The Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture in south-west Jutland. An analysis of the pottery

Abstract

The Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture in South-West Jutland. An analysis of the pottery

The settlement chronology for Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture in Denmark is, due to the weak definitions, encumbered with uncertainties as to the determination of single finds and the evaluation of the significance of regional and functional differences. The present article attempts to establish a pottery sequence for a limited area and to compare this with the settlement chronology, in order to investigate the chronological and regional relations between the two sequences. The area selected is SW Jutland and the pottery employed is found at the megalithic graves of the area (fig. 1 and appendix A).

CLASSIFICATION OF THE POTTERY

By means of vessel proportions, the vessels are classified morphologically into main groups and vessel forms following the same procedure as has been used in an analysis of pottery from the latest Roman Iron Age (5). Definitions of vessel forms are given in appendix B and a survey of forms in fig. 2.

The ornamentation is classified with reference to pattern and technique. The elements chosen for the seriations are given in fig. 3. An attempt has been made to select independent elements of frequent occurrence which seem to have been in use for a short period only.

Relative pottery chronology

The relative pottery chronology has been constructed by means of occurrence seriation (10). Only carinated vessels, pedestalled bowls, funnel beakers with strongly curved belly and open bowls with vertical ribbon ornamentation are treated, since none of the other vessel forms are represented by a sufficient material or contain a sufficient number of ornamentation elements to justify employment of the method.

Funnel-necked bowls with strongly curved belly, and bi- and trisegmented shouldered vessels, are arranged according to the results of the seriations, since these forms are not sufficiently represented. The clay ladles, which contain only few elements of ornament, are arranged in the same way. A number of vessel forms entirely without ornament or with very few elements of ornamentation are dated through finds from other areas.

Fig. 4-7 present the completed seriations (14). The seriated vessel forms are classified into groups according to the grouping of ornamentation elements. The groups are as far as possible defined by the occurrence of new elements. The group classification is further supported by a matrix analysis, an example of which is shown in fig. 8. The group descriptions for the seriated vessel forms are given in fig. 9-17.

Evaluation of the seriations

Seriation (fig. 4-7) permits the vessels to be arranged in a sequence according to conformity in the distribution of ornamentation elements. Several parallel sequences support each other by the seriation of each vessel form, and the accidental distribution of a few elements cannot disturb the general picture.

Disturbances due to geographical differences and the Dobbler effect are avoided by using pottery from a limited area. Morphologically determined differences are avoided by seriating each vessel form separately.

The groupings in the seriations might also reflect contemporary styles determined by functional differences or connected to different ethnical groups. Contemporary styles would, however, appear as clumpings rather than the linear orderings found in the seriations.

The seriations therefore suggest that it is reasonable to regard the vessel sequence as chronological. This is further supported by the morphological changes in the vessels and by finds from other areas that are also used for dating the oldest and youngest part of the sequence.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE PHASES

The seriated vessel forms have been classified into three groups with a homogeneous ornamentation and related to the vessel forms that are arranged according to the seriations. The three ornamentation groups are considered as phases in a relative chronology for south-west Jutland.

Phase 1

comprises carinated vessels, pedestalled bowls, funnel beakers with strongly curved belly, bowls with vertical ribbon patterns, funnel-necked bowls with strongly curved belly and clay ladles of group 1 - 44 vessels and 11 ladies. The patterns fig. 3. 1, 2, 12, 31-34, 41-42, 45 and 49 are the most characteristic and the techniques fig. 3. 53-55.

Phase 2

includes carinated vessels, pedestalled bowls, funnel beakers with strongly curved belly, bowls with vertical ribbon patterns, funnel-necked bowls with strongly curved belly and clay ladles of group 2, in addition to group 1 of bi- and tri-segmented shouldered vessels and one bi-conical vessel with convex upper part -69 vessels and 5 clay ladles. Six of these vessel forms also occur in phase 1 and five are present in phase 3. The most characteristic patterns are fig. 3. 5-11, 14-15, 17-18, 25-30, 36-39, 43-46 and 51 and the technique fig. 3. 57 is dominant.

Phase 3

comprises carinated bowls, funnel-necked bowls with strongly curved belly and bowls with vertical ribbon patterns of group 3, and group 2 of bi- and tri-segmented shouldered vessels and one bi-conical bowl -17 vessels. The patterns are almost the same in all vessel forms (fig. 3. 10-11, 18-20, 43-44, 46-47) and are generally executed with a dentate tool (fig. 3, 66).

