Sherds of the late Linearbandkeramik, Rhine-Main area
The Linearbandkeramic (abbreviated LBK) is the earliest neolithic culture of Central Europe. Its oldest phase is dated by the radiocarbon method to 5.500 BC. This culture can be associated with the westward spread of agriculture across Europe during the 6th millennium BC and 5th millennium BC. The name derives from pottery found in Neolithic archaeological sites featuring painted or incised linear motifs.
Early LBK sites are found in river valleys and flood plains of the Danube River area in Hungary and the northern Balkans. This region already had a thriving culture of farms and small settlements in the 6th millennium BC. Most scholars derive the Linearbandkeramic from the Starcevo-Körös culture of Northern Serbia and Hungary, but some would argue for an autochthonous development out of the local Mesolithic cultures.
Evidence suggests that settlers from the northern Balkans spread slowly westward and northward over the centuries, eventually reaching the Rhine valley and west-central France. This region was then sparsely populated, probably by only a few Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.
Important sites include Bylany in the Czech Republic, Langweiler and Zwenkau in Germany and Brunn am Gebirge in Austria.
It is followed by the stroke-ornamented ware pottery in the eastern part of the settlement area, by the Hinkelstein, Großgartach- and Rössen-cultures in the West.
LBK sites near Cologne show that the people lived in villages of multi-room wooden long houses, and raised grain and vegetables in small plots. Though their farming was small-scale, the increasing numbers of LBK settlements began a process of thinning Europe's primeval forests. This would continue for millennia as population increased.
Evidence suggests that when Neolithic farmers reached the Atlantic and North Sea coasts, they met other peoples who made their living from the rich marine environment. Some anthropologists suggest that the encounter and possible fusion may have brought about the megalithic cultures of western Europe.
External links
| 
