Horgen culture

Horgen culture. It was a Neolithic archaeological culture that flourished during the late 4th and early 3rd millennia BCE in the northern Alpine foreland. This culture represents a significant phase in the region's prehistory, characterized by distinct pottery styles, settlement patterns, and economic adaptations. It succeeded the earlier Pfyn culture and was eventually followed by the Corded Ware culture, marking a transitional period before the Bronze Age.

Overview and chronology

The culture is primarily defined by its characteristic ceramic assemblage, first identified at the lakeshore site of Horgen on Lake Zurich. Its chronology is anchored by dendrochronology from well-preserved pile-dwelling settlements, placing its main phase between approximately 3300 and 2800 BCE. This period falls within the later Middle Neolithic in central European terminology, contemporaneous with the late Funnelbeaker culture in the north and the early Globular Amphora culture further east. Key chronological markers include the decline of the Münchshöfen culture in Bavaria and the subsequent spread of influences from the Saône-Rhône region.

Geographic distribution and sites

The core territory encompassed much of the Swiss Plateau, extending into southern Germany around Lake Constance and the upper Danube valley. Significant concentrations of sites are found along the shores of Lake Neuchâtel, Lake Biel, and Lake Morat. Important excavated settlements include Sipplingen on Überlingen Lake, Arbon-Bleiche 3 on Lake Constance, and Zürich-Pressehaus on Lake Zurich. In eastern France, its influence reached into the Jura mountains and the area around Besançon.

Material culture and economy

The ceramic inventory is notably simplified compared to predecessors, featuring coarse, thick-walled vessels like large storage pots and tulip beakers, often decorated with fingernail impressions or cord impressions. Stone tools continued to rely on local flint sources and alpine rock crystal, with distinctive transverse arrowheads. The economy was based on mixed farming, with evidence for the cultivation of emmer wheat, barley, and legumes, and the husbandry of cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. Exploitation of wild resources, such as apples, hazelnuts, and fish, remained important, as shown by findings at sites like Mondsee.

Burial practices and social structure

Mortuary practices are less visible than for earlier cultures, with formal cemeteries being rare. The primary known burial rite involved flat inhumation graves, occasionally grouped in small clusters, as found at Dickenbännli near Schaffhausen. The limited grave goods, typically a single pot or a stone tool, suggest a relatively egalitarian social structure without pronounced signs of inherited hierarchy. This contrasts with the more elaborate megalithic tomb traditions of the concurrent Wartberg culture and the emerging individual grave customs of the later Corded Ware culture.

Relationship to neighboring cultures

It maintained clear contacts across the Alps, evidenced by imports of Mediterranean Spondylus shell and influences from the Lagozza culture of northern Italy. To the west, it interacted with the late Cortaillod culture and the Somme-Bionne group in France. To the north and east, it bordered and likely traded with the late Funnelbeaker culture and the emerging Baden culture. These interactions, however, did not lead to a uniform material culture, as the region retained its distinct identity until the transformative incursions associated with the Corded Ware horizon.

Category:Archaeological cultures of Europe Category:Neolithic cultures of Europe