Pitted Ware Culture (c. 3400-2350 B.C.)
BACKGROUND
No Neolithic culture in Sweden, indeed few prehistoric cultures in general, have left such a substantial quantity of material remains as Pitted Ware culture. It is ironic therefore, that few cultures are more contested and questioned. One aspect that has especially helped fuel the controversy is the apparent 'de-neolithisation' that this group represents. After over 500 years of small scale farming and keeping domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep/goat and pigs in Eastern Central Sweden (TRB - Funnel Beaker culture), the economy seems to 'return' to a completely hunter-gatherer way of life, concentrated on marine animals and fish. This event has struck many researchers as counter-intuitive, and has generated much debate. It was even mentioned by Jared Diamond in his book "Guns, Germs and Steel" as one of the few exceptions to his general model of social development in tempered climates.
Explanations of this event have ranged from mass migrations, to climate change, to social collapse in the wake of the introduction of megalithic burials. What I present here is a very short overview of what we know of this very complex culture. The selection is my own, and much of the information I present can be and is, challenged by other researchers. In the suggested reading section I have tried to also include a selection of the publications that present a very different take on the Pitted Ware culture compared to mine.
No Neolithic culture in Sweden, indeed few prehistoric cultures in general, have left such a substantial quantity of material remains as Pitted Ware culture. It is ironic therefore, that few cultures are more contested and questioned. One aspect that has especially helped fuel the controversy is the apparent 'de-neolithisation' that this group represents. After over 500 years of small scale farming and keeping domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep/goat and pigs in Eastern Central Sweden (TRB - Funnel Beaker culture), the economy seems to 'return' to a completely hunter-gatherer way of life, concentrated on marine animals and fish. This event has struck many researchers as counter-intuitive, and has generated much debate. It was even mentioned by Jared Diamond in his book "Guns, Germs and Steel" as one of the few exceptions to his general model of social development in tempered climates.
Explanations of this event have ranged from mass migrations, to climate change, to social collapse in the wake of the introduction of megalithic burials. What I present here is a very short overview of what we know of this very complex culture. The selection is my own, and much of the information I present can be and is, challenged by other researchers. In the suggested reading section I have tried to also include a selection of the publications that present a very different take on the Pitted Ware culture compared to mine.
ECONOMY & DIET
BURIAL PRACTICES
THE DEBATE
LITERATURE
CHRONOLOGY
In c. 4000 cal. BC, the TRB (Funnel Beaker culture) is rapidly established in South Sweden, up to the Dala River (Dalälven) which traditionally marks the border between Central Sweden and Northern Sweden. This is the first society in Sweden which can be said to have a Neolithic and domesticated economy. The inland is settled with long houses, but seasonal sites by the coast continue to be used. There is evidence of crop cultivation in the form of carbonated cereal grains (wheat mainly), pollen indicators of clearings with cereals, and bones from domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep/goat that must have been imported initially. There are also domesticated pig bones, with osteological traits indicating some cross breeding with the wild boar population.
Around 3400 BC, megalithic tombs start to be constructed mainly in Western Sweden and Southern Sweden. The practice of dolmen and passage graves is a new phenomenon, spread along the coastal regions of Western Europe, and is not really synonymous with the TRB, although they are quickly assimilated into this existing culture. However, other changes also occur, the pottery changes in both shape and decoration, and new types of battle-axes and tools are manufactured. Overall, there is still a strong continuity in settlements and technologies.
The collective tombs are not distributed across the whole of the original TRB area in Sweden, however. There are a few disparate examples found on Öland, Gotland and in western Östergötland. All in all, they are mostly missing from Eastern Sweden. The distinctive pottery types are also missing from this region. Instead, a type of funnel-beaker with s-shaped profile and rounded base continues to be made. This pottery has decorations that retain some aspects of earlier TRB pottery, but also include 'megalithic' patterns, often with vertical orientation. This type is generally referred to as "Fagervik II". Technologically speaking, it shows no major break with previous tradition. Large round pit impressions are becoming more common on these vessels than they were on the earlier funnel-beakers. They are also occurring only in coastal areas, and no longer in the inland. Slightly later, perhaps around 3300-3200 BC a more distinctly new type of pottery appears, often on the same sites as Fagervik II, but on lower elevations, following the receding shore line as the land continues to rise after the Ice Age. These vessels have marked (carinated) shoulders, conical bodies ending in a rounded/pointed base, mainly horizontal decoration made by incisions or comb stamps, and almost always one or more rows of large pit impressions. Another change is that over time, calcareous temper in the form of lime stone and burnt bones becomes more and more common. This type is known as "Fagervik III".
