Spoilt for choice? dynamics of settlement patterns in early farming societies (c. 5400–4300 BCE) in Northwestern Bavaria and North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany

Settlement patterns of early farming communities are closely related to specific environmental parameters. However, these patterns change over time and vary regionally. To gain a deeper understanding of these dynamics, this study examines regional and diachronic differences in the site selection of Neolithic settlements during the 6th and 5th mill. BCE in North Rhine-Westphalia and Northwestern Bavaria. To clarify the relationship between settlement intensity and spatial covariates, a nonparametric rhohat analysis was performed. In a further step, inhomogeneous Poisson point process models were fitted, in which the intensity of the point distribution was modelled as a function of several environmental variables simultaneously. The results indicate that regional patterns in settlement location are more stable than diachronic trends. Over time, site selection exhibits a diachronic shift from the ecologically conservative behaviour characteristic of the Linear Pottery Culture towards an expansion into increasingly suboptimal environments. The results further demonstrate that settlement patterns cannot be explained solely by ecological factors. Instead, regionally differentiated adaptation strategies and landscape use systems show that cultural and/or social factors also influenced site selection. Moreover, increasing flexibility in site selection appears to be closely linked to processes of agricultural diversification.