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In 2016, ROMU excavated a coastal-near site where used iron clench-nails, traces of forging as well as tools have been found, the latter including a supposed two-in-one tool that combines clinker hammer and chisel. A special find was a steel fragment possibly derived from an Ulfberht sword. Most finds were metal detector finds in the top soil, and only few pits were found in the ground. The site is dated to the 10th or early 11th century on the background of a coin and 14C-results. The proximity of the site to the Iron Age and early medieval sea barriers in the fjord at Skuldelev indicates that there may be a connection, e.g. that dismantling of outworn ships took place here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lost, discarded or sacrificed? Presentation of a depositional coastal area at the Syltholm fiord on Lolland. There has been a long tradition for interpretation of the coastal zone off the stone age sites as outcast areas without any kind of features or structures. This attitude is gradually changing and in this article the results from an excavation carried out prior to the construction of a fixed link between Lolland (Denmark) and Fehmarn (Germany), will be used as an argument for the opinion that the coastal zone ought to be seen as moor than just an area containing waste. An accumulation of finds consisting of bones with an overrepresentation of mandibles, pressed down stakes and a number of spectacular artefacts, was found within a restricted area called structure A. Structure A is interpreted as an accumulation of ritual deposits within a much larger area with other indications of ritual activities in form of ceramic pots, a flint halberd etc., placed in shallow water. The excavation has emphasized that we need to pay more attention to the coastal zone. More effort should be directed to analysis of „outcast areas" off coastal sites, as they may contain important information of the ritual practice in the Stone Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years Neolithic enclosures have been excavated at Kignæsbakken and Torøgelgårdsvej on each side of Roskilde Fjord in Zealand, Denmark. At both sites monumental palisade constructions with several rows of palisade fences have been erected during a period of cultural diversity between 2900-2450 calBC. Finds of flint adzes suggest, that the period of use can be narrowed down to a shorter period around 2600-2500 BC. Due to the small number of artifacts recovered at the enclosures, interpretations of their function are mainly based on constructional elements. The palisaded enclosures form a diverse group of constructions separated from earlier periods' causewayed camps of Sarup type by the lack of system ditches, thereby supporting a presumed transition from a social hierarchy based on inherited power connected with the Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB) to one that is based on achieved power. The development shown by the structures is interpreted as an expression of a continually shifting hierarchical situation with an increased focus on individual status and a decline in large sacrificial ceremonies, linking the monumental constructions to ideas connected with the early Battle Axe Culture of southern Sweden (SNSK), where the closest parallels to the enclosures of Roskilde Fjord can be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]