Linear Pottery culture

Linear Pottery culture or Linear Band Ware; Linearbandkeramik – LBK; or Linear Spiral-Meander Pottery culture (Культура лінійно-стрічкової кераміки; Kultura liniino-strichkovoi keramiky). Early Neolithic culture that existed throughout western, central, and eastern Europe and in the upper Dnister River and western Volhynia regions of Ukraine in the late 6th to mid-5th millennium BC. The settlements of this culture in Ukraine commonly featured semi-pit dwellings with hearths inside and storage pits outside. Both full body burials and cremation were practiced by the people of this culture. Their pottery was known for its globular shape, thin walls, and distinctive linear ornamentation employing frequent spirals. The culture’s major occupations included agriculture and animal husbandry.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]