Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 4, Europe

animal representation) and from Cueva Morin (an anthropomorphic image and an abstractly engraved and perforated stone) (Bernaldo de Quiros and Cabrera Valdes 1993; Gonzalez Echegaray and Freeman 1971). El Castillo undoubtedly played various roles during the Perigordian, sometimes functioning as an ephemeral camp site and other times as a full-scale base camp and perhaps even an aggregation site for the larger social group.

References

Altuna, Jesus (1979). "La Faune des ongules du Tardiglaciaire en Pays Basque et dans Ie reste de la region cantabrique." In La Fin des Temps Glaciaires en Europe, ed. D. de Sonneville-Bordes. Paris: Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, 85-95.

Altuna, Jesus (1989). "Subsistence d'origine animale pendant Ie Mousterien dans Ie region Cantabrique (Espagne)." In L'Homme de Neandertal, 6, ed. L. Freeman, and M. Patou. Liege: ERAUL, 31--43.

Bernaldo de Quiros, Federico (1982). Los Inicios del Paleolitico Superior Cantabrico. Santander: Centro de Investigacion y Museo de Altamira, Monografias.

Bernaldo de Quiros, Federico, and Victoria Cabrera Valdes (1993). "Early Upper Paleolithic Industries of Cantabrian Spain." In Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic, ed. H. Knecht, A. Pike-Tay, and R. White. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 57--69.

Butzer, Karl (1981). "Cave Sediments, Upper Pleistocene Stratigraphy and Mousterian Facies in Cantabrian Spain." Journal of Archaeological Science 8: 133-183.

Butzer, Karl (1986). "Paleolithic Adaptations and Settlements in Cantabrian Spain." Advances in World Archaeology 5: 201-252.

Cabrera Valdes, Victoria (1978). "La Cueva del Castillo (Puente Viesgo, Santander), Estudio y revision de los materials y documentacion de este yacimiento." Ph.D. diss., Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Cabrera Valdes, Victoria (1984). El Yacimiento de la Cueva de "El Castillo". Madrid: Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana, 22.

Cabrera Valdes, Victoria, and James Bischoff (1989). "Accelerator 14C Dates for Early Upper Paleolithic (Basal Aurignacian) at EI Castillo Cave (Spain)." Journal of Archaeological Science 16: 577-584.

Freeman, Leslie (1973). "EI Musteriense." In Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1969, ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray, and L. Freeman. Santander: Patronato de las Cuevas, 15-140.

Gonzalez Echegaray, J., and Leslie Freeman, eds. (1971). Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1966-1968. Santander: Patronato de las Cuevas Prehistoricas.

Klein, Richard, and Kathryn Cruz-Uribe (1994). "The Paleolithic Fauna from the 1910-14 Excavations at EI Castillo Cave (Cantabria)." Museo y Centro de Investigacion de Altamira 17: 141-158.

Leroi-Gourhan, Arlette (1971). "Analisis polinico de Cueva Morin." In Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1966-1968, ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray, and L. Freeman. Santander: Patronato de las Cuevas Prehistoricas, 359-365.

Leroi-Gourhan, Arlette (1980). "Analisis polinico de EI Pendo." In El Yacimiento de la Cueva de "El Pendo", ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray. Madrid: Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana, 17, 265-266.

Obermaier, Hugo (1924). Fossil Man in Spain (English translation ofEI Hombre Fosil, Madrid 1916). New Haven: Yale University Press.

Pike-Tay, Anne Victoria Cabrera, and Federico Bernaldo de Quiros (1999) "Seasonal Variations of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic

Perigordian 261

Transition at EI Clastillo, Cueva Morin and EI Pendo (Cantabrian, Spain)." Journal of Human Evolution 36: 283-317.

Straus, Lawrence (1992). Iberia before the Iberians: The Stone Age Prehistory of Cantabrian Spain. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

El Pendo

TIME PERIOD: 28,000-22,000 B.P.

LOCATION: The cave of El Pendo is situated at the base of a steep bluff at the northern end of a long dry valley. It is 12 miles inland from the coastal capital of Santander province in Cantabrian Spain.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

The huge limestone cave of El Pendo is found at the base of a steep bluff at the northern end of a long dry valley, 12 miles inland from the Cantabrian coast. Like most Mousterian and early Upper Paleolithic sites in the region, El Pendo is in the coastal zone where a system of north-south running rivers has long furnished lines of communication and transit along the narrow (15 km at its widest at present) east-west stretch of coastal plain (Freeman 1973; Straus 1992). A series oflow (50-100 m) ridges and platforms runs parallel to and within a distance of 1 km of the modern coastline; low (300- 1,300 m) ranges offoothills and, most southerly, the line of summits of the Cordillera run roughly parallel to those. Pollen analyses from Perigordian levels of Cantabrian sites indicate expanses of (primarily) open pine woodlands fluctuating in extent with traces of hazel, oak, juniper, alder, and birch, and, during more humid periods, abundant grasses and ferns, consistent with generally cool and wet climatic conditions (Butzer 1981; Leroi-Gourhan 1971, 1980). The large carnivores such as the cave bear, cave hyena, lion, leopard, wolf, and wild dog, which alternated tenancy with Neandertals in earlier levels at El Pendo, persisted in the region throughout the Perigordian, albeit in diminished numbers. The surrounding grasslands supported herds of red deer, horse, bison, and aurochs; chamois and ibex populated cliff and mountain sides, and roe deer and wild boar could be found in localized stands of forest (Altuna 1979, 1989; Bernaldo de Quiros 1982; Fuentes Vidarte 1980).

