Was there ever a Single Grave culture in East Denmark? Traditions and transformations in the 3rd millennium BC

TY - GEN

T1 - Was there ever a Single Grave culture in East Denmark?

T2 - INTERNATIONAL OPEN WORKSHOP 2013

AU - Iversen, Rune

PY - 2016/12

Y1 - 2016/12

N2 - The 3rd millennium BC in South Scandinavia was characterised by a sizable cultural heterogeneity covering differences in the use of material culture, burial practices and subsistence economic strategies. In the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, four archaeologically-defined cultural groups coexisted for at least a couple of hundred years: the late Funnel Beaker culture (TRB), the forager-oriented Pitted Ware culture and the Single Grave and Battle Axe cultures, the last two belonging to the overall Corded Ware complex. As the Funnel Beaker culture ceased, East Denmark entered an insignificant and culturally blurred period usually ascribed to the so-called ‘East Danish Single Grave culture’. However, this paper argues for a renewed and balanced understanding of the cultural conditions in East Denmark and questions the presence of the Single Grave culture in the area. Instead, it is argued that new material elements were obtained and fitted into existing Funnel Beakertraditions forming a heterogeneous cultural expression.

AB - The 3rd millennium BC in South Scandinavia was characterised by a sizable cultural heterogeneity covering differences in the use of material culture, burial practices and subsistence economic strategies. In the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, four archaeologically-defined cultural groups coexisted for at least a couple of hundred years: the late Funnel Beaker culture (TRB), the forager-oriented Pitted Ware culture and the Single Grave and Battle Axe cultures, the last two belonging to the overall Corded Ware complex. As the Funnel Beaker culture ceased, East Denmark entered an insignificant and culturally blurred period usually ascribed to the so-called ‘East Danish Single Grave culture’. However, this paper argues for a renewed and balanced understanding of the cultural conditions in East Denmark and questions the presence of the Single Grave culture in the area. Instead, it is argued that new material elements were obtained and fitted into existing Funnel Beakertraditions forming a heterogeneous cultural expression.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - 3rd millennium BC

KW - Single Grave culture

KW - Corded Ware culture

KW - East Denmark

KW - Funnel Beaker culture

KW - Cultural contacts

KW - Creolisation

M3 - Article in proceedings

SN - 978-3-7749-4061-1

T3 - Universitätsforschungen zur Prähistorischen Archäologie

SP - 159

EP - 170

BT - Transitional Landscapes? The 3rd Millennium BC in Europe

A2 - Furholt, Martin

A2 - Grossmann, Ralph

A2 - Szmyt, Marzena

PB - Dr. Rudolf Habelt

CY - Bonn

Y2 - 15 April 2013 through 19 April 2013

ER -