Die Lagerstätten und der Abbau bayerischer Jurahornsteine sowie deren Distribution im Neolithikum Mittel- und Osteuropas

Abstract

Those Bavarian chert deposits worth quarrying are found in the Jurassic regions of the Danube catchment area. Of the many varieties of Bavarian Jurassic chert, it is at present possible to define three which were exported beyond the boundaries of Bavaria in large quantities during the Neolithic. From the southern Franconian Alb these are the banded cherts from the Arnhofen quarry near Abensberg and the tabular cherts extracted at Baiersdorf in the Altmühl Valley. It has recently been shown that chert quarried at Flintsbach near Deggendorf was transported as far as the region of Linz.
By Linear Pottery times, and at the latest by the Middle Neolithic, concentrations of finds within the regions of the Danube, Franconia, the Neckar and Bohemia allow the identification of distribution centres at which wares from the Arnhofen quarry were accumulated and passed on to neighbouring settlements in the surrounding area. It is possible that these distribution settlements had the function of trading centres with regularly held markets. Distribution to Bohemia and to the Neckar region was carried out directly.
In the Young and Final Neolithic the most important role was played by Baiersdorf tabular chert. In this case there is evidence for direct contact with Thuringia in the region of Mühlhausen and at the lake village settlements of the Mond and Atter Lakes.
The available find assemblages of the Cham culture contain large quantities of Baiersdorf and Arnhofen cherts, above all in Lower Bavaria and western Bohemia. The distribution of finds can at present be followed to the edge of the Alps and down the Danube as far as the area around Linz. The presented distribution pattern of Bavarian Jurassic cherts clearly shows that unfinished and finished products from the mines and miners’ settlements of the Danube region could reach their final owners along regularly frequented marketing routes.