The South Scandinavian barrows with well-preserved oak-log coffins

Holst, Mads Kähler; Breuning‐Madsen, Henrik; Rasmussen, Marianne

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00052820

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Several renowned archaeological Bronze Age finds have been recovered from the group. It is centrally located at the intersection between two main communication corridors -an east-west corridor provided by the navigable Kongeå and a north-south terrestrial line marked by numerous barrows forming long rows in the landscape (Boye 1896 ;Thrane 1963a;1963b;Holst et al 2001; (Fig. 3).…”

Section: Case Study 1: the Tobøl Barrow Group And Skelhøjmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bronze Age ‘Herostrats’: Ritual, Political, and Domestic Economies in Early Bronze Age Denmark

Holst¹,

Rasmussen

Kristiansen³

et al. 2013

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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In this article we argue that within the Danish Bronze Age there was a short-lived period (roughly 1500–1150 bc) that witnessed a dramatic investment of resources into the construction of monumental architecture in the form of barrows and long houses. These investments had far-reaching long-term effects on the local landscape with negative consequences for agricultural productivity. We use two extraordinary well-documented excavations of a barrow (Skelhøj) and a long house (Legård) as a model for labour organisation and resource allocation, which is calculated against the number of barrows and long houses recorded in the Danish Sites and Monuments database for the period. An astonishing minimum of 50,000 barrows were constructed, devastating an estimated 120,000–150,000 hectares of grassland. During the same time period an estimated 200,000 long houses were constructed and renewed every 30–60 years. In densely settled regions the effects are easily recognisable in pollen diagrams as a near-complete deforestation. Thereby, the productive potential of the economy was, in effect, reduced.The situation was unsustainable in a long-term perspective and, at least on a local scale, it implied the risk of collapse. On the other hand, the exploitation of resources also appears to have entailed a new way of operating in the landscape, which led to a new organisation of the landscape itself and a restructuring of society in the Late Bronze Age. The intense character of these investments in monumental architecture is assumed to rely primarily on ritual and competitive rationales, and it exemplifies how the overall economy may be considered an unstable or contradictory interplay between ritual, political, and domestic rationales.1

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Section: Case Study 1: the Tobøl Barrow Group And Skelhøjmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bronze Age ‘Herostrats’: Ritual, Political, and Domestic Economies in Early Bronze Age Denmark

Holst¹,

Rasmussen

Kristiansen³

et al. 2013

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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“…Bakker 1976;1991;Hinz 1950;1953;Willroth 1986). However, it is only very recently that the significance of Müller's observations has started to become re-acknowledged more broadly, as his explanation for the barrow lines has been reintroduced into the understanding of the societies that constructed the round barrows in this region (Holst et al 2001;Jansen 2006;Johansen et al 2004;Nord 2006;Rudebeck 2001;. The neglect that befell Müller's thesis on the barrow lines has had significant impact on the general understanding of the stone heap graves.…”

Section: Stone Heap Graves and Barrow Linesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Routes and Wheeled Transport in Late 4th–Early 3rd Millennium Funerary Customs of the Jutland Peninsula: Regional Evidence and European Context

