Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

An integrated analysis of Maglemose bone points reframes the Early Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia

Jensen, Theis Zetner Trolle; Sjöström, Arne; Fischer, Anders; Rosengren, Erika; Lanigan, Liam Thomas; Bennike, Ole; Richter, Kristine Korzow; Gron, Kurt Joseph; Mackie, Meaghan; Mortensen, Morten Fischer; Sørensen, Lasse; Chivall, David; Iversen, Katrine Højholt; Taurozzi, Alberto John; Olsen, Jesper; Schroeder, Hannes; Milner, Nicky; Sørensen, Mikkel; Collins, Matthew James

An integrated analysis of Maglemose bone points reframes the Early Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia Thumbnail


Authors

Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen

Arne Sjöström

Anders Fischer

Erika Rosengren

Liam Thomas Lanigan

Ole Bennike

Kristine Korzow Richter

Profile Image

Dr Kurt Gron k.j.gron@durham.ac.uk
Research Development Manager

Meaghan Mackie

Morten Fischer Mortensen

Lasse Sørensen

David Chivall

Katrine Højholt Iversen

Alberto John Taurozzi

Jesper Olsen

Hannes Schroeder

Nicky Milner

Mikkel Sørensen

Matthew James Collins



Abstract

The extensive peat bogs of Southern Scandinavia have yielded rich Mesolithic archaeological assemblages, with one of the most iconic artefacts being the bone point. Although great in number they remain understudied. Here we present a combined investigation of the typology, protein-based species composition, and absolute chronology of Maglemosian bone points. The majority of the bone points are made from cervids and bovines. However, changes both in species composition and barb morphology can be directly linked to a paucity of finds lasting nearly 600 years in Southern Scandinavia around 10,300 cal BP. We hypothesize that this hiatus was climate-driven and forced hunter-gatherers to abandon the lakes. Furthermore, the marked change in bone points coincides with a change in lithic technology. We, therefore, propose that the Maglemose culture in Southern Scandinavia is fundamentally divided into an Early Complex and a Late Complex.

Citation

Jensen, T. Z. T., Sjöström, A., Fischer, A., Rosengren, E., Lanigan, L. T., Bennike, O., …Collins, M. J. (2020). An integrated analysis of Maglemose bone points reframes the Early Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 17244. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74258-8

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 28, 2020
Online Publication Date Oct 14, 2020
Publication Date 2020
Deposit Date Oct 21, 2020
Publicly Available Date Oct 21, 2020
Journal Scientific Reports
Publisher Nature Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 1
Article Number 17244
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74258-8

Files

Published Journal Article (3.4 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.




You might also like



Downloadable Citations