ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA最新文献

The article proposes that unfree labour was an integral part of Bronze Age society. The presence of the unfree (thralls or even slaves) in prehistoric societies has rarely been discussed and never in the light of archaeological evidence. The article is based on empirical material from 333 fully excavated house remains from 120 sites in the Viborg area in northwest Jutland, Denmark. Based on the reconstructed size of these longhouses, the location of fireplaces, entrances and the subdivision of space, it is suggested that farmsteads, in general, had two, often clearly separated habitation units. In the Early Bronze Age, a longhouse was usually subdivided into two parts, and during the Late Bronze Age, this subdivision manifested in the construction of two longhouses. After a thorough analysis of the archaeological record, it is suggested that the owner of the land had occupied one habitation unit, while the other was reserved for the unfree.

We investigate methods which may have been found appropriate for predicting lunar eclipses in northern Europe, where naked-eye astronomy has to be adapted to conditions, which are different from those found at lower latitudes and in places with less cloud cover. The ecliptic is lower in the sky, and transient phenomena cannot reliably be observed under these astronomical viewing conditions. We consider those techniques, which only require the use of objects made of wood, stone and soil, which use no written records, and which require no understanding of celestial mechanics. We show that it should have been possible to answer the question ‘Is there going to be a lunar eclipse, either tonight or tomorrow night?’ with surprising accuracy. We include an analysis of the nature of some of the artefacts, which may have been helpful in doing so.

A simple method to predict lunar eclipses proposed in this article uses the position of the full moon relative to the sun. Calculations show that the method works better during the summer period in Scandinavia simply because the night is shorter and therefore the moon is closer to the exact time of the lunar eclipse when the moon rises as the sun is setting. When the conditions are right, the moon reflects the red colour of the setting sun. The two celestial bodies look within a short time as similar objects, like twins or ‘Twin Sun’ (TS). This article aims to demonstrate that TS is a useful method to predict lunar eclipses during the summer period at Northern latitudes. It will be discussed that TS as a lunar eclipse predictor could partly explain the alignment of some megalithic monuments in Denmark constructed from c. 3300-3100 BC. Finally, it is suggested that TS could be an explanation behind the doubleness reflected in the construction of the Danish passage graves. Some archaeological finds seemingly also render the TS phenomenon.

Well-preserved plant remains found in clay bodies of Early Neolithic pottery of Southeastern Europe have been largely understudied. The characteristics and provenance of this ‘organic temper’ remain mostly unknown, making interpretations obscure. Based on a range of research methods, this article explores the macro and micro plant remains within the pottery clays, considering such aspects as the use of domesticated versus wild plants and actual functional temper versus organic inclusions as background noise. This innovative approach is applied to explore three different Early Neolithic Balkan sites, demonstrating the importance in distinguishing between (a) deliberate addition of selected temper as a technological prerequisite; (b) sporadic occurrence of plant parts in (domestic) areas where pottery was made, (c) natural characteristics of the local clays containing organics and used as raw materials, and (d) plant use pointing towards more specific pottery-making techniques. Possible misinterpretations and pitfalls are discussed in using the applied integrated methodology, thus revealing crucial details on the variability of the technological approaches applied during the Early Neolithic of Southeastern Europe.

Between 2800 and 2400 cal BC pastoralists from Central Europe migrated into the eastern Baltic paving the way for the Corded Ware Culture (CWC), and a new type of economy, animal husbandry. Traditionally the CWC people were viewed as highly mobile due to the lack of substantial traces of dwellings and material culture at settlement sites; they were reliant on an economy based on animal husbandry as demonstrated by zooarchaeological and stable isotopic evidence. However, this paradigm is beginning to shift. Here, we present new AMS radiocarbon (¹⁴C) measurements, pollen and macrobotanical data from sediment samples and a portable fish screen, as well as technological, molecular and isotopic data obtained from ceramic vessels from three CWC sites in the eastern Baltic. Overall, our results indicate a de-Neolithisation process undergone by some CWC groups, particularly in lacustrine and coastal ecotones, and a shift to hunting, gathering and fishing.

This study examines two urnfields, their development, burial rituals, grave goods and the cremated remains in a renewed analysis of the Danish Urnfield Tradition. The osteological investigation reveals a very high proportion of children´s graves in these communal burial sites. Individual expression and demonstration of status are muted in burial rituals adhering to strict norms, although differences between age categories show through variations in the size of a burial monument. The use of CT scans and a detailed analysis of all artefacts provide evidence of the ritualized breaking of urns and the retrieval of bones from graves. Such retrieval of bones together with the layout and development of urnfields demonstrate the importance placed on the ancestors in the Early Pre-Roman Iron Age. The inconspicuous burials, together with the incorporation of all age categories, suggest that the focus of these burial communities is on a relational rather than individual identity.

Occasionally, it becomes possible to re-excavate and reanalyse prehistoric monuments. Within the geographical area managed by Vesthimmerlands Museum, this happened in the case of the Late Neolithic Stenildgård grave on the western periphery of the town of Aars, Northern Danmark. The grave was excavated for the first time at the early 1930s and re-excavated in 2015 in connection with the construction of a ring road around the southern parts of Aars. In 2015, a series of state-of-the-art scientific analyses were conducted in relation to this grave.

Following a detailed presentation of the original publication and later interpretations, this article presents the results of the new excavation and scientific analyses. The new results include identifi cation of the human bones, the development of the stratigraphy, strontium isotope analysis, pollen analysis, macro-fossil analysis, and the analysis of pitch.

Since the 1930s, the Stenildgård grave has been considered a burial, which, to a great extent, deviated from usual practice showing one of the earliest examples of cremation in prehistoric Denmark. Furthermore, the recent investigation revealed that the grave was equipped with a surrounding wooden structure and possibly influenced by West European Bell Beaker Cultures. Also, the grave seems to form part of an extensive Late Neolithic burial and settlement system, where complex rituals were carried out.