What makes a Place

"In Sweden a general geographical dichotomy exist between the two middle Neolithic cultures, the Pitted Ware Culture and the local version of the Corded Ware Culture – the Boat-Axe Culture. Pitted Ware sites are found in the coastal area and Boat-Axe sites are found in the interior. This picture has strengthened the theory that the cultures represent two different groups living in different economical zones (marine hunting-fishing opposed to farming). By adding stray-finds from the period the picture becomes more blurred as the Boat-Axe culture is found in the coastal zone as well as in the interior. The question I will discuss is: Why are the sites separated in different topographical zones while the stray finds are not? In this paper I will discuss topographical location of Middle Neolithic sites. It is my theory that different activities took place at the sites and for that reason they are not comparable in an ethnical/cultural discussion. Furthermore I believe that the activities interpreted as different cultures were involved in the location of the sites owing to different needs for different actions. Therefore, I will suggest that the topographical qualities of the Middle Neolithic sites can be helpful for interpreting the causes for their location. "