Paths Towards a New World: Neolithic Sweden 1782972579, 9781782972570

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Paths Towards a New World Neolithic Sweden

Mats Larsson with

Geoffrey Lemdahl and Kerstin Lidén

Oxbow Books Oxford & Philadelphia

Published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by OXBOW BOOKS 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW and in the United States by OXBOW BOOKS 908 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083 © Oxbow Books and the individual authors 2014 Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-178297-257-0 E-pub Edition: ISBN 978-178297-258-7; Mobi: ISBN 978-178297-259-4; PDF: ISBN 978-178297-260-0 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Larsson, Mats, 1951- , author. [Mot en ny v?rld. English] Paths towards a new world neolithic Sweden / Mats Larsson ; with Geoffrey Lemdahl and Kerstin Lid?n. 1 online resource. Includes bibliographical references. Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed. ISBN 978-1-78297-258-7 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-78297-259-4 (mobi) -- ISBN 978-178297-260-0 ( pdf ) -- ISBN 978-1-78297-257-0 1. Neolithic period--Sweden. 2. Sweden-Antiquities. I. Lemdahl, Geoffrey, 1955- , author. II. Lid?n, Kerstin, author. III. Title. GN776.22.S8 936.8’5--dc23 2014017202 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing. For a complete list of Oxbow titles, please contact: UNITED KINGDOM Oxbow Books

Contents

Preface

vii

Introduction

1

1 Environmental History

4



Geoffrey Lemdahl

Geological archives Methods of analysis Pollen analysis Plant microfossil analysis Analysis of bone and shell remains Insect analysis Dating Examples of palaeoecological applications Suggested readings

4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 9

2

The Mesolithic Period and Stone Age hunters The last hunters The Late Mesolithic – a few trends Suggested readings

10 11 21 22

3

From Hunter to Farmer Northern Europe Paths towards a new world The early farmers and their contemporaries Time and artefacts What was life like for the early farmers? Settlement trends What did they eat? Stone Age food

23 23 25 27 29 37 49 50 50

4

The Dead and the Afterlife Long barrows Flat graves Dolmens

54 54 57 58

iv    Contents



Döserygg (Dolmen Ridge) Meeting places for the living and the dead – Sarup structures Burnt axes and ceremonial deposits The Early Neolithic – a few trends Suggested readings

5 Science and the Neolithic

61 64 65 68 68 70



Kerstin Lidén



Domestication Adaptation Kinship The future Isotopes Diet Mobility The future Suggested readings

71 71 72 72 72 73 73 74 74

6

A Time of Change Farmers and seal hunters Time and objects Settlements and houses The dead and the afterlife Sarup structures Seal hunters The settlement at Åby Fräkenrönningen The afterlife Seal hunters or…? The Alvastra pile dwelling So, who were these seal hunters? Changes and new times

76 76 77 79 79 86 88 90 92 93 96 96 99 101

7 New Manners and Customs The Battle Axe Culture Events in North Sweden Graves, dwellings and battle axes Flint and stone Preparing the dead – burial customs Houses for the dead Houses for the living Trends in settlements Palisades and timber circles

103 104 106 109 109 110 114 115 117 118

Contents   



Crop growing and livestock Suggested readings

121 123

8

Longhouses and Stone Cists Daggers, sickles and arrowheads House and home Late Neolithic dwellings – main features Colonization phase or…? Stone cists and earthen graves Cremation graves Flat ground graves Late Neolithic trends Suggested readings