El Pendo's deep stratigraphic sequence spans the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, making it one of the most important Paleolithic sites in Spain (Carballo 1960; Gonzalez Echegaray 1980). El Pendo is one of only three sites in western Europe where a Neandertal-generated Chatelperronian assemblage (still referred to as "Lower Perigordian" by some Spanish researchers) overlies an early Aurignacian level (the tradition that is attributed to the first anatomically modern humans in western Eurasia), demonstrating the contemporaneity of the two human forms in the region.

At El Pendo as at other early Upper Paleolithic sites in Cantabria, Middle Paleolithic tools are present in early Upper Paleolithic assemblages, whereas early Upper Paleolithic tool types first appear in Middle Paleolithic assemblages. In addition, Aurignacian tools appear in Perigordian assemblages and vice versa (Bernaldo de Quiros 1982; Freeman 1980; Gonzalez Echegaray 1980; Straus 1992: 74 and appendices). This illustrates the fact that conventional typological distinctions between Middle and Upper Paleolithic industries in general, and Aurignacian and Perigordian industries in particular, are far from absolute in this region. Nonetheless, after about 27,000 B.P., assemblages with many backed blades, bladelets, points and Noailles burins (i.e., Perigordian V in character) appear in sites such as El Pendo, Cueva Morin, and El Castillo (Bernaldo de Quiros and Cabrera Valdes 1993; Gonzalez Echegaray 1980; Straus 1992). Although lithic raw material use in the Mousterian and earlier Upper Paleolithic at El Pendo emphasized coarse-grained materials such as quartzite and ophite, the percentages of flint increase from roughly 40--60 percent in the Mousterian to 90--98 percent by the Perigordian (Freeman 1980; Gonzalez Echegaray 1980). Perigordian Levels V and Va at El Pendo furnished mostly fragments of antler and bone projectile points as well as a bone fragment with engraved lines and a red deer canine perforated for suspension. Both organic projectile points and ornaments are more numerous in the earlier Aurignacian than in the Perigordian levels at the site, however. Perigordian levels at El Pendo show that red deer was the preferred prey animal, supplemented by horse, large bovine, and occasional roe deer, wild boar, chamois, and ibex (Fuentes Vidarte 1980). El Pendo most likely functioned sometimes as a late fall winter seasonal base camp and other times as a more ephemeral camp site (Pike-Tay et al. 1999). However, considering the relatively small sizes of the faunal and tool assemblages, it seems likely that only small groups of people occupied the site at any given time.

Altuna, Jesus (1979). "La Faune des ongules du Tardiglaciaire en Pays Basque et dans Ie reste de la region cantabrique." In La Fin des Temps Glaciaires en Europe, ed. D. de Sonneville-Bordes. Paris: Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, 85-95.

Altuna, Jesus (1989). "Subsistence d'origine animale pendant Ie Mousterien dans Ie region Cantabrique (Espagne)." In L'Homme de Neandertal, 6, ed. L. Freeman, and M. Patou. Liege: ERAUL,

31-43.

Bernaldo de Quiros, Federico, and Victoria Cabrera Valdes (1993). "Early Upper Paleolithic Industries of Cantabrian Spain." In Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic, ed. H. Knecht, A. Pike-Tay, and R. White. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 57-69.

Bernaldo de Quiros, Federico (1982). Los Inicios del PaleoUtico Superior Cantabrico. Santander: Centro de Investigacion y Museo de Altamira, Monografias.

Butzer, Karl (1981). "Cave Sediments, Upper Pleistocene Stratigraphy and Mousterian Facies in Cantabrian Spain." Journal of Archaeological Science 8: 133-183.

Carballo, Jesus (1960). Investigaciones Prehistoricas II. Santander: Diputacion Provincial.

Freeman, Leslie (1973). "EI Musteriense." In Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1969, ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray, and L. Freeman. Santander: Patronato de las Cuevas, 15-140.

Freeman, Leslie (1980). "Ocupaciones Musterienses." In EI Yacimiento de la Cueva de EI Pendo, ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray. Madrid: Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana, 17, 29-74.

Fuentes Vidarte, C. (1980). "Estudio de la fauna de EI Pendo." In EI Yacimiento de la Cueva de EI Pendo, ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray. Madrid: Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana, 17, 215-237.

Gonzalez Echegaray, J., ed. (1980). EI Yacimiento de la Cueva de "EI Pendo." Madrid: Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana, 17.

Leroi-Gourhan, Arlette (1971). "Analisis polinico de Cueva Morin." In Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1966-1968. ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray, and L. Freeman. Santander: Patronato de las Cuevas Prehistoricas, 359-365.

Leroi-Gourhan, Arlette (1980). "Analisis polinico de EI Pendo." In EI Yacimiento de la Cueva de EI Pendo, ed. J. Gonzalez Echegaray. Madrid: Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana, 17, 265-266.

Pike-Tay et al. (1999) "Seasonal Variations of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition at EI Clastillo, Cueva Morin and EI Pendo (Cantabrian, Spain)." Journal of Human Evolution 36: 283-317.

Straus, Lawrence (1992). Iberia before the Iberians: The Stone Age Prehistory of Cantabrian Spain. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Hermitage aHuccorgne

(L'Hermitage, Huccorgne)

TIME PERIOD: 24,000--23,000 B.P.

