Beyond the Neolithic transition: - the ‘de-Neolithisation’ of South Scandinavia
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Documents
- Iversen, R. 2013. Beyond the Neolithic Transition, BAR 2475
Final published version, 1.58 MB, PDF document
In South Scandinavia, the Funnel Beaker culture is synonymous with the emergence of Neolithic societies (c 4000 BC), the construction of megalithic monuments and agricultural lifestyle. After c 1300 years of existence the Funnel Beaker culture ceased and a culturally blurred period began.
In the south-western parts of the Jutland Peninsula, the Single Grave culture emerged (c 2850 BC) expressing a high degree of cultural uniformity. In Eastern Denmark this uniformity was absent and instead the material culture shows a mixture of late Funnel Beaker, Pitted Ware and Single Grave culture elements. The question is whether the end of the Funnel Beaker culture in Eastern Denmark marks a period of decline and fragmentation or one of continuity and incorporation of new cultural elements and subsistence strategies. In particular the revival of hunter-fisher-gatherer strategies applied by the Pitted Ware culture represents a different economic focus than that held by the Funnel Beaker culture. The renewed focus on hunter-fisher-gatherer strategies, 1000 years after the introduction of agriculture, challenges the prevalent understanding of the dynamics behind the Neolithisation.
In the south-western parts of the Jutland Peninsula, the Single Grave culture emerged (c 2850 BC) expressing a high degree of cultural uniformity. In Eastern Denmark this uniformity was absent and instead the material culture shows a mixture of late Funnel Beaker, Pitted Ware and Single Grave culture elements. The question is whether the end of the Funnel Beaker culture in Eastern Denmark marks a period of decline and fragmentation or one of continuity and incorporation of new cultural elements and subsistence strategies. In particular the revival of hunter-fisher-gatherer strategies applied by the Pitted Ware culture represents a different economic focus than that held by the Funnel Beaker culture. The renewed focus on hunter-fisher-gatherer strategies, 1000 years after the introduction of agriculture, challenges the prevalent understanding of the dynamics behind the Neolithisation.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | NW Europe in Transition : The Early Neolithic in Britain and South Sweden |
Editors | Mats Larsson, Jolene Debert |
Number of pages | 7 |
Volume | 2475 |
Place of Publication | Oxford |
Publisher | Archaeopress |
Publication date | 2013 |
Pages | 21-27 |
Chapter | 3 |
ISBN (Print) | 978 1 4073 1087 9 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Series | B A R. International Series |
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ISSN | 0143-3067 |
- Faculty of Humanities - ‘de-Neolithisation’, Neolithic lifestyle, mobile strategies, megalithic tombs, TRB, Single Grave culture, Pitted Ware culture, South Scandinavia, third millennium BC
Research areas
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