Complex cattle exchange in the Scandinavian Funnel Beaker Culture. The case of Falbygden, Sweden

Sjorgren, Karl-Goran, Axelsson, Tony, Vretmark, Maria, Meiggs, David, Price, T. Douglas and Pike, Alistair (2021) Complex cattle exchange in the Scandinavian Funnel Beaker Culture. The case of Falbygden, Sweden. In, Salmi, Anna-Kaisa and Niinimaki, Sirpa (eds.) Archaeologies of Animal Movement. Animals on the Move. Switzerland. Springer, pp. 73-83. (doi:10.1007/978-3-030-68744-1_7).

Abstract

In this contribution, we highlight some of the results from analyses of cattle management at two Neolithic settlement sites in Falbygden, western Sweden. The two sites are located close to each other in the parish of Karleby in central Falbygden. Both were excavated 2012–2017 and yielded abundant animal bones, due to the calcareous bedrock. 14C datings indicate that they were both inhabited continuously during the period c. 3200–2900 BC, i.e. the Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker (TRB) culture.

Bulk and laser ablation strontium isotope ratios in cattle teeth from these settlements suggest a complex and wide-ranging system of animal exchange in the Scandinavian Middle Neolithic. More than half of the cattle found in the Karleby settlements were born outside the Falbygden region, and laser ablation suggests variable and individual trajectories through the landscape, in some cases involving areas in eastern Sweden. Further, origins of cattle at the two settlements are only partly overlapping, suggesting independent contact networks.

We suggest an ongoing system of exchanges between settlement groups/social groups throughout Sweden to be behind this variability, rather than transhumance. This may in turn be motivated by a number of factors including biological herd viability, as well as social and economic factors.

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Contributors

Author: Alistair Pike

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