The Border of Farming and the Cultural Markers - Nordlige Verdener

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134 present day Oslo Fjord area. The Neolithisation of the British Isles happened as a push from Western and Northern present day France, and this push reached its ultimate boundary approximately 60° North on Shetland, and according to past maritime technology further expansion was impossible. Shetland is moreover a closed unit, although it is scarcely also a closed laboratory. One of the tasks set by this research project will be to clarify possible outward relations after the islands were first colonised by the farming population. It is evident that the Neolithic cultures on Shetland were related to the rest of the Neolithic traditions in North- West Europe, and it is just as evident that the Neolithic communities developed their own cultural traits with regards to tools, building traditions, and grave monuments. Two cases of pioneer societies This paper deals with peopling Shetland as there are different challenges to understanding the Neolithisation on the mainland on the British Isles and the continent and on islands especially of the size of Shetland and Orkney. As mentioned in the introduction some of the Neolithic elements if not all are present in Shetland, which indicate that there was a well functioning society on Shetland during the Neolithic Period (Mahler 2011a & b). This brings me to deal with the question of demographic aspects, wondering how island populations survive their initial colonization. A pioneer society consisting of a 100 persons may well be economical successful, but if 98 of them are men and only 2 women the demographic prospective is not prosperous. Besides population size we talk about three main elements, namely birth rate or fertility, death rate and sex ratio (Moore 2001: 397; Moore & Moseley 2001: 526; Robert-Lamblin 2006: 235 ff.). It is also important to remember that even a fairly large population of let say 100 persons, males and females in the reproductive age will, after some hundreds of years, have great difficulties finding an acceptable marriage partner avoiding the society’s definition of incest. These definitions could force the society to an exogamous marriage system (Moore 2001: 406). Beside there is not a “magic number” for a population size that ensures a band’s viability in a new environment. “There is no such number. Initial size is only one factor contributing to the success of a colonizing group. Probably more important is birth rate, and good luck in having a balanced number of male and females born into the band...” (Moore & Moseley 2001: 528).
135 Generally we speak of six different models of colonization into empty areas, but here I shall only touch upon three of them (Moore 2001: 395-396; Anderson & Gillan 2000: 43 ff.). The first model and much discussed is called Outpost Model or Leap-frog Model, which describe a human population colonizing an empty area without contact to the mother population. Such expansions are very vulnerable and constitute a demographic risk to say at least. This model is much more suited to situations where the expansion goes into already populated areas i.e. with an existing mass of genes, which could explain the rapid Neolithic expansion in continental Europe where the population of the Mesolithic or Ertebølle/Ellerbech Cultures constitute possible mating or marriage partners for the expanding Funnel Beaker (TRB) population (Rowley-Conwy ip: 1ff.). The TRB expansion is a large and fast push only coming to a temporary halt just North of Bohuslän in Western Sweden or around the Oslo Fjord area as earlier mentioned, may be because the Mesolithic population density drops drastically further North and thus the local mass of genes also drops. The String of Pearls is a variation of the Matrix Model (Moore 2001: 395) and describes a colonization along coastlines or river systems securing continuous communication with neighbouring Fig. 2: One of six demographic models. (Moore 2001, fig. 5). sister settlements eventually securing this communication with exchange of e.g. raw material for making implements, as we shall see later with the Sarqqaq Culture of Western Greenland (Grønnow 2004: 66). The last model to be mentioned is the Pulse Model or Wave Model, fig. 2. It is used for describing two beachhead and outpost scenarios, where colonists arrive in successive groups securing a steady gene flow. The successive arrives of new groups could be caused by special attractive elements in the newly colonized land such as arable land with the possibility of a social rise or special luxury raw material such as walrus teeth, if we look at Norse Greenland. In these far out societies it is necessary for some kind of social economic relations, which Nordlige Verdener Shetlandsprojekt
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The Border of Farming and the Cultu
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The Border of Farming and the Cultu
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Contents • Foreword H. C. Gulløv
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different parts of Scandinavia and
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7 2011; Melton 2008; 2009; Melton &
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9 consists of just a handful of sma
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11 Fig. 1: Possibly the earliest me
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13 knives, found in a long ‘knoll
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15 Fig. 4: Potsherds from Modesty.
