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Skin boats in Scandinavia? Evaluating the Maritime Technologies of the Neolithic Pitted Ware Culture

Fauvelle, Mikael LU orcid ; Horn, Christian ; Alvå, Jacob and Artursson, Magnus (2024) In Journal of Maritime Archaeology
Abstract
The Early and Middle Neolithic (3500–2300 [Before Current Era] BCE) Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) was a critical component of the historical trajectory of Scandinavia’s maritime history. The hunter-gatherer societies of the PWC were highly adapted to maritime environments, and they fished, hunted, travelled, and traded across great distances over water. Exactly what boat types they used, however, is still an open question. Understanding the maritime technologies used by the PWC is a critical research area as they had an important impact on subsequent maritime adaptations in Scandinavian prehistory. Unfortunately, finding intact boats from Neolithic contexts is extremely difficult. Here, we present indirect evidence for the use of skin boats by... (More)
The Early and Middle Neolithic (3500–2300 [Before Current Era] BCE) Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) was a critical component of the historical trajectory of Scandinavia’s maritime history. The hunter-gatherer societies of the PWC were highly adapted to maritime environments, and they fished, hunted, travelled, and traded across great distances over water. Exactly what boat types they used, however, is still an open question. Understanding the maritime technologies used by the PWC is a critical research area as they had an important impact on subsequent maritime adaptations in Scandinavian prehistory. Unfortunately, finding intact boats from Neolithic contexts is extremely difficult. Here, we present indirect evidence for the use of skin boats by PWC people as a first step towards building a dialog on the types of boats that would have been used during this period. We argue that multiple lines of evidence suggest that skin boats were widely used for every-day activities and long-distance voyages by PWC peoples and will discuss the implications of possible complex boat use by Neolithic peoples for our understanding of early Scandinavian maritime societies. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Maritime Archaeology
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85202014288
ISSN
1557-2285
DOI
10.1007/s11457-024-09408-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f454f44a-0c90-4bb4-81a6-2167dc297626
date added to LUP
2024-08-27 11:19:56
date last changed
2024-09-04 04:05:46
@article{f454f44a-0c90-4bb4-81a6-2167dc297626,
  abstract     = {{The Early and Middle Neolithic (3500–2300 [Before Current Era] BCE) Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) was a critical component of the historical trajectory of Scandinavia’s maritime history. The hunter-gatherer societies of the PWC were highly adapted to maritime environments, and they fished, hunted, travelled, and traded across great distances over water. Exactly what boat types they used, however, is still an open question. Understanding the maritime technologies used by the PWC is a critical research area as they had an important impact on subsequent maritime adaptations in Scandinavian prehistory. Unfortunately, finding intact boats from Neolithic contexts is extremely difficult. Here, we present indirect evidence for the use of skin boats by PWC people as a first step towards building a dialog on the types of boats that would have been used during this period. We argue that multiple lines of evidence suggest that skin boats were widely used for every-day activities and long-distance voyages by PWC peoples and will discuss the implications of possible complex boat use by Neolithic peoples for our understanding of early Scandinavian maritime societies.}},
  author       = {{Fauvelle, Mikael and Horn, Christian and Alvå, Jacob and Artursson, Magnus}},
  issn         = {{1557-2285}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of Maritime Archaeology}},
  title        = {{Skin boats in Scandinavia? Evaluating the Maritime Technologies of the Neolithic Pitted Ware Culture}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11457-024-09408-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11457-024-09408-4}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}