Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Lost and Found: Houses in the Neolithic of Southern Scandinavia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Tracking the Neolithic House in Europe

Part of the book series: One World Archaeology ((WORLDARCH))

Abstract

As long as settlement studies involved, digging trenches on sites with a well-preserved occupation layer, almost no houses were identified. Once topsoil stripping with excavators commenced, post-built longhouses started to be found on a large scale. More than a hundred houses of the Early Neolithic and early Middle Neolithic have been identified, the earliest with somewhat rounded long sides and rounded gable ends. Later on, the long sides become straight and the houses larger. It is difficult to find any similarities between the architecture of the houses and the contemporaneous monuments. Houses from the middle part of the Middle Neolithic are few in number and difficult to recognize. This is in contrast to the large number of Late Neolithic houses, most of which are larger and occur not only as single farms, but also in clusters. New ideas of building technique are brought from continental Europe. The large houses indicate a shift in the hierarchization of society.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Andersen, N. H. 1997. The Sarup enclosures. Sarup vol. 1. Jutland archaeological society publication XXXIII:1. Århus: Aarhus Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, M. 2004. Making place in the landscape. Lund: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Apel, J. 2001. Daggers, knowledge & power. the social aspects of flint-dagger technology in Scandinavia 2350–1500 cal BC. Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artursson, M. 2005. Byggnadstradition och bebyggelsestruktur under senneolitikum och bronsålder. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artursson, M. 2009. Bebyggelse och samhällsstruktur. Södra och mellersta Skandinavien under senneolitikum och bronsålder 2300–500 f. Kr. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artursson, M. 2010. Settlement Structure and Organisation. In Organizing Bronze Age Societies. The Mediterranean, Central Europe, and Scandinavia Compared, eds. T. Earle and K. Kristiansen, 87–121. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artursson, M. and T. Björk. 2007. Vætland—ett vattenrike. Tankar kring en bronsåldersbygd 2300–500 f.Kr. In Vägar till Vætland. En Bronsåldersbygd i Nordöstra Skåne 2300–500 f.Kr., ed. M. Artursson, 295–359. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artursson, M., T. Linderoth, M.-L. Nilsson and M. Svensson. 2003. Byggnadskultur i södra och mellersta Skandinavien. In I det neolitiska rummet, ed. M. Svensson, 40–171. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Artursson, M., P. Karsten and B. Strömberg. 2005. Aspekter på samhällsutveckling. In Bronsåldersbygd. 2300–500 f.Kr., eds. P. Lagerås and B. Strömberg, 496–547. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Björhem, N. and U. Säfvestad. 1989. Fosie IV. Byggnadstradition och bosättningsmönster under senneolitikum. Malmö: Malmö Museer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Björhem, N. and B. Magnusson Staaf. 2006. Öresundsförbindelsen och arkeologin. Långhuslandskapet. En studie av bebyggelse och samhälle från stenålder till järnålder. Malmö: Malmö Kulturmiljö.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R. 1998. The significance of monuments. On the shaping of human experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brink, K. 2009a. I palissadernas tid. Om stolphål och skärvor och sociala relationer under yngre mellanneolitikum. Malmö: Malmö Museer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brink, K. 2009b. Gårdarna på Almhov—senneolitikum och äldre bronsålder kring Hyllie mosse. In Tematisk rapportering från Citytunnelprojektet, eds. C. Hadevik and M. Steineke, 157–214. Malmö: Malmö Museer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buus Eriksen, L. 1992. Ornehus på Stevns—en tidligneolitisk hustomt. Aarbøger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie 1991:7–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson, T. 2008. Where the river bends under the boughs of trees. Strandvägen—a Late Mesolithic settlement in eastern middle Sweden. Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series Altera in 8°, No 55. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebbesen, K. 2011. Danmarks megalitgrave 1:1–2. Kobenhavn: Attika Fortidsminderegistrering i Danmark. København: Fredningsstyrelsen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebbesen, K. 2006. The Battle Axe period—Stridsøksetid. København: Forfatterforlaget Attika.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edenmo, R. 2008. Prestigeekonomi under yngre stenålder. Gåvoutbyten och regionala identiteter i den svenska båtyxkulturen. Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furholt, M. 2003. Die absolutchronologische Datierung der Schnurkeramik in Mitteleuropa und Südskandinavien. Bonn: R. Habelt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gidlöf, K., K. Hammarstrand Dehman and T. Johansson. 2006. Citytunnelprojektet. Almhov—delområde 1. Rapport över arkeologisk slutundersökning. Malmö: Malmö Kulturmiljö.

