The Corded Ware complex (c. 2900-2250 BCE), which spread across much of Europe at the start of the third millennium BCE, has become a major focus of research in archaeology, linguistics, and genetics, with significant progress in the past decade. Groundbreaking studies have revealed how migrations from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, along with interactions with local Neolithic populations, were key to the emergence and expansion of this cultural complex.
Between 2850 and 2600 BCE, the Corded Ware Culture emerged in Southern Scandinavia through the Single Grave Culture in Northern Germany and Denmark, and the Battle Axe Culture in Sweden. Many regions, likely the majority, remained largely unaffected, with existing groups from the Funnel Beaker and Pitted Ware Cultures continuing their traditional ways of life, coexisting alongside the new Corded Ware groups who had primarily settled in parts of the Jutland Peninsula and Southern Sweden.
This seminar will focus on the subsequent phase, beginning around 2600 BCE, which has received comparatively less attention in recent scholarly research. After 2600 BCE, elements of the Single Grave and Battle Axe Cultures expanded into new areas of Southern Scandinavia that had previously been less influenced. It is likely that this expansion contributed to the final decline of the Funnel Beaker and Pitted Ware Cultures, prompting critical inquiries into how these secondary developments should be understood and interpreted.
Key Topics for the Seminar:
- To what extent can the spread of the Single Grave and Battle Axe Cultures after 2600 BCE be traced back to the earliest Corded Ware horizons in Jutland and Southern Sweden?
- Are there signs of influence or immigration from other regions?
- What patterns emerged at local and regional scales?
- What patterns emerged at local and regional scales?
- How does the expansion of the Single Grave and Battles Axe Cultures after 2600 BCE relate to the decline of the Funnel Beaker and Pitted Ware Cultures?
- How does the development relate to the rise of the Bell Beaker horizon and the transition to the Late Neolithic?
Practical Information:
Date: 18th-19th of September 2025.
Location: Stenaldercenter Ertebølle, Gl. Møllevej 8, Ertebølle, 9640 Farsø, Denmark.
Language: The seminar will be held in English.
Participation fee: 50 EUR / 375 DKK (25 EUR / 175 DKK for students), which includes a light breakfast, lunch, and coffee on September 18th. This fee applies to all participants, including speakers.
Registration:
With a presentation: Please submit an abstract (maximum 250 words) to sw@vmus.dk or skn@vmus.dk by May 1st, 2025. Presentations will be allocated 15-20 minutes. Presenters may apply for transportation costs and additional accommodation (the night before and/or after the seminar), up to 300 Euro in total per person.
Notification of accepted presentations and responses to any requests for funding for transport/accommodation will be provided by May 15, 2025.
Without a presentation: The program and further details, including registration, will be available after May 15, 2025, following the release of the seminar program.
Program:
September 18th, 2025: 09:00-10:30: Welcome, registration, coffee, and light breakfast. 10:30-16:30: Seminar (program follows)
September 19th, 2025: 10:00-13:00: Excursion to local Neolithic sites from Vitskøl Kloster by car/carpooling.
Accommodation, dinner, and transport:
There will be an option for a lift from Aalborg to Ertebølle in the morning of September 18th (at 08:00), with return travel on September 19th (at 13:00). The journey takes one hour by car.
Transport between Ertebølle and Vitskøl Kloster (8 km) will be by car/carpooling.
We look forward to welcoming you to an exciting seminar hosted by Museum Salling, Vendsyssel Historiske Museum and Vesthimmerlands Museum.
Best regards, Sidsel Wåhlin and Simon Kjær Nielsen
Vesthimmerlands Museum
Between 2850 and 2600 BCE, the Corded Ware Culture emerged in Southern Scandinavia through the Single Grave Culture in Northern Germany and Denmark, and the Battle Axe Culture in Sweden. Many regions, likely the majority, remained largely unaffected, with existing groups from the Funnel Beaker and Pitted Ware Cultures continuing their traditional ways of life, coexisting alongside the new Corded Ware groups who had primarily settled in parts of the Jutland Peninsula and Southern Sweden.
This seminar will focus on the subsequent phase, beginning around 2600 BCE, which has received comparatively less attention in recent scholarly research. After 2600 BCE, elements of the Single Grave and Battle Axe Cultures expanded into new areas of Southern Scandinavia that had previously been less influenced. It is likely that this expansion contributed to the final decline of the Funnel Beaker and Pitted Ware Cultures, prompting critical inquiries into how these secondary developments should be understood and interpreted.
Key Topics for the Seminar:
- To what extent can the spread of the Single Grave and Battle Axe Cultures after 2600 BCE be traced back to the earliest Corded Ware horizons in Jutland and Southern Sweden?
- Are there signs of influence or immigration from other regions?
- What can be inferred from genetic studies?
- What innovations can be seen in lifestyle and economic strategies, as well as in contemporary settlements, burial sites, and in the material culture?
- What patterns emerged at local and regional scales?
- What patterns emerged at local and regional scales?
- How does the expansion of the Single Grave and Battles Axe Cultures after 2600 BCE relate to the decline of the Funnel Beaker and Pitted Ware Cultures?
- How does the development relate to the rise of the Bell Beaker horizon and the transition to the Late Neolithic?
Practical Information:
Date: 18th-19th of September 2025.
Location: Stenaldercenter Ertebølle, Gl. Møllevej 8, Ertebølle, 9640 Farsø, Denmark.
Language: The seminar will be held in English.
Participation fee: 50 EUR / 375 DKK (25 EUR / 175 DKK for students), which includes a light breakfast, lunch, and coffee on September 18th. This fee applies to all participants, including speakers.
Registration:
With a presentation: Please submit an abstract (maximum 250 words) to sw@vmus.dk or skn@vmus.dk by May 1st, 2025. Presentations will be allocated 15-20 minutes. Presenters may apply for transportation costs and additional accommodation (the night before and/or after the seminar), up to 300 Euro in total per person.
Notification of accepted presentations and responses to any requests for funding for transport/accommodation will be provided by May 15, 2025.
Without a presentation: The program and further details, including registration, will be available after May 15, 2025, following the release of the seminar program.
Program:
September 18th, 2025: 09:00-10:30: Welcome, registration, coffee, and light breakfast. 10:30-16:30: Seminar (program follows)
September 19th, 2025: 10:00-13:00: Excursion to local Neolithic sites from Vitskøl Kloster by car/carpooling.
Accommodation, dinner, and transport:
Presenters are offered accommodation between 18th-19th of September at Vitskøl Kloster (founded as a monastery in 1158) with breakfast included. The seminar dinner at the monastery on the evening of the 18th (approximately 20 Euros) will be at the participant's own expense.
There will be an option for a lift from Aalborg to Ertebølle in the morning of September 18th (at 08:00), with return travel on September 19th (at 13:00). The journey takes one hour by car.
Transport between Ertebølle and Vitskøl Kloster (8 km) will be by car/carpooling.
We look forward to welcoming you to an exciting seminar hosted by Museum Salling, Vendsyssel Historiske Museum and Vesthimmerlands Museum.
Best regards, Sidsel Wåhlin and Simon Kjær Nielsen
sw@vmus.dk or skn@vmus.dk
Vesthimmerlands Museum
