TY - JOUR

T1 - Palaeolithic bone and antler artefacts from Lateglacial and Early Holocene Denmark

T2 - technology and dating

AU - Wild, Markus

AU - Fischer Mortensen, Morten

AU - Andreasen, Niels H.

AU - Borup, Per

AU - Casati, Claudio

AU - Eriksen, Berit V.

AU - Frost, Lise

AU - Gregersen, Kristian M.

AU - Henriksen, Mogens Bo

AU - Kanstrup, Marie

AU - Olsen, Jesper

AU - Buch Pedersen, Kristoffer

AU - Vang Petersen, Peter

AU - Ramskov, Conni

AU - Sørensen, Lasse

AU - Sørensen, Mikkel

AU - Wåhlin, Sidsel

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - - The Danish Palaeolithic began during the Lateglacial (approximately 12,350 calBC) and lasted for about fourthousand years. Only a handful of sites and organic stray finds have been precisely dated. And it is primarily on these that apreliminary chronological framework has been built. Similarly, numerous hypotheses on palaeohistory, typology, andsettlement patterns have been proposed. However, due to the preservation of sediments that allow the preservation oforganic materials and their exploitation during the past 170 years, abundant reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and elk (Alces alces)remains have been uncovered. Many of these are worked and at least some of which can be assigned to the Palaeolithic. Theseremains have, so far, been only partly studied. Here, we present a study of the complete corpus. The Lateglacial faunal collections in 33 Danish museums were assessed, and 50 reindeer and elk objects are described in detail because they are workedor were mentioned in the literature as being worked. The Palaeolithic artefacts were AMS 14C-dated and analysed togetherwith existing datasets.The results of the study create a more robust framework for hypotheses building. A reliance on reindeer for tool productionthroughout the Danish Palaeolithic is confirmed, as is the two-fold occupation of Denmark during the Hamburgian. Furthermore,the new results indicate a reduction of human occupation or even possible absence of humans during the first half of theYounger Dryas, followed by an intensive re-occupation of eastern Denmark during the Preboreal. Furthermore, the analysis ofthe worked bone and antler materials provides new insights into the manufacturing processes. The repeated occurrence oftransversely segmented reindeer antler, documenting a continuous evolution of this technique from the Late UpperPalaeolithic to the Final Palaeolithic, speaks against a clear separation of the different cultural entities.

AB - - The Danish Palaeolithic began during the Lateglacial (approximately 12,350 calBC) and lasted for about fourthousand years. Only a handful of sites and organic stray finds have been precisely dated. And it is primarily on these that apreliminary chronological framework has been built. Similarly, numerous hypotheses on palaeohistory, typology, andsettlement patterns have been proposed. However, due to the preservation of sediments that allow the preservation oforganic materials and their exploitation during the past 170 years, abundant reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and elk (Alces alces)remains have been uncovered. Many of these are worked and at least some of which can be assigned to the Palaeolithic. Theseremains have, so far, been only partly studied. Here, we present a study of the complete corpus. The Lateglacial faunal collections in 33 Danish museums were assessed, and 50 reindeer and elk objects are described in detail because they are workedor were mentioned in the literature as being worked. The Palaeolithic artefacts were AMS 14C-dated and analysed togetherwith existing datasets.The results of the study create a more robust framework for hypotheses building. A reliance on reindeer for tool productionthroughout the Danish Palaeolithic is confirmed, as is the two-fold occupation of Denmark during the Hamburgian. Furthermore,the new results indicate a reduction of human occupation or even possible absence of humans during the first half of theYounger Dryas, followed by an intensive re-occupation of eastern Denmark during the Preboreal. Furthermore, the analysis ofthe worked bone and antler materials provides new insights into the manufacturing processes. The repeated occurrence oftransversely segmented reindeer antler, documenting a continuous evolution of this technique from the Late UpperPalaeolithic to the Final Palaeolithic, speaks against a clear separation of the different cultural entities.

U2 - 10.7485/qu.2020.67.88925

DO - 10.7485/qu.2020.67.88925

M3 - Journal article

VL - 67(2020)

SP - 105

EP - 180

JO - Quartär

JF - Quartär

SN - 0375-7471

ER -