LOCATION: Hermitage aHuccorgne is an open air site in the Mehaigne river valley of the Hesbayne plateau in Belgium's Liege province.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

Hermitage a Huccorgne is an open-air site on an ancient oxbow formation of the Mehaigne, a river valley dominated by limestone cliffs that once housed many Paleolithic cave sites. The deep sedimentary sequence at L'Hermitage is made up of upper layers of primary and redeposited loess deposits and a base of gravels and sands (Haesaerts 1978; Otte 1979; Straus et al. 1997). The Perigordian horizon at the site dates to the Tursac oscillation, a brief period of climatic amelioration during the last glacial. Pollen analyses from SouthCentral Belgium at this time indicate a prevalence of open grasslands and taiga with pine thickets, occasional stands of birch, and other deciduous trees consistent with generally cool climatic conditions (Bastin 1980; Haesaerts 1978; Munaut 1984). The large carnivores such as the cave bear, hyena, lion, wolf, wild dog, and leopard, which alternated cave tenancy with Neandertals in earlier times, were present on the landscape throughout the Perigordian as well, although in decreasing numbers. The classic late Pleistocene megafauna including mammoth, woolly rhino, and giant deer were rare, but occasionally present. Other herbivores preferring the open grasslands were far more common such as reindeer, horse, aurochs, bison, and even saiga antelope (Cordy 1984; Gautier 1979). Throughout the climatic oscillations that occurred during the span of the Perigordian, Belgian sites were affected by changes in the range and distributions of the great herbivore populations supported by the North European plain. Mountainand cliff-dwelling ibex and chamois were sometimes encountered in Perigordian levels at this time, and red deer, wild boar, and other forest species were present during the warmest phases (Cordy 1984; Gautier 1979).

Cultural Aspects

The main archaeological layer at L'Hermitage has been described as Upper Perigordian with Font-Robert points (Haesaerts 1978; Otte 1979; Straus et al. 1979). Other diagnostic tools of the Perigordian horizon include Gravette and micro-Gravette points and truncated elements of both local and nonlocallithic sources. At L'Hermitage as at the six other Perigordian sites in the region-Trou Magrite, Spy, Goyet, Engis, Fond-de- Foret, Maisieres-both the amount of organic (antler, bone, ivory) implements deposited and the amount of time that sites appear to have been occupied are far less

Perigordian 263

in the Perigordian period than they were in the preceding Aurignacian (Otte 1984, 1990). Nonetheless, hallmarks of Perigordian cultural expression such as perforated ornaments have been recovered (Otte 1984, 1990; Otte and Straus 1995). It is possible that the Perigordian assemblages at L'Hermitage represent the accumulations of seasonal occupations of larger base camps as well as more ephemeral camps of smaller social units.

References

Bastin, B. (1980). "L'Apport des etudes palynologiques realisees en Belgique pour l'etablissement d'une chronostratigraphie du quaternaire de l'Europe occidentale." In Probhimes de stratigraphie quaternaire en France et dans les pays limitrophes, ed. J. Chaline. Supplement Bulletin de l'Association Franc;aise pour I'Etude du Quaternaire, 1, 174-179.

Cordy, J.-M. (1984). "Evolution des Faunes Quaternaires en Belgique." In Peuples Chasseurs de la Belgique Prf!historique dans Leur Cadre Naturel, ed. D. Cahen, and P. Haesaerts. Brussels: Patrimoine de l'Institue royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, 67-77.

Gautier, Achilles (1979). "Documentation paleontologique." In Le Site pa/eolithique de Maisieres-Canal, ed. P. Haesaerts, and J. Heinzelin. Bruges: Dissertationes Archeologicae Gandenses, 19,66-

68.

Haesaerts, Paul (1978). "Contexte stratigraphique de quelques gisements paleolithiques de plein air de Moyenne Belgique." Bulletin de la Societe Royale Beige cfAnthropologie et de Prehistoire 89: 115-

133.

Munaut, A. V. (1984). "L'Homme et son Environnement Vegetal." In

Peuples Chasseurs de la Belgique Prehistorique dans Leur Cadre Naturel, ed. D. Cahen, and P. Haesaerts. Brussels: Patrimoine de rInstitue royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, 59-66.

Otte, Marcel (1979). "Documentation archeologique." In Le Site pa/eolithique de Maisieres-Canal, ed. P. Haesaerts, and J. Heinzelin. Bruges: Dissertationes Archeologicae Gandenses, 19, 69-89.

Otte, Marcel (1984). "Paleolithique superieur en Belgique," In Peuples Chasseurs de la Belgique Prehistorique dans Leur Cadre Naturel, ed. D. Cahen, and P. Haesaerts. Brussels: Patrimoine de l'Institue royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, 157-179.

Otte, Marcel (1990). "Revision de la sequence du Paleolithique Superieur de Willendorf (Autriche)." Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre 60: 219-

228.

Otte, Marcel, and Lawrence Straus (1995). Le Trou Magrite. Liege: ERAUL.

Straus, Lawrence, Marcel Otte, Achilles Gautier, Paul Haesaerts, 1. Lopez Bayon Philippe Lacroix, Anthony Martinez, Rebecca Miller, Jonathan Orphal, and Aaran Stutz (1997). "Late Quaternary Prehistoric Investigations in Southern Belgium." PYI!jostpore Europeenne 11: 145-184

ANNE PIKE-TAY

Department of Anthropology

Vassar College

Poughkeepsie, New York

United States

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD: 2033-1500 B.P.