A comparison with Early Neolithic shows that phase 1 is the oldest part of the sequence, having funnel beakers and whipped cord ornamentation in common, while the characteristics of phase 3 do not occur in the Early eolithic.

Morphological alterations of the seriated vessel forms

The vessel forms generally develop from very pronounced profiles, often with sharp-angled junctions, to less segmented forms without marked transitions, where the shoulder is reduced to a narrow ledge or has disappeared. This development is inter alia illustrated by the carinated vessels, where the breadth of the shoulder is reduced from 2.8 cm to 1.9 cm on average during the three phases. Simultaneously the belly angle increases from 116° to 121 ° on average. The vessel forms are gradually altered during the three phases: some disappear and others replace them (fig. 21).

The seriations are based only on ornamentation and the sequence of the vessels is established independently of alterations in vessel form. The regular alterations of vessel form therefore support the view that the three phases do not represent contemporary styles of ornament, but follow a chronological sequence.

Chronological comparison with other areas

The phase 1 pottery in SW Jutland has several vessel forms (fig. 2, 2-5) in common with the Fuchsberg phase, besides the common use of whipped cord and some rim patterns (17). The vertical ribbon ornamentation on the bowls and the shape and ornamentation of their lugs are found in pottery from Klintebakken (MN Ib), like the allover ornamentation of horizontal lines executed with a curved stamp (18). There is also a general similarity to the pottery from the mortuary house at Herrup (19). Phase 1 seems to correspond to a period following the Fuchsberg phase and covering a part of MN Ib.

The phase 2 pottery comprises both MN Ib elements (fig. 3. 32i.a.) and elements characteristic of the Blandbjerg pottery (MN II) (fig. 3. 14-16, 37, 39, 43, 46) (22). In addition, the phase 2 pottery exhibits a general similarity to the pottery from the mortuary house at Tustrup (21). Phase 2 should be assigned to the latest part of MN Ib and the beginning of MN II.

Phase 3 corresponds to the early Ferslev style as seen on some of the vessels from the Ferslev II find and the passage grave at jordhøj. Phase 3 is dated to the latest part of MN II (24, 25).

The three phases do not correspond to the periods of the settlement chronology. This is due to the different basis for the two sequences. The phases of the chronology for SW Jutland are the result of a classification based on seriations and are stylistically homogeneous. The periods of the settlement chronology are determined by the contents of pottery at live settlements and are dependent on the duration of these settlements. The periods of the settlement chronology may therefore comprise stylistically heterogeneous pottery.

It is, however, possible to support the chronology for SW Jutland by comparisons with the sealed finds in the mortuary houses and the stratigraphical sequence at Sarup (20, 21, 25). A further indication of the chronological frame for the three phases is the C-14 datings from Sarup. The Fuchsberg phase is here dated to 2630 ± 100 BC, the early MN II-layer to 2520 ± 100 BC and the layer from late MN II/MN III to 2390 ± 105 BC (26).

Among the unseriated vessel forms the funnel beakers with a flat curved belly and the clay discs are dated to MN I-II (27, 28). The trisegmented vessels with a conical neck (fig. 2, 21-22) and the double conical vessels with straight upper part (fig. 2, 7) should be assigned to MN II-IV (29). The bowls with inverted rim are found throughout the Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture (31). The remaining seven vessels are of the St. Valby type, which is dated to MN V (appendix A No. 6, 8, 9, 14-15).

A REGIONAL COMPARISON WITH POTTERY FROM OTHER AREAS

In phase 1 the pottery in the remaining parts of south Jutland, Slesvig and Funen is characterized by the same elements as the pottery from SW Jutland, whereas whipped cord and funnel beakers with ornamented neck are less common on the rest of the Danish islands and the distribution of the vessel forms is different (fig. 21) (33). In northern Jutland the pottery differs in its technique (fig. 3, 55-57 is dominant) and some patterns (35) from the pottery from south-west Jutland. The bowl fig. 2:14 is the most common of the ribbon­ornamented bowls in northern Jutland, whereas the bowls fig. 2, 5, 15 are characteristic of southern Jutland, Funen and Langeland.

