Neolithic farming practice : an archaeological response to the GöranssonhypothesisKristiansen, KristianFornvännen 247-251http://kulturarvsdata.se/raa/fornvannen/html/1993_247Ingår i: samla.raa.se

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hypotesen vågar jag ställa - ett troget klientel av arbetare på äng och åker, vid fiskevatten, som utgjorde samhällenas anonyma flertal och som i vördnad inför de gudaborna vapenbärarna utförde det dagliga livets tunga sysslor. Att ingjuta respekt och tillgivenhet hos dessa var religionens uppgift. Religionen var sålunda ett sammanhållande element i samhällsbyggnaden.

Men vi behöver inträngande studier av relationerna; habitation-kultplats-gravplats-ekonomirevir, i själva verket en bronsålders­samhällenas byggnadsplan eller rättare gene­ralplan, innan vi förmår lösa de problem, seim mina funderingar rör sig kring. Mycket fältarbete återstår - men ett fältarbete med klara frågeställningar. För hanterandet av dessa frågeställningar skulle också behövas fastare samarbete med hällristningsforskare i Sydeuropa, inte minst de franska och italiens­ka, än vad sammanträffanden vid symposier kan erbjuda.

Referenser Almgren, B. 1962. Den osynliga gudomen. Proxima

Thuk, hyllningsskrift till H. M. Konungen. Slockholm, s. 53-71.

Berlilsson, U. 1987. The Rock Crinrings of Northern Bohuslän. Spatial Structures and Social Symbols. Stockholm.

Boyer, R. 1991. Le symbolisme des petroglyphes de 1'age du bronze scandinave. Le Mont Bego. Tende, Alpes-Maritimes. Symposiehandlingar bd 2, s. 586-602.

Görman, M. 1987. Nordiskt och keltiskt. Syd-skandinavisk religion under yngre bronsålde-r och keltisk järnålder. Lund.

Kjellén, E. 8c Hyenstrand, Å. 1976. Upplands häll­ristningar. UFT 49.

Malmer, M. P. 1981. A Chorological Study of North European Rock Art. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar. Antikvaris­ka ser. 32. Stockholm.

- 1989 a Hällristningar och hällmålningar i Sverige. - 1989 b North-European Bronze Age Rock Art.

Nordström, H. A. 8c Knape, A. (eds.), Bronze Age Studies. The Museum of National Antiquities. Stockholm. Studies 6,

Nordbladh, |. 1980. Glypher och rum. Kring hällrist­ningar i Kville. Göteborg.

Sognnes, K. 1983. Bergkunsten i Stjordal. Helle-ristningar og busetning. Trondheim. Gunneria 45. Univers. Trondheim, Vitcnskapsmuseet.

Li I i Kaelas

Prästgårdsgatan 68 412 71 Göteborg

Neolithie Farming Practice—An Archaeological Response to the Göransson Hypothesis

Rapid devdopments in palaeobotanical work över the last two decades have created a new platform for understanding prehistoric farm­ing practice. Basically this is due to a signifi­cant rise in the number of modem C14-dated diagrams, the sophistication of analytical methods, each diagram induding more and more specific information, and an increasing understanding of the interplay between re­gional, local and on site vegetational changes (Andersen 1992; Behre 1981 and 1986; Birks et al. 1988: part 2). This development, howev­er, has also raised a number of new problems, questioning traditional kneiwledge. It has be-

conie increasingly clear how difficult it is tei establish general patterns of development (Groenman-van Waateringe 1988), to delimit cattle husbandry from agriculture (Berglund 1985), or even defme the relationship be­tween cultural and natural processes of vege­tational change as reflected in the pollen rec­ord. Hans Göransson in particular has pro-moted a number of interesting new hypoth­eses about Neolithie farming practice (Göransson 1982 and 1988 o) which run counter to traditional interpretation. This has stimulated research (e.g. Bjerck 1988), which is most welcome. The problem is, however,

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that these new interpretatiems largely ignore the archaeology of the period, which in some important aspects may modify eir even lälsilv some of them (0stmo 1988; Jennbert 1993). The second problem is that Göransson has increasingly come to consider his own the­ories as established knowledge, rather than a.s working hypotheses. In a recent ar t ide (Göransson 1988 A) this led him to reject the traditional understanding of Neolithie farm­ing practice, as originally proposed by Iversen (1941), as a myth.

