Neolithic Battle Axes With Cup Marks

Abstract

For many years, scholars consistently dated cup marks – shallow depressions found on both portable and immovable stones – of northern Germany and southern Scandinavia to the Bronze Age. Novel findings trace them back to at least as far as the Late Neolithic period (LN, c. 2350 bc). Recently, portable cup marked stones belonging to a late Funnel Beaker context (c. 2800 bc) have been found. There are even indications of cup marks dating back to the 4th millennium bc. At present, a gap exists in the knowledge of cup marks and non-figurative art in general during the Younger Neolithic (YN) Corded Ware Culture (CWC) (c. 2800–2250 bc). This paper establishes the significance of three related types of secondary treatments of battle axe fragments, namely the addition of (hourglass shaped) unfinished shaft holes, deep pecking holes, and shallow cup marks. The argument put forward is that they were present in small numbers in the 4th millennium bc, becoming increasingly common during the proposed ‘gap phase’ in the context of CWC societies. The late 3rd millennium is a period of enormous social change. During this period, of the three types of secondary treatment only cup marks persist, while the potential media on which such cup marks are applied diversifies, with them appearing on objects and items other than battle axe fragments. It is proposed that this development is related to the social changes that characterise the onset of the LN. Finally, it is suggested that the LN and Bronze Age cup mark tradition is based on an earlier tradition initially associated with battle axes.