Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
animal husbandry during the Neolithic period. However, hunting, fishing and gath-
ering were never completely abandoned during the following Bronze and Iron
Ages, nor during the Middle Ages, but they played a secondary role in the
economy of the respective societies and communities. This is mainly proved by
the archaeozoological examination of fish remains from several archaeological
sites that have been investigated in detail (for a summary see Heinrich
1995
,
Schmölcke
2004
).
Against this background, it is not surprising that archaeological evidence from
coastal sites preserved in situ for the last 5,000 years is rare. Due to the isostatic
land uplift in central and northern Scandinavia, the former coastal landscapes and
settlements of the periods between the late Neolithic and the Middle Ages are far
from the coast today, so shore-displacement models are also used to determine their
chronology (Grimm
2006
).
Only a few sites in the southern Baltic region have yielded data that provide
information about the seashore at the time of their occupation. For example, several
hearths from the Late Bronze Age (900-600 cal. BC) can be mentioned here that
were exposed as a result of coastal erosion at Rerik in Mecklenburg. They show that
the Baltic water level must then have been at least 1 m lower than today (Jöns et al.
2007
).
A few Iron Age sites have also yielded the remains of features that are closely
related to the exploitation of marine resources. Of special importance in this respect
is a small group of shell middens distributed along the Baltic shore of eastern Jutland
and along the Flensburgian fjord that have been affected by erosion (Harck
1973
,
Løkkegaard Poulsen
1978
). When they emerged around the beginning of the first
millennium the sea level in that region was probably only slightly lower than today
(Labes
2002
/
03
).
In addition, a fishing site dating to the Roman Iron Age should be mentioned: it
was discovered during construction work in the harbour basin of Greifswald in West
Pomerania (Kaute et al.
2005
). Fishing fences were found here, which show that the
sea level to the east of the Darss Sill in the second to fourth centuries AD must have
been at least 1 m lower than today.
While the importance of the coastal zone as a source of nutrition declined from
the Neolithic period onward, its significance for transportation increased. Together
with rivers and lakes, the sea formed the backbone of prehistoric infrastructure right
up until the late Middle Ages. As far as we know, only dugout canoes provided
mobility for travellers and tradesmen before the late Neolithic period. Although
this type of boat remained in use until late medieval times, better and increasingly
powerful types of boats were also developed (Bill et al.
1997
) that enabled voyages
to be made over the Baltic Sea.
The earliest information about seagoing boats and ships is from the Bronze
Age. In this period, transportation networks were established that made possible
the large-scale importation of the necessary copper and tin, from eastern Central
Europe and the British Isles, respectively (Harding
1999
). Although no boat timbers
or wrecks of that era have yet been found in the Baltic area, depictions of ships
