Within the scope of the German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded project “Development history of a settlement micro-region (Siedlungskammer) in the Elbe-Weser Triangle since the Neolithic”, remains of Neolithic and Bronze Age occupation were uncovered at Flögeln, District of Cuxhaven, alongside numerous buildings and other structural remains dating to the Roman Iron Age and Migration Period. Analysis of the pottery assemblage by J.A. Bakker demonstrated a strong prevalence of the phase of the Funnel Beaker Culture at the site, whereas there was only a small number of finds dating to the Bell Beaker Culture and Early Bronze Age.
Among the structures of the Funnel Beaker Culture there are two longhouses with environs, a “cult building”, a small flat grave cemetery and a megalithic tomb. There is also evidence for a later Bronze Age farmstead. Apart from the flat grave cemetery and the periphery of one of the longhouses, none of the other features had been disturbed or covered by the Roman Iron Age- or Migration Period occupation.
The remains of the Neolithic- and Bronze Age occupation at Flögeln-Eekhöltjen includes more than 12,000 artefacts made of rock and flint, predominantly found in the area of the above-mentioned graves as well as the settlement features; the latter contained more than 4000 items. By contrast, all items of flint and rock from undated contexts or from Roman Iron Age- and Migration Period features will be ignored because it cannot be ascertained whether these objects are related to the Neolithic or Bronze Age settlement phases.
Between 2006 and 2009 the flint and rock assemblage was studied by Anselm Drafehn, M.A. within the scope of a project funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture. The artefact assemblage was recorded using the recording system „Spagat der Steine (splits of the stones)“, which can be employed for both statistical analysis as well as distribution mapping. The project’s results remain as yet unpublished.

Bibliography  

Zimmermann, W. H., 1980: Ein trichterbecherzeitlicher Hausgrundriß von Flögeln-Im Örtjen, Kr. Cuxhaven. Beiträge zur Archäologie Nordwestdeutschlands und Mitteleuropas [Festschrift Raddatz]. Materialhefte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Niedersachsens 16, 479-489. Hildesheim.