Flint axes from Kobberup

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The two flint axes from Kobberup ( Danish Flintøkserne fra Kobberup ) were found by Tage Pinnerup and Henrik Hansen in 2016 during earthworks near the village of Kobberup on the Danish peninsula Jutland .

The first ax is a long, smooth, almost rectangular piece of flint 50.5 cm long, making it the largest Neolithic flint ax ever discovered in Denmark . Pinnerup had already found a prehistoric hatchet and a few days later he and Hansen found an ax about 35 cm long.

The experts decided that it was a Neolithic flint ax dating from 3800-3500 BC. BC, i.e. in the early funnel beaker culture (TBK), is to be dated. At that time, the site next to Tastum Sø was a swamp that had long been drained and converted into arable land. Because the carefully crafted axes were found in pairs in the moor, they are unlikely to have been lost. Rather, the archaeologists believe that they were deposited as sacrifices , which is also assumed for similar finds.

After experimenting with flint, it is estimated that the axes were machined and polished for hundreds of hours to achieve such a result. The unwieldy length and polish suggest these weren't tools. Narrow, long and thin axes do not meet the requirements of a tool. The connection to agriculture makes them cultural symbols, which is why such axes were also found in the later dolmens and passage graves of the TBK.

Nearby are the passage grave of Gamskær , the Langdysse of Kardyb , the burial chest of Kobberup and the Møllehøje of Kobberup .

Since the end of January 2017, the two flint axes can be seen in the Danish National Museum in the exhibition Årets danefæ - Jagten på historien .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Hirsch: A hatchet for the gods? The flint ax from Wodarg, Lkr.Demmin. In: The A 20 motorway - Northern Germany's longest excavation. Archaeological research on the route between Lübeck and Stettin. Schwerin 2006, ISBN 3-935770-11-1 , pp. 41–42 and Manfred Rech: Studies on depot finds of the funnel cup and the individual grave culture of the north. Wachholtz 1979, ISBN 3-529-01139-8
  2. ↑ Årets danefæ - Jagten på historien on the website of the Danish National Museum.

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