Florian Klimscha

Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover, Research/Collection: Archaeology, Faculty Member

TOPOI. Excellence Cluster, Area D, Faculty Member

Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie/Near Eastern Archaeology, Adjunct

German Archaeological Institute, Eurasia Department, Adjunct

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I am a curator at the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hannover, where I most recently directed the exhibition "The Invention of the Gods. Stone Age in the North" (https://tinyurl.com/jpmzzec8), and initiated research on the Neolithic site "Hüde", which is unique north of the Alps due to its exceptionally good preservation (https://tinyurl.com/4pew6r8b).

My focus is on the Neolithic period (Neolithic) and the Copper Age (Chalcolithic). I did my PhD on stone and flint axes from the site of Pietrele and their implications for settlement hierarchies and communication with neighbouring regions. During my many years of employment at the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute, I have carried out diverse fieldwork in the Near East (Jordan) and the Balkans (Romania).

Since 2012, I have been co-directing excavations at the prehistoric central site of Tel Tsaf with Prof. Dr. Danny Rosenberg, which have yielded, among other things, the oldest evidence to date for alcohol consumption, cotton clothing, central storage buildings, and metallurgy in the region.

My other focus is interdisciplinary research on the social impact of technical innovations in prehistory and antiquity, for example early water management or glass production. As part of the Excellence Cluster TOPOI, I directed the archaeological part in the research project "Digital Atlas of Innovations" (https://atlas-innovations.de/en/), and coordinated an international research group (https://www.topoi.org/group/d-6/). At the University of Göttingen I habilitated in 2021 on the invention, spread and consequences of early wheeled vehicles in prehistoric Eurasia (https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/669202.html).

I regularly write expert reviews for scientific journals, publishers and universities, and edit "DIE KUNDE. Journal for the Archaeology of Lower Saxony", one of the oldest professional organs of prehistoric archaeology in Northern Germany. As chairman of the Lower Saxony State Association for Prehistory, it is my intention to make current research accessible to a broad public (https://www.landesverein-urgeschichte.de/). My work has been featured in regional, national and international media, for instance the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ, 7.9.2016; https://tinyurl.com/2p855xey) or The Jordan Times (8.7.2020; https://tinyurl.com/syaa6f5t).
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Svend Hansen, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Renn, Prof. Dr. Ricardo Eichmann, and Prof. Dr. Klaus Schmidt
Phone: +49 (0) 511 9807-814
Address: Dr. Florian Klimscha
Kurator
Sammlungen/Forschung
Archäologie

Landesmuseum Hannover
Das Weltenmuseum
Willy-Brandt-Allee 5
30169 Hannover
Florian.Klimscha@landesmuseum-hannover.de

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Books by Florian Klimscha

Offener Brief Unser Standpunkt Stand: 26. Apr. 2024 Open Letter Our Position State: 26 Apr 2024

by Florian Klimscha, Joseph Maran, and Svend Hansen

Eine Solidaritätserklärung von Altertumswissenschaftler*innen mit Israel. A letter of solidari... more

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Stone Age Borderland Experience:: Neolithic and Late Mesolithic Parallel Societies in the North European Plain

These conference proceedings contain a foreword by the editors, 26 papers of an international con... more These conference proceedings contain a foreword by the editors, 26 papers of an international conference at Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover from 20th to 22nd May 2019, and a list of authors. The papers are divided into chapters on “Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain” [16 papers on the interaction between Mesolithic and Neolithic communities] and on “Changing worlds - The Spread of the Neolithic Way of Life in the North” [10 papers on more general aspects of the Neolithisation]. The contributions deal with Mesolithic pottery, sites of the Swifterbant and Linear Pottery Cultures, palaeobotanical data, lipid residue analyses, the initial Neolithisation of the lowlands, Neolithic hoards, foraging in a changing landscape, intercultural interaction and impacts, paths of innovation, long distance contacts, mobility and migration, multiculturalism, the Rhine-Meuse Delta [Doggerland] from 5,500-2,500 B.C., the earliest metallurgy, a biological view of Neolithisation, the transformation 4,750-3,800 B.C., technical innovations, the Schöningen Group, Younger Neolithic causewayed enclosures, plant economy, and a Neolithic landscape preserved in a bog.

