The late mesolithic burial of Rathsdorf and her importance for the impact from the Ertebølle-Culture in Brandenburg

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Franz Schopper
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2016 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 315663904

Throughout Europe, Mesolithic burials are very rare. This project is dedicated to the Mesolithic burial of Rathsdorf (Märkisch-Oderland/Brandenburg), which shows considerable similarities with burials of the Ertebølle-Culture. Especially the burials of Skateholm I (Sweden/older Ertebølle-Culture) reveal some striking parallels to the Rathsdorf burial. A first radiocarbon date, 5207 to 5364 cal. BC, supports this assumption. Generally this horizon is associated with the transition from hunting and gathering to food-producing economies (Linear Pottery Culture). But for the area of Brandenburg it is suggested that Mesolithic lifeways were still practiced in the region beside early sedentary farming communities, at that time. Research into the transition of late Mesolithic and early Neolithic in Brandenburg, however, has so far been markedly sporadic. Further investigations of the Rathsdorf burial will allow to analyze a recently excavated burial with modern methods such as 3D-CT-Scan and 3D-print and natural scientific approaches as stable isotope and aDNA-analysis as well as palaeoparasitology. The objective of the proposed project is to find new answers to the question of spreading mechanisms and intercultural exchange of ancient human societies at the end of the 6th and during the 5th millenium BC. Furthermore it will provide an important foundation for the future research of the neolithisation and acculturation process in north-eastern Germany. Beyond its interest for the regional history it will contribute also to international research on the European Mesolithic.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Wolfram Schier