Linking Quarry and Settlement on the Swabian Alb, Southern Germany

International audience; Beginning in the Early Neolithic Period (or LBK) and increasingly in the Middle and Later Neolithic periods (a transition spanning about 5,000-2,300 B.C.) in Europe, considerable energy was invested in quarrying and miningchert and flint for tool production. Acquisition of stone combined local sources with regional transport. Chipped stone was used in everyday activities and for objects that likely played a special role in exchange networks. Linkages between quarries and surrounding landscapes thus can shed light on patterns of travel, work, and trade at local and regional scales. Archaeologists are rarely able to link quarries and settlements in a detailed analysis.…