Danish Stone Age. Core Axe in Flint. Hunter Stone Age: 8800-4800 B.C.

Danish Stone Age. Core Axe in Flint. Hunter Stone Age: 8800-4800 B.C.

Provenance: Part of old Danish antiquities collection.

Find location: Zealand/Fyn.

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

Size approx. : 10,9x3,4x2,9 cm.

Condition: see images.

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

Core axes were made from smaller, often irregular flint nodules, which were not suitable for other tools. The shape was formed by chipping off excess flint from both sides, and remnants of the original edge can often be seen on the sides. The egg shape was formed early by opposite blows, which met in a pointed back.

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 finds show that they were used for woodworking, often as a side axe. The type disappears in the farming Stone Age.