Confrontation of Social Strategies? – Danubian Fortified Settlements and the Funnel Beaker Monuments in SE Poland

Abstract

In south-eastern Poland, two distinct cultural traditions seem to meet and merge during the 4th Millenium BC, the “Danubian Circle” represented by the Lublin-Volhynian culture, the Modlnica group of the Lengyel culture and the Złotniki-Wyciąże group of the Polgar cycle and the south-eastern Group of the Funnel Beaker culture. Differences include economic strategies, social structures and ritual orientations, including the application of the “megalithic idea” by the Funnel Beaker societies. Generally, a transformation from the Danubian to the Funnel Beaker patterns can be described. After a discussion of different models explaining this process, an alternative approach is proposed considering the specifics of the south-eastern Polish archaeological evidence and grounded on theoretical approaches following Jürgen Habermas.