Books by Niels H. Andersen
ISBN 978-87-93423-07-7, 2016
Dolmens are some of Denmark´s oldest and most impressive acient monuments. These more than 5000-y... more Dolmens are some of Denmark´s oldest and most impressive acient monuments. These more than 5000-year-old stone structures stand as intriguing testimony of the architectural skill of the Neolithic population.
Based on new research results, a comprehensive account is given of the origins of dolmens, their original appearanse and Development and their function.
ISBN 978-87-88415-90-2, 2014
Stendysser hører til blandt de ældste og mest monumentale oldtidsminder i Danmark. De er over 5.0... more Stendysser hører til blandt de ældste og mest monumentale oldtidsminder i Danmark. De er over 5.000 år gamle og står som fascinerende monumenter over stenalderbefolkningens arkitektoniske formåen. Siden har blandt andet guldaldermalerne gjort stendyssen til et af vores mest yndede nationale symboler.
På grundlag af ny og velunderbygget viden gives der en udførlig redegørelse for dyssernes opståen, deres oprindelige udseende og senere udvikling samt deres funktion.
ISBN87-7288-591-2
Publication of the Funnel Beaker Culture of the Sarup site including two causewayed camps compare... more Publication of the Funnel Beaker Culture of the Sarup site including two causewayed camps compared to the contemporary settlement in the area. Catalogue. 317 pages in Danish.
ISBN 87-7288-591-2
Publication of the Funnel Beaker Culture of the Sarup site including two causewayed camps compare... more Publication of the Funnel Beaker Culture of the Sarup site including two causewayed camps compared to the contemporary settlement in the area. Text. 414 pages in Danish.
ISBN 87-7288-588-2
Dissertation with a description of the Funnel Beaker Culture of the Sarup site including two caus... more Dissertation with a description of the Funnel Beaker Culture of the Sarup site including two causewayed camps compared to the contemporary settlement in the area and other European enclosures. 404 pages in English.
ISBN 87 7288 051 0
Popular description in Danish of the Sarup Enclosures.
Papers by Niels H. Andersen
SKALK , 2022
A review of the two causewayed enclosures on Sarup for a popular science article. Here is a revie... more A review of the two causewayed enclosures on Sarup for a popular science article. Here is a review of Sarup Enclosures' special features and finds, as well as a series of reconstruction drawings of the site.
Kuml
også har vaeret benyttet i denne fase. Ved en af de undersøgte dysser er der fundet keramik fra M... more også har vaeret benyttet i denne fase. Ved en af de undersøgte dysser er der fundet keramik fra MN II og MN V-faserne, hvilket tyder på, at megalitgravene også har vaeret benyttet i disse faser. Den ovennaevnte gennemgang viser, hvorledes man i dag må beskrive og tolke Sarup-anlaeggets forskellige opholdsfaser, deres indhold af oldsager, deres funktion og forhold til omegnens samtidige bebyggelse. Når Sarup pladsen er faerdigudgravet og det sidste materiale er barbejdet og analyse ret, vil man kunne få et mere sikkert og nuanceret billede af et 500-årigt udviklingsforløb på Sydvestfyn for 5000 år siden.
