The Blurry Third Millennium. "Neolithisation" in a Norwegian Context (original) (raw)
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Documenta Praehistorica, 2016
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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.
Chapter 18 Interpreting Complex Diachronic "Neolithic"-Period Data In Norway (Final Draft)
Gron, Sørensen & Rowley-Conwy: Farmers at the Frontier - A Pan European Perspective on Neolithisation. Oxbow Books , 2020
This article deals with the history of late hunter-gatherer and early agricultural societies in Scandinavia through the Norwegian case. Here, the Neolithic is not perceived as a slow but steady introduction and consolidation of agriculture. Instead, the Neolithic period in Norway represents a jagged history, and is perhaps not primarily about agriculture. In the Early and Middle Neolithic this article mainly deals with regions beyond the Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB), though borders and distinctions are not always clear (Glørstad, 2009). In the Late Neolithic the focus is the Nordic region (Fig. 18.1). This article groups the discussion around three chronological epochs: the Nordic Late Neolithic (LN, c. 2350-1700 BC), the Middle Neolithic B (MNB, c. 2700-2350 BC), the Early and Middle Neolithic A (EN and MNA 3950-2700 BC) extending into the last six hundred years of the preceding Late Mesolithic (LM). The evidence demonstrates that with the transition to the LN, farming and stockholding are cemented as the foundation of the economy. The MN B (i.e. the time of the Corded Ware Culture, CWC, i.e. Scandinavian Battle Axe Cultures) remains an enigma in which agro-pastoralism probably is not an important factor. In terms of the preceding Neolithic and Mesolithic periods, there is a continuous process of vegetation and landscape management, though if and how agriculture is a factor here remains uncertain.
Early farming in Southeastern Norway: New evidence and interpretations
Journal of Neolithic Archaeology, 2021
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.