Regionality and biotope exploitation in Danish Ertebølle and adjoining periods

Results from new analyses of eleven newly excavated animal bone assemblages from settlements in four regions in Stone Age Denmark (Vendsyssel, the Limfjord area, East Central Jutland and Northern Zealand) are presented and discussed together with reviews of previously studied bone assemblages. Most of the settlements date from the Ertebølle culture (5400-3950 BC), but some include the preceding late Kongemose culture as well, while others extend into the Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture. The study focuses on exploitation of marine and terrestrial animal resources and early animal husbandry. Special attention is given to indicators of seasonality on the settlements, as well as indicators of the surrounding habitat, derived from the animal bones. The inclusion of three cultural periods provides an opportunity to analyse temporal change in the exploitation of animals, e.g., the introduction of domestic animals at the transition to the Neolithic (Funnel Beaker Culture). Highlights among new results include the identification of exotic species, specialisations in fishing and hunting at the level of regions and individual settlements, temporal size-changes of red deer, extinction of species in Vendsyssel as a consequence of island formation and indications of local domestication of swine in Jutland.