    Google Scholar 

  • Göthberg, H., O. Kyhlberg and A. Vinberg, eds. 1995. Hus & gård i det förurbana samhället. Rapport från ett sektorsforskningsprojekt vid Riksantikvarieämbetet. Riksantikvarieämbetet. Arkeologiska undersökningar Skrifter 13–14. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gröhn, A. 2004. Positioning the Bronze Age in social theory and research context. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadevik, C. 2009. Trattbägarkulturen I Malmöområdet—en sammanställning med focus på byggnader, graver och rituella griopar. In Tematisk rapportering från Citytunnelprojektet, eds. C. Hadevik and M. Steineke, 13–91. Malmö: Malmö Museer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallgren, F. 2008. Identitet i praktiken. Lokala, regionala och överregionala sociala sammanhang inom nordlig trattbägarkultur. Coast to Coast Book 17. Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hübner, E. 2005. Jungneolithische Gräber auf der Jütischen Halbinsel. Typologische und chronologische Studien zur Einzelgrabkultur. København: Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karsten, P. and B. Knarrström. 2003. The Tågerup excavations. Skånska spar—arkeologi längs Västkustbanan. Lund: National Heritage Board, Archaeological Excavation Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristiansen, K. 2006. Cosmology, economy and long-term change in the Bronze Age of northern Europe. In Ecology and economy in Stone Age and Bronze Age Scania, ed. K.-G. Sjögren, 170–193. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, L. 1985. Of house and hearth. The excavation, interpretation and reconstruction of a Late Mesolithic house. In Honorem Evert Baudou. Archaeology and Environment 4:197–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, L. 1992a. Settlement and environment during the Middle Neolithic and Late Neolithic. In The archaeology of the cultural landscape. Field work and research in a south Swedish rural region, eds. L. Larsson, J. Callmer and B. Stjernquist, 91–159. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, M. 1992b. The Early and Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture in the Ystad area (southern Scania). Economic and social change, 3100–2300 BC. In The archaeology of the cultural landscape. Field work and research in a south Swedish rural region, eds. L. Larsson, J. Callmer and B. Stjernquist, 17–90. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, M. 1995. Förhistoriska och tidigmedeltida hus i södra Sverige. In Hus & gård i det förurbana samhället. Rapport från ett sektorsforskningsprojekt vid Riksantikvarieämbetet. Riksantikvarieämbetet. Arkeologiska undersökningar Skrifter 13–14, eds. H. Göthberg and O. Kyhlberg, 23–109. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, L. 2002. Långhögar i samhällsperspektiv. In Monumentala gravformer i det äldsta bondesamhället. Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Report Series No. 83, ed. L. Larsson, 147–171. Lund: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, L. 2007. Mistrust traditions, consider innovations? The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia. In Going over: the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in north-west Europe, eds. A. Whittle and V. Cummings, 595–616. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, Å. M. 2008. Taking out the trash. On excavating settlements in general, and houses of the Battle Axe culture in particular. Current Swedish Archaeology 15/16:111–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, Å. M. 2009. Breaking & making bodies and pots. Material and ritual practices in Sweden in the third millennium BC. Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lekberg, P. 2002. Yxors liv. Människors landskap. En studie av kulturlandskap och samhälle i Mellansveriges senneolitikum. Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liversage, D. 1992. Barkær. Long barrows and settlements. Arkæologiske Studier IX. København: Akademisk forlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen, T. and H. J. Jensen. 1984. Settlement and land use in Neolithic Denmark. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia XV:63–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malmer, M. P. 1962. Jungneolithische Studien. Lund: CWK Gleerups förlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malmer, M. P. 2002. The Neolithic of south Sweden. TRB, GRK and STR. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, P. O. 1999. Limensgård and Grødbygård. Settlements with house remains from the Early, Middle and Late Neolithic on Bornholm. In Settlement and landscape. Proceedings of a conference in Århus, Denmark. May 4–7, 1998, eds. C. Fabech and J. Ringtved, 149–165. Aarhus: Aarhus Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, P. O. and F. O. Nielsen. 1985. Middle and Late Neolithic Houses at Limensgård, Bornholm. A preliminary Report. Journal of Danish Archaeology 4:101–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson, B. and E. Rudebeck. 2010. Arkeologiska världar. In Arkeologiska och förhistoriska världar. Fält, erfarenheter och stenåldersplatser i sydvästra Skåne, eds. B. Nilsson and E. Rudebeck, 11–82. Malmö: Malmö Museer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordquist, P. 2001. Hierarkiseringsprocesser. Om konstruktionen av social ojämlikhet i Skåne, 5500–1100 f.Kr. Umeå: Arkeologiska institutionen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rønne, P. 1979. Høj over høj. Skalk 1979 (5): 3–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudebeck, E. 2002a. Likt och olikt i de sydskandinaviska långhögarna. In Monumentala gravformer i det äldsta bondesamhället. Department of archaeology and ancient history, Report series No. 83, ed. L. Larsson, 119–146. Lund: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudebeck, E. 2002b. Vägen som rituell arena. In Plats och Praxis. Studier av nordisk förkristen ritual, eds. K. Jennbert, A. Andrén and C. Raudvere, 167–200. Lund: Nordic Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarauw, T. 2006. Bejsebakken. Late Neolithic houses and settlement structure. Copenhagen: Narayana Press, Gylling.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarauw, T. 2007. On the outskirts of the European Bell Beaker phenomenon—the Danish case. http://www.jungsteinSITE.de/. Accessed 13 Nov 2007.

