Single Grave Culture
Origins
The Single Grave Culture were a subgroup of the Corded Ware Culture, sharing many similarities with them. They lived in Denmark, Northern Germany, and Northern Holland, from 2800 to 2200 BC. They live together with the Pitted Ware Culture and the Funnel Beaker Culture for sometime before replacing them . They were first named by Andres Peter Madsen, a Danish archaeologist, in the late 1800s.[1][2]
Culture
Lifestyle
They lived much the same as their Corded Ware cousins in small, possibly seminomadic villages. They raised cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, and horses, used wagons and draft animals, and also cultivated crops(mainly barley, but also wheat). They made pottery that was similar to the corded wear pots with an emphasis on drinking vessels. Some of their pots had a protruding base or “ foot”. These were found mostly in Scandinavia and Northern Germany, later beakers became more straight walled sometimes with vertical decorations, as opposed to the more normal corded wear decorations. At this time, flint daggers seem to have replaced copper daggers partially. Copper was utilized, but less commonly than before. There was also a trade in Stone axes from Selesia, amber from the Baltic region, and flint from France and Italy.[1][2]
Diet
Their diet consisted of meat from the livestock they raised, as well as wild game. Fish was a part of their diet as well as dairy products. Grain was grown and consumed, but it seems to have been less important to them than to their predecessors. Alcohol was also brewed and consumed, as shown by residue found in drinking vessels, uncovered in burials.[2]
Burial customs
Their burial customs are the main defining factor setting them apart from other cultures, as well as the origin of the name given to them by archaeologists. Burials are often of a single person laid in a single flat grave, though in some places graves are found in layers three deep. (mostly in Jutland). These layers are called the undergrave, the groundgrave, and the abovegrave layers.
The undergrave is dug below the ground level, the groundgrave is laid out at the ground level and covered with a mound, and the abovegrave is laid above the previous layer and also covered with a mound. Man are generally buried laying on thier right side with their heads toward the west, while women are buried on their left side with their heads to the east, both are looking southwards. The people buried are sometimes buried in coffins made of split boards. Men are often buried with battleaxes, flint, tools, and large amber discs. While women are buried with Amber jewelry. Pottery and drinking vessels are often found with both genders. Barrows were often enlarged when a person was added to a grave, and some barrows have children buried on the edges and may be surrounded by a circle of wooden posts.[1]