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD: Follows the West-Central European Late Iron Age, precedes the historic period.

LOCATION: Continental northwestern Europe, from the Rhine estuary to the north and east, including the modern nations of Denmark and the Netherlands, along with the coastal lands of Germany north of the Rhine.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Three-aisled long-

houses with wooden and wattle-and-daub walls or turf walls in some areas, often oriented west-east, with entrances in the long sides and often a byre area. Handmade pottery, extensive use of Roman imports. Use of urned cremation or furnished inhumation. Offerings of animals, humans, weapons, and other material in watery areas.

REGIONAL SUBTRADITIONS: Eastern Denmark and Skane, the Netherlands and Coastal northern Germany, western Denmark.

IMPORTANT SITES: Dankirke, Feddersen Wierde, Flogeln,

Hodde, Vorbasse, Wijster.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

Climate. The Roman Iron Age experienced a fairly warm and dry climate, culminating in major marine transgressions in the later phases. Around 1550 B.P., there was a sudden climatic shift to wetter summers and colder winters.

Topography. The area covered encapsulates a variety of landscapes, from open marshlands to heavily forested areas, but has a very high percentage of lowland areas under 200 m above sea level. Some areas were either lost or depopulated during this period owing to marine transgression or the effects of windblown sand. There is a mixture of old and new moraine, and thus the topography ranges from gently rolling hill-islands to more dramatic landscapes.

Geology. Geology in this area varies from rich marine and alluvial deposits to heavy moranic clays and sandy plains. An important distinction is that between the marshlands and the higher, drier Geest in the southern area.

Biota. The region is characterized by grassland and meadowland, with some arable areas. The area was largely cleared of dense woodland, but some of this

would have remained. There is widespread evidence for animal husbandry, but little for exploitation of wild foods.

Settlements

Settlement System. The settlement system in the Early Roman Iron Age was varied, ranging from the communal village of Hodde in Denmark, to individual farmsteads such as Fochteloo and Peelo in the Netherlands. A major change seems to have occurred in the Later Roman Period, with large-scale replanning of settlements consisting of independent farmsteads, which included a range of buildings in their own enclosures, often arranged in rows or around open areas. Those in the southern area were located primarily for animal husbandry; those in the north were situated with a view to arable land. There is little evidence for a hierarchical system although status differences are seen at some sites, but the Later Roman Iron Age sites of Gudme, Sorte Muld, and Dankirke possibly fulfilled some sort of central role as centers for redistribution of imports and perhaps fulfilled religious functions as well.

Community Organization. In the later Roman Iron Age, variation in settlements was often on the basis of different agglomerations of individual farmsteads. These settlements often show signs of planning, and streets are sometimes seen. Although most farmsteads are viewed as independent economic units, there are some signs of communal facilities, activities, or production.

Housing. The main house type through the whole of this period was the three-aisled longhouse, with two central rows of posts that bore the weight of the roof, and walls of either wattle and daub or mud in the southern area, with some use of turf and stone walls in the north. These buildings usually had both living quarters and a byre for stalling animals (examples with wattle divisions and rush-lined drains have been found), often oriented westeast, with entrances in the sides of the long walls. These long walls were usually parallel or slightly convex, and the ends of the houses were sometimes rounded. The living quarters usually contained hearths. Smaller threeaisled houses are also found, as well as sunken-feature buildings (in the southern area), which were usually constructed with either two or six posts, and granaries in the later part of the period. There is little variation in width, generally between 5-6 m, but the lengthening of longhouses during the course of the Roman Iron Age and the increase in internal divisions have led to suggestions that the number of inhabitants, possibly

Roman Iron Age 265

dependent family or laborers, increased likewise. There is evidence for increased storage capacity, both for goods and cattle (although this is not always made use of), and also the provision of workrooms. The smaller buildings and sunken-feature buildings are usually interpreted as craft workshops.

Population, Health and Disease. There seems to have been a great expansion in settlement between 19501550 B.P., and this is assumed to represent population growth. Following this, contraction and abandonment of settlements, coupled with a decline in cultivation and an increase in woodland in some areas, seem to suggest a reduction in population (certainly for marginal areas). The historical references to plague from 1750 B.P. onward, as well as climatic changes, may be associated with this.

Economy

Subsistence. The Early Roman Iron Age saw a shift to more intensive agricultural production, with the adoption of the infield-outfield system. This is assumed to be due to an increasing demand for surplus and is coupled with a rise in the numbers of Roman imports, although it also seems to have been preceded by the widespread expansion of settlement and rising pressure on natural resources. More intensive farming requires manure and may account for the increase in stock levels. Certainly by the Late Roman Iron Age, the longer byres and larger granaries indicate greater agricultural productivity, and this is coupled with technological innovations.

Wild Foods. Wild foods seem to have played a very minor role in subsistence, perhaps consisting of less than 1 percent of the total. There is some evidence for red deer (both for meat and antlers), dolphin, whale, and seal (presumably stranded rather than hunted), some shellfish and fish in coastal areas, and small quantities of wild fruits and vegetables (including celery, spinach, dandelion, spinach and lettuce), as well as some herbs.

