Journal of Neolithic Archaeology
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The Chronology of Danish Dolmens. Results from 14C Dates on Human Bones
Get PDFThe thousands of dolmens and long barrows spread across the Danish landscape are the earliest long-lasting expressions of architectural monumentality in Scandinavia. A series of new AMS dates on human skeletal material from several of them leads to a clarification of the generations-long debate on the relative chronology and typological evolution of this group of monuments. Earthen long barrows were raised from ca. 3700 cal BC. That is at least two centuries later than the arrival of such elements of the Neolithic world as funnel beaker pottery and domestic cattle to the region. The practice of using large stones (megaliths) for burial chambers was present by 3600 BC. Classical Urdolmen were built alongside various types of more complex dolmen chambers during the period ca. 3600–3400 BC, after which passage grave were erected
Trinca-La Șanț – A Large North Moldovan Trypillia Settlement
Get PDFIn the years 2022 and 2023, the Trypillia hilltop settlement of Trinca-La Șanț in northern Moldova was investigated and excavated by the CRC1266 in collaboration with the State University of Moldova. As a result, we unveiled the basic structures of the 25 ha fortified settlement, which, adapted to the topography, combines the principles of linear and concentric rows of houses. Based on the 14C data available to date, it can be assumed that the settlement dates from 3950 to 3650 BCE. Of the 320 houses discovered, up to 100 existed simultaneously, which corresponds to a maximum number of inhabitants of 250–1000 people. δ13C/δ15N isotope values of domestic animals indicate an extensive economy that corresponds to that of other, similarly large or mega-sites
Human-Material Relationships around 4000 BCE: Continuity and Change in South Scandinavian Flint Tool Production Technologies
Get PDFRecent studies have found that explanations of the neolithisation of South Scandinavia based on dichotomies between migration (population replacement) and diffusion (in-group change) are insufficient if we want to understand the complexity and variation involved in what happened during the centuries around 4000 BCE. However, these contrasting narratives still overshadow discussions on change in South Scandinavia ~4000 BCE. Here, we present a study that investigates continuity and change in flint tool production technologies. In focus are socio-technical framework structures and knowledge-transfer systems investigated by technological analyses of Mesolithic core axes and Early Neolithic point-butted Type I axes, as well as Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic blade attributes. Our results reveal variation in socio-technical framework structures and knowledge-transfer systems in action that refers both to a local history of technologies with a tradition and to the introduction of new technologies by groups with links to the continent
Ginnerup Revisited. New Excavations at a Key Neolithic Site on Djursland, Denmark
Get PDFNew excavations of an enclosure-related site at Ginnerup on Djursland, Denmark, in 2020 resulted in the identification of several features containing depositions of marine shells. One of these, A4, is a natural depression with a fill comprised of four consecutively deposited layers, forming an undisturbed stratigraphy, dated by several 14C dates to between c. 3150 and 2950 BC. The oldest layer contained finds from phase MN A Ib of the Funnel Beaker culture, while the remaining three layers yielded finds from the latest Funnel Beaker culture on Djursland (MN A II/III, Ferslev style) with an upwardly increasing content of Pitted Ware culture elements, thereby allowing the emergence of this culture in Denmark to be followed for the first time. Preservation conditions for organic material were excellent due to a content of marine shells, mainly from oysters and mussels, in all layers. In this preliminary account, a survey of the material culture in the four layers is presented, together with 14C dates, zoological investigations of mammal and fish bones, isotope analyses (d13C, d15N and d34S) and aDNA analyses of mammal bones and examinations of plant macro-remains. The abundant bones of wild horses also hold a huge potential for zoological and genetic studies, the results of which can qualify the ongoing debate about the rewilding of horses in present-day Europe
Tiarp Backgården. An Early Neolithic Dolmen in Falbygden, Sweden and Early Megalithic Tombs in South Scandinavia and Northern Central Europe
Get PDFThe excavation of the simple dolmen at Tiarp, Falbygden, dating to around 3500 BCE, has provided important information for the understanding of the megalithic and early TRB in southern Scandinavia and northern Central Europe. The absolute chronological dating shows that dolmens were erected at about the same time between Falbygden and Altmark, before the main passage grave architectural phase. Although fragmented and affected by taphonomic processes, the bone assemblage provides insights into the burial practices. At least twelve individuals, from neonates to elderly, had been buried within the chamber. The predominance of hand and foot bones suggests that they were primary inhumations. Their isotope values indicate an already agrarian society, which, however, was based only to a certain extent on agriculture. Insofar, the dolmen at Tiarp signals transformations – not only in respect to the introduction of agriculture but also regarding ritual practices – within the Early and Middle Neolithic
The Funnel Beaker Culture in Action. Early and Middle Neolithic Monumentality in Southwestern Scania, Sweden (4000-3000 cal BC)
Get PDFOne of the most discussed issues in European archaeology is the significance and context of monumentality and the construction of long barrows and megaliths in the Neolithic. The construction of monuments in Neolithic Europe can, due to their often significant size and complexity, be interpreted as signs of collective building efforts, but the social and political background may vary from more egalitarian to highly stratified societies. During the last 20 years of surveys and archaeological excavations in southwest Scania, Sweden, new archaeological results have been produced, revealing many hitherto unknown settlements, central places for feasting, long barrows, megaliths, free-standing façades and other types of monumental constructions. This has disclosed a much more complex picture of the Early Neolithic (4000–3300 cal BC) Funnel Beaker Culture societies in the region. Large-scale excavations have documented a hierarchy of monumental places in Early Neolithic southern Scandinavia, probably reflecting different uses of monuments, mirroring a social hierarchy in polities. Recently, another central place has been excavated at Flackarp, south of Lund, Sweden, containing at least nine dolmens and free-standing façades, further supporting this hypothesis