125 126 128 131 133 134 138 139 140 142

Epilogue

143

References

145

Preface

One year of writing and reflecting has now come to an end and it is now up to the reader to judge the results. Is this the book that I began writing in 2010? Both yes and no is the cryptic answer. Yes, since I managed to limit the amount of text to a somewhat reasonable size, and that I was also able to include the material that I originally intended. No, as I have surely forgotten or neglected places and material that perhaps should have been included. In this case, the fault is my own. I would like to take the opportunity to thank both individuals and institutions that have helped me in putting this book together. First, I’d like to express a great big thank-you to my dear wife Ylva who has supported me throughout my entire archaeological career, from my dissertation in 1984 up until this book. Thank you! I would also like to thank the rest of my family – Per, Malin and Stefan, and especially my grandchildren Maja and Måns, who sometimes enticed me to forget all about archaeology. Thanks also to Professor Roland Hallgren for his support and friendship, as well as the proofreading he performed with such a sharp eye. A big thank-you should also go to Professor Lars Larsson, for many jolly laughs throughout the years, as well as his constructive criticism on the manuscript. The contributions written by Professors Geoffrey Lemdahl and Kerstin Lidén raise the quality of the book, and without these contributions, I would have been badly off. Thanks! In addition, I would also like to thank all of my present as well as former colleagues and my friends for many stimulating discussions and meetings over the years. If I don’t name any names, then I won’t forget anyone! A special thanks goes to those who have generously allowed me to use pictures and illustrations – N. H. Andersen, P. O. Nielsen, M. Andersson, F. Hallgren, K. Jennbert, E. Rudebeck, N. Björck, K. Brink, C. Tilley and H. Browall. Linköping, February 2012 Mats Larsson

Introduction Mats Larsson

The idea for this book came to me during one of my many drives commuting between Linköping and Kalmar. Why not write a book about the younger Stone Age in Sweden, a period to which I have dedicated so many years? The target audience would be archaeology students and archaeologists in general, as well as other interested readers. I also began pondering over what I would include in the book. Sweden is a large country with very diverse conditions and research traditions. In this case, I am referring to the natural conditions necessary for early agriculture, for example, as well as how different research traditions emerged. The extensive number of studies during recent years and the abundance of significant new results also meant that the choices were not very easy or self-evident. It is impossible to describe in detail or discuss the quite extensive archaeological material we have today from the younger Stone Age; therefore, I have chosen to discuss fundamental research perspectives concerning the period. I have chosen the sites with this in mind. The selection is my own and reflects my own research interest. Thus, it is not a coincidence that I focus on southern and middle Sweden, though the country’s northern regions are in no way forgotten. The in many ways problematic concept of culture is, and has been, much discussed, especially within research concerning the younger Stone Age, and this is something one should be aware of. However, for the sake of both simplicity and clarity, I have chosen to retain and use the established culture designations such as the Ertebølle Culture, the Funnel Beaker Culture, the Pitted Ware Culture and the Battle Axe Culture. We will look at what these represent in the following chapters. The quotation from Verner von Heidenstam found below can be seen as a contribution to a long archaeological debate that is still relevant today. Within modern archaeological research, we are still discussing, for example, certain Neolithic cultures’ eastern or southern origins and contacts. We should however be wary of trying to see Stone Age people as ‘indigenous peoples’ who were homogenous throughout the geographical region we today call Sweden. Channels of contact, travel and exchange of goods and ideas changed the relationships between people, but also led development in different parts of the country to diverge.

    Mats Larsson

I.1. Map of Sweden with some of the sites mentioned in the text. 1. Siretorp; 2. Resmo; 3. Lilla Mark; 4. Köpingsvik; 5. Alvastra; 6. The Linköping region; 7. Ajvide; 8. Hästhagen, Slottsmöllan; 9. Åby; 10. Fagervik; 11. Mogetorp; 12. Östra Vrå; 13. Pärlängsberget; 14. Skogsmossen; 15. Fågelbacken; 16. Kyrsta; 17. Bällinge Bog; 18. Högmossen; 19. Fräkenrönningen; 20. Bjästamon; 21. Bjurselet; 22. Voullerim; 23. Lillberget; 24. Rössberga (the Falbygden region); 25. Vedbæk; 26. Sarup; 27. Ertebølle.

Introduction   

I.2. Scania, Sweden, showing selected sites. 1. Siretorp; 2. Hagestad region; 3. Carlshögen; 4. Kabusa; 5. Piledal; 6. Mossby; 7. Skateholm; 8. Döserygg; 9. Svenstorp; 10. Hyllie; 11. Kastanjegården; 12. Fosie IV; 13. Hindby Bog; 14. Almhov; 15. Soldattorpet; 16. Löddesborg; 17. Gillhög; 18. Jonstorp; 19. Dösjebro; 20. Stävie.

