Gravhøje set fra luften

Burial Mounds seen from the airA source critical investigationDenmark was systematically surveyed in secret by means of aerial photography in May 1954. The operation, codename Basic Cover, was executed by the US Air Force and resulted in approximately 42.700 orto-photographs taken from a fixed height of 10.000 feet and rendering a national coverage of 99.6%. The series is now declassified and, as numerous types of archaeological features are apparent on the individual pictures, it is drawn upon with increasing frequency as part of the daily routine of ­archaeological institutions around the country. As a consequence of the aerial survey having taken place relatively early in the year, archaeological monuments such as burial mounds stand out against the newly ploughed fields primarily as differences in the colour of the soil (fig 1). In 2005 the increasing general interest in the use of aerial photography prompted a group of colleagues to create the archaeological aerial photography network (LAND). COWI A/S are presently in the process of making the entire series available digitally which will doubtless lead to a further increase in its usage. Despite a general awareness of the numerous burial mounds visible on Basic Cover, little information is available concerning its properties as a systematic source. The purpose of this article, based on the results of an empirical study, is to provide tangible data on Basic Cover as a general source for use in burial mound listing and, more specifically, as a supplement to the mounds listed in the national database. The starting point was a systematic recording of burial mounds apparent on Basic Cover images from West Jutland. This took place within the framework of a project with the aim of studying the barrow line phenomenon and its links with a number of archaeologically known fords and bridges dating to the Iron Age and medieval times.The recording of burial mounds from Basic Cover was carried out for an area of roughly 1270 km2 around Skern Å (River Skjern) (figs. 2-3). The area is divided in two by the river valley; the landscape in the northern part is relatively undulating with a maximum height of 86 m above sea level, whereas the southern area is predominately flat with long smooth ridges running north/south. The river, Skern Å, which has one of Denmark’s largest river catchments, constitutes a formidable ­obstacle in the landscape. Due to contrasting soil conditions caused by variations in local glacial deposits, any comparison with Basic Cover as a source for burial mound recording in the eastern parts of Denmark should be approached with caution.An unconventional approach was employed in recording to facilitate a comparative study of different sources for burial mound recording (fig. 4). Initially all visible burial mounds were recorded from Basic Cover regardless of previous listing in the national database. The criteria for a positive recording comprised the presence of either a circular white spot or a distinct shadow relief. As a supplement to Basic Cover, burial mounds were recorded from the highly detailed historic map Generalstabens Høje Målebordsblade from 1871, which subsequently became standard issue for many of the archaeological surveyors from the National Museum. All recorded burial mounds were finally correlated with the mounds listed in the national database. The data were then transformed into a ­single set of digital points where presence or absence on Basic cover and the 1871 map were indicated along with – if any – listing in the existing national database.The compiled results of the study are presented in figure 5a. At the start of the project, the national database contained records for 2872 burial mounds from the area. Identification on the 1871 map and Basic Cover resulted in the recording of 2186 and 2209 burial mounds, respectively. The total number of positive recordings was therefore 7267, whereas the number of unique burial mounds was 3983. This adds a total of 1111 to the number of listed mounds, equivalent to an increase of 39% or about 1.1 burial mound per km2 of dry land. The mutual correspondence in percentage coverage between mounds recorded from Basic Cover, the 1871 map and the mounds listed in the national database is shown as a graph in figure 5b. It can be seen that 69% of the listed mounds already appeared on the 1871 map prior to the ­national archaeological survey. The effects of various biasing factors, for example scheduled (and thus well preserved) mounds versus ploughed-over examples, are discussed in an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Basic Cover as a source. Less than 50% of the mounds listed in the database and appearing on the 1871 map are evident on the aerial photos. However, the photos still make a notable contribution to the record because they “capture” the very faint traces of