area between Denmark and Sweden (Larsson 1983b).

In the earlier part of the third (blade and trapeze) phase of the Mesolithic, the sea was rising rapidly. The Kongemose culture belonging to this period (ca. 6800 to 6300 b.p.) is little known, but the succeeding Ertebølle culture (ca. 6300 to 5200 b.p.) has provided many settlements. In the north and east of Denmark, Ertebølle coasts are above present sea levels; on these raised beaches are the many shell middens for which this culture is renowned (Europe’s first recognized Mesolithic settlement, Havelse Mølle, is one of these). Oysters usually predominate among the shellfish, but bones of land and sea mammals, birds, and fish are numerous, and these taxa probably provided most of the diet—the importance of plant foods again being unquantifiable. Analysis of C-13 content in human skeletons indicates that the Ertebølle diet was dominated by marine foods, probably to a greater extent than would be suspected from other lines of evidence, and that this changed abruptly to a terrestrially based diet at the start of the Neolithic period (Tauber 1982).

Many excavations have been published; in Jutland the eponymous site of Ertebølle has been the scene of renewed work (S. H. Andersen and Johansen 1986), and smaller shell middens such as Norsminde (S. H. Andersen 1989) and the inland site at Ringkloster (S. H. Andersen 1975) have also been recently excavated. Farther east oysters played a lesser part in the diet as salinity decreased, but sites were still large; examples include those around Vedbæk Fjord in Denmark (Price and Brinch Petersen 1987) and Segebro in Sweden (Larsson 1982). In southern Denmark the raised beaches run below present sea levels; the site of Tybrind Vig, excavated by divers, testifies to the continuation of the Ertebølle in this region (S. H. Andersen 1987a and 1987b).

Some of the larger shell middens were occupied year-round (Rowley-Conwy 1983). Other sites were seasonally occupied; Ringkloster, in the interior, was a winter-spring site. The sedentism suggested by evidence in the sites has given rise to discussions of possible social complexity (Rowley-Conwy 1983), although it has been stressed that the data are vague (Price 1985). The remarkable early Ertebølle cemeteries at Vedbæk in Denmark (Albrethsen and Brinch Petersen 1976) and Skateholm in Sweden (Larsson 1988) may indicate territorial behavior.

Iberia

Iberia is a large and diverse landmass, ranging from a cool, temperate north to a warm, oceanic southwest and a hot, Mediterranean south and east. Research has inevitably been somewhat patchy in so large an area, but enough has been done to identify Iberia as an area of key interest in the European Mesolithic.

The later Mesolithic of portugal was characterized by groups of substantial shell middens (for recent reviews, see Arnaud 1989, 1990; Lubell and Jackes 1988; Zilhão 1993). These date to around 7000 to 5500 b.p. and lie some way inland from the present seacoast, overlooking post-Mesolithic alluvial deposits. Those on the Muge River (a tributary of the Tagus) are comparatively well known. Moita do Sebastião is a major midden with traces of one or more structures and a large cemetery (Roche 1972a), and Arruda and Amoreira also both have cemeteries (Roche 1972b). Other shell middens lie farther south on the Sado River. Cabeço do Pez and Poças de São Bento are the two largest; these and several others have cemeteries (Arnaud 1989). Finally, a third group lies on or close to the Mira River (Arnaud 1990).

Although these shell middens do not consist of tightly packed oysters like the ones in Denmark, they have a more diffuse content of smaller marine and brackish-water shells and are sometimes a short distance from the contemporary shore. Animal bones are present in quantity in some middens, with those of red deer and wild boar being the most common. Fish bones tend to be less visible, although many were recovered at Arapouco at the seaward end of the Sado group. The species of fish in question indicate a summer occupation of this site, whereas Cabeço do Pez at the inland end may have been a winter site. This supports the suggestion that there was short-distance seasonal movement within at least the Sado middens, with groups spending summers near the seacoast