Møllegabet II: A submerged Mesolithic settlement in southern Denmark

Skaarup, Jørgen; Grøn, Ole

doi:10.30861/9781841716732

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…Dix and Westley, 2006). However, experience from the shallower and therefore more dynamic waters with strong currents occurring in sounds and straits, which cause disturbance and destruction, show that pockets with good conditions for preservation of such sites do exist, in some cases even with extremely good preservation of organic material (Skaarup and Grøn, 2004;Bendixen et al, 2017).…”

Section: Flint-knapping and The Submerged Stone Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting human-knapped flint with marine high-resolution reflection seismics: A preliminary study of new possibilities for subsea mapping of submerged Stone Age sites

Grøn¹,

Boldreel²,

Hermand³

et al. 2018

uw tech: int j soc uw tech

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Seismic high-resolution Chirp profiles from the welldocumented submerged Stone Age settlement Atlit-Yam, located off Israel's Carmel coast, display systematic disturbances within the water column not related to sea-floor cavitation, vegetation, fish shoals, gas or salinity/temperature differences, where flint debitage from the Stone Age site had been verified archaeologically. A preliminary series of controlled experiments, using identical acquisition parameters, strongly indicate that human-knapped flint debitage lying on the sea floor, or embedded within its sediments, produces similar significant responses in the water column. Flint pieces cracked naturally by thermal or geological processes appear not to do so. Laboratory experiments, finite element modelling and controlled experiments conducted in open water on the response to broad-spectrum acoustic signals point to an excited resonance response within humanknapped flint even for sediment embedded debitage, with acoustic signals within the 2-20 kHz interval. The disturbances observed in the water column on the seismic profiles recorded at Atlit-Yam are, therefore, based on these results, interpreted as resonance from human-knapped flint debitage covered by up to 1.5 m of sand. Such a principle, if substantiated by further research, should facilitate efficient and precise mapping of submerged Stone Age sites.

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Section: Flint-knapping and The Submerged Stone Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting human-knapped flint with marine high-resolution reflection seismics: A preliminary study of new possibilities for subsea mapping of submerged Stone Age sites

Grøn¹,

Boldreel²,

Hermand³

et al. 2018

uw tech: int j soc uw tech

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“…Like many other coastal sites, the Argus site was located on a promontory overlooking a narrow fjord ideal for trapping fish. The main interest of the site is the recovery in the excavated Møllegabet II, excavated between 1988 and 1993 (Grøn and Skaarup 2004;Skaarup and Grøn 2004), was discovered by a combination of subbottom acoustic survey and diver inspection at 4.5-5 m bpsl followed up by excavation of a 6 × 4 m trench. The site dates to the Early Ertebolle period (c. 5400-4800 cal BC) and is of interest for the discovery of remains of a dugout canoe and parts of a human skeleton nearby, a layer of bark, branches and leaves with concentrations of charcoal, worked flint and fish bones, interpreted as the remains of a dwelling structure and concentrations of mollusc shells that may perhaps represent a shell midden deposit.…”

Section: Ronaes Skov Argus Bank and Møllegabet IImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perhaps the best case for a submerged shell midden comes from the recently excavated site of Hjarnø Sund (Fig. 3.25; Skriver et al 2017;Astrup et al 2019). Here shell deposits up to 1 m thick have been discovered beneath gyttja and eroding out at the surface of the seabed (Fig.…”

Section: Shell Moundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the most detailed survey work concentrated around the shorelines of the island of Fyn and its immediate neighbours (Skaarup 1983(Skaarup , 2001(Skaarup , 2004Fischer 1993). Systematic excavation took place at a small number of sites, notably at Tybring Vig (Andersen 1980(Andersen , 1985, Møllegabet II (Grøn and Skaarup 1993;Skaarup and Grøn 2004), Argus Grund (Fischer 1987) and Ronaes Skov (Andersen 2009), resulting in the development of novel methods of underwater 1 The differences are due to the fact that the higher figures include estimates of the number of sites that should be present along the submerged shorelines of southern Denmark by extrapolation from the density of finds of the same period known from the uplifted shorelines of northern Denmark. 2 In this chapter, ka (thousands of years ago) is used to mean thousands of calibrated radiocarbon years before present.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Denmark: Mesolithic Coastal Landscapes Submerged

Bailey

Andersen

Maarleveld

2020

The Archaeology of Europe’s Drowned Landscapes

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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.

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“…Searches for underwater shell middens have been attempted in several parts of the world, notably in North America, Europe, and the Red Sea, including diver inspection and use of sub-bottom survey for buried deposits, but their discovery has remained elusive, or else their status as cultural deposits has remained uncertain in the absence of more detailed excavation (Andersen 2009(Andersen , 2013Bailey et al 2007Bailey et al , 2015Easton 1993;Faught 2014;Gusick and Faught 2011;Jazwa and Mather 2014;Nutley 2014;Pearson et al 1986;Skaarup and Grøn 2004). Confirmed examples are very rare: only some freshwater shell deposits in the lake district of Japan (Hayashida et al 2014), and a recent discovery in the Gulf of Mexico (Cook Hale et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underwater Shell Middens: Excavation and Remote Sensing of a Submerged Mesolithic site at Hjarnø, Denmark

Astrup

Skriver

Benjamín

et al. 2019

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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Shell middens, or shell-matrix deposits, occur in large numbers across the coastlines of the world from the mid-Holocene (ca. 6000-5000 cal BC) onwards, often forming substantial mounds. However, they become smaller, rarer or absent as one goes back into earlier periods, suggesting a worldwide process of economic intensification. Since sea level was generally much lower during these earlier periods, a critical question is the extent to which mounded shell middens could have accumulated on now-submerged palaeoshorelines, and if so, how they were affected by the potentially destructive impact of sea-level rise. Further, and important to modern practice, it is essential that archaeologists consider how such sites can be discovered through underwater investigation. Here we offer a proof of concept that shell middens can survive submergence and can be detected, using systematic investigation of a rare example of a confirmed underwater shell midden at the Mesolithic site of Hjarnø (ca. 5300-4300 cal BC) in Denmark. We

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Møllegabet II: A submerged Mesolithic settlement in southern Denmark

Cited by 24 publications

References 0 publications

Detecting human-knapped flint with marine high-resolution reflection seismics: A preliminary study of new possibilities for subsea mapping of submerged Stone Age sites

Detecting human-knapped flint with marine high-resolution reflection seismics: A preliminary study of new possibilities for subsea mapping of submerged Stone Age sites

Denmark: Mesolithic Coastal Landscapes Submerged

Underwater Shell Middens: Excavation and Remote Sensing of a Submerged Mesolithic site at Hjarnø, Denmark

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