Die Erfindung der Götter. Steinzeit im Norden

by Florian Klimscha and Lukas Wiggering

In der Jungsteinzeit wurden die Weichen für unser heutiges Leben gestellt, denn die moderne Welt ... more In der Jungsteinzeit wurden die Weichen für unser heutiges Leben gestellt, denn die moderne Welt gäbe es nicht ohne die wichtigste Erﬁndung der Menschheit: die Landwirtschaft. Doch vielerorts lehnten die Menschen diese neue Wirtschaftsform zunächst ab, da sie mehr Arbeit, Krankheiten und neue Machtstrukturen mit sich brachte. Die Bewohner der norddeutschen Tiefebene waren besonders hartnäckig: Die ersten Bauern ließen sich vor 7.500 Jahren in dem Gebiet zwischen Harz und Heide nieder und konfrontierten die als Jäger und Sammler lebenden „Ureinwohner“ mit einer völlig neuen Lebensweise. Im heutigen Niedersachsen entstand eine Kontaktzone, in der sich zwei gänzlich unterschiedliche Gesellschaften über Jahrhunderte hinweg parallel entwickelten. Eine Annäherung erfolgte erst nach über eintausend Jahren, als die Landwirtschaft durch eine neue Religion legitimiert wurde. So sorgte die „Erﬁndung der Götter“ schließlich für den Untergang der ewigen Jagdgründe im Norden, an deren Stelle Felder, monumentale Grabanlagen und Kultplätze traten.

In diesem Band zur Sonderausstellung im Landesmuseum Hannover beleuchten international ausgewiesene Experten diese spannende Episode der Vorgeschichte in 45 thematisch gegliederten Beiträgen.

Contextualising Ancient Technology

by Svend Hansen and Florian Klimscha

from the Near East into the 'static' surrounding peripheries has become a well-known archaeologic... more from the Near East into the 'static' surrounding peripheries has become a well-known archaeological paradigm, o en summed up as Ex Oriente Lux. While this confl icts with modern, scientifi cally controlled chronologies, it is di cult to explain as mere local developments and pure chance the appearance of large-scale communication networks, the transformation of power concentrations in the fi rst states, or the di usion of the wheel, alloyed metals, and writing. The papers in this volume follow two approaches to convene on new insights into the prehistoric and ancient innovation process. Theoretical perspectives attempt to challenge and modify traditional models of innovation di usion that lack the chronological depth of archaeological sources, while case studies from the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages of Europe, southwest Asia, and North Africa analyze the specifi c archaeological and sociopolitical contexts, the technological

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Vom künstlichen Stein zum durchsichtigen Massenprodukt. From Artificial Stone to Translucent Mass-Product. Innovationen in der Glastechnik und ihre sozialen Folgen zwischen Bronzezeit und Antike

by Svend Hansen, Florian Klimscha, and Hans-Jörg Karlsen (geb. Nüsse)

This paper presents the development of glass working in Ancient Egypt exemplified by typical find... more This paper presents the development of glass working in Ancient Egypt exemplified by typical finds, especially glass vessels that reached their peak in the New Kingdom. After summarizing the process of glass production and related sites, the development of glass working in Late Bronze Age Egypt will be described in stages, following a paradigm for technological innovations. Aspects like the origin of Egyptian glass working, the importance of glass in Late Bronze Age long distance trade, and the question of a ritual signification of glass in the Pharaonic culture are addressed. Finally, Egyptian glass of the first millennium BC is described in an overview referring to the most important categories of glass finds and sites.

