Between Cultic Fear and Lack of Wood

During the first and second centuries of the fifth millennium BC, the LBK (Linearbandkeramik) pottery style disappeared in the Rhineland (Germany); it was replaced by the Großgartach style, which was in turn followed by the Rössen style. While in some regions, the former settlement sites of the LBK population remained occupied by subsequent Middle Neolithic societies, nearly all were abandoned in the vast loess area located between modern-day Cologne and the Netherlands. Middle Neolithic villages were instead established in new locations. The following text considers some possible reasons for this development.