the almost completely destroyed mounds that were not detected by the surveyors of the other sources. The newly recorded burial mounds have a significantly positive effect on the clarity of the linear structures in the distribution of burial mounds in the area (fig. 6). Based on an hypothetical, but not unsupported, statistic calculation it is ­argued that as much as 80% of the original population of larger burial mounds has been recorded following the present study.The distribution of mounds was ­explored on the basis of agrarian land use categories shown on the Vidensskabernes Selskabs kort (map) from 1800, in order to evaluate the situation prior to the introduction of major agricultural reforms, (fig. 7) .The distribution of the mounds recorded from the various source categories on the different area types is presented in fig. 8a. When only area types heath and open land are taken into consideration it is clear that mounds recorded from Basic Cover are under-represented on heathland, whereas listed mounds and those on the1871 map are under-represented on open land (fig. 8b). The patterns are to be seen in conjunction with the long-term destructive effect of agrarian land use on open land throughout historical times. In order to investigate the effect of vegetation cover on the visibility of mounds on Basic Cover, the areas covered by forest and heath around 1950 have been added to the map. To understand the effect of agrarian land use on the records from the different sources, the open land category has been divided into two further categories, old open land and new open land, respectively. The latter represents the parts of the heath that were reclaimed for cultivation between about 1800 and 1950 (fig. 9). In order to understand the factors influencing visibility on Basic Cover the distribution of mounds has been studied with respect to heath/forest and old open land/new open land (fig. 10a). When attention is turned to the representation of mounds in old open land and new open land it can be seen that there is no significant difference in the distribution of mounds recorded on Basic Cover (fig 10b). This suggests that there was only a small difference in the density of the prehistoric settlement ­between these two areas. Furthermore, it indicates that the under-representation of mounds recorded in the open land on the 1871 map and in the listed mounds in fact mirrors a bias resulting from historic land use rather than an actual prehistoric pattern. The fact that Basic Cover makes its most significant contribution concerning new mounds in the old open land is thought to be a product of the time when photos were taken. When surveyors from the National Museum visited these areas of long-term ploughing in the late 1900s many of the mounds were already too ploughed-out to be recognisable as such. However, due to the late introduction of mechanical cultivation they were still visible as white spots when Basic Cover was executed in 1954. The aerial photos thus constitute a excellent source for supplementing existing records, but due to a weakness in identifying mounds in areas of dense vegetation cover, compensation is naturally only partial (fig. 10c).The project has generated some factual information on Basic Cover as a source for the recording of burial mounds:1. Basic Cover provided an increase of 32% in the number of recorded mounds compared with existing records.2. 45% of the listed mounds could be identified. This illustrates Basic Cover’s weakness in areas with dense vegetation cover. However, mounds have fre­quently already been listed from these areas3. There is a systematic negative bias in the national database concerning listed mounds in the cultivated areas of histor­ically open land.4. Basic Cover provides a good coverage in historically cultivated areas and it can thus productively be used to comp­ensate for this bias in existing records.5. The soils and topography in the study area are ideal for aerial photography and the results can, therefore, not be transferred directly to the rest of the country where conditions may be less ideal. Basic Cover was carried out at a fortuitous time; after the heath had been reclaimed but before mechanical cultivation had fully run its destructive course. The regrettable destruction of monuments had accelerated but was by no means complete. Fortunately, Basic Cover took place at a time when ploughing had exposed the features without destroying then altogether. Systematic recording of mounds from the Original-1 maps is also recommended ­because data from this source can compensate for the biases seen in the listed mounds from the open land. A study of place names connected to mounds has indicated that many more mounds have disappeared from the open land through historical times.Kasper Lambert JohansenDanmarks MiljøundersøgelserAarhus UniversitetSteffen Terp LaursenMoesgård Museu

