Bronze Age settlement, landscape and land use in Northwest Jutland- the Thy Project in
retrospect
Jens-Henrik Bech, Thisted Museum
The Thy Project was the first of Kristian Kristiansen’s international ventures bringing together
archaeologists from Denmark, the United States, Great Britain and Sweden for field work and
surveys in northwestern Jutland during the years 1990–1998. The main results have long been
published, now to be followed by a comprehensive publication of the Bronze Age data from the
project. The book, in two volumes, is in the final stage of preparation and deals with the Bronze
Age society of Thy in its many aspects ranging from settlements, houses and artefacts to food
production, landscape and land use. In the conference paper three high ranking burials finds from
an Early Bronze Age burial mound from Egshvile in Thy will be presented and linked to some of
the results from the Thy project. This includes intensification of land use during the Early Bronze
Age, amber collection and the introduction of the first urn graves in the area as a result of trade and
intensified communication along the North Sea coast. Finally the demographic development in the
Early Bronze Age of Thy will be evaluated based on the large amount of houses from the period
excavated within the last 25 years. .