European Journal of Archaeology, 2014
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2021
qronD uFtF nd vrssonD wF nd qr¤ okeD hFF nd endersenD xFrF nd endresenD wFrF nd fehD tFErF nd ren... more qronD uFtF nd vrssonD wF nd qr¤ okeD hFF nd endersenD xFrF nd endresenD wFrF nd fehD tFErF nd renriksenD FF nd riltonD FqF nd tessenD wFhF nd wøllerD xFeF nd xielsenD pFyF nd xielsenD FyF nd ihlD eF nd ørensenD vF nd estphlD tF nd owleyEgonwyD F nd ghurhD wFtF @PHPIA 9erheologil erels s n isotope reord of longEterm soil helth nd nthropogeni mendment in southern ndinviF9D uternry siene reviewsFD PSQ F
Journal of Neolithic Archaeology, Nov 9, 2010
SKALK, 2021
Here is a presentation of 50 years of research of the Neolithic sites in Sarup, where two causewa... more Here is a presentation of 50 years of research of the Neolithic sites in Sarup, where two causewayed enclosures have been excavated. These enclosures date to the time of the Funnel Beaker Culture – the Fuchsberg phase and the Klintebakke phase – in the second half of the 4th millennium f.Kr. In addition to the excavations at Sarup, intensive fieldwalking has been carried out, as many contemporary megalithic tombs and settlements has been excavated. The article is the first in a series of articles about the research on and around Sarup. The article is in Danish, but a translation in English is attached.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013
The spread of farming from western Asia to Europe had profound long-term social and ecological im... more The spread of farming from western Asia to Europe had profound long-term social and ecological impacts, but identification of the specific nature of Neolithic land management practices and the dietary contribution of early crops has been problematic. Here, we present previously undescribed stable isotope determinations of charred cereals and pulses from 13 Neolithic sites across Europe (dating ca . 5900–2400 cal B.C.), which show that early farmers used livestock manure and water management to enhance crop yields. Intensive manuring inextricably linked plant cultivation and animal herding and contributed to the remarkable resilience of these combined practices across diverse climatic zones. Critically, our findings suggest that commonly applied paleodietary interpretations of human and herbivore δ 15 N values have systematically underestimated the contribution of crop-derived protein to early farmer diets.
The Megalithic Architectures of Europe., 2016
Argumentation for to look at the Danish dolmens as megalithic features without an covering mound.... more Argumentation for to look at the Danish dolmens as megalithic features without an covering mound. The ideas has been further descript in the book: Dolmesnsin Denmark. Architecture and Function
Journal of Danish Archaeology, vo. 7, 1988, pp. 93-114, 1988
Description of the first results form the excavation of the Sarupsite
KUML 1980, 1981
One of the first presentation of the excavation on the Sarup site from the funnelbeacker periode ... more One of the first presentation of the excavation on the Sarup site from the funnelbeacker periode with two causewayed enclosures.
KUML 1976, 1977
Presentation af two important pits from the Sarup site, dating to the funnelbeacker periode.
SKALK No. 2, 1975
Early description of the Sarup site from the funnelbeacker period.
TheScientificWorldJournal, Jan 13, 2003
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Books by Niels H. Andersen
Based on new research results, a comprehensive account is given of the origins of dolmens, their original appearanse and Development and their function.
På grundlag af ny og velunderbygget viden gives der en udførlig redegørelse for dyssernes opståen, deres oprindelige udseende og senere udvikling samt deres funktion.
Papers by Niels H. Andersen
Based on new research results, a comprehensive account is given of the origins of dolmens, their original appearanse and Development and their function.
På grundlag af ny og velunderbygget viden gives der en udførlig redegørelse for dyssernes opståen, deres oprindelige udseende og senere udvikling samt deres funktion.
At the Frydenlund Site, remains of two houses were excavated dated to the late Danish Early Neolithic I, around 3.600 BC.
Remains of 3 houses dated to around 3.400 BC - the Fuchsberg Phase - were un-covered at Damsbo, 3 km south of the Sarup Enclosure.
The two excavations with the houses are presented and discussed, along with other contemporary settlements for the same area.
It is suggested that the collective efforts in planning and building enclosures and megalithic features provided the early farmers with a collective point of reference. This was the “glue” which bound them together during the transitional period to a Neolithic way of life. The early farmers must have been organized in a cooperative way without any signs of a hierarchical structure.
Rendering the cleared forest areas cultivable was not a one-man job, but rather an operation requiring the coordinated efforts of many individuals, perhaps in a cooperative system. A cooperative system is best maintained and developed by large gatherings and communal works. The monuments of the Funnel Beaker culture can be seen as constituting an active part of these measures.
However, it is also striking that there are no finds testifying to the existence of a stratified, hierarchical society at the time of these fundamental changes and the construction of these great Neolithic monuments.
Nonetheless, the period has produced some of the finest pottery ever seen, which – together with exquisite flint and stone tools – tells of the communal activities that took place by and within the monuments, as well as contacts spreading across great distances.
During the last 40 years, extensive excavations and studies have been undertaken regarding monuments from the Funnel Beaker culture in the Sarup area of southwest Funen.
