Herxheim bone needles

The four Neolithic bone needles from Herxheim with a length of up to 22 cm and a width of 2.5 cm were found by archaeologists in the Neolithic mine in Herxheim near Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate . The fragile objects (perhaps in a bag) had been placed close together on the wall of a long pit.

They were cut out of the long bones of beef (Bos primigenius taurus) or the red deer (Cervus elaphus) with a flint knife , then smoothed flat while the tip and the "head plate" were further ground.

There are no equivalents for these almost identical bone needles from the linear ceramic culture . The fine tips and wide head plates make them masterpieces of Stone Age craftsmanship. It is noteworthy that, unlike the mass of tools and equipment, as well as the decarnated animal and human bones that were recovered from the pits, they got into the pit undamaged.

The function of the four bone needles is unclear. Although they are reminiscent of needles, they were certainly not used for sewing . Use as a tool is even unlikely. In contrast, it could be hairpins . Braided into an updo, they gave the hairstyle hold.

See also

• Abri Lartet bone needle

literature

• Fabian Haack: A bag full of bone needles. Production and disposal of unusual bone tips from the linear ceramic settlement of Herxheim. In: A. Zeeb-Lanz, R. Stupperich (Ed.): Palatinus Illustrandus. Festschrift for Helmut Bernhard on his 65th birthday. Wiesbaden 2013, pp. 47–51

Web links

• Herxheim Museum
• Photography of the bone needles. Herxheim Museum 
• Photograph of the find situation [1]

Coordinates: 49 ° 8 ′ 45.1 ″  N , 8 ° 11 ′ 19.9 ″  E