The Horgen culture is one of several

archaeological culture An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...

s belonging to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

period of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The Horgen culture may derive from the Pfyn culture and early Horgen pottery is similar to the earlier

Cortaillod culture The Cortaillod culture is one of several archaeologically defined cultures belonging to the Neolithic period of Switzerland. The ''Cortaillod'' Culture in the west of the region is contemporary with the Pfyn Culture in the east and dates from b ...

pottery of

Twann Twann (french: Douanne ) was a municipality in the district of Nidau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Tüscherz-Alfermée and Twann merged into the municipality of Twann-Tüscherz. History Twann is ...

, Switzerland.Comparative Archeology Web
accessed 28 June 2010 It is named for one of the principal sites, in Horgen, Switzerland.

Dates

The Horgen culture started around 3500/3400

cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

BC and lasted until 2850 cal BC. Tree ring dates range from 3370 – 2864 BC.

Distribution

The Horgen core area is in Northern Switzerland and Southwest Germany near

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Lak ...

, but it may have reached farther north along the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

River. It may have had ties to the French Seine-Oise-Marne culture. Sites include Horgen, Hauterive-Champréves, Eschenz, and

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

. At Feldmeilen-Vorderfeld and

Meilen Meilen is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Archaeological finds in Meilen date back more than 4,000 years. In January 1854 the level of lake Zürich was particularly low and the locals ...

on the right bank of

Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used t ...

near Zürich, four layers of Pfyn culture artifacts (4350-3950 BC calibrated) are followed by five Horgen culture (3350-2950 BC) layers were found at Feldmeilen. In nearby Meilen, one Pfyn layer (4250-4000 BC) followed by three Horgen (3300-2500 BC) layers were discovered.

Traits

There were three phases of pottery; early, middle, and late. The early pottery exhibits an affinity with the Pfyn and maybe the Cortaillod at Twann, Switzerland. The spindle whorls on the pottery may indicate connections to the southern

Funnelbeaker culture The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK (german: Trichter(-rand-)becherkultur, nl, Trechterbekercultuur; da, Tragtbægerkultur; ) was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of lo ...

and early Baden culture. The middle phase (found at Naschdorf-Strandbad, Lake Constance and Dullenried, Federsee) may be influenced by more westerly traditions. The final Horgen phase exhibits similarities to the Burgerroth, Wartberg, and Goldberg III cultures. The pottery was less refined and decorated than the earlier Cortaillod culture. However, the flint industry was well developed and produced elegant stone tools. Pigs became increasingly important during the Horgen era. Pig bones were the most common bones found in the village

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

heaps, accounting for up to 70% of all bones.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horgen Culture Archaeological cultures of Central Europe Archaeological cultures in Switzerland Horgen Neolithic cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures in Germany

Dates

Distribution

Traits

See also

References