5000-2250 BC Neolithic

The spread of the Neolithic way of life was a long and complex matter, taking about 3000 years to cross mainland Europe. One route can be traced by finds of a distinctive style of pottery known as Linear pottery. Linear pottery cultures expanded very quickly from eastern Hungary northwards and westwards. The picture north and east of the Balkans is more difficult to see. The earliest Neolithic communities appear strongly grounded in the earlier foraging societies that came into contact with the farmers on their borders. Some regions such as the east Baltic were very slow to adopt farming and changes there were limited and selective.

Where the new way of living met the existing hunter-gathering communities ‘frontier zones’ became established. In these areas hunter-gatherers began to adopt some elements of the Neolithic ‘package’ such as pottery. For example, in south Scandinavia, Ertebølle communities began to make pottery with pointed bases while continuing to eat wild foods, pursuing their traditional lifestyle with the sea as a major resource. As time went on an immense cultural diversity developed. Many different kinds of pottery were made by the various communities as influences were shared and new styles created. Stone tool types were adopted and adapted and people gained their living in ways appropriate to their environment and their cultural traditions.

	Web Links
	Ertebolle Museum (http://www.stenaldercenter.dk/default.asp?cid=743).