Die Steinartefakte des mesolithischen Freilandfundplatzes „Am Rieger Busch“ in Hagen-Eilpe (Westfalen)

Abstract

The lithic assemblage from “Rieger Busch” was recovered in the 1980s by volunteers of the Hohenlimburg Museum as part of a rescue excavation. Among the finds and besides the lithic artefacts were pieces of charcoal which allowed for an anthracological analysis. Two of these samples provided AMS-dates for the site. While one of the samples dates to the Middle Ages, the second sample could be dated to approximately 8600 cal BC placing the occupation of the site at the transition from the late Preboreal to the early Boreal. Only few Mesolithic sites in Westphalia provide radiocarbon dates. The Mesolithic in Westphalia is primarily understood through the analysis and evaluation of lithic assemblages which derive from the collections of amateur archaeologists or from traditional excavations. Therefore, the reanalysis of the Mesolithic finds from “Rieger Busch” which include dateable charcoals represents an important contribution to the typochronological classification of the regional Mesolithic and the adjacent regions. Despite the close typological connection of the microliths with north-western Europe, some of the microlith types are geographically restricted to Northern or Southern Germany. That hints at the intermediary position of the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of the northern fringes of the Sauerland between different areas of tradition, which already had been proven by the findings from the nearby Blätterhöhle and the rock shelter in front of the cave´s entrance. Moreover, an evaluation of the lithic assemblage provides an insight into reconstructing the mobility of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers at the northern fringes of the low mountain range in Western Germany and the manufacturing techniques of their lithic artefacts.

• ams-dates
• early mesolithic
• lithic raw material
• mesolithic chronology
• microliths
• typology
• western germany
• westphalia

Resources

• http://www.dguf.de/fileadmin/AI/ArchInf-EV_Schneid.pdf

Bibliography

Schneid, N. (2016): Die Steinartefakte des mesolithischen Freilandfundplatzes „Am Rieger Busch“ in Hagen-Eilpe (Westfalen). Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte – In: Archäologische Informationen, Early View, Vol. 40, p: 1-9