Animal head dagger

Animal head daggers made of slate are a small sculptural species that could be dated in northern Sweden parallel to the southern Scandinavian Mesolithic . They were found in residential areas (for example Äsele and Stora Tjikkiträsket in Lapland - seven fragmentary specimens - and one intact specimen at Norra Sannäs, Hälsingland province ).

The age of the slate daggers is indefinite. In terms of style, they belong to the northern European hunter's culture, in which animal heads appear on various utensils ( stone slabs with a ram's head ). The largest specimen found so far from the pit ceramic settlement in the parish of Valbo in Gästrikland (about 30 cm long) after processing the northern European material could provide a clue . The extremely elegant daggers were probably made during a phase that corresponds to the Middle and Late Neolithic in southern Scandinavia.

In this context, the sculpture of the so-called Alunda elk should also be mentioned.

literature

• Mårten Stenberger : Nordic prehistory. Volume 4: Prehistory of Sweden. Wachholtz, Neumünster 1977, ISBN 3-529-01805-8 .