I need some info on the Michelsberg Culture. Some questions that need answering, to better understand what it would have been like to live in that time period. I've found the basics online, but I have some more in depth questions.
I am going to be writing an LP story on the history of Denmark to the Viking Age, and on to the Norwegian crusade by Sigurd I, in 1107 AD. So, from 4000 BC on.
1. Tell me a bit about agriculture during this period, between 4400-3500 bc. How did people transport what they grew back into their villages? If they grew wheat for instance, what did they make out of it? I imagine they had to grind it down to make flour of some sort, right? Did they make some kind of flat bread or something?
2. When hunting they used flint spears, before the bow was invented correct? I know about some of the animals that were present in Denmark. Roe Deer, Elk, Brown Bear. Walrus and Beluga whale were hunted. Birds and smaller game as well. Fishing must have been important for food supplement too.
How was meat prepared? How was it cooked? Of course at the beginning of the game, pottery will not have been invented yet. So, frying discs will not be available or pots for soup or stew, unless they were made of wood or something.
Also, what did people drink? Did they have alcoholic beverages of some type that early in history?
3. What were some of the ritual customs of the time? In Michelsberg Denmark, or round about in that area of Europe, how were women viewed? How did they deal with crime, rape, thievery, murder, things like that? The village was led by a chieftain, correct?
4. I know they buried their dead in pits, though in some areas evidence of cremation were found. How were the dead viewed? Were there some kind of funeral rituals? Did they believe in anything from an early religious point of view? How long did people live? What kind of diseases were there?
5. What was communication like? How advanced was language? Could they talk to each other, like we do today?
6. What were the status of social classes, were people more on an equal footing? Or, was there a higher elite class of people?
7. Architecture and buildings. I understand they lived in longhouses. There were earth mounds built up, with a gate of some sort and an earthen causeway, that led into the village. The village itself was organized into long rectangular buildings. Each building was surrounded by a ditch. A circular palisade wall surrounded the village. A moat encircled the outside of the perimeter. Or there was a large ditch dug around the perimeter. Is this about right?
8. Does anyone know about military organization during this time? Was it just bands of warriors, picked from the toughest of the group? How were battles fought during this time?
9. What did people wear? What were clothes made of?
Anything you can tell me will be useful. It is hard to write about a time period, without a feel for what it actually could have been like. I know not even the best archeologists of our time, don't know all the answers to my questions. Perhaps with your help, I can fill in the gaps of this time and culture, in order to bring it back to life. Thanks for any answers and feedback.
I am going to be writing an LP story on the history of Denmark to the Viking Age, and on to the Norwegian crusade by Sigurd I, in 1107 AD. So, from 4000 BC on.
1. Tell me a bit about agriculture during this period, between 4400-3500 bc. How did people transport what they grew back into their villages? If they grew wheat for instance, what did they make out of it? I imagine they had to grind it down to make flour of some sort, right? Did they make some kind of flat bread or something?
2. When hunting they used flint spears, before the bow was invented correct? I know about some of the animals that were present in Denmark. Roe Deer, Elk, Brown Bear. Walrus and Beluga whale were hunted. Birds and smaller game as well. Fishing must have been important for food supplement too.
How was meat prepared? How was it cooked? Of course at the beginning of the game, pottery will not have been invented yet. So, frying discs will not be available or pots for soup or stew, unless they were made of wood or something.
Also, what did people drink? Did they have alcoholic beverages of some type that early in history?
3. What were some of the ritual customs of the time? In Michelsberg Denmark, or round about in that area of Europe, how were women viewed? How did they deal with crime, rape, thievery, murder, things like that? The village was led by a chieftain, correct?
4. I know they buried their dead in pits, though in some areas evidence of cremation were found. How were the dead viewed? Were there some kind of funeral rituals? Did they believe in anything from an early religious point of view? How long did people live? What kind of diseases were there?
5. What was communication like? How advanced was language? Could they talk to each other, like we do today?
6. What were the status of social classes, were people more on an equal footing? Or, was there a higher elite class of people?
7. Architecture and buildings. I understand they lived in longhouses. There were earth mounds built up, with a gate of some sort and an earthen causeway, that led into the village. The village itself was organized into long rectangular buildings. Each building was surrounded by a ditch. A circular palisade wall surrounded the village. A moat encircled the outside of the perimeter. Or there was a large ditch dug around the perimeter. Is this about right?
8. Does anyone know about military organization during this time? Was it just bands of warriors, picked from the toughest of the group? How were battles fought during this time?
9. What did people wear? What were clothes made of?
Anything you can tell me will be useful. It is hard to write about a time period, without a feel for what it actually could have been like. I know not even the best archeologists of our time, don't know all the answers to my questions. Perhaps with your help, I can fill in the gaps of this time and culture, in order to bring it back to life. Thanks for any answers and feedback.
