Additionally, features of a possibly cultic or ritual nature in house contexts are discussed. Other topics are the settlement structure and social structure. Knapped and polished stone tools, querns, and organic remains are published here, too.