Federmesserkulturen i Danmark – Belyst med udgangspunkt i en amatørarkæologs flintsamling

The Federmesser culture in Denmark in light of an amateur archaeologist’s flint collectionIn 2010, the dedicated amateur archaeologist Ingvor Filtenborg passed away. For more than 30 years he had systematically walked the fields near his home just to the east of Store Andst near Kolding, Southern Jutland. As this area lies on the current administrative boundary between the museums in Kolding and Sønderskov, his collection became divided. This meant that the culture-historical significance of some aspects of this material has not previously been fully appreciated. This article presents and describes flint tools from his collection that are diagnostic of the so-called Federmesser culture (arch- or curved-backed point groups) dating to the Allerød warm phase of the Late Glacial (12000-11000 years BC). This was a time during which Southern Scandinavia saw dramatic changes in the composition of the local fauna and flora (fig. 2). The diagnostic flint tools from this techno-complex are slender arch-backed points, small flake-scrapers and blade-scrapers with invasive lateral retouch, often forming a tang (so-called Wehlen scrapers). Sites of the Federmesser culture are rare in Denmark and their relationship to the older Hamburgian culture and, in particular, the slightly later Bromme culture remains uncertain.There are methodological challenges associated with surface-collected flint, which clearly limit the analytical potential of such material. The Filtenborg collection is no exception in this regard. However, recent research conducted in other parts of Northern Europe is drawn upon here in order to argue for the likely coherence of the Late Glacial elements in the Filtenborg collection. Importantly, the tools usually seen as diagnostic of the Bromme culture – the large tanged ‘Bromme’ or ‘Lyngby’ points – are found together with the above-mentioned arch-back points in Ing­vor Filtenborg’s collection. However, rather than seeing the material as being derived from repeated occupation episodes by people of two separate cultures (the Federmesser culture and Bromme culture, respectively), It is argued that the finds presented here form a single assemblage, and that the inventory actually fits neatly into the artefact spectrum known from many other sites of the Federmesser culture. On the basis of radiocarbon dates and the topographic position of these localities, an attempt is made to place them in their culture-historical and landscape contexts.Material from eight separately recorded localities is presented (site numbers HBV 185, HBV 187, HBV 189, HBV 191, MKH 411, MKH 1111, MKH 1124, and MKH 1116). These cluster around the hilly area to the north of Lake Dollerup and stretch towards the now largely drained wetlands by the village of Gamst (fig. 1). It is likely that material from the immediately adjacent localities HBV 185 and 189, as well as material from HBV 191, MKH 411, MKH 1111, and MKH 1116, should be seen as belonging to only two rather than six different sites. The assemblages contain classic components of the Federmesser culture flint repertoire such as arch-backed points, large tanged points, small thumbnail scrapers and tanged Wehlen scrapers as well as simple scrapers on blades and flakes (Table 1 and figs. 3-6). Furthermore, previous work conducted near the village of Gamst also produced Late Glacial flints, including large tanged and arch-backed points, as well as scrapers (fig. 7).Widening the geographic perspective, this particular combination of tool types also occurs at many localities of the Federmesser culture outside Denmark. The majority of the sites at which the slender arch-backed points occur together with the bulkier large tanged points extend along the periphery of Late Glacial human settle­ment, from England in the west to Poland and possibly as far as Lithuania, the Ukraine and Belarus in the east (Table 2). It is likely that such a co-occurrence reflects the parallel use of two distinct hunting weapons, the bow and arrow (tipped with arch-backed points) and the dart and spear thrower (tipped with large tanged points). Interestingly, a small but steadily increasing number of these localities has been dated by radiometric methods (see Table 3). Calibration of these dates, together with the dates available for the Bromme culture, shows that the Federmesser culture precedes the Bromme culture in Southern Scandinavia, and that the transition from Federmesser culture to Bromme culture happened some time around 10900 cal BC (fig. 8). What remains unclear is why and how this transition happened and why arch-backed points together with a range of other characteristic tools, seemingly disappeared from the toolkit of the Bromme culture.As Ingvor Filtenborg labelled most of his collection and produced maps of where particular parts of it came from, it was also possible to investigate the position of the localities presented here within their local and regional landscape context. Several other Late Glacial localities are known from the area around Lake Dollerup, such as Hjarup Mose to the south and Estrup Mose and Gamst immediately to the east, and all these sites have yielded very similar flint assemblages. The densest find concentration, however, is found around the lakes near Jels, about 15 km to the south of Lake Dollerup. There too, arch-backed points occur together with large tanged points. Taking an off-site and landscape-focused perspective, these localities can be interpreted as having been part of a diffuse and taphonomically filtered form of settlement hierarchy. Within this, sites such as Jels with relatively high find densities, represent the upper ranks, while the localities around Lake Dollerup represent lower levels of settlement activity (fig. 9). Interestingly, it appears that at Lake Dollerup and elsewhere during the Allerød particular landscape types were preferentially targeted for settlement: undulating terrain with dry, sandy soils in the vicinity of, but rarely directly by, bodies of freshwater. Past decision making about where to rest and settle in the Allerød, it is argued, was contingent on the combined presence of these attributes as well as, perhaps, on a settlement legacy created by previous visits. Late Glacial settlement was thus channelled by particular landscape configurations such as the undulating and topographically complex terrain of the Jutland Ridge. The Late Glacial flint scatters around Lake Dollerup likely constituted ‘significant localities’ repeatedly visited by small groups of pioneering hunter-gatherers. In addition, they were also part of a ‘significant landscape’ stretching from Northern Germany to Lake Dollerup, and beyond to the north and east. Ethnographic observations suggest that such significant landscapes were imbued not only with economic significance, but that they also became integral parts of the social fabric through stories, legends and named topographic features.Over 30 years of fastidious field recognisance by the late Ingvor Filtenborg has produced an interesting collection of Late Glacial flint material, including tools of the elusive Federmesser culture. These flints derive from more or less disturbed surface scatters, but nonetheless hold some analytical value, at least within an off-site context. The co-occurrence of arch-backed points usually associated with the Federmesser culture and large tanged points usually associated with the Bromme culture throws into sharp relief the fact that such typological automatism has so far prevented us from recognising the culture-historical importance of this kind of locality: The presence of large tanged points together with arch-backed points appears to assign such inventories to the earlier part of the Allerød warm phase. If large tanged points are accepted as an integral part of the flint inventory of the Federmesser culture, then many of the single finds of such tools from around Denmark may say more about the settlement patterns of the that techno-complex, rather than the Bromme culture, with which they are usually linked. Other collectors, archaeologists and museums are therefore urged to come forth with similar flint material, so that the actual extent and nature of Federmesser culture occupation in Denmark can be investigated in more detail. Felix RiedeAfdeling for Forhistorisk ArkæologiAarhus UniversitetSteffen Terp LaursenMoesgård MuseumEjvind HertzSkanderborg Museu

