On the Bandkeramik to the east of the Vistula River: At the limits of the possible

This paper addresses the eastern province of the Bandkeramik. Aspects of chronology, settlement and cultural contact will be discussed. Once, the LBK lands to the east of the Vistula River formed an integral part of the Bandkeramik cultural complex. Mobility and contact contributed to the comparatively high degree of homogeneity observed across the vast zone of LBK interaction stretching from the Seine to the Dnieper Rivers. Furthermore, at the eastern periphery of the LBK inspirations were drawn from Mesolithic backgrounds, the Bug-Dniester culture, and Neolithic communities of the Lower Danube. On the other hand, towards the end of her cultural cycle the LBK seems to have had little effect on the subsequent formation of future Neolithic cultures. The expansion of the Bandkeramik came to a halt at the western fringes of the steppes. Here, confronted with an increasingly continental climate, the forest peasants of the LBK met their agro-ecological limits.