A Highly Precise Chronology for the Process of Neolithization in Southern Scandinavia: The ESS Project in Lund, Sweden

In 2013, one of Sweden's largest archaeological excavations started in association with the building of the European Spallation Source (ESS) multidisciplinary research center in Lund. The 160 radiocarbon dates that were produced for the project represent the most exhaustive dating program for a Scandinavian site so far and provide evidence for the human impact and activities on the site from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age. This article presents the results within a Bayesian statistical framework for the 70 C-14 dates from the Early Neolithic settlement (object 1) and a burial site with dolmens and wooden faades. For the first time, a highly precise chronology provides deeper insight into the Neolithization processes and the early settlement strategies in southern Scandinavia from similar to 3800 cal BC onwards.