The earliest monuments in the Sarup area are Barkaer structures (un-chambered long barrows without a mound) with massive plank built façades and simple plank coffins. These structures were followed by various open dolmen types and then passage graves, which were concealed within earthen mounds.
These monuments are often found grouped in small clusters, to which people – at intervals of several generations – returned to build new monuments and re-used those already standing.
Contemporaneous with the building of dolmens and passage graves, three causewayed enclosures were constructed in the area. These are very well-preserved structures that have provided a wealth of factual information on the construction and use of this type of monument. Of importance is the interpretations of their sediment stratigraphy, which suggest that the system ditches could only have been used for a very short period of time, perhaps only a few hours, after which the system ditches were back-filled.
However, in subsequent centuries, there was again activity on parts of these sites, whereby some system ditches were re-opened, while carefully respecting the earlier structures. Here, we see evidence of handed-down knowledge about – and respect for – the earlier activities.
The re-opening of the system ditches and the construction of new megalithic monuments in association with the existing clusters of megaliths shows that knowledge of these primary structures was retained by people for centuries and thereby constituted a confirmation of their Neolithic identity.
The transition to a settled and sedentary farming lifestyle must also have demanded mental adaptations, whereby the farmers were required to forge new and stable alliances. These alliances appear to be confirmed by a series of communal works, involving monumental structures, with the building of megalithic monuments such as dolmens and passage graves as well as the extensive and land-demanding causewayed enclosures. The causewayed enclosures were essentially used only a few days but were remembered for centuries.
Since the 1970s, excavations have been undertaken in the Sarup area, on the island of Funen, Denmark, to obtain detailed information about the activities that took place there between about 3600 and 3000 BC. This paper presents the results of excavations and studies of two well-preserved causewayed enclosures, the Barkaer-structures (un-chambered longbarrows) and more than 30 megalithic monuments, as well as investigations of several settlements, some with houses. This research has provided an insight into a complex farming culture, which appears to have been firmly consolidated by major communal construction works, whereby teams and networks were created within some form of cooperative structure.
The full article will be published in February 2021.
The first causewayed enclosure to be discovered within the area of the Nordic Funnel Beaker culture was found at the Danish site of Sarup in SW Funen. Here to structures were found dated to 3400 and 3200 BC, corresponding to the times when, respectively, dolmens and passage graves were built in
Denmark.
Detailed and factual studies of the fill layers in the system-ditches, and in the ditches for the wooden palisades/fences, reveal that the primary use of the two sites extended over a very short period, perhaps only a few days or weeks!
The actual processes associated with building and using the enclosures must have constituted an important element in forging the communality that was necessary for a successful transition to a Neolithic way of life as sedentary farmers.
The full text to the article can be published in January 2020.
See further information on:
http://www.archeoaep.fr/?product=les-sites-ceintures-de-la-prehistoire-recente-nouvelles-donnees-nouvelles-approches-nouvelles-hypotheses
Until August 2018 there will only be a limited access to the article. If you have an interest in the article we have permission to make 50 offprints - please contact us.
Until August 2018 there will only be a limited access to the article. If you have an interest in the article I have permission to make 50 offprints - please contact me.
revealing a settlement covering an area of about 1000 m2, together with extensive nds dating from TN
Ic, c. 3600 BC. On the settlement were the remains of one, or possibly two, houses of Mossby type
which had been demolished and covered by two barkaer structures. One (structure A) comprised a large
stone pavement, while the other (structure B) was a post-built enclosure standing in a trench. Both had
a façade trench at their western gable, and in each of these stood three 90 cm wide planks thought to
have extended as much as 7 m above ground level. In the middle of barkaer structure B was a plank-built
cist containing diverse grave goods. e cist had been placed directly over the remains of a house which,
shortly before, must have been demolished and removed. No burial feature was found in barkaer structure
A, but several artefacts suggested some form of similar deposition. The large finds assemblage from
the site is presently under analysis.
Title : The Funnel Beaker culture in Denmark at the end of the fourth millennium before Christ.
Abstract : The introduction of agriculture was a complex and extended process. In Denmark it culminated in the period between 3400 and 3200 B.C, when a thoroughly ritualised society provided the tools that enabled the economic, sociological and psychological change from hunter-gatherer to farmer.
