Jungsteinzeit#

New Stone Age (Neolithic Age), in central Europe 6000/5000 to 2300/2200 B.C. The beginning of the New Stone Age is marked by the transition from nomadic hunting and gathering as a means of obtaining sustenance to a more settled way of life depending on agricultural production and animal husbandry, a transition also known as the Neolithic Revolution. In the Near East, this prolonged process of development occurred during the 9th millennium B.C., whereas in central Europe it did not take place until the 6th millennium B.C. Agricultural production was mixed: einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, wheat, barley, millet, peas, lentils, flax, and poppies were planted and livestock was bred. Sheep and goats were domesticated first; the domestication of pigs and cattle followed somewhat later. Gradually the Neolithic population learned how to make vessels of fired clay, which considerably improved the possibilities for storing and preparing food. In addition to a wide diversity of small tools made of flint, new types of stone tools for clearing and cultivating the land became necessary, which, in contrast to the Old Stone Age, were polished and sometimes drilled through. The houses had walls of woven branches covered with clay and roofs of straw or reeds. They served as both dwelling and work area for extended families. The settlements consisted of single farmsteads, groups of farms, or small villages. Based on the types of pottery embellishments and forms, the New Stone Age is divided into ( Prehistory), the Early Neolithic Age (until 4800/4700 B.C.) with the Linear Pottery Culture, the Middle Neolithic Age (until 4000/3900 B.C.) with the Painted Pottery Culture or Lengyel Culture, and the late Neolithic Age (until 2300/2200 B.C.) with the Mondsee Culture, Baden Culture, Corded Ware Culture, and the Bell Beaker Culture. The first traces of metalworking and metal objects date from the late Neolithic Age. Important locations of archaeological finds from the New Stone Age are Attersee, Baden, Falkenstein, Kamegg, Lake Keutschach, Laa an der Thaya, Mondsee, Ossarn, Poysdorf, Schletz, Stollhof, and Mauer near Vienna.

Literature#