Domestic Foods. Barley and cattle were the predominant food sources, although pigs and sheep were also kept (proportions seeming to depend mainly on terrain, with sheep dependent on pasture and thus found in the coastal marshlands, and pigs on woodland, therefore more common on the Geest land). Other cultivated foodstuffs include oats, wheat, rye, millet, beans, and peas. Presumably stock was used for dairy products as well as meat. There is some evidence for horses being used for meat.

Industrial Arts. Milland quern stones indicate food production; spindle whorls and loom weights are

266Roman Iron Age

evidence for textile production, which improved during the course of the Roman Iron Age with the introduction of a new loom type; there is evidence for metal smelting and working, of iron (with the introduction of shaft furnaces from c. 1750 B.P.), and bronze plus silver and gold in the later phase. The finds of smelting ovens link these activities to settlements. Pottery was domestically produced, and there is some evidence for the use of the potter's wheel from 1750 B.P. (used to model contemporary Roman types), coupled with the use of updraft kilns. Sites with good organic preservation have produced evidence for high-quality woodworking, such as wooden containers, vessels, and other objects, timberlined wells, funerary chambers, ships, and houses. There is also evidence for leather, bone, and antler working.

Utensils. A wide range of pottery vessels was used for cooking, eating, drinking, and storage. Roman drinking sets are also sometimes found, consisting of buckets, sieves, saucepans, and beakers.

Ornaments. Inhumation burials are found associated with a wide range of dress accessories and other ornaments, including brooches, beads, buckles, and sometimes weapons. During the period, there were advances in gold design, with the introduction of semiprecious and colored stones. This developed into the polychrome style by the Late Roman Iron Age. Goldand silver-gilt foils came to be used on jewelry, belt mounts, and sometimes weapons. From 1750 B.P., solid gold animal figurines came to be used, and in the Later Roman Iron Age, gold ornaments became prominent, for example, torques with snake-head terminals. Methods of decoration came to include filigree, granulation, and cloisonne.

Trade. There are historical references to exports from this area such as geese, lard, and women's hair. Exports probably also included grain, animal products including hides, amber, and presumably slaves. Imports in the Early Roman Iron Age consisted mainly of Italian drinking sets, but from 1750 B.P. a wider range of goods is found, predominantly of western European production, including weapons (illicit from this point, but still present), dress accessories and ornaments, glass and metal vessels and containers. The areas around Gudme, Sorte Muld, and Dankirke have been suggested as early distribution or trading centers for this material.

Division of Labor. In the Later Roman Iron Age, the structure of settlements suggests that the household included more than the immediate family. Specialist

craft production is indicated at some sites, suggesting that some people, including perhaps bronzeand goldsmiths traveling between sites, were released from food production.

Differential Access or Control ofResources. Generally in the Early Roman Iron Age, Roman imports were used as grave goods in a small number of graves, which were very richly furnished (the so-called princely graves which usually lie more than 200 km from the Roman border, although these are not found in eastern Denmark or Skiine). In the Late Roman Iron Age, they formed concentrations around certain areas, such as around Stevns in Zealand, suggesting a more centralized control over their distribution. There are also suggestions that some households in individual settlements had a degree of control over resources or production.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. There is some evidence for the emergence of forms of centralized authority in the Later Roman Iron Age, with the increasing planning seen in settlement layout and the status differences that are sometimes seen in those settlements. At the same time, those settlements suggest that the household consisted of more than immediate family members.

Political Organization. The coincidence of concentrations of Roman imports with possible cult centers at Gudme and Sorte Muld suggests that the development of religious and secular power in the Later Roman Iron Age was facilitated by contacts with the Roman Empire, or at least by a degree of control over its exports. Similarly, the erection of monumental earthworks in this period such as the Olderdiget and The Bank imply the existence of centralized authority, and the weapon hoards in the bogs at Nydam, Illerup, and Esbj01, among others, imply an organized military system.

Social Control. The practice continuing from the PreRoman Iron Age of sacrificing humans in boggy areas suggests an element of social control over individuals. Similarly, the very fact that extensive earthworks are erected suggests possible coercion of a workforce.

Conflict. The weapon hoards and the existence of earthworks give indications of conflict in the Later Roman Iron Age. However, although weapons often bear traces of fighting, they are frequently damaged or destroyed before deposition, suggesting ideological reasons behind their deposition. These deposits consist of

shields, swords, and horse gear in the Early Roman Iron Age (no helmets or body armor). The Later Roman Iron Age deposits saw more Roman imitations, as well as iron axes, shields, the longbow and arrow, and occasional examples of helmets and armor (although argued to be more likely a status indication than actually used for fighting).

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Wooden idols have been found at Braak (Holstein), Rude Eskilstrup (Zealand), and with food offerings at Broddenbjerg (Jutland) suggesting a religious system, as do the three known representations of one-eyed faces (two on stone, one on a pottery vessel). The grave goods given to inhumations, especially large numbers of pottery vessels, may also serve some religious function.

Religious Practitioners. There is no archaeological evidence for this, although Tacitus mentions them in connection with his account of human sacrifices practiced on an island in the north.

Ceremonies. There is a strong pattern throughout this area of ritual deposition of goods in bogs, lakes, and other liminal areas. In the Early Roman Iron Age, this includes mainly vessels and other small items, often associated with animal and other food offerings, although a few of the weapon deposits and bog bodies belong to this phase. There are also regional variations, with offerings in Shlne, for instance, being smaller, with rings, other ornaments, animal remains, and occasionally weapons. In the Later Roman Iron Age, the deposition of weapons hoards (sometimes containing also ships, personal ornaments, clothing, and imported Roman goods) reached its peak, to be gradually replaced by deposits of gold and silver artifacts. Burials, both cremation and inhumation, are obviously important ceremonies, judging by the elaboration of inhumation graves with linings and other possible structures and sometimes the inclusion of elaborate grave goods.

