Human-Material Relationships around 4000 BCE: Continuity and Change in South Scandinavian Flint Tool Production Technologies

Abstract

Recent studies have found that explanations of the neolithisation of South Scandinavia based on dichotomies between migration (population replacement) and diffusion (in-group change) are insufficient if we want to understand the complexity and variation involved in what happened during the centuries around 4000 BCE. However, these contrasting narratives still overshadow discussions on change in South Scandinavia ~4000 BCE. Here, we present a study that investigates continuity and change in flint tool production technologies. In focus are socio-technical framework structures and knowledge-transfer systems investigated by technological analyses of Mesolithic core axes and Early Neolithic point-butted Type I axes, as well as Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic blade attributes. Our results reveal variation in socio-technical framework structures and knowledge-transfer systems in action that refers both to a local history of technologies with a tradition and to the introduction of new technologies by groups with links to the continent.