Ingvor Filtenborgs flintsamling: - et diskussionsbidrag om senglacialtidens jagtvåbenteknologi

I 2010 døde den meget aktive amatørarkæolog Ingvor Filtenborg. Han efterlod sig en betragtelig samlingaf flintgenstande fra området nord for Dollerup Sø. Selvom samlingen overvejende består af flintredskaberfra ældre og yngre stenalder, så indeholder den også genstandstyper der er diagnostiske for densenglaciale periode, dvs. fra Danmarks ældste stenalder. Disse genstande – projektilspidser, skrabereog stikler – tilhører Allerød-tidens jæger-samlerkulturer. Specielt iøjnefaldende er lokaliteter hvor bådeslanke rygretoucherede spidser (Federmesser) og store skafttungespidser af Bromme type optræder sammen.I det følgende vil vi kort præsentere den Filtenborg’ske samling samt diskutere hvordan de foreliggendeflintprojektiler kan bidrage til forståelsen af ældste stenalders jagtteknologi

Ingvor Filtenborgs Flintsamling - et diskussionsbidrag om senglacialtidens jagtvåbenteknologi

I 2010 døde den meget aktive amatørarkæolog Ingvor Filtenborg. Han efterlod sig en betragtelig samlingaf flintgenstande fra området nord for Dollerup Sø. Selvom samlingen overvejende består af flintredskaberfra ældre og yngre stenalder, så indeholder den også genstandstyper der er diagnostiske for densenglaciale periode, dvs. fra Danmarks ældste stenalder. Disse genstande – projektilspidser, skrabereog stikler – tilhører Allerød-tidens jæger-samlerkulturer. Specielt iøjnefaldende er lokaliteter hvor bådeslanke rygretoucherede spidser (Federmesser) og store skafttungespidser af Bromme type optræder sammen.I det følgende vil vi kort præsentere den Filtenborg’ske samling samt diskutere hvordan de foreliggendeflintprojektiler kan bidrage til forståelsen af ældste stenalders jagtteknologi

