Denmark: Mesolithic Coastal Landscapes Submerged

Abstract

Denmark has the richest concentration of underwater Stone Age finds in the world, thanks to a combination of factors that include favourable conditions of preservation and a long tradition of professional and amateur interest in underwater prehistory. The majority of finds are from the central areas of the Danish Straits and date back to about 8500 years ago, when rising sea level finally created a marine connection between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Most are in shallow water, c. 2-5 m in depth, but sites at greater depth have also been identified. Most fall within the Ertebølle period, between 7400 and 5900 years ago, and include excavations at shoreline settlements such as Tybrind Vig, Ronaes Skov and Møllegabet II. These sites have yielded large assemblages of material including wooden artefacts such as remains of fish weirs, dugout canoes, bows, spear shafts and leister prongs, as well as remains of fibres and woven fabric. These materials owe their excellent state of preservation to the deposition in fine-grained marine sediments alongside settlement areas located on the shoreline, and to subsequent sea-level rise because of marine inundation, which has maintained the material in permanently waterlogged and anaerobic conditions. This chapter examines the conditions that have given rise to this unusual concentration of underwater sites, provides an overview and illustration of some of the most distinctive finds, discusses their wider significance and addresses future challenges.

Tracking Hunter-Gatherer Impact on Vegetation in Last Interglacial and Holocene Europe: Proxies and Challenges

“…The earliest archaeological evidence of fishing and hunting constructions are dated to the Early-Middle Holocene (e.g. Bailey et al, 2020;Lozovski et al, 2013;McQuade & O'Donnell, 2007;O'Shea & Meadows, 2009). Direct evidence of fishing is rare and fragmentary for the Mesolithic in comparison with later periods, and the best sources of information are sites with high moisture content.…”

Preservation of microscopic fur, feather, and bast fibers in the Mesolithic ochre grave of Majoonsuo, Eastern Finland

“…Possible species in the Mesolithic context are nettle (Urtica dioica) and tree basts such as willow (Salix sp. ; [2,5]), lime (Tilia sp. ; [4]) and oak (Quercus sp.)…”

“…In previous research, the evidence of Mesolithic plant fibers has been detected especially from under water and wet contexts [2,4]. In Finland, Early Mesolithic net remains have been found in Antrea Korpilahti (current Russia) along wetland drainage in 1913 [80,81].…”

“…In this case, the fiber was identified as willow bast [82]. The Mesolithic finds evidence that technically, plant fibers were looped, twined, and knotted to produce ropes, strings, and nets [83], and needle-binded to make textiles [2,5].…”

“…Cloth-type [1] materials made of organic soft tissues have been crucial throughout the Prehistoric Era in producing garments, containers, tents, ropes, strings, nets, and blankets [2][3][4][5]. In burial rituals, they served in wrapping and covering the dead, in furnishing the grave, for clothes and accessories, and for grave goods [6][7][8].…”