Stroke-Ornamented Ware

Early / Middle Neolithic culture of west-central Europe, developed directly out of the Linear Pottery culture, c 4000-3800 BC. The pottery has zigzag patterns made by a series of distinct jabs rather than continuous lines. Bohemia, southwest Poland, Bavaria, and central Germany were its locale. The culture had longhouses which were slightly trapezoidal.

English name for the German Stichbandkeramik, which characterizes the Middle Neolithic culture in Central Europe (southern Poland, Czechoslovakia and parts of southern and central Germany). The pottery is decorated with geometric designs, especially zigzags, made by incision in a series of short strokes rather than continuous lines. Stroke-ornamented ware clearly developed directly out of the earlier Linear Pottery during the later 5th and early 4th millennium be.