Daggers of Late Neolithic Denmark
Abstract
The flint daggers of late Neolithic Denmark are some of the most technically complex stone tools in the world. An experimental approach was utilized to evaluate the production technology and related archaeological implications of the type Ic flint dagger, one of the earliest Danish dagger forms. The experiments suggest that although a relatively simple tool kit was probably employed to create these remarkable implements, a high degree of technical proficiency working flint was necessary to complete each discrete production step. Because of this technical complexity as well as the apparent staged nature of type Ic production, the makers of these daggers were probably specialists who participated in every aspect of the production process. Furthermore, the experiments indicate that sites where these specialist flintworkers produced type Ic flint daggers can only be identified using a broad suite of morphological debitage characteristics, and not the presence of any single debitage characteristic alone.
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In Search of Hindsgavl
Abstract
This study presents a project which explored the complex production technology of Danish flint daggers of the ‘Hindsgavl’ type. Whereas the chronology and variation in the Late Neolithic flint dagger sequence are widely understood, the complex lithic technology used to create flint daggers is relatively unexplored. This paper discusses the technology of the most complex and arguably most spectacular of the dagger forms, the type IVe dagger of the ‘Hindsgavl’ or stitched type (Lomborg 1973).
The main thrust of this article is the importance of innovation to the development of flint dagger technology. Although technological precursors to dagger production were present as far back as the Early Neolithic, unique technological innovations were necessary for the successful production of certain dagger forms. Driven by social and economic demands, these precursors and innovations coalesced in Denmark during the Late Neolithic to produce what are likely the most technologically complex chipped-stone tools found anywhere in the world during prehistory.
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