Whereas Fagervik II occurs mostly in eastern Central Sweden and on Åland, Fagervik III appears on coastal sites as far south as NW Skåne at least. The youngest phase, known as Fagervik IV, is dated to the last centuries of the Middle Neolithic B, c. 2500-2300 BC. This phase is not well known and studied however, and the dating is only an approximation.
In c. 4000 cal. BC, the TRB (Funnel Beaker culture) is rapidly established in South Sweden, up to the Dala River (Dalälven) which traditionally marks the border between Central Sweden and Northern Sweden. This is the first society in Sweden which can be said to have a Neolithic and domesticated economy. The inland is settled with long houses, but seasonal sites by the coast continue to be used. There is evidence of crop cultivation in the form of carbonated cereal grains (wheat mainly), pollen indicators of clearings with cereals, and bones from domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep/goat that must have been imported initially. There are also domesticated pig bones, with osteological traits indicating some cross breeding with the wild boar population.
Around 3400 BC, megalithic tombs start to be constructed mainly in Western Sweden and Southern Sweden. The practice of dolmen and passage graves is a new phenomenon, spread along the coastal regions of Western Europe, and is not really synonymous with the TRB, although they are quickly assimilated into this existing culture. However, other changes also occur, the pottery changes in both shape and decoration, and new types of battle-axes and tools are manufactured. Overall, there is still a strong continuity in settlements and technologies.
The collective tombs are not distributed across the whole of the original TRB area in Sweden, however. There are a few disparate examples found on Öland, Gotland and in western Östergötland. All in all, they are mostly missing from Eastern Sweden. The distinctive pottery types are also missing from this region. Instead, a type of funnel-beaker with s-shaped profile and rounded base continues to be made. This pottery has decorations that retain some aspects of earlier TRB pottery, but also include 'megalithic' patterns, often with vertical orientation. This type is generally referred to as "Fagervik II". Technologically speaking, it shows no major break with previous tradition. Large round pit impressions are becoming more common on these vessels than they were on the earlier funnel-beakers. They are also occurring only in coastal areas, and no longer in the inland. Slightly later, perhaps around 3300-3200 BC a more distinctly new type of pottery appears, often on the same sites as Fagervik II, but on lower elevations, following the receding shore line as the land continues to rise after the Ice Age. These vessels have marked (carinated) shoulders, conical bodies ending in a rounded/pointed base, mainly horizontal decoration made by incisions or comb stamps, and almost always one or more rows of large pit impressions. Another change is that over time, calcareous temper in the form of lime stone and burnt bones becomes more and more common. This type is known as "Fagervik III".
Whereas Fagervik II occurs mostly in eastern Central Sweden and on Åland, Fagervik III appears on coastal sites as far south as NW Skåne at least. The youngest phase, known as Fagervik IV, is dated to the last centuries of the Middle Neolithic B, c. 2500-2300 BC. This phase is not well known and studied however, and the dating is only an approximation.
SETTLEMENTS & DISTRIBUTION
In the Fagervik II phase at the first part of the Middle Neolithic, the inland sites of the Funnel Beaker culture discontinue. Instead, a new concentration of sites by the coast and inner archipelago can be discerned. These are often situated on the slopes of eskers as these meet the sea, on light sandy soils. There are still some small traces of domesticated economy at these settlements, and many have earlier Funnel Beaker phases on higher elevations in the slopes showing continuity with the preceding culture. Fagervik II sites are found mainly in Eastern Central Sweden, from Bråviken in Östergötland to northern Uppland - areas where Funnel Beaker culture was well established. However, there are also sites found in southern Gästrikland and up the Dala River (Dalälven) to Orsand in Dalarna. There is also an eastern expansion, Fagervik II pottery has been found on the islands of Åland in the Baltic Sea, where previously only Finnish Comb Ware culture is attested.
At the end of the Middle Neolithic A, around 3000 BC, Pitted Ware culture can be found all way down the East Coast of Sweden, from Gästrikland to Skåne, including the large islands of Gotland and Öland. Pitted Ware culture is also the dominating material culture on Åland. On mainland Finland, only a few singular vessels have been found however. Apart from the Alvastra Pile Dwelling close to the eastern shore of Lake Vättern, very few Pitted Ware sites are known away from the coastal area. In the Middle Neolithic B, the coastal orientation of the sites will become even more pronounced, most now situated on islands in the inner and all way out to the outer archipelago.
