Fishtail dagger

Fishtail dagger
Information
Weapon type:	dagger
Designations:	Fishtail dagger
Use:	weapon
Creation time:	2300 BC Until about 1600 BC Chr.
Region of origin / ; author:	Europe , ethnic groups from Europe
Distribution:	Europe
Overall length:	about 10 cm to about 30 cm
Handle:	stone
Lists on the subject

The fishtail dagger (Danish: fiskehaledolk ) is a Neolithic stone device from Denmark and Scandinavia, which is assigned to the functional group of daggers . The name goes back to the shape of the handle, which is reminiscent of a fish tail.

context

Hindsgavl dagger

Flint daggers (Danish: Flintdolkene) are phenomena of the Late Neolithic, which was called Dolktid in Denmark . There is a typological sequence of daggers in six main types (I – VI), which extends back to the early Bronze Age . The oldest form is lanceolate, the further developments mainly concern the dagger handles. Fishtail daggers belong in phases IV to VI. The raw material for the fishtail daggers is Baltic flint , whereby fine-grain senone flint was preferably used.

The dagger from Giver's passage grave is of type IIIA, with a four-sided handle. It belongs to the last phase of the Neolithic at the transition to the Bronze Age.
The dagger from Hindsgavl (type IV) adorns the Danish hundred-crown bill. It has a blade less than an inch thick. It was found on the island of Fænø in the Little Belt in 1867 .

description

Fishtail daggers occur in the late Neolithic . This section is also known as the Copper Age because of the occasional occurrence of copper and the beginning metallurgy . Fishtail daggers originated around 1600 BC. At the end and as a cultural highlight of the dagger period named after them, which lasted from 2300 to 1600 BC. Between today's Hamburg , in Schleswig-Holstein and the north of Jutland . The flint daggers are divided into types I to VI, only types IV and V are fishtail daggers with a swinging handle end. The most demanding fishtail daggers in terms of quality and production technology are limited to type IV, for which zigzag ridges on the broad sides of the handles are typical. The extent to which copper printing rods were required for the fine retouching is controversial.

Fishtail daggers are usually between 10 and 30 cm long. As a rule, they show finely and carefully retouched cutting edges, the surface shows even, parallel surface retouching in a regular pattern. The shape evolved from simpler preforms. Menghin thought they were imitations of copper daggers. Such were already widespread in the Aunjetitz culture up to today's Lower Saxony .

A find in Wiepenkathen (district of Stade ) also contained remains of organic material that was identified as a wooden handle lined with wool and a leather sheath made of sheepskin. The scabbard was reinforced in particularly stressed areas and was attached to the belt with leather straps.

literature

Jan Apel: Daggers, knowledge & power. The social aspect of flint-dagger technology in Scandinavia 2350–1550 cal BC (= Kust till kust-böcker. 3). Department of Archeology and Ancient History - Uppsala University, Uppsala 2001, ISBN 91-973674-2-7 ( Also : Uppsala, Universität, Dissertation, 2001).

David A. Barrowclough, Adam R. Lister: The secrets of the craft production of Scandinavian Late Neolithic Flintdaggers. In: Lithic Technology. Vol. 29, No. 1, 2004, ISSN 0197-7261 , pages 75-86, doi : 10.1080 / 01977261.2004.11721013 .

Errett Callahan: Neolithic Danish Daggers: An experimental peek. In: Jan Apel, Kjel Knutsson (Ed.): Skilled Production and Social Reproduction. Aspects of traditional stone-tool technologies (= SAU Stenstudier. 2006, 2). Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis, Uppsala 2006, ISBN 91-973740-6-7 , pages 115-137.

Emil Hoffmann: Lexicon of the Stone Age (= Beck'sche series. 1325). Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-42125-3 , pages 83, 141.

Ebbe Lomborg: The Flint Daggers of Denmark. Studies on the chronology and cultural relations of the southern Scandinavian late Neolithic (= Nordiske Fortidsminder. Series B in Quarto, 1). Universitetsforlaget, Copenhagen 1973, ISBN 87-505-0241-7 (Also: Copenhagen, University, dissertation, 1971).

Niels V. Skak-Nielsen: Flint and metal daggers in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. A re-interpretation of their function in the Late Neolithic and Early Copper and Bronze Age. In: Antiquity. Vol. 83, No. 320, 2009, ISSN 0003-598X , pages 349-358, doi : 10.1017 / S0003598X00098471 .

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Niels V. Skak-Nielsen: Flint and metal daggers in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. A re-interpretation of their function in the Late Neolithic and Early Copper and Bronze Age. In: Antiquity. Vol. 83, No. 320, 2009, pages 349-358, here page 350.
↑ Oswald Menghin : World History of the Stone Age. Schroll, Vienna 1931.
↑ See current: Janine Fies-Knoblach: Silices. The "metals" of the Stone Age. In: Frank Vollertsen, Matthias Kleiner (Ed.): Idea - Vision - Innovation. Festschrift on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Professor Manfred Geiger. Meisenbach, Bamberg 2001, ISBN 3-87525-149-0 , pages 179-190.
^ Adolf Cassau: A flint dagger with a wooden handle and leather sheath from Wiepenkathen, Stade district. In: Mannus. Vol. 27, 1935, ISSN 0025-2360 , pp. 199-209.

[1] Niels V. Skak-Nielsen: Flint and metal daggers in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. A re-interpretation of their function in the Late Neolithic and Early Copper and Bronze Age. In: Antiquity. Vol. 83, No. 320, 2009, pages 349-358, here page 350.

[2] Oswald Menghin : World History of the Stone Age. Schroll, Vienna 1931.

[3] See current: Janine Fies-Knoblach: Silices. The "metals" of the Stone Age. In: Frank Vollertsen, Matthias Kleiner (Ed.): Idea - Vision - Innovation. Festschrift on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Professor Manfred Geiger. Meisenbach, Bamberg 2001, ISBN 3-87525-149-0 , pages 179-190.

[4] Adolf Cassau: A flint dagger with a wooden handle and leather sheath from Wiepenkathen, Stade district. In: Mannus. Vol. 27, 1935, ISSN 0025-2360 , pp. 199-209.