With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Earle and his collaborators will conduct preliminary archaeological survey and excavation on the Thy peninsula which is located in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. While the region is known to be rich in archaeological remains, only limited excavation has been conducted and in the course of one season of fieldwork, Dr. Earle and his team will evaluate survey and excavation techniques which will form the basis for a larger long-term project. The Thy region contains large numbers of barrows or burial chambers and most knowledge about the Neolithic and Bronze age derive from these. However, much less is known about the settlements in which people lived. Because such settlements are marked by relatively few remains they are difficult to locate. When ceramics and lithic remains are discovered on the surface, it is hard to tell whether they are markers of intact deposits which merit excavation. The Thy region has been farmed for thousands of years and quite possibly repeated farming has destroyed subsurface features. Dr. Earle and his team will evaluate different survey techniques which are routinely used in the United States and apply them to the more intensively utilized Danish landscape. In areas with significant scatters of surface remains he will conduct test excavations to determine the relationship between surface and subsurface remains. On this basis he will assess the feasibility of a larger scale long term project. Following the development of agriculture and pastoralism in many parts of the world, one can trace changes in social organization which lead, ultimately, to the rise of states. Early in this process, chiefdoms arose and anthropologists still do not understand the mechanisms through which this happened. Some argue that population growth, permitted by a more stable subsistence base, provided the driving force while others point to other factors such as the development of long distance trade. Over the course of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Scandinavia, chiefdoms underwent cycles of rise and decline. The data collected from this area will allow comparison with cases from other parts of the world. From this, it should be possible to separate historical particulars from the more basic underlying mechanisms. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will test and help to develop survey techniques which may be applicable in many parts of the world and will provide the foundation for a longer term large scale project.