In order to keep the debate open, I shall briefly discuss the basic elements in the Göransson hypothesis (1982, 1988«, and es­pecially 1988/i) from an archaeological (anel South Scandinavian) point of view, although I shall allow myself also to comment briefly upon the palaeobotany (see review by Ander­sen 1989).

Göransson hypothesis is simple and elegant. It presumes

- that Neolithie Man practiced some farming before the Elm decline

— that this will only be sporadically recog-nized in pollen diagrams due to the forest cover

- that the Elin Decline was basically a natural phenomon which suddenly opened up the cover and not emly allowed pollen evidence of the existing farming practice to spread, but also stimulated further expansion of farming

— that the gradual closing of the förest visible in many Neolithie diagrams consequently did not reflect a decline in farming activi­ties, but rather the closing of the pollen spread in combination with an intensilied exploitation of the forest into a developed len est farming practice.

The basic philosphy is that Man was respond-ing to Nature during the Neolithie rather than the reverse. The natural lifiing of the feirest cover around 4000 B.c. allow us to catch a glimpse of what was really happening, and soon afterwards the curtain was drawn again. Only frenn the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age onwards did Man open the landscape sufficiently to allow for pollen dispersion and

a more straightfcirward explanation of the hu­man impact on nature in the pollen record.

1. Pre-Neolithic farming. There is virtually nothing in the archaeeilogical record of Southern Seandinavia to support such an hy-pol hesis. No domestie animals, no traces of grain. A few late Fatebolie settlement sites (by some considered mixed settlement sites) may, if accepted, suggest import and use of grain frenn neighbouring tribes south eif the Baltic as reflected in grain impressions on pottery (Jennberg 1984, discussion in Journal of Dan­ish Archaeology Vols. 4 and 5). But the evi­dence is ainbiguous and not yet supported by finds from other sites. Moreover the indica­tions from pollen diagrams are still scanty, and most likely due to other factors, as lungas they are not supported by more evidence. This is not to deny that late Ertebölle society could have manipulated the forest for hunting purposes.

2. The Elm Decline was due In natural causes (elm decea.se/climate). I shall not go into the pollen botanical discussiem, but only point out that Early Neeilithic sites are often found upon low King slopes and tciiaces dose to lakes and streams, as well as on higher ground. Only laler did higher lands come into full cultivation, and even låter marginal lands. This pattern is recurrent in Northern Europé (Sherratt 1981; Kruk 1982; Madsen and J u d Jensen 1982). A.s the lower slopes and terraces were its typical hahilat, il comes a.s no sin prise-that elm is always dedining in Early Neolithie pollen diagrams, in various combinations with other species, mostly lime (tilia), from high ground. To this could be added that "Elm Dedines" are also found in earlier diagrams Ironi the Linear Band Culture of Central Eu­ropé during the 5th millennium B.C. where they are linked to agricultural expansion (Ka­lis and Meurers-Balke 1988; Kalis and Zim-mermann 1988).

Another critical feature of the Elm Decline is its apparent synchrcinous occurrence över most of Europé between 4000-3800 B.C, sug-gesting a natural cause. Such rapid spread of new cultural and economic practices, how­ever, are not unusual in prehistory. One need only to refer to the Corded Ware/Battle Axe

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Culture (Kristiansen 1989), or the Tumuli and Urnfield Cultures of the Bronze Age, which expanded with similar speed and with signifi­cant consequences in pollen diagrams. I am not denying the possibility that d m decrease may have been a feature of Early Neolithie agricultural expansion; thus in Switzerland leaf-foddering was practiced at this time, but with elm as a weak component (Rasmussen 1989 pp. 64 ff). However, the picture is com­plex and cannot be reduced to a single factor or cause, hiological or cultural, bul rather to an interaction (Starkel 1992).

3. The Landnam is a myth, since it reflected small scale förest farming, neiw suddenly rec-Ognized, while at the same time expanding in the natural eipenings of the ftirest created by the Elm Decline. The forest remained the ba­sic resource, and Neolithie Man consequently welcomed the recovery of the forest and adapted successfully to it. Recent pollen analyses from dolmens and passage graves, however, basically confirm Iversen's percep-tion of slash and buin practice (in opposition to Rowley-Conwy 1981). They also confirm the existence of pastures, as well as the inlen-tional maintenance of a secondary ftirest or liush vegetatiem which corresponds to region­al diagrams (birch in the Early Neolithie, hazel from the Middle Neolithie onwards, with sec-ondary förests predominating (Andersen 1988 and 1993)).

