Kignæsbakken -- Torøgelgårdsvej: To mellemneolitiske palisadeanlæg ved Roskilde Fjord.

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]