In the period from 3400 to 3200 B.C. great monuments were constructed in Denmark, including about 30000 dolmens, several thousand passage graves and a very large number of causewayed enclosures. Many rituals took place at these monuments ; these involved the manipulation of human corpses, domesticated animals such as oxen,
beautiful and richly decorated pottery vessels, beautiful large flint axes and grain. These materials underwent several transformations prior to being placed in the various type
of monument. At that time, people lived in relatively small houses scattered far from each other, but the many activities at the monuments show that they must have been
organised into larger units. About 3200 B.C., this markedly ritualised life came to an end ; people came together to live in large settlements, there was gentle Development in balance with nature and no more great monuments were built. Some dolmens and passage graves were then re-used for burials over a thousand-year period. Whole bodies were probably interred accompanied by beautiful items such as pottery vessels, axes and flint daggers.
By the excavation a pit form the Maglemose Culture was found and from the Funnel Beaker Culture we found postholes from three houses (A1, A2 and A121), we found traces of three long-dolmens (dolmens framed by an rectangle of kerbstones) (A2, A6 and A121), four single standing dolmens (A3, A5, A32 and A38) and two passage graves (A1 and A30). In addition two simultaneous earth-graves were found (A26 and A117), as well as a pit with materials from the latest part of the Funnel Beaker Culture (A30).
It is of interest to notice the finding of the houses under two long-dolmens and one passage-grave. The post-holes form the houses has been plough over by the ard before the erection of the megalithic structures.
From the excavation 47.814 finds have been registered. A lot of the materials for further analyses have been brought to the museum.
A thorough analyses and description og the site is still missing. It is the plan that it will happen in the years between 2020 and 2025, finalizing with a publication.
Here an area of 3.300 m2 was uncovered with finds from many cultures, i.e. a point of flint form the Bromme Culture, A pit form the Maglemose Culture (A19) and a grave form the late Ertebølle Culture (A21).
From Neolithic time we found traces from two Barkaer-features (A3 and A25), one of which have had a palisade trench to a trapezoid feature – 58 meters long. With an area of 500 m2. In the middle rest of a small megalithic dolmens (A2). A pit with waste materials from the Fuchsberg Culture (A14) had destroyed part of the trench to the palisade.
Of the southern part of the site, remains of a Sarup Enclosures was found, here with fours system-ditches (A20, A33, A50, A51). On the bottom of one of them a very small dolmen was uncovered with fragments of a fine funnel-necked vessel I many fragments. In the upper parts of the ditches re-cuttings with materials from later part of the Funnel Beaker Culture.
About 1200 BC – older Bronze Age - a row of small system-trenches was places on the southern side of the Neolithic ditches. In the trenches fireplaces covered with sand.
Detailed excavations report is availabe at Moesgaard Museum (FHM 4001) and at Odens Bys Museum (OBM 7383)
Kværnsten fra arkæologiske lokaliteter antages tit at have været brugt til formaling af korn. Er det virkeligt altid tilfældet eller kan det også være, at de blev brugt til andre formål? En måde at kigge nærmere på det er at foretage en analyse af fytolitter og stivelse. Dette bidrag præsenterer resultaterne af disse analyser anvendt på kværnstenene fra den neolitiske tragtbægerlokalitet Frydenlund II på Fyn. De nye analyser er muliggjort af Kulturministeriet.
Denmark is known amongst others for its high density of prehistoric grave monuments. On the island of Fyn, some unique Neolithic grave monuments are found, including the Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker site of Frydenlund, 2 km east from the well-known Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Sarup. Excavations at Frydenlund in 2009-2012 revealed two houses covered by specific burial monuments, barkær structures. Directly to the west of these structures, deep ditches were present, revealing the original presence of tall wooden façades next to the burial monuments. This communication presented the results of the 14C-dating, indicating that the site was in use during a very short period only, as well as the results of the charcoal and botanical macroremains analysis from a selection of contexts at Frydenlund. The aim of the botanical analyses was to get an understanding of the extra-local vegetation, plant use at the site, and site-function. What kind of wood was used for the façades, and can the macroremains analysis provide information about the type of activities that took place at the site?