Høje, landskab og bosættelse – Rekognosceringer ved Tobøl-Plougstrup-højgruppen

Barrows, Landscape and SettlementField surveys at the Tobøl-Plougstrup barrow groupA group of barrows located between the villages of Tobøl and Plougstrup in the parishes of Føvling and Jernved in Ribe County has on several occasions been the object of intense archaeological interest. The group consists of 26 burial mounds all situated close to or in some cases almost directly on the eroded banks of the Kongeå river meadows (fig. 1). Extraordinarily lavish grave goods together with conspicuously large mounds have contributed to an impression of an area of special significance in prehistory. It is, however, the recovery of well-preserved oak log coffins from the Early Bronze Age in three different mounds, which in particular has drawn attention to the locality. The coffins were in every case uncovered under adverse circumstances leaving only scattered information on find circumstances and grave goods. As part of a larger research program the Tobøl-Plougstrup area was revisited in 1999 where a number of drillings were carried out in selected mounds. The aim was to obtain knowledge on prehistoric soil development, principles of barrow construction and preservation of organic matter in the mounds. In the core of several mounds the presence of an iron pan encapsulation was detected. These iron pans facilitate the preservation of organic matter and have been observed in connection with almost all discoveries of oak log coffins. Recent investigations suggest that the iron pans have developed because of special constructionmethods. This has added to the impression of the special role of the barrow group. In the period 2002-2004 the five ­metre-high Skelhøj mound will be excavated. With an iron pan encapsulated core the excavation opens the possibility of improved insights into a variety of aspects of Early Bronze Age society. Furthermore, soil analyses of sod material from the other mounds throw light on long-term cultural exploitation of the areas in the vicinity of the individual mounds. Existing information on Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age finds suggests that settlement was restricted to the southern side of the Kongeåen, opposite the mounds (fig. 1). This leaves an impression of a secluded ritual landscape on the northern banks of the river. Focusing on the overall role of mound building and its effect on the development of settlement and landscape it was decided to carry out a systematic field survey of the area. The applied survey strategy had to enable studies of both regular occupation sites and patterns of “off-site” land use. Based on this demand and a wish to preserve the compatibility of the collected material it was decided to apply a strategy of adaptive cluster sampling. Adaptive cluster sampling is a recently developed statistical sampling procedure intended for clustered populations. It is based upon an initial randomised or systematic distribution of sample units in a regular grid. If a predetermined critical value is exceeded in a unit, its neighbouring units are also sampled (fig. 2). The method in this way focuses on the relatively most informative clusters of the material without losing the statistical properties. This makes it well suited for archaeological field surveying.In practice, the sampling at Tobøl-Plougstrup started out with a systematic grid of 20x20 m squares in which every 9th square was initially subjected to a 20 min. single person survey. The total sample area covers five square kilometres (fig. 3). It was decided to collect all artefacts, estimated to be more than 200 years old. If a square exceeded a critical value of artefacts four of the adjacent squares were surveyed. The method proved very effective for sampling and delimiting, even in connection with small concentrations of cultural remains (fig. 4). Information on all collected material is contained in a digital database (fig. 5 gives a schematic description of the database in Danish). The survey is still preliminary and the results should be treated accordingly. However, some overall tendencies are observed. The distribution of four chronologically significant categories of ceramics reveals tempo-spatial patterning (fig. 6). Flint of good quality is very scarce in the area, which is reflected in several aspects of the flint assemblage, for instance the size and exploitation of the cores (fig 7). As regards the production of larger tools like thin-butted flint axes, only the last stages of reduction are present suggesting that these implements entered the area almost completed (fig. 8). The distribution of formal flint tools is to a large extent in accordance with the distribution of ceramics. Two early/ Neolithic/early middle Neolitihic concentrations on the southern side of the Kongeå stand out in particular (fig. 9). Bifacial tools from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age are found primarily at three different locations. In the central part of the barrow group, between two concentrations of barrows, some scattered finds of bifacial tools are present (fig. 10). This distribution of finds is compared to the evidence of prehistoric soil development as attested by the drillings in the mounds. Based on this comparison a zoning of the landscape exploitation is hypothesised (fig 11). In conclusion, as regards methodology, adaptive cluster sampling has been quite manageable in the field and must be recognised as a preferable alternative to conventional sampling and surveying. A survey of the remaining part of the Tobøl-Plougstrup area is to be carried out in the near future.Steffen Terp LaursenKasper Lambert JohansenMads Kähler HolstDepartment of Prehistoric Archaeology,University of AarhusMoesgårdMarianne RasmussenHistorical-Archaeological Research Centre, Lejre