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Oxford Handbooks Online Mortuary Practices, Bodies and Persons in Northern Europe Oxford Handbooks Online Mortuary Practices, Bodies and Persons in Northern Europe Karl-Göran Sjögren The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe (Forthcoming) Edited by Chris Fowler, Jan Harding, and Daniela Hofmann Subject: Archaeology, Archaeology of Europe, Prehistoric Archaeology Online Publication Date: May DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199545841.013.017 2014 Abstract and Keywords This chapter provides a brief overview of practices involving human remains during the period c. 4000–2200 BC in northern Europe, with an emphasis on Denmark and southern Sweden. Finds of human bones come from a number of different contexts, such as monumental and earthen graves, mortuary houses, bog finds, causewayed camps, and settlements. Some of these remains may be the product of specific stages in extended mortuary processes, while others probably result from different kinds of practices. The interpretation of megalithic tombs as ossuaries is reviewed critically, and an alternative interpretation, primary burial with subsequent handling of selected bones, is preferred. Recent evidence from eastern Sweden, indicating more complex mortuary practices than usually envisaged for the middle Neolithic in this area, is discussed briefly. This includes the practice of cremation, indications of secondary burial, and the discovery of probable mortuary houses. Keywords: Denmark, Sweden, Neolithic, mortuary practices, megalithic tombs, cremations, mortuary houses Introduction This chapter provides a brief overview of practices involving human remains during the period c. 4000–2200 BC in northern Europe, with an emphasis on southern Scandinavia, that is, Denmark and southern Sweden. There are two main reasons for this limited focus. First, most of northern Europe is made up of primary, crystalline rocks, such as granites or gneisses, where preservation of unburnt human bone is generally poor. Only in limited regions do sedimentary rocks like limestone, chalk, and slate occur. The most important of these areas are the Baltic islands of Öland and Gotland, parts of Skåne in southern Sweden, and the inland area of Falbygden in western Sweden. In these areas, preservation is generally good. The recognition in recent years of cremation as a common form of burial also opens up new possibilities. Second, archaeological activity has been uneven, so that knowledge about the treatment of human remains is mostly concentrated in Denmark, where preservation is variable but generally less favourable than the limestone regions, and the southern parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Finds of human bones come from a number of different contexts, such as monumental and earthen graves, mortuary houses, bog finds, causewayed camps, and settlements. Some of these remains may be the product of specific stages in extended mortuary processes, while others probably result from different kinds of practices. The interpretation of megalithic tombs as ossuaries is reviewed critically, and an alternative interpretation, primary burial with subsequent handling of selected bones, is preferred. Recent evidence from eastern Sweden, indicating more complex mortuary practices than usually envisaged for the middle Neolithic in this area, is discussed briefly. This includes the practice of cremation, indications of secondary burial, and the discovery of probable mortuary houses. In comparison to some other European regions, representations of the human body are a rare occurrence in the Page 1 of 13 PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2014. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: Gothenburg University Library; date: 06 November 2014 Mortuary Practices, Bodies and Persons in Northern Europe Neolithic of southern Scandinavia. Most of the pottery decoration is abstract, geometric, and non-representational. For the Funnel Beaker cultural complex (TRB), only some pots from megalithic tombs showing human faces in a rather sketchy form can be mentioned. Figurines of clay, bone, or stone occur mainly on Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) settlements, often showing animals such as bears, seals, etc., but in a few cases showing simple human forms (Wyszomirska 1984). Rock art from the area is mainly from the Bronze Age, although some of the cup marks often found on the roof blocks of megaliths may be Neolithic. Rock art from the Stone Age does indeed often show humans, but has so far only been found in more northerly parts of Scandinavia, and in a very different cultural and economic context. Since these sources are rather uninformative, representative art is not discussed further here. The Neolithic of Scandinavia is divided into the early (4000–3300 BC), middle (3300–2200 BC) and late Neolithic (2200–1800 