The Hellweg Börde refers to the countryside and natural region

Natural region

A Natural region is one which is distinguished by its natural features of geography and usually more important, geology. The natural ecology of the region is likely to be significant but one of these factors tends to influence the others....

 on the southern edge of the Westphalian Lowland

Westphalian Lowland

The Westphalian Lowland, also known as the Westphalian Basin is a flat landscape that mainly lies within the German region of Westphalia, although small areas also fall within North Rhine and in Lower Saxony...

 in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

, which embraces the old Hellweg

Hellweg

In the Middle Ages the Hellweg was an ancient east-west route through Germany, the main corridor from the Rhine east to the mountains of the Teutoburger Wald, reaching from Duisburg, at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers, to Paderborn, with the slopes of the Sauerland to its south.In the...

 trading route cities and towns of Dortmund

Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....

, Unna

Unna

Unna is a town of around 67,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna district.-Geography:Unna is situated on an ancient salt-trading route, the Hellweg road. Trade on this route and during the period of the Hansa Trade Route came from as far as London...

, Werl

Werl

Werl is a town located in the district of Soest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Werl is easily accessible because it is located between the Sauerland, Münsterland, and the Ruhr Area...

 and Soest

Soest

-Places:* Soest, Netherlands* Soest, Germany** Soest , a district around the location in Germany-Organizations:*SOEST, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa...

 extending to Salzkotten

Salzkotten

Salzkotten is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name Salzkotten is based on the former salt production, which gave Salzkotten its raison d'être...

 and from there in an ever narrower strip to its northeastern tip at Schlangen

Schlangen

Schlangen is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Schlangen has c. 9,000 inhabitants and exists in relative prosperity...

 on the edge of the town of Bad Lippspringe

Bad Lippspringe

Bad Lippspringe is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Bad Lippspringe is situated on the western slope of the Teutoburger Wald, approx. 10 km north-east of Paderborn...

. It is characterised by its heavy deposits of post ice age loess soils

Loess

Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...

. The region can be further divided into the Werl-Unnaer Börde, Soest Börde and Geseker Börde.

In the west the loess soils of the Hellweg Börde continue into the Westenhellweg region.

History

By the Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

 (around 4,000 B.C.) grain was already being cultivated here on the fertile, calcareous land. The oldest trace of a neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

culture was the discovery of pottery from the La Hoguette Culture dating to the middle of the 6th millennium B.C.