Congemosis culture
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The Congemose culture lasted from about 6000 to 5200 BC. BC and was a Mesolithic hunter culture that stretched from England to northern Central and Eastern Europe and southern Scandinavia . It follows the stem tip groups and the Maglemose culture and is the forerunner of the Ertebølle culture . The culture was named after a site in the west of Zealand .
The environment
Around 6000 BC The coastline on the North and Baltic Seas changed due to the warm, humid climate . With mean summer temperatures of around 20 ° C, it was considerably warmer than today. This led to the melting of the remains of the ice, as a result the sea level rose again and washed over more land. Denmark received its current coastline and was divided into the Jutland peninsula and the islands. Southern Denmark was higher, while the northern parts of the country were lower than today.
Climate, flora and fauna
The warm climate led to changes in flora and fauna . The forest gradually turned into a dense jungle with oak , alder , ash , linden and elm . The birch , spruce and hazel trees were displaced onto moist lowlands and banks. In Central and West Jutland, the forest remained light and open. The warm climate enabled the spread of animal and plant species that are only found in southern countries today. This concerns z. B. the mistletoe , the pond turtle , the pelican , the vulture and in the sea smelled the sting and the swordfish .
hunt
Hunting, fishing and gathering determined the way people lived. The wild boar and deer were the common species. Moose and aurochs disappeared from the Danish islands. The sea was warmer and salty and nutritious than it is today. The fish stocks were larger. There are now coastal habitation areas where seabirds, seals , bottlenose dolphins and whales are hunted. Mussels and sea snails formed a large mollusc fauna on the coasts . The first Køkkenmøddinger are born. They become common in the subsequent Ertebølle culture. They consist of agglomerations of mussel and snail shells.
The oldest secured arch finds come from the late Congemose culture and the late Boreal , from the Holmegård IV site on Zealand . According to the results of a later excavation by J. Troels-Smith, the finds come from a layer that showed both concomitant features and features of the following Ertebølle culture . These are two flat arches made of elm wood ( Ulmus glabra ), one of which has been completely preserved and one half has been preserved. The insides of the arches are flat, the outsides rounded. The grip areas are clearly indented. The original lengths are 154 cm for the complete copy and are even estimated at 184 cm for the half-preserved one.
technology
Circular paved stoves are known of the living quarters , but no house remains are known. Layers of birch bark protected from soil moisture. Ornate bone daggers with cemented-in flint blades as the cutting edge, which were fastened with the help of birch pitch , as shown by the find at Flynderhage in East Jutland, are characteristic of the Congemose culture. Grave finds show that the daggers were worn on the belt. The most important innovation in hunting weapons are the large, heavy, so-called crooked or rhombic arrowheads made of flint . The oldest fish traps appear . Nets and ropes are occupied from the Friesack district Havelland moor site. Roasting hazelnuts ( Corylus avellana ) was known.
funeral
Burials with preserved skeletons allow the appearance and living conditions of people to be reconstructed. The women's clothing was embroidered with patterns made from snails and animal teeth. Men, women and children were buried lying on their backs and given gifts. Sometimes several people - mostly women and children - were buried together. There are also graves with several adults. Isolated cremation burials are known from Skåne . A younger man was buried in a clam pile near Vængsø, (on the Helgenæs peninsula ). Skull injuries were found in a young individual from Tybrind vig on Funen . Other male skeletons also show traces of violence. The skeletons are evidence of healthy individuals with no traces of deficiency diseases. In contrast, rheumatic diseases and high tooth wear were common. Presumably as a result of coarse food and the habit of chewing animal skins (to soften the skins), a custom also known by recent hunting peoples.
Adult men reached a height of about 170 cm, women a height of 155 cm. The distant relationship with the Cro-Magnon man from the Late Ice Age is recognizable. Especially the facial features of women are relatively coarse compared to today's women. Life expectancy was a maximum of 60 years. The occasional discovery of red ocher in the graves may represent the remains of body painting.
literature
- A. Damm: Denmark's prehistory and early history in Museum Moesgård . Ǻrhus 1993, ISBN 87-87334-21-6 .
- Agneta Ǻkerlund: Separate Worlds? Interpretation of the Different Material Patterns in the Archipelago and the Surrounding Mainland Areas of East-central Sweden in the Stone Age. In: European Journal of Archeology 3, No. 1, 2000, pp. 7-29.
- Soren H. Andersen: Kokkenmoddinger (Shell Middens) in Denmark: A Survey. In: Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 66, 2000, pp. 361-384.
- Bernhard Gramsch, Klaus Kloss: Excavations near Friesack: An Early Mesolithic Marshland Site in the Northern Plain of Central Europe. In: The Mesolithic in Europe Papers Presented at the Third International Symposium, Edinburgh 1985. Clive Bonsall (Ed.), Pp. 313-324. Edinburgh: John Donald, 1989.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ G. Rausing: The Bow: Some Notes on is Origin and Development. In: Acta Archaeologica Lundensia 6. Lund (CWK Gleerups), 1967, p. 40.