Period Late Mesolithic Primary Early Neolithic Secondary Early Neolithic MN A (Funnel Beaker Culture, Pitted Ware Culture) MN B (Battle Axe Culture) Late Neolithic

Chronology 4600–4000 BC 3950–3650 BC 3650–3300 BC 3300–2700 BC 2700–2350 BC 2350–1800 BC

Chronology of the periods discussed in the volume.

“From where have we come?”, asked Karilas and motioned questioningly with his hand, first towards the south and then towards the east. “Poets, who of you can answer Ura-Kaipa? Who can solve this mystery? Long have we lived here, and in time we learned to make our weapons shining like gold. I only know, poets, that none of your old local legends tell about such a bright and lovely summer night, and here we will make ourselves a country for people.” (Heidenstam 1915)

In order to make it easier for the reader, the book is chronologically structured and the individual chapters are thematically organized. The journey begins in the Late Mesolithic and ends with the transition to the Bronze Age many thousands of years later. I hope that the book will provide an introduction to the long and interesting period of the early Stone Age, and that it will encourage the reader to pursue further studies in the subject. Before we begin our journey, I would like to point out that at the end of each chapter you will find a list of books and articles that should be seen as further in-depth readings. At the end of the book, you will find a bibliography of the literature on which my story is based.

1  Environmental History Geoffrey Lemdahl

Palaeoecological research deals with reconstructing prehistoric environments, ecosystems and landscapes and how these have been affected by different disturbances such as climate change, fire or human actions. Palaeoecology is primarily the study of geological archives. Archaeology also works with geological archives; that is to say, archaeologists dig through the subsoil searching for discoveries that can tell us about earlier human activities. Instead of looking for the remains of objects made by human hands, palaeoecologists look for biological remains, such as remnants of plants and animals. Chemical or physical analyses of soil samples may also be used. The combination of archaeological and palaeoecological investigations is often very useful in solving certain specific problems concerning how humans have shaped previously natural environments or how natural conditions have affected the development of cultures.

Geological archives Remains from plants and animals are best preserved in oxygen deficient environments, often meaning that the preservation environment was damp or wet when the remains were deposited in the soil. Natural environments that meet this requirement are riverbeds and lake bottoms, fens and bogs. The smallest plant residues such as pollen and spores from land plants are usually dispersed in the air in quite large amounts, which then fall down onto water or land areas mixing with soil sediments and sod. Larger plant remnants such as seeds, fruits, nuts, leaves, twigs and bits of wood will also be deposited in the soil layers. Remains from animals are generally rarer than those from plants; skeletal parts and shells are what are primarily preserved. Taking samples from natural sediment and peat layers is best accomplished using some type of coring equipment that can extract undisturbed core samples through the layers; alternatively, samples can be obtained in open sections by removing samples directly from the walls. At archaeological excavations, especially those at settlement sites, there are good chances of finding biological remains if there are damp or wet areas at or near the excavation site. Examples of opportune locations for sampling are wells, draining ditches, rubbish dumps and latrines.

1  Environmental History   

Methods of analysis Pollen analysis The Swedish geologist Lennart von Post was the first researcher who, at the beginning of the 1920s, began analysing pollen grains in soil samples in order to reconstruct what the flora was like during different periods. Pollen grains, spores and charcoal particles can be identified and counted using a microscope (100–1000 times magnification). In order to concentrate the pollen, samples measuring one cubic centimetre are treated in various chemical stages. The advantage of analysing pollen is that plants produce large amounts of pollen or spores, which are well preserved in moist soil samples. The disadvantage is that determination of species is not possible for many kinds of pollen and they therefore can only be identified to genus or family. The amount of pollen produced varies greatly between different species of plants. Insect-pollinated plants for example are under represented when compared with wind-pollinated plants. The size of the lake or peat bog surfaces regulates what the results represent. A large area (>100 m in diameter) provides a picture of the vegetation in a larger region, while a smaller area (