Cultural diversity during the 6^th millenium B.C. in southwestern Germany

Summarizing and answering the questions from the beginning of this paper one can say that the single Bandkeramik pot-sherd excavated in the Weidental Cave cannot be interpreted as evidence of a permanent early agriculturalist settlement in the hilly region of the Palatinate Forest, but it demonstrates the presence of the early Bandkeramik ("Flomborn") in this region. Perhaps some explorers or "trappers" visited this area, or this sherd could simply represent contact between mesolithic and neolithic groups. Concerning the second inference, one can assume that middlemesolithic (Beuronien C) occupation in the Weidental Cave might probably be much younger than formerly stated. The Weidental Cave inventory might reflect a local late mesolithic tradition without rectangular microliths. If this is true, this time-span between the mesolithic occupation and the Flomborn-expedition would be considerably shortened. In conclusion, we can say that in Rhinehesse-Palatinate in the sixth millennium b.c. not only herders and agriculturalists were living contemporaneously, like the biblical Cain and Abel, but also à third party was still present : the (last) hunter- and gatherer tribes.