Seeking the first farmers in western Sjælland, Denmark : the archaeology of the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe

This volume summarizes 30 years of fieldwork in Denmark, some of the evidence for the spread of agriculture and the Neolithic into Scandinavia and some opinions about the origins of agriculture. It is intended to be both academic and personal and to describe the actual process of research, because most projects involve elements of both. There is an introduction to each chapter that relates some of the more personal aspects of the research and the bulk of each chapter will be a more technical scientific report on our investigations. Each chapter will deal with one of the components of the project - survey, testing and excavations. We excavated eight sites from the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic that are discussed in this volume. The concluding chapter summarizes our research in the area and proffers opinions on a variety of archaeological subjects, with visits to climate change, seasonality and sedentism, hunter-gatherer complexity, aDNA, inequality and the origins and spread of agriculture. Table of Contents Preface 1. An Introduction – Setting the Table 2. Field Survey 3. Site Testing 4. Smakkerup Huse 5. Trustrup 6. Dragsholm and Bøgebjerg 7. Fårevejle 8. Asnæs Havnemark 9. Conclusions References

This volume summarizes 30 years of fieldwork in Denmark, some of the evidence for the spread of agriculture and the Neolithic into Scandinavia and some opinions about the origins of agriculture. It is intended to be both academic and personal and to describe the actual process of research, because most projects involve elements of both. There is an introduction to each chapter that relates some of the more personal aspects of the research and the bulk of each chapter will be a more technical scientific report on our investigations. Each chapter will deal with one of the components of the project - survey, testing and excavations. We excavated eight sites from the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic that are discussed in this volume. The concluding chapter summarizes our research in the area and proffers opinions on a variety of archaeological subjects, with visits to climate change, seasonality and sedentism, hunter-gatherer complexity, aDNA, inequality and the origins and spread of agriculture.

Cover Contents List of figures Foreword At the end of the road Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Setting the table – an introduction Chapter 2 Archaeological survey Chapter 3 Site testing Chapter 4 Smakkerup Huse Chapter 5 Excavations at Trustrup Chapter 6 Dragsholm and Bøgebjerg Chapter 7 Fårevejle Kro Chapter 8 Asnæs Havnemark Chapter 9 Conclusions Bibliography This volume summarizes 30 years of fieldwork in Denmark, some of the evidence for the spread of agriculture and the Neolithic into Scandinavia and some opinions about the origins of agriculture. It is intended to be both academic and personal and to describe the actual process of research, because most projects involve elements of both. Each chapter will deal with one of the components of the project - survey, testing and excavations. Eight sites were excavated from the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic and these are discussed in this volume. The concluding chapter summarizes research in the area and proffers opinions on a variety of archaeological subjects, with visits to climate change, seasonality and sedentism, hunter-gatherer complexity, aDNA, inequality and the origins and spread of agriculture A personal account chronicling over 30 years of excavation and survey projects investigating the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Denmark and demonstrating the process of research.