Denmark is known amongst others for its high density of prehistoric grave monuments. On the island of Fyn, some unique Neolithic grave monuments are found, including the Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker site of Frydenlund, 2 km east from the well-known Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Sarup. Excavations at Frydenlund in 2009-2012 revealed two houses covered by specific burial monuments, barkær structures. Directly to the west of these structures, deep ditches were present, revealing the original presence of tall wooden façades next to the burial monuments. This communication presented the results of the 14C-dating, indicating that the site was in use during a very short period only, as well as the results of the charcoal and botanical macroremains analysis from a selection of contexts at Frydenlund. The aim of the botanical analyses was to get an understanding of the extra-local vegetation, plant use at the site, and site-function. What kind of wood was used for the façades, and can the macroremains analysis provide information about the type of activities that took place at the site?
Despite the large number of sites, knowledge about wood exploitation at sites of the Funnel Beaker Culture is remarkably scarce (though see e.g. Jansen and Nelle 2014) and studies from settlement sites are even more rare. This contribution aims to partially fill this gap by focussing on woodland exploitation at the early Funnel Beaker site of Frydenlund (Early Neolithic, c. 3600 BCE), located on the island of Fyn in Denmark. The analyses are part of a project that is supported by the Danish Ministry of Culture.
The site of Frydenlund revealed two two-aisled houses that were in use during a first activity phase at the site, covered by two burial monuments that date to a second phase. 14C-dates and Bayesian modelling based on field observations indicate that the site was in use for a remarkably short period only. The grave monuments, representing Denmark’s oldest monuments, consisted of stone platforms on top of the houses, a palisade around one of the houses, and tall facades build of wooden planks west to both monuments (Andersen 2015). Systematic sampling of c. 1300 samples allowed for the analysis of carbonized macroremains and charcoal from domestic and monumental contexts to investigate plant exploitation, including the use of wood. Did people simply use those woody taxa that were available, or did they use specific taxa for particular purposes? Is it possible to say which taxa were used for the monumental structures?
In Northern Europe, the Funnel Beaker culture marks the start of the Neolithic. Relevant archaeological sites are often characterized by the presence of megalithic monuments, pottery, and domesticated plants and animals. Carbonized macrobotanical remains indicate the exploitation of both cultivated and collected plants. Little, however, is known about food preparation or the relative importance of wild and domestic plants. This contribution aims to shed more light on these issues by means of starch and phytolith analysis of the grinding stones from the Early Neolithic site of Frydenlund in Denmark.
Understanding the neolithisation process in northern Europe requires detailed knowledge of both the type of crop plants as well as gathered food plants from Neolithic Funnel Beaker sites (4000–2800 BCE). However, although many sites from this culture are known, significant gaps remain in our knowledge on which taxa were used as well as on how plant food was prepared. Here, we present the results of combined plant macro- and microremains from the Early Neolithic site of Frydenlund in present-day Denmark. The macroremains include carbonised seeds, fruits and underground storage organs from a variety of contexts. The microremains are phytoliths and starch granules recovered from fourteen grinding stones that are among the oldest from Denmark as well as the first from this region analysed using state-of-the-art methods. The data are discussed in the context of an updated overview of crop spectra, evidence of gathered plants and of plant food preparation techniques at Funnel Beaker sites in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. The results from the Early Neolithic site of Frydenlund show that the macroremains assemblage was dominated by Triticum turgidum ssp. durum (durum wheat), T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum (emmer wheat) and Hordeum vulgare var. nudum (naked barley), which apart from durum wheat fits the observed pattern from other Funnel Beaker sites in northwestern Europe. These crops were presumably cultivated separately as summer crops. Corylus avellana (hazel), Rubus fruticosus (blackberry) and R. idaeus (raspberry) were probably consumed as well, and possibly R. caesius (dewberry). While cereals were abundant in the macroremains assemblage, the microremains from the grinding stones indicate that these were used for grinding solely wild plants. The carbonised cereal grain fragments are therefore interpreted as possible evidence of cereal consumption mainly in the form of porridge or gruel, which corresponds well to comparable finds at other contemporary northwestern European sites. Future analysis of comparable high-quality data on combined macro- and microremains analysis is necessary to further refine our understanding of plant diets and plant food preparation techniques of the Funnel Beaker Culture as well as during the neolithisation process.