Middle Neolithic floodplain grazing in the Wetterau (Hesse, Central Germany) – An integrated multi–proxy study

The first farmers in the Wetterau Basin (Hesse, Central Germany) are associated with the Early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture (5400–5000/4900 cal. BCE). Following a brief population decline at the transition to the Middle Neolithic, the Rössen culture (4750–4600 cal. BCE) expanded into peripheral landscapes outside the regions dominated by fertile soils derived from loess, and into higher terrain. This expansion was accompanied by changes in agricultural practices and might have included the use of floodplains for animal grazing. To investigate livestock herding, we conducted a multi-proxy study of a sediment core taken from a floodplain near a Rössen settlement in Berstadt/Wölfersheim, Central Germany. Our analyses combined pollen, charred plant particles, coprophilous fungal spores, faecal lipid biomarkers and dental microwear from domestic ungulates. Our results suggest that during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods, the landscape was characterised by Pinus woodlands interspersed with deciduous trees such as Quercus and Tilia , whereas floodplain habitats remained largely devoid of trees. Fire was likely used to manage woodlands and wet meadows. Since the Rössen culture the floodplain has been used as a grazing area for cattle and pigs, as evidenced by elevated concentrations of 5β -stanol derived from herbivores, bile acid ratios, coprophilous fungal spores, alongside high values of Poaceae and grazing indicators. The dental microwear patterns of domestic ruminants from the settlement indicate that most of them were grazers. This study emphasises the importance of combining palaeoenvironmental data to reconstruct human–ecosystem interactions and the adaptive strategies employed by early farming communities.