Shifting cultivation
Early Neolithic (Linear Pottery): The primary discoveries dating back to this period include the remains of a settlement with its iconic banded ceramics in the northern and eastern areas of the district. Such settlements developed at the southern edge of the Long Field, where good loess was available. Since crop rotation was a yet unknown practice, early settlements and their residents had to practice Shifting cultivation (as evidenced by the aforementioned Linear Pottery culture) as the nutrients in the soil became depleted. Even with the practice of shifting cultivation, archaeological evidence shows that dimensions of the fields and the settlements were too large. After about three years of use, the field would deplete and require decades to regain the lost fertility (longhouses typically would stand for about 30 to 50 years). Due to the existence of such types of soils it is implied that there used to be a warmer climate and open wooded steppes during the Holocene period that were suitable for clearing and could be found in valleys. A few "Stool tombs" from this period have been discovered in hollow ditches, complete with grave goods. One of these graves contained one of the oldest examples of prepared food (legumes, toasted bread, hazelnuts and flaxseed), which was intended likely for provision in the afterlife journey and allow conclusions regarding their religious ideas which probably included ancestor worship. They cultivated einkorn, emmer and wheat, but only after the cutting down and incineration of nearby mixed oak forests by early settlements in need of new lands for crops.