Prehistory – Stone age department
The core of research in the ‘Stone Age’ department at the ZBSA lies in the investigation of culture-historical and culture-ecological questions relating to the development of Late Glacial and Early Holocene hunter, fisher and gatherer societies in the North Sea/Baltic region.
Since the re-colonisation of these landscapes following the last Ice Age around c. 13 000 BC these cultures were, as a result of climatic amelioration, exposed to continuous environmental change, for example progressive reforestation or rapid rise in sea level. This necessitated continual adaptation of their socio-economic structures and their technology. Finally, around 4000 BC, it resulted in the introduction of a productive economic system.
Supra-regional, interdisciplinary questions relating to the development of culture and landscape in Northern Europe are addressed within an international research network. These research efforts also include the very extensive Stone Age cultural heritage of Schleswig-Holstein with its unique archaeological sites and landscapes of international significance, such as the Ahrensburg tunnel valley and the Duvensee and Satrupholm bogs. This work takes place in close collaboration with the Archaeological State Service for Schleswig-Holstein, the Archaeological State Museum and the Institute of Pre- and Protohistory at the University of Kiel.
