Michelsberg culture

Michelsberg culture

Geographical range	Belgium, Central Europe, especially West Germany.
Period	Later Neolithic, Chalcolithic
Dates	4400–3500 BC
Characteristics	tulip beakers, hilltop settlements, enclosures
Preceded by	Rössen culture, Cerny culture
Followed by	Funnelbeaker culture Wartberg culture, Pfyn culture

The Michelsberg culture (German: Michelsberger Kultur (MK)) is an important Neolithic culture in Central Europe. Its dates are c. 4400–3500 BC. Its conventional name is derived from that of an important excavated site on Michelsberg (short for Michaelsberg) hill near Untergrombach, between Karlsruhe and Heidelberg (Baden-Württemberg), Germany.

The Michelsberg culture belongs to the Central European Late Neolithic. Its distribution covered much of West Central Europe, along both sides of the Rhine, starting the European tradition of timber framing.^[1] A detailed chronology, based on pottery, was produced in the 1960s by the German archaeologist Jens Lüning.