ABSTRACT
The beginning of the European Neolithic is formally defined in terms of a package comprising the emergence of settlements, the introduction of food plants and domesticated animals, and the development of funerary practices, pottery and polished stone tools. The Early and Middle Neolithic in Central Europe were considerably different. There were differences between the loess belt in the uplands and the lowlands areas of the North European Plain as well as differentiation within these regions. The earliest Neolithic communities appeared in Central Europe around 5485/5415 BC. They are represented by the Linear Band Pottery Culture (Linearbandkeramik-LBK), which is dated in this part of the continent from 5415-4580 BC. LBK communities featured virtually ‘frozen’ everyday routines, leaving very little room for individual thinking and independence. The late phases of the Danubian tradition are represented by the Late Band Pottery, Stroke Ornamented Pottery, Lengyel, Polgar, Hinkelstein, and Rossen cultures.
