Vester Hedegaard. A Late Neolithic Settlement with House Remains, Offering Pits, Carbonised Grain and Animal Bones in Northern Jutland

Abstract A settlement with six houses and two offering pits is presented in the article. The settlement is roughly dated to the Late Neolithic II ( c. 1950–1700 BCE ). It contained comprehensive subsistence material, including carbonised grain, food crust and burned bones of a cow and a smaller mammal. The two animals were possibly trapped in a house fire and interpreted as evidence of livestock stalling during the Late Neolithic. The material forms the basis of an interpretation of the subsistence, which is suggested to have consisted of cereal cultivation enhanced by intensive fertilisation with dung from domestic animals. This cultivation cycle ensured stable food production on the lean soils of the area during the occupation. Analysis of the food crust indicates that fruit wine was also consumed in the settlement.