In phase 1 a south-west Danish group with pottery generally like the pottery from SW Jutland can be defined. The geographical distribution of the phase 1 pottery corresponds partly to the distribution of the Fuchsberg pottery. This indicates, together with the many similarities in the pottery, that the south-west Danish group in phase 1 is a continuation of a local pottery tradition in this area (36). The broad curved shoulder on some of the carinated vessels and their vertical shoulder banding in whipped cord, often combined with vertical ribbons (fig. 3, 41-42), indicates a relation to the Funnel Beaker culture in north-west Germany and Holland (43).

In phase 2 only pottery from the rest of southern Jutland and Slesvig corresponds to the pottery from SW Jutland, whereas Funen is more related to the remaining Danish islands. The pottery from here has only little in common with the pottery from SW Jutland, inter alia the stab-and-drag technique is more widespread here and the distribution of the vessel forms is different (fig. 21) (37). Funnel-necked bowls with strongly curved belly hardly occur. The pottery from northern Jutland exhibits more similarities in phase 2 than in phase 1, the distribution and the morphological development of the vessel forms being the same, like the ornamentation on some of the pedestalled bowls (39).

In phase 3 the pottery from south-west Jutland corresponds to the pottery from northern Jutland in Ferslev style as regards both vessel form and ornamentation. The St. Valby pottery also exhibits no distinctive marks.

During the three phases the south-west Danish group exhibits more similarities to the pottery from northern Jutland and less to the Danish islands. At the same time the geographical distribution and number of distinctive elements of this south-west Danish group is reduced; in phase 3 it has disappeared.

SOME SPECIAL TYPES OF PEDESTALLED BOWLS

A pedestalled bowl with a very low, cylindrical pedestal is found at Fjersted (fig. 25) (48). Only two other bowls of this type are known from Denmark (55). The closest parallels to these vessels are the steep-walled bowls from the Funnel Beaker culture in north west Germany and Holland. The oldest of these have the highest pedestal and the greatest likeness to the pedestalled bowl from Fjersted, with which they are also contemporary (phase 2 and H. Knöll Stufe 1/2 or Drouwen C (58)). The German and Dutch bowls, however, have vertical ribbon ornamentation, whereas the pedestalled bowl from Fjersted is ornamented like the other pedestalled bowls of Nordic type, and the vessel is probably a local product.

Two pedestalled bowls with probably no stem but with 4 to 6 ribbon-shaped handles as the only connection between the under and upper part, come from Skovbølling (4) and Hesselmed (45) (fig. 24. a, b). Apart from these, two other pedestalled bowls definitely without a stem come from Engedal (52) and Vibjerg (fig. 24. c, d). The vessel from Skovbølling has been connected with a pedestalled bowl with stem from megalithic grave D19 near Drouwen (50, 51), but the pedestalled bowls from Engedal and Vibjerg taken into consideration, the closest parallels to this type of pedestalled bowl seems to be the pedestalled bowls from the classical Baden phase (59). These also lack a stem, but the proportions of the under part and the number of handles are different from the Danish vessels. The ornamentation of the stemless Danish pedestalled bowls indicates that they are locally made.

Similar connections to the classical Baden phase are reflected by the pedestalled bowls with solid stem (61), that with one exception (62) are found in southern Jutland, Slesvig and north-west Germany (63).

ASPECTS OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE MEGALITHIC GRAVES

The distribution of the pottery from the megalithic graves (fig. 23) shows that the largest amount is placed at the graves in the first phase of use. Skibhøj is an exception, but the few vessels dated to phase 1 may represent an 'old-fashioned' part of a group of vessels placed at the grave in phase 2.

The pottery from each megalithic grave is thus very homogeneous, which indicates that it was placed there on one or a few important occasions -probably in connection with funerals. The uniformity of the pottery therefore suggests that only one or a few funerals have taken place at each megalithic grave. The pottery from the megalithic graves at Hagebrogård and Vroue is in accordance with this view.

The distribution of the pottery also shows that the megalithic graves were not used at the same time. This was probably due to the economy that made it necessary now and then to move the settlements and to build new megalithic graves, until the late Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture, where the megalithic graves were re-used instead of building new ones.

The composition of the pottery is altered during the three phases (fig. 22). Ritual vessel forms like clay ladles and pedestalled bowls are only present in phase 1 and 2, and the amount of fine ornamented pottery (the seriated vessels) is gradually reduced. Conversely the storage vessels (the un-seriated vessels) become more important and constitute in addition to the clay discs 51 % of the pottery from the megalithic grave at Grimstrup krat.

Anne Birgitte Gebauer