Emerging Evidence for Neolithic Ithaca
Get PDFThe article presents new evidence for the Neolithic habitation on Ithaca, consisting of ceramic and stone finds, recognised among material from the University of Ioannina excavations at the site of Agios Athanasios-School of Homer in the northwest part of Ithaca, Greece. The new Neolithic site is considered within the wider cultural context of the Ionian Islands, in the late 5th/4th millennium BC. Our current knowledge suggests a permanent Neolithic occupation at the site, as opposed to seasonal occupation or to a special purpose occupation. The Neolithic people at the School of Homer may have been part of a dynamic network of Late/Final Neolithic installations in Western Greece, engaging themselves in inter-regional communal connections along the routes of the most ancient seafaring in the Ionian Sea
Fishing, Weaving, Matting: Debating the Function of Notched Cobbles in Neolithic Greece
Get PDFThis article focuses on notched cobbles – pieces of stone with indentations on roughly opposite parts of their periphery. While exhibiting a wide geographic and chronological distribution, these simple artefacts have rarely become the subject of systematic archaeological study. In an attempt to address this gap, we discuss the three main hypotheses regarding the functions of these objects (as weights for fishing, weaving or matting) and evaluate the archaeological and ethnographic evidence that is available for each one of them; provide a detailed presentation of the technomorphological characteristics of the material from the Greek Neolithic site of Varemeni Goulon and compare it to that from the neighbouring site of Servia; expand the comparative framework to include other sites from Greece and elsewhere; and finally reconstruct the uses of both the Varemeni and Servia notched cobbles as fishing gear – the hypothesis that emerged as most likely from our survey. If associated with fishing, notched cobbles represent one of the rare components of fish capture technology preserved from Neolithic Greece
Neolithic House Building. Transformations of Architectural Characteristics in Diachronic Comparison
No full textDie diachrone quantitative Analyse des Hausbaus des Mittelgebirgsraums vom Frühneolithikum bis in die frühe Bronzezeit an diversen konstruktiven Merkmalen zeigt Entwicklungen und Brüche. Hierbei werden bekannte Entwicklungen aus dem Früh- und Mittelneolithikum mit aktuellen Erkenntnissen anhand neuer Befunden zum Spät- und Endneolithikum verbunden. Neben der oft verwendeten Hausgröße werden die Pfostenfläche und die Proportion zur Hausfläche als besonders deskriptive Merkmale des Wandels herausgestellt. Im Detail lassen sich hierdurch Wege von Innovationen nachzeichnen und anhand der möglichen Vorbilder die fehlenden Hausbauten des Spätneolithikums umreißen.The diachronic quantitative analysis of house construction in the German Central Uplands from the Early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age on various constructive features shows developments and breaks. For this, known developments from the Early and Middle Neolithic are combined with new knowledge based on recent findings from the Late and Final Neolithic. Besides the often used house area, the post area and its proportion to the house area are highlighted as particularly descriptive properties of change. In detail, it is possible to trace paths of innovations and to outline the missing house constructions of the Late Neolithic on the basis of possible examples
Early farming in Southeastern Norway: New evidence and interpretations
Get PDFDie Verbreitung einer neolithischen Produktionsweise hatte erhebliche Auswirkungen auf die späteren wirtschaftlichen und demografischen Entwicklungen. Der frühe Ackerbau in Norwegen wird in der Regel aus Pollenanalysen oder Verbreitungskarten importierter Äxte abgeleitet, die auf seine Einführung am Oslofjord um 3900 calBCE hindeuten. Eine Schwäche dieses Modells ist das Fehlen direkter Beweise für den Anbau von Getreide. In diesem Beitrag wird dargelegt, dass bei Ausgrabungen in Südostnorwegen im Zeitraum von 2004 bis 2013 eine Reihe von Fundorten entdeckt wurde, an denen im Frühneolithikum Ackerbau stattgefunden hat. Der Beitrag widmet sich der Vorstellung und Interpretation dieser Fundorte. Als Hauptergebnis der Forschung steigt die Zahl der bekannten frühneolithischen Siedlungen in Südostnorwegen von einer auf 15. Es wird ein neues Wirtschaftsmodell für die Osloer Fjordregion vorgeschlagen, das a) Orte für den Ackerbau berücksichtigt und b) argumentiert, dass Akkulturation ein wichtiger Faktor für die Übernahme von Ackerbau in dieser Region Skandinaviens war. Der schlechte Zustand der 15 frühneolithischen Fundstellen mit Ackerbau in Südostnorwegen deutet darauf hin, dass die meisten Spuren dieser Pionierphase durch die spätere Kultivierung ausgelöscht wurden.The spread of a Neolithic mode of production in prehistory had a significant impact on subsequent economic and demographic developments. Early farming in Norway is usually inferred from the pollen record or distribution maps of imported axes, which indicate its introduction around the Oslo Fjord around 3900 cal BCE. A persistent anomaly for this model is the lack of direct evidence of cultivation and knowledge of where farming took place. This paper argues that a number of sites used for farming in the Early Neolithic were discovered by excavations in Southeastern Norway in the period from 2004–2013. It is dedicated to the presentation and interpretation of these sites. As a main result of the investigations, the number of known Early Neolithic farming sites in Southeastern Norway increases from one to 15. It suggests a new economic model for the Oslo Fjord region that a) accounts for places of farming and b) argues that acculturation was an important factor for the adoption of farming in this region of Scandinavia. The poor condition of the 15 Early Neolithic farming sites in Southeastern Norway indicates that subsequent cultivation has erased most traces left behind from this pioneer phase