Archaeological analysis of settlement patterns on a local scale (micro level)
Anna Stöcker, Silviane Scharl
Diversification and change of settlement patterns will also be analysed on a local scale in order to develop a deeper understanding of these transformation processes and their contexts. The focus will be on changes in settlement structure, organisation and function. The results will be related to the results of the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological analysis on on-site data, thus facilitating the linkage between the organisation and function of a settlement with concrete agricultural practices. Next to this, the results of the archaeological investigations form the basis for further sampling for isotope and lipid analysis planned for the 2nd stage of the project.
The focus will be on settlements from Grossgartach and Roessen contexts as existing data hints at first transformation processes already starting during the Roessen phase. For this purpose, three lately excavated settlements will be analysed. This is Bad Sassendorf (Westphalia), Estenfeld and Wallmersbach (Main-Franconia), where also archaeobotanical and archaeozoological samples have been documented. The archaeological investigations focus on typochronological analyses of pottery (fig. 1), as a basis for recognizing spatio-temporal settlement patterns. This is complemented by stratigraphic and typological analyses of house layouts (fig. 2). For this, house layouts from Grossgartach and Roessen contexts are analysed with the help of geometric morphometrics, principal component analysis and redundancy analysis. Lithic analysis aims at gaining insights into exchange and communication networks (fig. 3).
Finally, based on published settlement layouts from Grossgartach and Roessen contexts a supraregional comparison of diachronic changes in settlement and social structure will be conducted. For the settlement of Inden 1, for example, evidence for a growing hierarchy of the settlement community is discussed. So far, this has not been checked for other settlements from this time period. Connected to this, the development of village communities which is assumed for Grossgartach and Roessen, will be discussed.
The results will be linked to the observations on the macro level in order to bridge both scales and gain a deeper understanding of settlement patterns during the first half of the 5th mil. BC.