Neolithization of Europe: Austrian-Ukrainian perspective

Transition from a hunter-gatherer subsistence to food-producing taking place in the Neolithic is one of the major economic and social-political transitions for human societies. The Linearbandkeramik (LBK) is well-known Neolithic culture of Europe, distributed in different regions, including Austria and Ukraine, during the 6th-5th millennia BC. New investigations carried out in Ukraine gave a dramatically increase of our knowledge of the LBK (Bilshevtsi, Rivne, etc) and allow to revise the old views about the time and ways of its distribution in this region. Of prime importance is the fact that the earliest LBK materials in Ukraine show the close parallels with that of the western LBK, in particular in materials of the currently oldest and large-scale excavated the LBK site of Brunn am Gebirge in Austria. The LBK phenomenon is linked with rapid colonization of new territory by farmers coming from Southeastern Europe who brought with them a whole array of new culture including pottery, house forms, stone technology and who were characterized by a new social organization and practiced farming subsistence. The main goal of this study is to examine the variations of the Neolithization, through a prism of the LBK spread in East Central Europe and Ukraine. A complex approach will be employed, using archaeological, paleozoological and radiocarbon data. At the beginning of project recent developments in research and fieldwork taking place in the both parts of the study area will be summarized. Other topical task is to offer the synchronization of the LBK phases in East Central Europe which are correlated with those of the Neolithic in Ukraine, as detailed as possible according to the state of research. The next phase a work will devote to comparative studies and distinguishing of common features the LBK material culture, settlement, economy, environment in Austria and Ukraine. Special attention will be placed on studying the local specificity of LBK sites of both regions, which was determined by their natural and cultural surroundings. A synthesis of obtained results will essentially deepen the knowledge on the Neolithic in Europe represented by the LBK phenomenon. Our investigations will be done by using Image Database Montelius and Program Package Winserion., thus taking a quantitative approach in a way it never has been done before for the period in question. This research is exceeding the regional significance and expected results will capture the interest of a broad scientific community.