Danish Stone Age. Core axe i flint. Hunter stone age: 8800-4800 B.C.

Danish Stone Age. Core axe i flint. Hunter stone age: 8800-4800 B.C.

Provenience: Originates from old Danish antiquities collection.

Find site: Zealand/Funen.

Literature: FLINT from Denmark's old times. By Peter Vang Petersen. Page 98-99.

Measurements approx. : 10,9x3,4x2,9 cm.

Condition: see pictures.

The Maglemose culture was a hunter-gatherer culture in the early Mesolithic in South Scandinavia and Northern Germany, approximately 9000-6400 B.C. The name originates from a settlement on Zealand. The culture is known for tools made of flint, bone, and antler, as well as early signs of settlements near lakes and bogs.

Core axes were produced from smaller, often irregular flint nodules that were not suitable for other tools. The form emerged by chiseling away excess flint from along two side edges, and remnants of the original edge are often seen on the sides. The edge was formed early by opposite cross flakes that met in a pointed ridge.

The core axes required less raw material and were easier to sharpen than blade axes, and they dominated through the Maglemose-, Kongemose-, and older Ertebølle periods. Wear and tear, as well as finds, show that they were used for wood processing, often as a bipartite axe. The type disappears in the agricultural Stone Age.