Arts. From around 1750 B.P., a distinctive art style developed, with an increase in representations of men and animals. The Late Roman Iron Age chip-carved metalwork of Roman provincial origin was adapted by craftspeople with the addition of animal forms, with curves and backward-looking animals into the style known as Salin Style I.

Death and Afterlife. At the beginning of the Roman Iron Age, cremation was the predominant rite, but inhuma-

Roman Iron Age 267

tion spread through the course of the period from Denmark and southern Sweden to northern and central Europe. Inhumation replaced cremation entirely in some areas, for example on Zealand, but was rejected in others, such as around the River Elbe.

Suggested Readings

Bierma, M., O. H. Hausema, and W. van Zeist, eds. (\988). Archeologie en landschap. Groningen: Biologisch-Archaeologisch Instituut, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.

Crumlin-Pedersen, Ole, ed. (1991). Aspects of Maritime Scandinavia AD 200-1200. Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum.

Hedeager, Lotte (1992). Iron Age Societies: From Tribe to State in Northern Europe 500 BC to AD 700. Oxford: Blackwell.

Hvass, Steen, and Birger, Storgaard, eds. (1993). Digging into the Past: 25 Years of Archaeology in Denmark. Copenhagen: Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries.

Jensen, Jorgen (1982). The Prehistory of Denmark. London: Methuen. Liversage, David (1980). Material and Interpretation: The Archaeology of Sjadland in the Early Roman Iron Age. Copenhagen: National

Museum of Denmark.

Stenberger, Marten (1982). Sweden. London: Thames and Hudson. Todd, Malcolm (1987). The Northern Barbarians 100 BC-AD 300.

Oxford: Blackwell.

Todd, Malcolm (1992). The Early Germans. Oxford: Blackwell.

SUBTRADITIONS

Eastern Denmark and Skane

TIME PERIOD: 2033-1500 B.P.

LOCATION: Zealand, Skane, and Bornholm.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: In the Early Roman

Iron Age, pottery is typically coarse storage jars of porridgy ware, with a tendency toward flattened rims. In the Later Roman Iron Age, Shlne and Bornholm have large ornamented jars, cups with the handle attached at the rim, and angular profiles, whereas the pottery of Zealand starts to resemble that of Jutland (Liversage 1980). Wooden three-aisled longhouses and subsidiary buildings. Cremation and furnished inhumation burial.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

The Roman Iron Age was characterized by a fairly warm, dry climate (culminating in major marine transgressions), but the period around 1550 B.P. saw a sudden

268Roman Iron Age

shift to wetter summers and colder winters (Lamb 1981). Zealand and Skane have young moraine landscapes with boulder clay regions and heavy moraine soils. Northern Bornholm has a granite landscape with rocky coasts. Most of Zealand was deforested during the Iron Age (Jensen 1982).

Settlements

Very few settlements are known from eastern Denmark, although more are known from Bornholm. At Bellingegard, near Koge on Zealand, 31 houses of the Later Roman and Early Germanic Iron Age have been excavated, with the Late Roman period represented by wooden three-aisled longhouses with a few associated smaller buildings. Each farmstead was surrounded by its own fence, and each farm was rebuilt several times on the same site. The settlement was situated on a prominent hilltop, surrounded by a cultivated bog area. The houses were clustered into five to seven groups, indicative of farmsteads. Clay-taking pits and fire pits filled with much pottery were also found, along with loom weights, millstones, and whetstones (Tornbjerg 1985). Other Zealand sites where structural remains have been excavated include Nissehoj and Kobbelgard, where three-aisled longhouses with internal hearths and wat- tle-and-daub walls have been found (Liversage 1980). The Preand Early Roman Iron Age settlement of Runegard, Bornholm, was situated on a low sandy ridge and consisted of around 40 houses, of which 13 or 14 had been burnt down. These were three-aisled longhouses, usually oriented east-west, 15-18 m in length and 5-6 m in breadth. They were usually accompanied by a small outhouse, 2.5 m by 3.5 m on average, of sixpost construction, which is interpreted as a raised barn for storage. This probably represents a fairly large community (Watt 1983). At Sorte Muld on Bornholm, settlements with thick cultural layers and the remains of building plots with many Roman and later imports have been found (Jensen and Watt 1993; Watt 1991). Bornholm was characterized by village settlement until c. 1550 B.P., when the individual farmstead became the predominant settlement form (Jensen 1982). At Stora Uppakra in Skane, a cultural layer with the remains of buildings including one east-west rectangular house has been excavated, with numerous finds including brooches, combs, various iron objects, and potsherds, dating the settlement to the end of the Roman Iron Age (Stenberger 1977). In the same province at Va, the remains of several east-west wattlework houses, one with a clay oven, have been excavated. Smaller settlements have been excavated in this area at Hagestad and

Kroneborg, where sherds of terra sigillata have been found (Hansen 1987; Stenberger 1977).

