Fårevejle Kro

The shell midden at Fårevejle was first visited by A.P. Madsen in 1894 and later partially excavated in 1896-97 by the National Museum of Denmark. In 2004-2005 the shell midden was revisited; two trenches were put through the central part of the midden. The shell midden is clearly stratified with Ertebølle layers at the bottom; the main shell component of these layers is oysters. These layers contain stone-lined fireplaces, bone, diagnostic pot sherds, and flint artefacts from the Late Mesolithic. The top of the midden is mainly composed of crushed cockles and mussels, mixed with layers of charcoal and burned rocks. These upper layers contain fireplaces and ash dumps, as well as bone, flint artefacts and potsherds from the EN Ib/EN II and MNA Ib phases of the Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB). The sparseness of residential materials (flint, sherds, bone) in the Mesolithic component suggests that this midden was not a base camp but rather visited for short periods of use.