65 years later

In 1955, C. J. Becker published the excavations at Store Valby, western Zealand, Denmark, in the journal “Aarboger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie”. Except for an Early Neolithic phase, the site showed Middle Neolithic occupation. Even if the flint inventory from the latter phase resembled that of the late Funnel Beaker Culture, the associated pottery had a simpler and coarser character compared to the known Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker pottery styles. On this basis, Becker defined a new final phase of the northern Funnel Beaker Culture named the Store Valby phase or MN V. However, new archaeological features, such as palisaded enclosures, have turned up since Becker’s initial discoveries and new cultural insights into the contemporary Pitted Ware and early Single Grave Cultures have significantly increased the cultural complexity of the earliest part of the 3rd millennium BC.This paper sums up the recent developments and, on this basis, discusses whether MN V should still be considered the final Funnel Beaker phase or rather a transformative stage characterised by a mixture of different cultural features.