Subsistence and population development from the Middle Neolithic B (2800–2350 BCE) to the Late Neolithic (2350–1700 BCE) in Southern Scandinavia

The present study aims to explore the hypothesis of a link between a population increasederived from intensified food production and the development from the widespread culturaldiversity of the Middle Neolithic B (MNB) to the cultural unity towards the end of the LateNeolithic (LN) in Southern Scandinavia. We explore this through quantitative modelling ofradiocarbon dates, aoristic time series of material culture and palynological data. On thisbasis, we propose three main results that may explain the transformation: (1) A supra-regional population increase, culminating in the middle of the LN (c. 2100 BCE). (2) Adepopulation in Western Jutland at the transition from the MNB to the LN (c. 2400–2300BCE) counterbalanced by a population increase in North and East Denmark. (3) A popula-tion boom in Southern Sweden around 2250–2000 BCE, possibly leading to migrationstowards west. Furthermore, we propose an overall decline in population in the final LN (c.1850 BCE).