¹⁴C-dateringar, hus och bebyggelseutveckling

Abstract

A large prehistoric site, Stafsinge 133, was excavated in 2016 near Falkenberg, Sweden. Mainly, archaeological remains from late Bronze Age and early Iron Age were found. Only three of the 26 houses were dated to an earlier period. No remains occurred from later periods. The question is whether this is a general circumstance in the surrounding landscape. Therefore, a study was carried out of all ¹⁴C-analyses from archaeological investigations in three parishes nearby Stafsinge 133. The study involved all prehistoric houses that have been excavated in the area. Since 1986, 268 ¹⁴C-samples from 49 prehistoric sites have been analysed. The total number of houses included was 100. The study of ¹⁴C and prehistoric houses showed that the period most likely to be expected at an archaeological excavation in the area around Falkenberg is between 1000 BC and the year 0. The study also showed that ¹⁴C-analysis was much more commonly performed at excavations before 1998 than after that year.