Late Neolithic houses and their development within Horsens Museums’s area of responsibility

Excavations over the past 15 years within Horsens Museum’s area of responsibility have revealed more than 50 house sites dating to the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. As well as the traditional longhouse, with its origins dating back to the Early Neolithic, several new house types established a foothold in the area during the course of the Late Neolithic period. The introduction of these was not just a result of the cultural currents that influenced the area from the Bell Beaker Culture during LN I and, later on, the Únĕtice Culture in LN II. The new house types first gained a foothold at the inland settlements of the area, where they also reflect the extent of regional cultural environments. During this period, the first clear signs of functional division of the houses can be observed, together with the beginnings of a development towards three-aisled houses. The central role of agriculture is reflected by remains found in a number of houses, and the increasing agricultural production, with its greater need for storage, probably played a special role in both the arrangement and construction of the new longhouses.