BC) periods. The early Neolithic is further divided into the EN I (4000–3500) and EN II (3500–3300) periods, and the middle Neolithic into MN A (3300–2800) and MN B (2800–2200). The beginning of the Neolithic is defined by the introduction of domesticated species and of the Funnel Beaker (TRB) cultural complex. At the same time, or possibly a little bit later, we find the first indications of monument construction in the form of long barrows. Towards the end of the EN, the first megalithic chambers were built, in the form of small dolmens, but the majority of dolmens and passage graves were erected in a short period in the beginning of the MN A. At more or less the same time, a new cultural complex started to evolve in eastern Sweden, the PWC. In contrast to the TRB, people belonging to this complex seem mainly to have subsisted on hunting and fishing, at least in this eastern area. During the MN, the PWC gradually spread over Scandinavia and replaced the TRB in Sweden, and is even found in parts of Denmark. The MN B is marked by the end of the TRB in Denmark and south Sweden, and the occurrence of the Single Grave culture in Denmark and the Battle Axe culture (BAC) in Sweden. These were contemporary with the PWC in many regions, leading to a complicated situation which is not very well understood. The interpretations of these complexes have varied widely. Common suggestions view them as different ethnic groups with differing economic specializations, or as immigrant populations. Explanations where they are seen as expressing different aspects of one and the same society have also been proposed. The issues are further complicated by dating problems and by regionally varying developments. Contexts for Human Bones It is important to realize that human remains are found in a number of different contexts, some of which may be characterized as ‘mortuary’, while others are perhaps of a different character. It is at present a matter of debate to what extent these contexts represent different stages in a sequence of mortuary rituals or different practices altogether. Briefly, we may distinguish between monumental tombs (long barrows and megalithic tombs), flat earth graves, mortuary houses, Sarup-type enclosures, wetland depositions, and settlement finds. Barrows Long barrows, elongated monuments constructed of earth and timber but without a primary stone chamber, are now recognized as the earliest form of monumental construction in a wide area from western Poland to northern France and England, and are also found in southern Scandinavia. More than seventy long barrows are known from Denmark and between five and seven from southern Sweden (Rudebeck 2002). This is certainly only a small fraction of the original number of monuments. Dating of these monuments ranges over most of the early Neolithic, c. 4000–3300 cal BC. In a number of cases, long barrows display complex series of alterations and embellishments, often ending with the addition of one or more stone chambers, thus converting them to long dolmens. In a few cases, EN burials have also been found under round barrows (Ebbesen 1994). Human remains are not very well preserved in long barrows, but in a few cases something may be said about the treatment of dead people. Commonly, one or two graves are found along the axis of the barrow, usually containing single graves but in some cases with up to four individuals. This was the case with the famous barrow at Bygholm Nørremark on Jutland, where a primary burial was found within a small oval house, interpreted as mortuary building. Only dental enamel was preserved, but this proved to be from a teenager, between 16 and 18 years old. Later, the barrow was enlarged and another grave, containing four individuals, was placed further west (Jensen 2001). Another situation is found at Skipshøj, where a timber chamber at the eastern end, with the remains of five skeletons, was found (Jørgensen 1977). The bodies were laid out side by side on their backs in an orderly fashion, Page 2 of 13 PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2014. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: Gothenburg University Library; date: 06 November 2014 Mortuary Practices, Bodies and Persons in Northern Europe most likely buried within a very short time, after which the construction had been burned. The bodies were those of an adult, between 20 and 30 years old, and four children of various ages. On the chest of the adult, a single jaw from a sixth individual had been placed. Megalithic tombs Three main types are usually distinguished: dolmens, passage graves, and gallery graves. Dolmens and passage graves were built in a rather short period c. 3300–3000 BC, that is, the transition between the early and the middle Neolithic periods, in the cultural setting of the Funnel Beaker culture (Persson and Sjögren 1996; 2001; Sjögren 2003).
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