Dataset Information

Barbed bone point chronology reveals an unexpected hiatus in the archaeology of Southern Scandinavia around 10,300 years BP

ABSTRACT: The extensive peat bogs of Southern Scandinavia have yielded rich Mesolithic archaeological assemblages, which has informed prehistoric studies for more than a century. Central to this has been the first recognizably Mesolithic culture, the Maglemose (c. 11,000 - 8,000 BP), first described in 1903 which has become a yardstick against which all other Early Mesolithic cultures have been compared. Despite the excellent preservation of organic material, we have for the first time conducted a combined investigation of the typology, species composition and absolute chronology of Maglemose bone points. A demonstrable and significant change in barb morphology can be directly linked to a significant paucity of finds in Southern Scandinavia around 10,300 cal BP, potentially linked to climate change. Peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) reveals that the majority of bone points are made from cervids and bovines. The ribs of bovines; for instance, are more frequently utilized following the hiatus. Furthermore, the marked change in barbed bone point morphology coincides with a change in lithic technology. This change in material culture has been shown to arrive archaeologically with eastern pioneers and colonisations through Fennoscandinavia. We, therefore, propose that the Maglemose culture in Southern Scandinavia is fundamentally divided into an Early Complex (c. 11,600 - 10,300 cal BP) and a Late Complex (c. 10,300 - 8,600 cal BP): the former characterized by percussion blade production and “fine-barbed bone points” and the latter characterized by the innovations of pressure-blade production and “larger barbed bone points”. Finally, through these integrated analyses we are able to show that a single artifact type can be used as a proxy for human populations as well as inferences on potential climate changes.

INSTRUMENT(S): Bruker Daltonics flex series, Q Exactive HF-X, Q Exactive HF

ORGANISM(S): Cervus Elaphus (red Deer) Alces Alces (eurasian Elk)

TISSUE(S): Bone Matrix

SUBMITTER: Meaghan Mackie

LAB HEAD: Matthew Collins

PROVIDER: PXD018050 | Pride | 2020-10-13

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
	20171026_QE7_nLC11_MEM_COLLAB_TJ_UofY_P220_01.raw	Raw
	20171026_QE7_nLC11_MEM_COLLAB_TJ_UofY_P221_01.raw	Raw
	20171026_QE7_nLC11_MEM_COLLAB_TJ_UofY_X4787_01.raw	Raw
	20171026_QE7_nLC11_MEM_COLLAB_TJ_UofY_X4997_01.raw	Raw
	20190614_QE7_nLC5_MEM_COLLAB_TJ_UofY_A37811.raw	Raw

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Publications

An integrated analysis of Maglemose bone points reframes the Early Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia.

Jensen Theis Zetner Trolle TZT Sjöström Arne A Fischer Anders A Rosengren Erika E Lanigan Liam Thomas LT Bennike Ole O Richter Kristine Korzow KK Gron Kurt Joseph KJ Mackie Meaghan M Mortensen Morten Fischer MF Sørensen Lasse L Chivall David D Iversen Katrine Højholt KH Taurozzi Alberto John AJ Olsen Jesper J Schroeder Hannes H Milner Nicky N Sørensen Mikkel M Collins Matthew James MJ

Scientific reports 20201014 1

The extensive peat bogs of Southern Scandinavia have yielded rich Mesolithic archaeological assemblages, with one of the most iconic artefacts being the bone point. Although great in number they remain understudied. Here we present a combined investigation of the typology, protein-based species composition, and absolute chronology of Maglemosian bone points. The majority of the bone points are made from cervids and bovines. However, changes both in species composition and barb morphology can be ...[more]

PMID: 33057088

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