Massive archaeological evidence further proves that clearances and cutting of förest for farming and grazing took plate- from lhe-Late Early Neeilithic onwards. Long efficient flint axes were preiduced and distributed throughout somhern Seandinavia in their hundred tbousands, as is evident from Ma­thiassen^ regional studies (Mathiassen 1948 and 1957), as well a.s låter suiTeys. Field sur­veys also show that broken, used and shai-pened axes are regularly found ovcr large-areas of today's farming land, ihreiwn away in Neolithie fields and clearings after use. Tö this we may add the recurrence of plough marks under many megaliths, proving the existence of fields and the maintenance eif an open landscape in the settled areas (Thrane 1989).

4. The recovery of the förest in many areas during the Late Middle Neeilithic (the late 4th and the early 3rd millennium B.C.) reflected more efficient exploitation of the forest rath­er than crisis and settlement contraction. This hypothesis I consider the most interesting anel probable. But modifications are needed here too.

Settlement agglomeratiein did take place in many regions, as proved by regional field sur­veys (Kristiansen 1988 pp. 74 and 68). It is a general feature that during the period eif the passage graves .settlements became larger, re-Ilecting the unificalion of former smaller dwelling sites. It can alsei be demonstrated that settlements became more permanent. The frequency of new foundations, i.e. the shilling of settlements, decreased throughout the fourth millennium, as dememstrated in some detail at Langdand by Skaarup (1985).

So although there may be some truth in Göransson's propeisal, settlement concentra­tion and movement, certainly contributed to förest recovery, as in NW Zealand and in Southern Scania, where inland settlemcnis moved towards the coast. This established a pattern of coast/inland dualism which appar­ently remained a characteristic feature up to the present day in several areas—the coastal region being densely settled, dominated by open land, while the interiör remained rather more sparsdy populated with a higher pro­portion of förest.

So perhaps we should ahandon both the crisis hypothesis—although it may still be valid for some regions—and the forest farming hy­pothesis, as ihe principal explanations, and rather seek to combine them in a pattern eif regional variation and interaction emerging from the late fourth millennium onwards. It is beyond doubt thal already from the third mil­lennium onwards large regions were heavily deftirested, and remained so, while there was ftirest recovery in others, which would serve as a reservoir for settlement expansion from the more densely exploited regions. Yet else­where there appeared changes between heav­ily and less heavily cxpleiited regions, forming long term cvdes of settlement expansion anel regression. The nature of such local and re-

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g ional i n t e r ac t ion h o l d s a g rea t p r o m i s e for

f u tu r e r e s e a r c h (Kris t iansen 1982) as demein-

s t r a t ed in t h e Ystad p ro jec t (Be rg lund 1 9 9 1 ,

ch . 5 a n d 6).

I p r o p o s e t h e n tha t t he ma jo r c o m p o n e n t s

in t he G ö r a n s s o n h y p o t h e s e s , a l t h o u g h highly

insp i r ing , d o n o t s t å n d u p agains t t h e a r c h a e ­

ological ev idence . I n s t e a d they t e n d to sup ­

po r t Ive r sen ' s or ig inal h y p o t h e s e s , as m o d i ­

fied by the r e c e n t r e s e a r c h r e f e r r e d to above .

W h a t is n e e d e d , t h e r e f o r e , is a d o s e r t h e o r e t i ­

cal a n d m e t h o d o l o g i c a l i n t e g r a t i o n o f a r c h a e ­

ological a n d pa l aeobo t an i ca l work in a l ong

t e r m pe r spec t ive , as excel lent ly d e m o n s t r a t e d

in t he Ystad p ro jec t (Be rg lund 1991) .

References

Andersen, S. T. 1988. Pollen Speclra from the Dou­ble Passage Grave Klekkendioj on Men. Evi­dence of Swidden Cultivation in lhe Neoliihic of Denmark. Journal of Danish Archaeology, Vol. 7, pp. 70-77.

— 1989. Review of H. Göransson: Neolithie Man and the Forest Environment around Alvastra Pile Dwelling. Journal of Danish Archaeology, Vol. 8, pp. 227-228.

— 1992. Pollen proxy data for human impact on vegetation, based on methodological experi­ences. In Frenzd, B. (ed.) pp. 1-13.

— 1993. Early and middle Neeilithic agriculture in Denmark: pollen spectra from soils in burial mounds of the Funnel Beaker Culture. Journal of F.uropean Archaeology, Vol. 1, No. 1.

