Social organization of field systems in the Late Prehistory

This thesis endeavoured to investigate whether ardmarks could be used as a proxy for field systems in prehistoric archaeology. It considered the assumption that the crystallization of field structure occurred in the Middle Bronze Age. To discover whether this was the case, this thesis tried to investigate whether social organization was also evident in the earlier field systems. The main question was how did social organization change from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Iron Age? To answer this, this thesis used ardmarks as a proxy for field systems. One of the main uses of ardmarks in current archaeological debate is to provide evidence for intensification. This thesis instead looked at the demarcations, organization of ardmarks, field systems, and how the ardmarks are currently documented to try to discover changes in field systems in prehistory. This study included 28 case studies ranging from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Iron Age. Two types of evidence were found that...Show moreThis thesis endeavoured to investigate whether ardmarks could be used as a proxy for field systems in prehistoric archaeology. It considered the assumption that the crystallization of field structure occurred in the Middle Bronze Age. To discover whether this was the case, this thesis tried to investigate whether social organization was also evident in the earlier field systems. The main question was how did social organization change from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Iron Age? To answer this, this thesis used ardmarks as a proxy for field systems. One of the main uses of ardmarks in current archaeological debate is to provide evidence for intensification. This thesis instead looked at the demarcations, organization of ardmarks, field systems, and how the ardmarks are currently documented to try to discover changes in field systems in prehistory. This study included 28 case studies ranging from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Iron Age. Two types of evidence were found that describe a change in social organization and therefore tenural function of fields in different phases of the prehistory. The first was the layout of the fields in the landscape and the second was the intensification of these fields. The Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age fields were set on the perimeters of landscape features; slope and tops of dunes were important focal points for the organization of these fields. The ardmarks show a pattern of parallel and perpendicular furrows to the slope. This emphasizes the natural landscape as a focal point for these fields and non-demarcated fields. Due to the local changes in natural landscape features, one could argue that these fields were set for the organization of the local settlement rather than a larger inter-organizational structure. However, in the Middle Bronze Age a shift of the layout of fields towards the lower places within the local landscape can be seen. Moreover, an increasing amount of enclosures in the form of ditch systems marks that this shift towards the lower lying areas was deliberate. However, in many case studies it is evident that the natural landscape was still influenced the layout of these fields. It is only in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age that the local relief of the landscape is disregarded for the structure of field systems. This is evident in the more dominant structuring of fields systems for inter-organizational purposes. However, this indicates that tenure was practiced in the Late Neolithic in a more local settlement scale, and that from the Middle Bronze Age it changed towards a larger organization than that of a single settlement organizational perspective. Therefore, we see a clear change in the use of fields in social organization on different landscape levels. In the end, this thesis showed that the organization of field systems changes considerably in chronology but also regionally. However, one should question if these field systems are a direct relation to tenure and chiefdoms, or rather changes in techniques and social organizational views of the land.Show less

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Social organization of field systems in the Late Prehistory