Burial in the Swedish-Norwegian Battle Axe Culture : questioning the myth of homogeneity

Since its publication in 1962, Mats P. Malmer’s book Jungneolithische Studien has heavily influenced subsequent work on the Swedish-Norwegian Battle Axe Culture. Malmer characterized burial customs as strictly regulated and conservative. Recent archaeological activity in the province of Scania, southern Sweden, provides us with an augmented empirical basis for testing Malmer’s conclusions. In addition, osteological analyses give us new information on e.g. age and sex of buried individuals. The aim of the article is to re-examine Malmer’s tenants, using both his data and new data available to us, emphasizing variability rather than similarity. While the overall picture of homogeneity painted by Malmer remains, it is also apparent that the rigid strictures he emphasized did not fully apply.