Towards a More Complex Society: 2650 BC–50 BC

The farming communities described in Chapters 3, 4, and 5 lived in an age when metal was still unknown. Vessels were made of clay, wood or bark. The last two were only preserved under waterlogged conditions and are therefore very little known from the loess region, but they must have been common. Implements with cutting edges were made of stone (especially flint), bone or antler. However, in the SOM culture mentioned in Chapter 5 the first objects appear made of a metal, namely copper. These objects are jewellery, such as beads, and are considered to represent luxury products, not intended for daily use in households and on farms. But, as a matter of fact, not much is known of SOM daily life, because this culture, and the contemporaneous Stein group, are mainly known through burials (see Chapter 5).