Johannsen¹,

Laursen²

2010

Praehistorische Zeitschrift

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Halbinsel Jütland; Europa; spätes 4. und 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.; Grabsitten; Transport auf Rädern; Kommunikationsrouten; Ideologie. Péninsule du Jutland; Europe; fin 4 e -début 3 e millénaire av. J.-C.; rites funéraires; transport sur roues; voies de communication; idéologie. Jutland Peninsula; Europe; Late 4th-Early 3rd Millennium BC; Funerary Customs; Wheeled Transport; Routes of Communication; Ideology. Zahlreiche Indizien belegen die kulturgeschichtliche Bedeutung von Wagen und Zugtieren in weiten Teilen des westlichen Eurasien in einem Zeitraum, der das späte 4. und 3. Jahrtausend vor Christus umfasst. Während beider Kombination im Alltagsleben gut belegt ist, wird nun erst ersichtlich, dass diese technologische Konstellation auch einen erheblichen konzeptionellen Einfluss auf die fraglichen Gemeinschaften ausübte. Einige der Beweise für diese Annahmen basieren auf Bestattungen in Mitteleuropa und der Pontischen Steppe, bei denen die beschriebene Kombination sich als ein herausragendes Vergesellschaftungsmerkmal darstellt. Der vorliegende Beitrag führt eine Gruppe jütländischer Funde in die Diskussion zur Rolle der benannten Elemente in den Bestattungssitten des späten 4. und 3. Jahrtausends ein. Dabei handelt es sich um die sog. "Steinhaufen-Gräber". Diese Bestattungen aus dem nordwestlichen Teil der Halbinsel werden der Periode zwischen 3100 und 2800 v. Chr. zugewiesen. Mit ihrer Hilfe können geistesgeschichtliche und ideologische Tendenzen bezüglich des Transports auf Rädern nachgewiesen werden, die sich vergleichbar auch in den mitteleuropäischen und pontischen Funden spiegeln. Darüber hinaus bespricht der Beitrag die räumliche Situation der Gräber auf vielfältige Weise und hebt sowohl auf lokale als auch regionale Tendenzen ab. Thematisiert wird insbesondere die Ausrichtung der Gräber entlang vermutlicher Kommunikationsrouten, der so genannten "routes of communication". De nombreux éléments témoignent de l'importance idéologique des véhicules à roues et des animaux de trait dans une grande partie de l'Eurasie occidentale vers la fin du 4 e et au 3 e millénaire av. J.-C. L'intégration de cet ensemble technologique dans les activités quotidiennes étant bien identifiée dans certaines régions, il est évident que cette nouvelle pratique a exercé une plus grande influence conceptuelle dans les communautés en question. En témoignent particulièrement des contextes funé-raires de l'Europe centrale et de la steppe pontique où l'usage de véhicules à roues et d'animaux de trait représente un thème important. Cet article introduit un groupe de trouvailles de la péninsule du Jutland (Scandinavie méridionale) dans le débat sur le rôle de ces éléments dans les rites funéraires de la fin du 4 e et du 3 e millénaire. Les dites "tombes à cairn" appartenant à la période de 3100-2800 av. J.-C., et découvertes dans la partie nord-ouest de la péninsule, sont supposées refléter les grandes tendances idéologiques relatives au transport sur roues qui se manifestent à travers les données de l'Europe centrale et de la steppe ponti...

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“…The vast majority of hoards are probably to be interpreted as votive deposits, and they continue a Neolithic tradition in South Scandinavia of sacrificial activity in wetland areas (Koch, 1998). As regards the graves, the EBA of South Scandinavia is renowned for its immense mound building, and especially the extraordinarily well-preserved oak-log coffin graves found in a limited number of barrows with iron pan encapsulated cores (Boye, 1896;Holst et al, 2001). In Denmark alone, more than half of the 86.000 barrows recorded in the national SMR should probably be ascribed to the EBA (www.dkconline.dk).…”

Section: The Early Bronze Agementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the research on prehistoric roads has tended to focus on isolated excavations and constructional details; the overall long-term infrastructure, and association with other features within a larger region, has largely been ignored (Jørgensen, 2001;Th€ orn, 2001Th€ orn, , 2002. Only recently has the phenomenon of barrow lines been reintroduced to the debate, and in the light of M€ ullerÕs road hypothesis and crosscultural studies, it has been suggested that roads, crossroads, and fords may have been significant places for EBA society with respect to social relations, liminality, and cosmology (Holst et al, 2001;Rudebeck, 2001).…”

Section: The Early Bronze Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of social organization in the Early Bronze Age of South Scandinavia

Johansen

Laursen

Holst

2004

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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The South Scandinavian barrows with well-preserved oak-log coffins

Cited by 28 publications

References 6 publications

Bronze Age ‘Herostrats’: Ritual, Political, and Domestic Economies in Early Bronze Age Denmark

Bronze Age ‘Herostrats’: Ritual, Political, and Domestic Economies in Early Bronze Age Denmark

Routes and Wheeled Transport in Late 4th–Early 3rd Millennium Funerary Customs of the Jutland Peninsula: Regional Evidence and European Context

Spatial patterns of social organization in the Early Bronze Age of South Scandinavia

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