On Sweden's West Coast, there are also found coastal sites with marine economy dated to this period. These have often been interpreted as Pitted Ware settlements, but they differ in many aspects of material culture. Many archaeologists now feel these should be understood as a separate phenomenon, related to contemporary sites in southern Norway. Others still argue that this is a regional version of the same Pitted Ware community. To confuse matters even more, there are several shore-bound sites along the northern coasts of Jutland and the Danish Isles where pottery similar to pitted-ware has been found in both large and sparse quantities. The distribution of Pitted Ware culture is therefore continuously debated, as some see several different marine hunter-gatherer ethnic groups, and some see a widespread marine hunting society along the coasts and islands of South Scandinavia.
Fagervik IV is only known in Eastern Central Sweden, and mainly on the islands of the outer archipelago. In the other regions, new forms of material culture have mostly replaced Pitted Ware culture by then.
In the Fagervik II phase at the first part of the Middle Neolithic, the inland sites of the Funnel Beaker culture discontinue. Instead, a new concentration of sites by the coast and inner archipelago can be discerned. These are often situated on the slopes of eskers as these meet the sea, on light sandy soils. There are still some small traces of domesticated economy at these settlements, and many have earlier Funnel Beaker phases on higher elevations in the slopes showing continuity with the preceding culture. Fagervik II sites are found mainly in Eastern Central Sweden, from Bråviken in Östergötland to northern Uppland - areas where Funnel Beaker culture was well established. However, there are also sites found in southern Gästrikland and up the Dala River (Dalälven) to Orsand in Dalarna. There is also an eastern expansion, Fagervik II pottery has been found on the islands of Åland in the Baltic Sea, where previously only Finnish Comb Ware culture is attested.
At the end of the Middle Neolithic A, around 3000 BC, Pitted Ware culture can be found all way down the East Coast of Sweden, from Gästrikland to Skåne, including the large islands of Gotland and Öland. Pitted Ware culture is also the dominating material culture on Åland. On mainland Finland, only a few singular vessels have been found however. Apart from the Alvastra Pile Dwelling close to the eastern shore of Lake Vättern, very few Pitted Ware sites are known away from the coastal area. In the Middle Neolithic B, the coastal orientation of the sites will become even more pronounced, most now situated on islands in the inner and all way out to the outer archipelago.
On Sweden's West Coast, there are also found coastal sites with marine economy dated to this period. These have often been interpreted as Pitted Ware settlements, but they differ in many aspects of material culture. Many archaeologists now feel these should be understood as a separate phenomenon, related to contemporary sites in southern Norway. Others still argue that this is a regional version of the same Pitted Ware community. To confuse matters even more, there are several shore-bound sites along the northern coasts of Jutland and the Danish Isles where pottery similar to pitted-ware has been found in both large and sparse quantities. The distribution of Pitted Ware culture is therefore continuously debated, as some see several different marine hunter-gatherer ethnic groups, and some see a widespread marine hunting society along the coasts and islands of South Scandinavia.
Fagervik IV is only known in Eastern Central Sweden, and mainly on the islands of the outer archipelago. In the other regions, new forms of material culture have mostly replaced Pitted Ware culture by then.
MATERIAL CULTURE
The most common type of find on a Pitted Ware site is pottery - well over a hundred kg is not uncommon. Fagervik III-pottery (see above) is the most common type found and is therefore considered 'typical' pitted-ware. The vessels vary in sizes from very small (4-5 cm in rim diameter), to quite large (40-45 cm in rim diameter). The shape however, is fairly standardized: conical body with rounded-pointed base, marked shoulders (carinated) and a straight or slightly oblique neck. Thick rims, either flat or rounded, are common. Charred remains are occasionally preserved on the interior surface, and lipid analyses have shown that vessels are used both for preparing food and storing dry goods or water.
Decoration is usually organized into horizontal patterns, the neck and shoulder areas are almost always decorated at least partly, in zones. On some vessels, the decoration covers most of the body also, especially late in the period. At least one band of large pit impressions spaced around the neck appears on the majority of vessels. Sometimes the line of pits is repeated two or more times over the vessel. Early pitted-ware pottery is usually decorated by incision of short lines, vertical or oblique, or other types of incised elements. Various types of stamp tools are also used. In the northern group of the Pitted Ware culture, comb stamp becomes more and more common over time, and at the end of the Middle Neolithic, on the Fagervik IV pottery, comb stamp is ubiquitous. On these vessels pits have actually become quite rare. In contrast, comb stamp is only sparingly used as an application tool on pitted-ware in the southern group of Småland, Blekinge and Skåne, where incisions continue to be the standard practice.
Another telling difference between pitted-ware in the northern and southern group respectively, is the fact that calcareous temper materials are used with increasing frequency over time in the northern group. This use of lime stone and burnt bones as temper is immediately apparent today in most cases, as the acidic sandy soils have disintegrated most of the calciferous grains out of the sherds, leaving them very porous.