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Digital Atlas of Innovations

by Florian Klimscha and Jochen Büttner

The Digital Atlas of Innovations presents the many great as well as small technical and social in... more The Digital Atlas of Innovations presents the many great as well as small technical and social innovations in the early history of humankind in dynamic maps. Where was the oldest evidence for the wheel and the wagon found? How did these and other major technologies occur and become widespread throughout Europe and Asia – Eurasia – during the following one thousand years?

Citation:
Svend Hansen, Jürgen Renn, Florian Klimscha & Jochen Büttner,
Digital Atlas of Innovations (Berlin 2012‐2017).

Pietrele I: Beile und Äxte aus Stein. Distinktion und Kommunikation während der Kupferzeit im östlichen Balkangebiet

This monograph is both the extended version of my PhD-thesis as well as the first volume of the P... more

Wasserwirtschaftliche Innovationen im archäologischen Kontext. Von den prähistorischen Anfängen bis zu den Metropolen der Antike.

Menschen - Kulturen - Traditionen. Studien aus den Forschungsclustern des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 5, 2012

Hrsg.): Wasserwirtschaftliche Innovationen im archäologischen Kontext -Von den prähistorischen An... more Hrsg.): Wasserwirtschaftliche Innovationen im archäologischen Kontext -Von den prähistorischen Anfängen bis zu den Metropolen der Antike. Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf 2012 (Menschen -Kulturen -Traditionen ; ForschungsCluster 2 ; Bd. 5) ISBN 978-3-86757-385-6 Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie. Detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. Gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier Alle Rechte vorbehalten

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Papers by Florian Klimscha

Tel Tsaf, Israel: Die Arbeiten des Jahres 2013

e-Forschungsberichte, 2014

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Cultural Diversity in Prehistoric Western Eurasia: How were Innovations diffused and re-invented in Ancient Times?

Claroscuro, Feb 19, 2018

El discurso arqueologico ha destacado durante mucho tiempo las grandesnarrativas de difusion. Des... more El discurso arqueologico ha destacado durante mucho tiempo las grandesnarrativas de difusion. Desde los centros culturales de Egipto yMesopotamia, las ondas culturales emitian e inundaban las regionescircundantes. Fue con el advenimiento de la datacion en C14 que muchosde esos modelos difusionistas no pudieron ser sostenidos ya que lassupuestas periferias de repente disponian de fechas mas antiguas paramuchos fenomenos tecnicos, sociales o religiosos que se suponianoriginados originalmente en el Cercano Oriente. Hoy, por primera vez, laarqueologia es capaz de rastrear tales difusiones sin tener un modelosubyacente que deba ser aceptado. En cambio, la arqueologia moderna escapaz de ayudarse a si misma a comprender la complejidad y losproblemas de los procesos de difusion y, por lo tanto, permite una nuevay profunda comprension historica. Este trabajo explorara los registrosarqueologicos de Europa y Asia Occidental, con alguna mencion al nortede Africa, y estudiara como la diversidad cultural del "Viejo Mundo"tambien influyo en los procesos, que a menudo se simplifican como unaevolucion de la complejidad, es decir, la difusion del conocimiento tecnicoy el surgimiento de sociedades complejas.

Mariya Ivanova: Befestigte Siedlungen auf dem Balkan, in der Ägäis und in Westanatolien, ca. 5000 - 2000 v. Chr., 2008

Archäologische Informationen, 2011

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Vom Künstlichen Stein zum durchsichtigen Massenprodukt / From Artificial Stone to Translucent Mass-Product: Innovationen in der Glastechnik und ihre sozialen Folgen zwischen Bronzezeit und Antike / Innovations in the Technologies of Glass and Their Social Consequences between Bronze Age and Antiq...

