The Rössen culture is important as it marks the transition from a broad and widely distributed tradition going back to Central Europe's earliest Neolithic LBK towards the more diversified Middle and Late Neolithic situation characterised by the appearance of complexes like Michelsberg and Funnel Beaker Culture.

Over time, the extent of the decorated areas appears to decrease so that on later vessels it is mostly restricted to the neck or entirely absent.

The Rössen repertoire of flint tools is broadly similar to that of the Linear Pottery (LBK) tradition (blades with pyramid-shaped cores), but there is a marked change as regards the raw materials used.

Dutch Rijkholt flint, which dominated the LBK tradition, is being replaced with veined 'Plattenhornstein' (Abensberg-Arnhofen type) of Bavarian origin.

The most typical solid rock tool is a pierced tall cleaver, but unpierced axes and adzes are also common.

Older, now largely discarded theories attempted to make this a very early Indo-European culture; the presently prevailing view assigns it to indigenous non-Indo-European-speaking people.

Rössen is partially contemporaneous with the Southeast Bavarian Middle Neolithic ('Südostbayerisches Mittelneolithikum' or SOB, formally also known as Oberlauterbach Group).

In the North, Rössen precedes the early Funnel beaker culture of Baalberge; in the South it is followed by the so-called post-Rössen groups (Wauwil, Bischoffingen-Leiselheim/Strasbourg, Bischheim, Goldberg, Aichbühl, Gatersleben) and Lengyel (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria), and the Münchshöfen Culture (Bavaria).