There can be no doubt that the changes appearing in pottery in the Middle Neolithic of Eastern Sweden is influenced by the neighbouring Finnish Comb Ware culture, whose westernmost position is that of the Åland islands. Pitted-ware is not identical to contemporary comb-ware however; there are differences both in shape and decorations. There are other changes in material culture taking place that reinforces this eastern influence found in PWC. A new type of object is now found on Swedish sites: clay and bone figurines. Especially zoomorphic clay figurines, small and often crudely made, are far from uncommon. Anthropomorphic clay and bone figurines have also been found, and all these objects have as their closest parallel the anthro- and zoomorphic art of Comb Ware culture and other Neolithic hunter-gatherer groups found along the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea at this time. A large amount of clay figurines have been found on Jettböle, Åland. It is interesting to note that the sites found on these islands are now typical PWC settlements, not Comb Ware culture.
Pitted Ware culture also display increased influence from Northern hunter-gatherer groups of Sweden. Tools such as adzes and arrows are now often made in slate, a common raw material of these northern groups and only seen as import in the Early Neolithic of Central Sweden. Stone materials such as thick-butted ground stone axes, quartz flakes, and slate arrows occur on PWC dwelling sites, but not in large quantities. Many tools were probably manufactured in bone, as can be seen in regions where calcareous soils have helped the preservation. On Gotland, many harpoons made from bones are found, but also pearls and ornaments of many kinds, made from bones, shells and animal teeth.
The most common type of find on a Pitted Ware site is pottery - well over a hundred kg is not uncommon. Fagervik III-pottery (see above) is the most common type found and is therefore considered 'typical' pitted-ware. The vessels vary in sizes from very small (4-5 cm in rim diameter), to quite large (40-45 cm in rim diameter). The shape however, is fairly standardized: conical body with rounded-pointed base, marked shoulders (carinated) and a straight or slightly oblique neck. Thick rims, either flat or rounded, are common. Charred remains are occasionally preserved on the interior surface, and lipid analyses have shown that vessels are used both for preparing food and storing dry goods or water.
Decoration is usually organized into horizontal patterns, the neck and shoulder areas are almost always decorated at least partly, in zones. On some vessels, the decoration covers most of the body also, especially late in the period. At least one band of large pit impressions spaced around the neck appears on the majority of vessels. Sometimes the line of pits is repeated two or more times over the vessel. Early pitted-ware pottery is usually decorated by incision of short lines, vertical or oblique, or other types of incised elements. Various types of stamp tools are also used. In the northern group of the Pitted Ware culture, comb stamp becomes more and more common over time, and at the end of the Middle Neolithic, on the Fagervik IV pottery, comb stamp is ubiquitous. On these vessels pits have actually become quite rare. In contrast, comb stamp is only sparingly used as an application tool on pitted-ware in the southern group of Småland, Blekinge and Skåne, where incisions continue to be the standard practice.
Another telling difference between pitted-ware in the northern and southern group respectively, is the fact that calcareous temper materials are used with increasing frequency over time in the northern group. This use of lime stone and burnt bones as temper is immediately apparent today in most cases, as the acidic sandy soils have disintegrated most of the calciferous grains out of the sherds, leaving them very porous.
There can be no doubt that the changes appearing in pottery in the Middle Neolithic of Eastern Sweden is influenced by the neighbouring Finnish Comb Ware culture, whose westernmost position is that of the Åland islands. Pitted-ware is not identical to contemporary comb-ware however; there are differences both in shape and decorations. There are other changes in material culture taking place that reinforces this eastern influence found in PWC. A new type of object is now found on Swedish sites: clay and bone figurines. Especially zoomorphic clay figurines, small and often crudely made, are far from uncommon. Anthropomorphic clay and bone figurines have also been found, and all these objects have as their closest parallel the anthro- and zoomorphic art of Comb Ware culture and other Neolithic hunter-gatherer groups found along the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea at this time. A large amount of clay figurines have been found on Jettböle, Åland. It is interesting to note that the sites found on these islands are now typical PWC settlements, not Comb Ware culture.
Pitted Ware culture also display increased influence from Northern hunter-gatherer groups of Sweden. Tools such as adzes and arrows are now often made in slate, a common raw material of these northern groups and only seen as import in the Early Neolithic of Central Sweden. Stone materials such as thick-butted ground stone axes, quartz flakes, and slate arrows occur on PWC dwelling sites, but not in large quantities. Many tools were probably manufactured in bone, as can be seen in regions where calcareous soils have helped the preservation. On Gotland, many harpoons made from bones are found, but also pearls and ornaments of many kinds, made from bones, shells and animal teeth.