Transition from Swifterbant to Funnelbeaker - A chronological model

In the area of the northern Netherlands and northwestern Germany, the introduction of the Neolithic is delayed for about two millennia compared to the southern neighbour areas.

The transition from the late Swifterbant culture to the first appearance of the Funnelbeaker Groups (TRB) in the eastern Netherlands, the western part of Lower Saxony to the northern Westphalia raises numerous questions, from cultural discontinuities to gradual transitions.

This process describes the transformation from the Subneolithic of hunter-gatherer societies to a fully neolithic society in northwestern Europe, which can be understood here (delayed to the Middle and South German region) as the Early Neolithic. The Swifterbant phenomenon (approx. 5000–4000 BC) is proofed to perform a gradual integration of Neolithic features, like the introduction of ceramics, animal husbandry and horticulture.

The Early Neolithic in this area marks a technological and socio-cultural transition zone, which we can identify around 4000–3500 BC. Although the first megalithic buildings of the TRB West Group were erected around 3600 BC, Swifterbant sites and findings can still be traced.