Economy

In Zealand, barley and wheat were the predominant crops, with oats and rye found in small quantities (Liversage 1980). A similar picture is seen in SHne, with barley predominant and small quantities of oats. This is also true for the Early Roman Iron Age on Bornholm (as seen at Dalshoj), but by the end of the Roman Iron Age, there was a significant increase of the role of oats and rye in this area (Randsborg 1985). Analysis of the animal bones from Hemshojgard in Zealand demonstrated that the use of birds, fish, and wild animals was very rare. The horse was used as a food animal alongside predominantly oxen, pigs, and caprovines (Liversage 1967, 1980).

Sociopolitical Organization

Zealand between 1750 and 1700 B.P. had a high percentage of Roman imports, indicating perhaps direct and organized trade between this region and the Roman Empire (Hansen 1989). This trade appears to have been focused through the Stevns district after 1800 B.P., where many Roman imports are found in graves, and it has been suggested that this may have been a cult center comparable to Sorte Muld on Bornholm and with Gudme on Funen (Crumlin Pedersen 1991). The area around Stevns is also where the construction of a road network reached a peak in the Roman Iron Age (Jensen 1982; Nielsen and Hansen 1977). Almost 600 Roman denarii have been found in Skane, with a similar number from Bornholm, indicating some form of contact with the Roman Empire (Stenberger 1977). Wealth in this area in the Early Roman Iron Age is clustered in a small number of graves focused on the island of Lolland (including the Hoby grave with its two Augustan silver skyphoi), but in the Late Roman Iron Age this seems to shift to around Stevns, where a vast increase in such imports is seen in more graves (Jensen 1982).

Religion and Expressive Culture

There are very few visible burials in Skane. In general, early inhumations were poorly furnished, being interred with goods similar to the cremation burials, in rough stone cists, often with a small cairn (Todd 1987). Vessels deposited in graves in SHne include double-conical vessels, vases with conical necks, cups, and many other types that show connections with Bornholm (Stenberger 1977). The burial from Oremolla, which was probably an

inhumation burial with a whole Roman wine service, including a fluted bowl, a bronze ladle and sieve, and two faceted clear glass beakers, is exceptional (Stenberger 1962) as is the cemetery at Simris, with 100 mostly inhumation graves, some of which were richly furnished, including one with a silver-decorated spear and lance head (Stenberger 1977). There is a clearer picture from Zealand, where there is some evidence that burials were placed on animal hides in the grave (Liversage 1980). The concentration of richly furnished graves in the Stevns district (especially rich in Roman goods), such as in the cemeteries at Varpelev, Vall0by, and Himling0je, indicates its possible function as a central place (Jensen and Watt 1993). Bog offerings are a feature of the Roman Iron Age in Zealand, and they include the dead dog pinned down with a stake in Toftegards bog with a food offering nearby, the two dogs and six pots in Tibirke Ellem0se, and the groups of pots in pits in the bogs at Skrevinge and 0strup, which were covered with small cairns (Liversage 1980). In these offerings, small pots tend to be deposited in groups, whereas large ones are found alone (Liversage 1980). In addition, the peat bog at Rislev contained human as well as animal sacrifices (Liversage 1980; Todd 1987). Bornholm in the Early Roman Iron Age has large cemeteries, such as that at St. Kannikegard, with 800 graves (Todd 1987). The normal grave form is the cremation pit, and inhumation graves are rare, especially in the Early Roman Iron Age (Liversage 1980). The associated pottery wares are coarser and more uniform than those of Zealand; the forms are less varied, and the decoration is sparser. Small bowls are common, and these are handled later and often decorated with applied and incised linear ornament (Todd 1987).

References

Crumlin-Pedersen. Ole (1991). "Maritime Aspects of the Archaeology of Roman and Migration Period Denmark." In Aspects of Maritime Scandinavia AD 200-1200, ed. O. Crumlin-Pedersen. Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum, 41-54.

Hansen, Ulla Lund (1987). Romischer Import im Norden: Warenaustausch zwischen dem romischen und dem freien Germanien. Copenhagen: Nordiske Fortidsminder, ser. B, No. 10.

Hansen, Ulla Lund (1989). "Beyond the Roman Frontier." In The Birth of Europe: Archaeology and Social Development in the First Millenium A.D. Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider, 46-53.

Jensen, Jorgen (1982). The Prehistory of Denmark. London: Methuen. Jensen, Stig, and Margrethe Watt (1993). "Trading Sites and Central Places." In Digging into the Past: 25 Years of Archaeology in Denmark, ed. S. Hvass and B. Storgaard. Copenhagen: Royal

Society of Northern Antiquaries, 195-201.

Lamb, Hubert (1981). "Climate from 1000 Be to 1000 AD." In The Environment of Man: The Iron Age to the Anglo-Saxon Period, ed. M. Jones and G. Dimbleby. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports (British Series) 87, 53-65.

Roman Iron Age 269

Liversage, David (1967). "En boplads fra jernalderen ved Hemgshojgard, Vig." Museet for Holbak og Omegns og Odsherreds Folkemuseum, Arsberetning 1966-7: 30-51.

Liversage, David (1980). Material and Interpretation: The Archaeology of Sjalland in the Early Roman Iron Age. Copenhagen: National Museum of Denmark.

Nielsen, H., and V. Hansen (1977). "Oldtidens veje og vadesteder, belyst ved nye undersogelser ved Stevns." Arboger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie, 72-117.

