Ginnerup Revisited. New Excavations at a Key Neolithic Site on Djursland, Denmark
Klassen, Lutz; Rasmussen, Uffe; Kveiborg, Jakob; Richards, Michael; Orlando, Ludovic; Svenning, Jens-Christian; Ritchie, Kenneth; Andreasen, Marianne Høyem; Philippsen, Bente; Iversen, Rune; Johannsen, Niels N.
Peer reviewed, Journal article
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Date
2023Metadata
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10.12766/jna.2023.2Abstract
New excavations of an enclosure–related site at Ginnerup on Djursland, Denmark, in 2020 resulted in the identification of several features contain-ing depositions of marine shells. One of these, A4, is a natural depression with a fill comprised of four consecutively deposited layers, forming an un-disturbed stratigraphy, dated by several 14C dates to between ca. 3150 and 2950 cal BC. The oldest layer contained finds from phase MN A Ib of the Fun-nel Beaker culture, while the remaining three layers yielded finds from the latest Funnel Beaker culture on Djursland (MN A II/III, Ferslev style) with an upwardly increasing content of Pitted Ware culture elements, thereby al-lowing the emergence of this culture in Denmark to be followed for the first time. Preservation conditions for organic material were excellent due to the presence of marine shells, mainly from oysters and mussels, in all layers. In this preliminary account, a survey of the material culture in the four layers is presented, together with 14C dates, zoological investigations of mammal and fish bones, isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S) and aDNA analyses of mammal bones, and examinations of plant macro-remains. The abundant bones of wild horses also hold a huge potential for zoological and genetic studies, the results of which can qualify the ongoing debate about the re-wilding of horses in present-day Europe. Ginnerup Revisited. New Excavations at a Key Neolithic Site on Djursland, Denmark