Behre, K.-E. (ed.) 1986. Anthropogenic Indicators in Pollen Diagrams. A.A; Balkema, Rotterdam. Bos­ton.

— 1981. The Interpretation of Anthropogenic In­dicators in Pollen Diagrams. Pollen et Spores, Vol. XXIII, No. 2, pp. 225-245.

Berglund, B. 1985. Early Agricullure in Seandina­via: Research Problems related lo Pollen-analyti­cal Studies. Norw. Arch. Rev. Vol. 18, Nos. 1-2, pp. 77-105.

— 1991. The cultural tandscape during 6000 years iu southern Sweden—the Ystad Project. Ecological Bul­letins 4 1 .

Birks, H., Birks, J. B., Kaland, P. E. & Moe, D. (eds.) 1988. The Cultural Landscape. Past, Present and Future. Cambridge LIniversity Press.

Boslwick Bjerck, L. G. 1988. Rc-moddeling lhe Neo­lithie in Southern Norway: Another Altack on a Traditional Problem. Norw. Arch. Rev. Vol. 21 , No. 1. P.

Frenzd, B. (ed.) 1992. Evaluation of land surfaces cleared from förests hy prehistoric man in Early Ncn-lilhu times and Ihe time of migrnting C.ermiiiiu

tribes. Paläoklimaforschung, Vol. 8. Special Is­sue: EFS Project "European Palaeoclimale and Man" 3. European Science Foundation, Stras­bourg. Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Lit. Mainz. Fischer Verlag. Stuttgart.

Göransson, H. 1982. The utilization of the förests in Northwest Europé during the Early and Middle Neolithie. PACT 7. Strasbourg, pp. 207-221 .

— 1988 a. Neolithie Man and the Förest Environment around Alvastra Pile Dwelling. Theses and Papers in North-European Archaeology 20. Lund Uni­versity Press.

— 1988o. Comments on Remodelling the Neolithie in Southern Norway. On Pollen Analytical Myths. Norw. Arch. Rev. 21 , No. 1, pp. 33-37.

Groenman-van Waateringe, W. 1988. New trends in palynoarchaeology in northwest Europé or the frantic search for local pollen data. In Webb, R. E. (ed.): Recent Developments in Environmental Analysis in Old and New World Archaeology. BAR Int. Series 416. Oxford, pp. 1-19.

— 1983. The early agricultural utilization of lhe Irish landscape: the last word on the d m de­cline? In Reeves-Smyth, T. and Hamond, F: (eds.): Landscape Archaeology in Ireland. BAR British Series 116. Oxford, pp. 217-232.

Iversen, J. 1941. Landnam i Danmarks Stenålder. En Pollenanalytisk Undersegelse över det ferste landbrugs indvirkning pä Vcgetationsudvikling-en/Land Occupation in Denmark's Stone Age. A Pollen Analytical Study of the Influence of Farmers Culture on lhe Vegetational Develop­ment. Danmarks Geologiske Undersegelse II. Raekke, Nr. 66. Reitzds Förlag. Köbenhavn.

Jennbert , K. 1984. Den produktiva gåvan. Tradition och innovation i Sydskandinavien lör omkring 5 300 är sedan (summary). A d a Arch. Lundensia 4 /10 .

— 1992. Evaluation of human impact on vegetation and the determination of areas cleared from forests in Southern Seandinavia during Late Mesolithic and Neolithie Times. In Frenzd, B. (ed.)

Kalis, A. J. & Meurers-Balke, J. 1988. Wirkungen neolithischer Wirtschaftsweisen in Pollendia­grammen. Archäologische Informationen 11, Heft 1. pp. 39 -53 .

Kalis, A. J. 8c Zimmermann, A. 1988. An inlegralive model for the use of different landscapes in l.inearbandkeramik times. In Binlliff, J . 1... Da­vidson, D. A. 8c Grant, E. G. (eds.) Conceptual Issues in Environmental Archaeology. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 145-152.

Krisliansen, K. 1982. The Formation of Tribal Sys­tems in Låter European Prehistory: Northern Europé, 4000-500 B.C. In Renfrew, C , Row­lands, M. and Segraves, B. Abbott (eds,): Fheory and Explanation in Archaeology.

— 1988. De aeldste bygder; Landet äbnes. In Bjern, C. (ed.) Det danske landbrugs historie I.

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Oldtid og Midddalder. (Oldtid ved L. Hedeager og K. Kristiansen. pp. 1 1-202.)

