Baden culture
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Baden culture, ca 3600 BC-ca 2800 BC, a bronze age archaeological culture found in central Europe occupying an area remarkably coincident with that of Austria-Hungary minus the areas on the Adriatic. It is said to be part of a much larger archaeological complex encompassing cultures at the mouth of the Danube, eastern shore of the Black Sea and as far as the Hellespont (Troy).
It was approximately contemporaneous with the Corded Ware culture and the Globular Amphora culture, and like the latter, overlapped territories assigned to the former.
It is known for its fortified settlements, the most famous being Vucedol. It is also one of the areas where for the earliest attestation for wheeled vehicles in central Europe. Burial practices are not inconsistent with those found on the steppe, and there was clearly some influence coming from the east.
The economy was mixed. Full-scale agriculture was present, along with the keeping of domestic stock -- pigs, goats, etc.
Within the Kurgan hypothesis espoused by Marija Gimbutas, the Baden culture is seen as being Indo-Europeanized. For proponents of the older theory that seeks the Indo-European homeland in central Europe in the area occupied by the preceding Funnelbeaker culture, it is similarly considered Indo-Europeanized.
The ethnic and linguistic identity of the people associated with this culture is impossible to ascertain. It is nonetheless tempting to put the Italic and Celtic stocks together here at some point, at least in that great European mixing bowl, the plains of Hungary.
[edit] Sources
J. P. Mallory, "Baden Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.
