Abstract:

This publication in two volumes presents the results of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary investigation of the Younger Neolithic enclosure (c. 4300–3900 BC) and the Late Neolithic settlement (c. 3000–2900 BC) at Riedling in Lower Bavaria. Both phases coincide with periods of profound social and economic change in Europe. During the Younger Neolithic, expanding contact networks, the appearance of new materials and technologies, and possible shifts toward more hierarchical social relations reshaped communities. In the Late Neolithic, attention turns to developments preceding the emergence of the Corded Ware phenomenon. The evidence from Riedling contributes significantly to debates surrounding both transformations.

The Younger Neolithic enclosure at Riedling is characterised by large-scale, highly structured depositions of material culture and human remains. These practices provide a unique basis for exploring ritual innovation, social differentiation, and the relationship between symbolic behaviour and emerging hierarchies. The site also offers important new data on chronology, mobility, and economic organisation. For the Late Neolithic settlement, the analyses suggest that several social and economic changes often attributed to the Corded Ware period were already underway earlier, indicating a more gradual transition than previously assumed.

Excavated under rescue conditions, Riedling is documented here through detailed analyses of pottery, lithics, textile tools, bone and antler artefacts, daub, animal and human remains, and plant material. These studies are supported by provenance analyses, isotopic research, lipid residue analysis, use-wear studies, and Bayesian chronological modelling. The volume situates Riedling within its wider regional and European context, with particular attention to mobility, exchange networks, and social inequality. Contributions are published in both English and German, each accompanied by extensive summaries in the other language.

Volume 1 is available here

Contents

VOLUME 1

Author affiliations
Acknowledgements

1 The Münchshöfen and Cham cultures at Riedling and the Neolithic in southern Bavaria
Daniela Hofmann, Márton Szilágyi and Ludwig Husty

2 Social inequality in fifth millennium southern central Europe: a theoretical background
Daniela Hofmann

3 The Riedling enclosures and their wider context
Ludwig Husty, Márton Szilágyi and Daniela Hofmann

4 The Münchshöfen pottery at Riedling
Márton Szilágyi

5 The Cham culture at Riedling
Márton Szilágyi and Daniela Hofmann

6 Geochemische Untersuchungen an neolithischer Keramik aus Riedling (Gemeinde Oberschneiding, Lkr. Straubing-Bogen, Bayern)
Markus Helfert und Britta Ramminger

7 Organic residue analysis of Münchshöfen culture Younger and Late Neolithic pottery from Riedling, south Bavaria
Julie Dunne, Emmanuelle Casanova, Márton Szilágyi, Toby Gillard and Richard P. Evershed

8 Die neolithischen Spinnwirtel und Webgewichte aus Riedling
Freya Steinhagen, Patricia Tellhelm and Daniela Hofmann

9 Your roof is on fire? The Münchshöfen and Late Neolithic daub from Riedling and its implications for architecture, settlement layout and deposition patterns
Daniela Hofmann and Márton Szilágyi

VOLUME 2

10 Die Steinartefakte aus Riedling
Nicole Kegler-Graiewski

11 Ergebnis der geochemischen Analyse ausgewählter Beil- und Axtklingenfragmente
Britta Ramminger

12 Alles Getreide? Gebrauchsspurenanalyse an ausgewählten Flintwerkzeugen des Erdwerks Riedling-Oberpiebing
Birte Meller

13 Die Gebrauchsspuren der Flintartefakte von Riedling
Steffen Berckhan

14 Archaeobotanical and anthracological analysis of samples from Riedling-Oberpiebing in Lower Bavaria
Claudia Sarkady

15 Die Tierknochen der Münchshöfener, Chamer und Altheimer Kultur
Jörg Ewersen

16 Knochen- und Geweihartefakte des jungneolithischen Erdwerks von Riedling-Oberpiebing, Lkr. Straubing-Bogen
Fabian Speier

17 Human skeletal remains from the enclosure at Riedling: osteology and stable isotopes
Franziska Schreil, Anna Perutka and Gisela Grupe

18 Structured deposition at Riedling in its wider context
Daniela Hofmann and Márton Szilágyi

19 Radiocarbon measurements and a chronological model for Riedling
Seren Griffiths, Daniela Hofmann and Márton Szilágyi

20 Coming together, keeping apart. Neolithic networks and society at the Münchshöfen enclosure and Cham site at Riedling
Daniela Hofmann, Márton Szilágy and Ludwig Husty, with contributions by Steffen Berckhan, Emanuelle Casanova, Richard Evershed, Jörg Ewersen, Julie Dunne, Toby Gillard, Seren Griffiths, Gisela Grupe, Markus Helferst, Nicole Kegler-Graiewski, Birte Meller, Anna Perutka, Britta Ramminger, Claudia Sarkady, Franziska Schreil, Fabian Speyer, Freya Steinhagen and Patricia Tellhelm

21 Summary and outlook: Riedling in the Younger and Late Neolithic
Daniela Hofmann, Marton Szilágyi and Ludwig Husty