Wartberg culture

[9] Originally, the Wartberg (first excavated in the later 19th century) was interpreted as a cult place,[10] but the remains of coarse handmade pottery and of mud wall cladding do suggest settlement activity.

Their connection with the Wartberg settlements was only recognised in the 1960s and 1970s, thus the tombs are sometimes treated separately as the Hessian-Westphalian stone cist group (Hessisch-Westfälische Steinkistengruppe).

Gravegoods are scarce but include pottery (collared bottles), stone tools and animal bones, especially the jawbones of foxes, which may have played a totemic role.

According to the German archaeologist Waltraud Schrickel, the association with gallery graves suggests a west European influence, perhaps from the Paris Basin in France, where very similar tombs occur.

While the original function of the earthwork is not necessarily explained by these finds, it appears likely that at least during later phases of its use it had a ritual significance, perhaps connected with a cult of the dead.

Typical shapes in the mid-4th millennium include saucepans with inturned rim and deep incisions, cups with strap handles, collared bottles (Kragenflaschen).

The presence of pottery with deeply incised patterns as well as of clay drums suggest connections with the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) of Central Germany.

In the later Wartberg, strap-handled cups, funnel beakers, varied bowls, large pots with holes below the rim and collared bottles occur.

The location of sites and certain finds suggest a broadly sedentary society subsisting from agriculture and animal husbandry, but hunting may play a considerable economic role.

[25] Lipson et al. 2017 examined the remains of 4 individuals buried c. 4000-3000 BC at the Blätterhöhle site in modern-day Germany, during which the area was part of the Wartberg culture.

[29] Immel et al. 2019 examined the remains of 42 people of the Wartberg culture buried at Niedertiefenbach, Germany c. 3300-3200 BC.