Baalberg culture

The Baalberg culture is a local variant of the culture of funnel-shaped cups , which existed around 3800–3500. BC e. in the upper and middle parts of the Elbe.

It is considered as a culture invader from the steppe zone, therefore in the context of the kurgan hypothesis M. Gimbutas and her followers are considered as an early Indo-European culture ^[1] . J.P. Mallory prefers to consider this culture as autochthonous.

Information about the culture is completely drawn from the burials of which about 200 were found. The burials were made in barrows in which multiple burials could be made. The main burial could be inside a stone cysts, with mixed burial gifts; A typical pottery culture of battle axes was discovered, as well as individual samples of Badengkorestur and East and South bordering Baden culture and culture . The body fit the situation typical of the " pit culture ", that is, in a bent on the right side. Later burial places of the Baalberg culture were reused by later cultures - spherical amphoras , Unetitsky and a number of others, but the position of the hands on the mouth is not typical of kurgan cultures .

In addition, against the identification of Baalberg culture with the Kurgan, the fact that the typical forms of the steppes of the kurgans in the culture are not represented is said, and the anthropological data of the deceased indicate rather local rather than eastern origin. Also, there is no overuse of ocher characteristic of eastern burials.