On the Shore: Life Inside a Palisade Enclosure and Cultural Change during the Middle Neolithic B in Southern Scandinavia

Abstract

In 2006 a palisade enclosure dated to the late Middle Neolithic was excavated at Bunkeflostrand, Malmö, Sweden. The excavation of pits and wells containing flints, animal bones and pottery revealed a wide range of activities at the site, which is exceptional in comparison with most other palisade enclosures of southern Scandinavia. Palisade enclosures have emerged as places of great significance to our understanding of cultural relations traditionally associated with the transition from the Funnel Beaker culture to the Battle Axe culture. The results of the excavation at Bunkeflostrand and other palisade enclosures in the region can be used to understand social relations and cultural change in the Middle Neolithic in southern Scandinavia.