Vedbæk

History

The Vedbæk area has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years as evidenced by the so-called from the Bøgebakken archaeological site, a Mesolithic cemetery of the Ertebølle culture. The cemetery is located in the northern part of the Maglemosen peat bog, and was discovered in 1975 during excavation for the new Vedbæk School. (It should not be confused with the earlier Maglemosian culture, named for a different Maglemose near Slagelse.) An example of the findings of this culture cemetery include the bodies of a young woman with a necklace made of teeth, and her newborn baby. The child is cradled in the wing of a swan with a flint knife at its hip. The child's gravegoods suggest that the culture involved ascribed status – the passing of power between generations. The brief statistical findings of the cemetery are as follows; 22 individual bodies (4 newborns), 17 of the adults buried could be aged – 8 died before reaching the age of 20. There were 9 men, 5 of them over the age of 50, and 8 women: 2 died before the age of 20, 3 living to over 40. Two women died in childbirth (including the young woman mentioned above) and were buried with their newborns beside them. Infant mortality rate is around 35%. Mortality rate is 50%. Reasons for these high death rates could be physiological or cultural. The name Vedbæk is known from 1535 and is derived from with, Old Danish for 'forest', and bæk, meaning 'stream'. The original village consisted of small farms and fishermen's houses. Five families were occupied with fishing in 1787. In the 18th century, several country houses were built in the area by well-to-do citizens from Copenhagen. Denmark's first steam ship, the paddle steamer Caledonia, operated between Copenhagen and Helsingør, calling in Vedbæk on the way. It saved the…