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17 settlement was not recorded in d
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19 Among the many outstanding quest
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21 Fig. 7: Undecorated, uncarinated
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23 Fig. 8: Top: cushion macehead, S
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25 carbon dates suggest that House
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27 monument (Henshall 1963) - which
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29 Fig. 10: Notional sequence of fu
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31 it is anticipated that the resea
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33 zons. Papers Presented at the Se
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35 RCAHMS (Royal Commission on the
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37 Pinhoulland - a multi period sit
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39 general which could be interpret
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41 Fig. 3: Map of the area around P
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43 Most of the house structures are
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45 Photo Ditlev L. Mahler. Jarlshof
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47 ± 1 15 14 1 16 18 13 17 12 7 9
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± 49 14 15 16 13 18 14 15 16 17 13
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51 Bennett, K. D. et al. 1992: Holo
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53 Sacred Work: Cultivating the soi
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55 Photographs by the author. Fig 4
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57 Fig. 7: Shetland spade from the
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59 The significance of agrarian too
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61 Lamb, R. & Rees, S. 1981: Ard Cu
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63 like that of Schneiderman-Fox &
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65 Fig. 3: Shetland knife workshop
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67 a list of rituals to be carried
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69 (hollow-edged), profile category
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71 35 30 TN - far from Bømlo 25 20
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Cambrian flint Southern Scottish ch
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75 flint and some Arran pitchstone,
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77 [http://www.sair.org.uk/sair17/i
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79 Axes from islands: the role of s
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81 material but there were a couple
Page 85 and 86: 83 A centre of island life, axe pro
Page 87 and 88: 85 dal 1998: 61). It is clear that
Page 89 and 90: 87 as larger ones were being produc
Page 91 and 92: 89 the tool pre-forms or rough-outs
Page 93 and 94: 91 During September 2011, following
Page 95 and 96: 93 Fig. 11: Knive workshop at easte
Page 97 and 98: 95 support a symbolic interpretatio
Page 99 and 100: 97 farming: an extended broad spect
Page 101 and 102: 99 Ritchie, P.R. 1992: Stone axehea
Page 103 and 104: 101 Age societies reached this poin
Page 105 and 106: 103 F. Kaul Photo. Culture. In Sout
Page 107 and 108: 105 monumental passage tombs, a sma
Page 109 and 110: 107 F. Kaul Photo. Fig. 6: Dæmpe g
Page 111 and 112: 109 Fig. 7: Plan drawing of the mul
Page 113 and 114: 111 Fig. 11: Tulach an t-Sionnaich,
Page 115 and 116: 113 Among the remarkably few horned
Page 117 and 118: 115 Fig. 14: Plan drawing of the Ne
Page 119 and 120: 117 just before the time when the C
Page 121 and 122: 119 Bibliography Andersen, S.H. & J
Page 123 and 124: 121 Madsen, A.P., 1896: Gravhøje o
Page 125 and 126: 123 Norway - the first remains of f
Page 127 and 128: 125 Fig. 4: The northernmost house
Page 129 and 130: 127 Børsheim 2005: 115, 116 fig. 4
Page 131 and 132: 129 scarce in Norway, and they are
Page 133 and 134: 131 Bibliography Arntzen, J. 2010 a
Page 135: 133 Introduction As introduced else
Page 139 and 140: 137 earlier. In this respect the co
Page 141 and 142: 139 coming up the British West coas
Page 143 and 144: 141 Grønnow, B. 2004: Saqqaqkultur
Page 145 and 146: 143 The heel shaped cain on the isl
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The Border of Farming and the Cultural Markers - Nordlige Verdener

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