Randsborg, Klaus (1985). "Subsistence and Settlement in Northern Temperate Europe in the First Millennium A.D." In Beyond Domestication in Prehistoric Europe: Investigations in Subsistence Archaeology and Social Complexity, ed. G. Barker and C. Gamble. London: Academic Press, 233-265.

Stenberger, Marten (1962). Sweden. London: Thames and Hudson. Stenberger, Marten (1977). Vorgeschichte Schwedens. Neumiinster:

Karl Wachholtz Verlag.

Todd, Malcolm (1987). The Northern Barbarians 100 BC-AD 300.

Oxford: Blackwell.

Tornbjerg, Svend (1985). "Bellingegard, a Late Iron Age Settlement Site at Koge, East Zealand." Journal of Danish Archaeology 4: 147-156.

Watt, Margrethe (1983). "A Viking Age Settlement at Runegard (Grodby), Bornholm: An Interim Report of the Investigations 1979-

82." Journal of Danish Archaeology 2: 137-148.

Watt, Margrethe (1991). "Hovdinges<ede og kultcentrum fra Bornholms yngre jernalder." In Hovdingesamfund og Kongemagt-Fra Stamme til Stat i Danmark 2, ed. P. Mortensen and B. Rasmussen. Aarhus: Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskabs Skrifter, XXII: 2, 89-107.

Netherlands and Coastal

Northern Germany

TIME PERIOD: 2033-1500 B.P.

LOCATION: The Netherlands and coastal Germany north

270Roman Iron Age

gressions), but the period around 1550 B.P. saw a sudden shift to wetter summers and colder winters (Lamb 1981). Along the North Sea coast is marshland of varying extension, which was settled in different periods, depending on sea level, often on artificially raised mounds-the Wurten or Terpen. Firmer, higher ground-the Geest, consisting of sand and loam Pleistocene deposits-lay farther inland (Hvass 1989). The marshes came into use during the Roman Iron Age as grassland, and settlements were situated with regard for this pasture (Jensen 1982). Other land types present were heaths, moors, and bogs (Todd 1987).

Settlements

There are major differences between settlements in different regions. The limited occupation areas of the coastal marshlands, where settlement is found on artificially raised mounds, is often seen to lead to a high degree of planning to make best use of the available space. Both Ezinge (Van Giffen 1936) and Feddersen Wierde developed into radially planned villages during the Roman Iron Age, with wooden longhouses and associated structures radiating out from a central open area (c. 1550 B.P. these longhouses were replaced by a large number of sunken-feature buildings at Ezinge). There are sites that do not seem to have developed in this way, however, for instance, Paddepoel (van Es 1968), where five or six dwellings were abandoned c. 1900 B.P., before a large mound had a chance to originate. These sites seem sited for pasture, but there are exceptions, such as the Early Roman Iron Age site of Ostermoor on the Elbe estuary, where five longhouses were found on the bank of a creek with ditched arable fields behind (Todd 1987).

The sandy regions of this area have a different pattern. At Zeijen, for example, a rectangular palisaded enclosure of the Early Roman Iron Age enclosed eight substantial longhouses with associated granaries in the central area (Todd 1987; Van Giffen 1958). In the Later Roman Iron Age, Wijster developed a similar plan, with five or six longhouses in a similar enclosure (before being radically replanned and greatly increased in size). Such sites indicate a greater reliance on crop cultivation than those in the coastal regions. Individual farmsteads are also known from this area, such as those at Peelo and Fochteloo, both with substantial longhouses and associated structures in their own enclosures. Fochteloo is now known to lie 500 m from a contemporary hamlet with three houses, suggesting some status difference between the two (Todd 1987; Van Giffen 1958).

Sociopolitical Organization

The majority of this area forms part of what has been termed the "buffer zone" of the Roman Limes (Hedeager 1987), where luxury Roman goods were rarely deposited as grave goods (as they were further north), but where other Roman goods, such as pottery vessels, brooches, and coins, were in everyday use. This distinction is seen as indicative of an economic trend towards a more commercially oriented exchange system in this southern region and also as suggesting that the region's elite had been removed from the political system and replaced by Roman influence (Hedeager 1978; Jensen 1982). The erection of palisades at some sites and the high degree of planning, with some evidence of social differentiation and control of resources at others also suggests sociopolitical developments in this area.

Economy

In this area, cattle were the predominant livestock species, followed by sheep/goat and pig. Horses appear to have been kept for meat. In the coastal regions, the settlements were well placed for animal husbandry, but were usually in marginal locations for agriculture (Randsborg 1985), although a different picture is seen further inland. Barley and wheat seem to have been important in some areas, but the relative lack of them from the North Holland sites may be due to either their being exported to the Roman Empire or possibly to environmental reasons in this coastal zone (Randsborg 1985).

Religion and Expressive Culture

Differences are seen between the cemeteries of the coastal area and those of Holstein and the Elbe regions. In the former, the Early Roman Iron Age is characterized by urn graves and cremations, which tend to be poorly furnished, with metal objects being particularly rare. Inhumations are known from 1750 B.P. onward, but these remain rare in this region. From c. 1770 B.P., a small number of richer burials are known, including a group that contain imported Roman bronze vessels, either used to contain the cremated remains or as an ancillary vessel, an example being the site at Hemmoor (Todd 1987). In the Holstein-Elbe region, the Early Roman Iron Age is typified by urn graves, often with male and female burials spatially distinguished (Todd 1987). Cemeteries in this region do not tend to have well-furnished burials, but an exception is the group of