ABSTRACT
During the fourth millennium BC, the growing complexity in production and the consequent need for co-ordination laid the foundations for a rudimentary form of ranking in the early farming communities of Denmark. These tendencies emerged distinctly at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the third millennia BC. Obviously there was now a decided emphasis on vertical relations within the communities. Through the following millennia, this emphasis became more pronounced as a result of attempts at augmenting productivity. There were severe restraints on these attempts. As the socio-economic system permitted only a slight differentiation of production, the agrarian society from 2800 to 500 BC was fairly static.