Long-distance trade in the Middle Chalcolithic of the southern Levant: The case of the olivine beads from Tel Tsaf, Jordan Valley, Israel

PLOS ONE

Eight olivine beads found at the Middle Chalcolithic site of Tel Tsaf (ca. 5,200–4,700 cal. BC), ... more Eight olivine beads found at the Middle Chalcolithic site of Tel Tsaf (ca. 5,200–4,700 cal. BC), Jordan Valley, Israel, underscore a new facet of interregional exchange for this period. The current paper presents the olivine beads assemblage, its morphometric and technological characteristics, and chemical composition. The results of the chemical analysis suggest that all eight beads derive from the same source. By means of comparison with the chemical characteristics of known olivine sources, we argue for a northeastern African–western Arabian provenience and cautiously suggest Ethiopia as a probable origin. Finally, we discuss the significance of the assemblage, its possible origin, and the mechanisms that may have brought the beads to the site.

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Foodways of an agro-pastoral community: Organic residue analysis of pottery and stone vessels at Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Preface: Contextualizing Ancient Innovations

Edition Topoi, 2021

Paths to Glory: Modelling the Diffusion of Innovations in Western Eurasia during the 5th and 4th Millennium

Edition Topoi, 2021

Remarks on the technical development of bladed close combat-eapons and the use of the earlies swords: Reconsidering a late 4th/Early 3rd Millennium find from Megiddo, Israel

DeutschDer Aufsatz stellt einen bislang wenig beachteten Altfund aus Megiddo vor und diskutiert d... more DeutschDer Aufsatz stellt einen bislang wenig beachteten Altfund aus Megiddo vor und diskutiert dessen bedeutung auf uberregionaler Ebene. Ausgehend von neuen Grabungsergebnissen und einer neuen Dokumentation des Fundes gelingt dessen Datierung zwischen dem spaten 4. und dem Beginn des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr. Das Objekt gehortdamit zu einer sehr fruh datierenden Gruppe von Schwertern oder schwertartigen Waffen. Diese sind damit das Ergebnis von wichtigen Verbesserungen im Guss langer Klingenwaffen einerseits und andererseits Ausdruck eines neuen kriegerischen Ideals. Vergleichbare Stucke sind vom Kaukasus bis in die sudliche Levante verbreitet, sparen aber beim momentanen Kenntnisstand Untermesopotamien und Agypten aus EnglishThe article presents an important fins from Megiddo which has been previously neglected for studies in early copper metallurgy. By taking into account new excavation results, the find can be dated to the time between the late 4th and the beginning of the 3th mi...

Rosenberg etal 2020- Tel Tsaf mudbricks

by Danny Rosenberg and Florian Klimscha

PLos ONE, 2020

The history of mudbrick production and construction in the southern Levant may be dated as far ba... more The history of mudbrick production and construction in the southern Levant may be dated as far back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A. However, at many of the sites where mudbrick remains were noted, their preservation was poor, so investigation of their production and the related construction techniques in antiquity was precluded. The 7,200 year old (cal BP) site of Tel Tsaf, located in the Jordan Valley, is distinguished by outstanding preservation of mudbrick architecture, which enables us to delve into various issues related to mudbrick technology, construction and preservation. The present paper discusses some of the mud-brick features at Tel Tsaf and their characteristics and offers a comprehensive analytical study of the mudbricks from multiple contexts and phases. These demonstrate consistency in three of the four measured variables: magnetic susceptibility, organic content and calcium carbonate equivalent. The results of our study suggest that while we can identify morpho-metric variability between bricks and walls, by and large, a uniform composition characterized the tested assemblages without any temporal or spatial variability. This indicates that a single locally-sourced raw material was used and that recycling of old decayed mudbricks was likely practiced. The consistency of mudbrick-production during all phases of the occupation at Tel Tsaf and the absence of multiple recipes implies that a shared production and technological know-how was maintained for at least 500 years at the site.

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Prehistoric Dining at Tel Tsaf

by Danny Rosenberg and Florian Klimscha

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Tel Tsaf 2013-2020

by Danny Rosenberg and Florian Klimscha

HA-Excavations and Surveys in Israel 133, 2021

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