Archaeology - The Middle Neolithic of South Sweden
PhD Project:
- Breaking and Making Bodies and Pots -
Material and Ritual Practices in South Sweden in the
Third Millennium BC
Material and Ritual Practices in South Sweden in the
Third Millennium BC
My focus is the relationship between two contemporary groups within this region: The Pitted Ware culture and the Battle Axe culture. The former is defined through pottery and stone tools found on coastal and archipelagic settlements with a distinct marine hunting and gathering economy. The latter is the regional version of the continental Corded Ware culture complex, mainly defined through single crouched burials and stray finds in the interior, with some evidence of a domesticated economy at the settlements.
The groups are partly defined through various stone and bone tools and adornments, but mainly through their very distinctive pottery. Another noted difference is the burial practice, where the Battle Axe culture has single graves with crouched skeletons, and an extremely rigid set of burial gifts. The Pitted Ware culture has both a number of single graves in stretched out position, with a notable variety in choice of burial gifts, and also a common occurrence of disarticulated bones on the settlements.
The Middle Neolithic has been a fiercely debated period among Scandinavian archaeologists for well over a century. The definition of various cultures, the categories used to identify them, their chronology and relationship to each other, were and continue to be the source of much controversy. The relationship between the Pitted Ware culture and the Battle Axe culture in the third millennium BC is very much the focus of the discussion. Some believe that the material dichotomy is the result of different economic and/or religious practices within the same society. Interpretations vary between viewing the Pitted Ware sites as ritual or alternatively, interpreting the Battle Axe burials as representing a specific segment within a stratified society.
The groups are partly defined through various stone and bone tools and adornments, but mainly through their very distinctive pottery. Another noted difference is the burial practice, where the Battle Axe culture has single graves with crouched skeletons, and an extremely rigid set of burial gifts. The Pitted Ware culture has both a number of single graves in stretched out position, with a notable variety in choice of burial gifts, and also a common occurrence of disarticulated bones on the settlements.
The Middle Neolithic has been a fiercely debated period among Scandinavian archaeologists for well over a century. The definition of various cultures, the categories used to identify them, their chronology and relationship to each other, were and continue to be the source of much controversy. The relationship between the Pitted Ware culture and the Battle Axe culture in the third millennium BC is very much the focus of the discussion. Some believe that the material dichotomy is the result of different economic and/or religious practices within the same society. Interpretations vary between viewing the Pitted Ware sites as ritual or alternatively, interpreting the Battle Axe burials as representing a specific segment within a stratified society.
Others, like myself, consider the differences in material culture, technology, burial practices and ritual practices to reflect different ethnic groups with strong sense of identity. Ethnic differences should not necessarily be understood as biological differences. It is possible, indeed probable, that the first Battle Axe culture communities in South Sweden consisted at least partly of locally raised individuals who changed their cultural affiliation for various reasons. For these the identification with communities both to the East and South, was of paramount importance, possibly to be able to be part of the vast continental network that helped establish the Corded Ware culture.
In my dissertation I have chosen to study the pottery craft to see what kind of differences exist between the Pitted Ware vessels and the Battle Axe beakers, apart from mere visual and decorative characteristics. Technologically they vary in many respects, the most apparent being the use of bone temper in pitted-ware, and grog (crushed pottery, also known as chamotte) in the battle-axe beakers. My aim is not solely to examine technology, but to try to unravel what the entire chain of operation might tell us of the social structuring of the craft within respective society, from local to super-regional level. The pottery plays a very important part in the practices of both societies - but in profoundly different ways. In the Battle Axe culture, the beakers are a very common burial gift, but still occur on the settlements in sparse quantities. The Pitted Ware culture is (in)famous for the large quantities of pottery sherds found at the sites, several hundred kilos is not uncommon. In the burials, whole vessels are glaringly absent, and are instead represented occasionally by a few sherds or a miniature vessel.
In my dissertation I have chosen to study the pottery craft to see what kind of differences exist between the Pitted Ware vessels and the Battle Axe beakers, apart from mere visual and decorative characteristics. Technologically they vary in many respects, the most apparent being the use of bone temper in pitted-ware, and grog (crushed pottery, also known as chamotte) in the battle-axe beakers. My aim is not solely to examine technology, but to try to unravel what the entire chain of operation might tell us of the social structuring of the craft within respective society, from local to super-regional level. The pottery plays a very important part in the practices of both societies - but in profoundly different ways. In the Battle Axe culture, the beakers are a very common burial gift, but still occur on the settlements in sparse quantities. The Pitted Ware culture is (in)famous for the large quantities of pottery sherds found at the sites, several hundred kilos is not uncommon. In the burials, whole vessels are glaringly absent, and are instead represented occasionally by a few sherds or a miniature vessel.
Burial customs are also very different: In Battle Axe burials, the individual body is rigidly presented according to a cultural ideal, both in the positioning of the body and the choice of burial gifts. In Pitted Ware culture, the dead are treated in highly complex ways. There can be both individual burials, with various types of burial gifts, and collections of disarticulated body parts or scattered human bones in the settlement layers. Removal of certain skeletal parts after initial burial is also well known from several cemeteries. At the end of the Middle Neolithic, a very specific type of mortuary house has been found - interestingly enough on both a Pitted Ware site, and in a Battle Axe context. While there are apparent similarities in the construction, as well as the use of cremation - not a common practice in the Neolithic in Sweden - there are also some profound differences. I believe these differences are the result of two different groups assimilating a ritual practice through their own cultural lenses.
With one of these sites as my focus, Bollbacken in Västmanland in Eastern Central Sweden, I attempt to paint a larger picture of how both everyday practice might inform us about the relationship between the two contemporary societies and help us understand both how they co-existed for centuries. Both in the form of pottery craft, and in the ritual practices, as seen in the treatment of dead bodies. And finally, how in the Late Neolithic they merged into an apparent single ethnic community.
I am especially interested in concepts like bodily situated practices, chain of operation (chaîne opératoire), ritual practice, cognitive science, community of practice, and how these might be usable methods for archaeology dealing with material culture and prehistoric societies.
With one of these sites as my focus, Bollbacken in Västmanland in Eastern Central Sweden, I attempt to paint a larger picture of how both everyday practice might inform us about the relationship between the two contemporary societies and help us understand both how they co-existed for centuries. Both in the form of pottery craft, and in the ritual practices, as seen in the treatment of dead bodies. And finally, how in the Late Neolithic they merged into an apparent single ethnic community.
I am especially interested in concepts like bodily situated practices, chain of operation (chaîne opératoire), ritual practice, cognitive science, community of practice, and how these might be usable methods for archaeology dealing with material culture and prehistoric societies.