  • Sarnäs, P. 2008. Fullåkerslandskapet. Matjord, metod, diskussion, reflektion. Malmö: Malmö Kulturmiljö.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skaarup, J. 1975. Stengade. Ein langeländischer Wohnplatz mit Hausresten aus der frühneolitischen Zeit. Rudkœbing: Langelans Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Svensson, M. 2004. The second Neolithic concept. In Stone Age Scania, eds. M. Andersson, P. Karsten, B. Knarrström and M. Svensson, 191–248. Lund: Riksantikvarieämbetet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandkilde, H. 1996. From stone to bronze. The metalwork of the late neolithic and earliest bronze age in Denmark. Aarhus: Aarhus Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandkilde, H. 2005. A review of the early Late Neolithic period in Denmark: practice, identity and connectivity. http://www.jungsteinSITE.de/. Accessed 10 June 2006.

  • Welinder, S. 1998. Neoliticum-Bronsålder, 3900–500 f.Kr. In Jordbrukets första femtusen år 4000 f.Kr.–1000 e.Kr, ed. J. Myrdal, 11–236. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur/LTs förlag.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Lund, Box 117, 22100, Lund, Sweden

    Lars Larsson

  2. Sydsvensk Arkeologi AB, Box 134, 29122, Kristianstad, Sweden

    Kristian Brink

Authors
  1. Lars Larsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kristian Brink
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lars Larsson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of History, Archaeology,, Cardiff University, Colum Road, Cardiff, CF10 3EU, United Kingdom

    Daniela Hofmann

  2. , School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, United Kingdom

    Jessica Smyth

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Larsson, L., Brink, K. (2013). Lost and Found: Houses in the Neolithic of Southern Scandinavia. In: Hofmann, D., Smyth, J. (eds) Tracking the Neolithic House in Europe. One World Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5289-8_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation