Articlegreen2022
Palaeolithic bone and antler artefacts from Lateglacial and Early Holocene Denmark: technology and dating
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Abstract
The Danish Palaeolithic began during the Lateglacial (approximately 12,350 calBC) and lasted for about four thousand years. Only a handful of sites and organic stray finds have been precisely dated. And it is primarily on these that a preliminary chronological framework has been built. Similarly, numerous hypotheses on palaeohistory, typology, and settlement patterns have been proposed. However, due to the preservation of sediments that allow the preservation of organic 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. These remains 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 worked or were mentioned in the literature as being worked. The Palaeolithic artefacts were AMS 14C-dated and analysed together with existing datasets. The results of the study create a more robust framework for hypotheses building. A reliance on reindeer for tool production throughout 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 the Younger Dryas, followed by an intensive re-occupation of eastern Denmark during the Preboreal. Furthermore, the analysis of the worked bone and antler materials provides new insights into the manufacturing processes. The repeated occurrence of transversely segmented reindeer antler, documenting a continuous evolution of this technique from the Late Upper Palaeolithic to the Final Palaeolithic, speaks against a clear separation of the different cultural entities.
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