— 1989. Prehistoric Migrations—lhe Case of the Single Grave Culture and the Corded Ware Cul­tures, Journal of Danish Archaeology. Vol. 8. pp. 211-225.

Kruk, K. 1980. The Neolithie Settlement of Southern Poland. BAR Int. Ser. 93. Oxford.

Madsen, T. &Juel Jensen, H. 1982. Settlement and land use in Early Neolithie Denmark. Aiuileelu Praehistorica Leidensia XV.

Mathiassen, T. 1948. Studier över Vestjyllands Old-lidshebyggel.se. Kebenhavn.

— 1959. Studier över Nordvestsjcellaiids Oldlidsheliyg-gel.se. Kebenhavn.

Rasmussen, P, 1989. I.eaf-foddering of Livestock in the Neolithie: Archaeoboianieal Evidence from Weier, Switzerland. Journal of Danish Archaeolo­gy. Vol. 9, pp. 51-71.

Rouicy-Conwy, P. 1981. Slash and burn in lhe Tem­perate European Neolithie. In Mercer, R. (ed.): Farming Practice in British Prehistory. Edinburgh.

Sherratt, A. 1981. Plough and pasloralism; aspects of the secondai-y proelucls revolution. Pattern of the Past. Studies in Honour of David Clarke. Cambridge University Press.

Skaarup, J. 1985. Yngre stenålder på 0eme syd for Fyn. I .angelands Museum. Rudköbing.

Siarkel, L. 1992. The feedback mechanisms be­tween lhe environmental systems and the behav-iour of prehisloric man. In Frenzd, B. (ed.) pp. 13-37.

Thrane, H. 1989. Danish Plough-Marks from lhe Neolithie and Bronze Age. Journal of Danish Ar­chaeology, Vol. 8. pp. 111-125.

0stmo, E. 1988. Comments on Rcmoddeling the Neolithie in Southern Norway. Norw. Arch. Rev. Vol. 21, No. 1.

Kristian Kristiansen Skov- og Naturstyrdsen

Haraldsgade 53 DK-2100 Köbenhavn 0

O

Bebyggelseutveckling i Spånga oeh på Åland

Anita Bitiws avhandling Norra Spånga. Be­byggelse och samhälle under järnåldern (recense­rad av Bo Petré i Fornvännen 88, 1993), väckte mitt intresse bl.a. därför att den diskuterade de historiska bygränsernas ålder och kontinu­itet med förhistorisk tid. Detta var ett pro­blem som jag behandlade i min egen avhand­ling om bebyggelseutvecklingen på Äland från 500-tal till ca 1550 (Roeck Hansen 1991) och jag hade länge velat pröva resultaten från Äland mot ett centralsvenskt material. Här erbjöds nu ett sådant från ett lagom stort område där kronologi och bebyggelsestruk­tur var kända genom omfattande arkeologis­ka undersökningar. Detta intresse fick mig alltså att ganska grundligt gå igenom den bebyggelsehistoriska analysen i Biuws avhand­ling.

Binw refererar fö . till arkeologiska under­sökningar på Äland (Kivikoski 1963) som ett Stöd för sin hypotes om flera samtidiga går­dar inom samma bebyggelseenhet under järnålder. Men tolkningen av Kivikoskis redo­görelse är inte helt korrekt. Kivikoski säger visserligen att det troligen (på Äland) har

funnits flera samtida gårdar inom samma enhet eftersom det är vanligt att byarna har flera gravfält från yngre järnålder. Men det betyder inte att de därmed är samtida elie-r-som alla åländska (icke utgrävda) höggravfält generellt dateras till yngre järnålder. Inle i något fall har man där undersökt liera grav­fält i samma by så saken är än så länge hypo­tetisk. Däremot förefaller Kivikoskis antagan­de- troligt utifrån mina egna undersökningar av den åländska yngre järnåldersbebyggelsen, dvs. att gravfälten kan representera flera sam­tida enheter.

Jag har tidigare publicerat en recension av Biuws avhandling i liebyggelsehislorisk Tidskrift nr 24 men jag skulle här vilja utveckla några av recensionens synpunkter när det gälle-i bygränscrna på ett mer konkret sätt eftersom jag anser att Biuws slutsatser om gränserna i området inte är helt berättigade medan å andra sidan materialet som står till buds kan ge underlag för en del andra slutsatser.

I läradskartan är den yngsta kartan med bevarade bygränser över undersökningsområ­det och dessa gränser används genomgående

17t-935224 Fornvännen 88(1993)