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First farmers in the Rhine-Lahn district - A neolithic settlement near Miehlen and its significance for the settlement of the Hinterer Taunus region

Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Universität zu Köln (S. Scharl & A.-L- Fischer) & Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Direktion Landesarchäologie, Außenstelle Koblenz (C. Jost)

Funded by the Gerhard-Jacobi-Stiftung under the aegis of the Fondation de Luxembourg

During the construction of a bypass road around the village of Miehlen in the Rhine-Lahn district in 2016, the floorplans of five houses of he Linear Pottery Culture came to light alongside numerous Metal Age and Roman finds. This was surprising, as no settlement remains from this period have been found in the wider area to date. The nearest known settlement centres are around 60 km to the east in the Wetterau region and to the south in the Rhine-Main area and along the Moselle.

The project, funded by the Gerhard Jacobi Foundation, aims to reconstruct the settlement history of this site during the Linear Pottery Culture period. To this end, the finds and features will be analysed and examined with regard to the following project objectives:

  • Dating of the Miehlen settlement
  • Integration of the settlement into
    • regional social and economic networks
    • supra-regional social and economic networks
  • Function of the settlement (special agricultural site or site with a special function?)
  • Significance of the site for the settlement of the Rhine-Lahn district

The project thus makes a contribution to the discussion on the significance and function of peripheral sites in the LBK.

Further Reading:

Mischka et al. 2016
C. Mischka / D. Mischka / R. Wetzel, Abseitige Bandkeramik? In: T. Kerig / K. Nowak / G. Roth (Hrsg.), Alles was zählt… Festschrift für Andreas Zimmermann. UPA 285 (Bonn 2016) 129–141.

Pechtl 2011
J. Pechtl, Am Rande des Machbaren: Zwei gescheiterte bandkeramische Kolonisationswellen im Lechtal. In: T. Doppler / B. Ramminger / D. Schimmelpfennig (Hrsg.), Grenzen und Grenzräume? Beispiele aus Neolithikum und Bronzezeit. Fokus Jungsteinzeit. Berichte der AG Neolithikum 2 (Kerpen-Loogh 2011) 37–51.

Wotzka 2002
H.-P. Wotzka, Periphere Plätze der späten Bandkeramik im Usinger Becken (Östlicher Hintertaunus, Hessen). Vorbericht für die Jahre 1999 und 2000. Ber. KAL 6,2000/2001, 2002, 53–75.