Introduction

The Mesolithic period in northern Europe ended around 4000 BC as ideas, practices, and artifacts of the first farming communities heralded the onset of the Neolithic. Within a period of little more than two thousand years, from approximately 5400 to 3300 BC, it is possible to examine one of the major transitions in human prehistory in some detail in this area.

Several factors make this possible. The excellent preservation afforded by the many bogs and marine deposits of southern Scandinavia has made the organic part of that past accessible. Because of a long history of archaeological research in Scandinavia, the time and space parameters of early hunting and farming cultures are well known. The transition to agriculture has been a subject of interest and debate in Scandinavia for nearly 150 years, essentially since the distinction between the Older (Palaeolithic and Mesolithic) and the Younger (Neolithic) Stone Age was made. This debate continues. There are several books and articles on the subject in addition to the materials cited in the following pages. There is an important volume, Introduksjonen av jordbruk i Norden [The Introduction of Agriculture into Scandinavia], edited by Thorleif Sjøvold in 1982, with a series of studies from northern Europe. Several books on the Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture in this area have appeared recently (Hoika 1994, Jankowska 1990, Midgley 1993). There is a series of debate articles concerning the transition that have appeared in both the Journal of Danish Archaeology (vols. 4 and 5) and the Norwegian Archaeological Review (esp. vol. 18, 1–2).