Preliminary results
This page will become successively updated with results from the project and may be cited with reference to this homepage.
Krabbesholm (no. 1 on the map)
The shell middens at Krabbesholm are situated on a SW facing slope, where river Karup falls into the Limfjord. The water off the settlement was saltier then than today because of a direct connection to the Skagerrak/North Sea. The material analyzed here derives from a section through the westernmost of the two shell middens and was excavated during 2000-2004.
The bone material is referable to several cultural periods, from Ertebølle culture (5400-3950 BC) to early Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture (3950-3300 BC). A total of 4609 bone fragments have been identified.
There are bones from at least 40 different species of mammals, birds and fish. The mammals are represented by wild species (e.g., wild boar, red deer, roe deer) and domestic ones (swine, cattle, sheep). There is a significant element of fur animals among the wild species, including squirrel and polecat. A very special find is constituted by a bone of Daubenton’s bat.Bird bones are few and are from swans and ducks. Noteworthy fish species include eel, three-spined stickleback and anchovy.
Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
A fragment of a squirrel mandible from Krabbesholm (bottom) compared with a mandible from a Recent squirrel (top)
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Polecat (Mustela putorius)
A fragment of a polecat mandible from Krabbesholm (bottom) compared with a mandible from a Recent polecat (top)
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NEW MAMMAL SPECIES FROM THE DANISH PREHISTORY! Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentoni)
Bat bones are very rare in prehistoric bone assemblages. Until now, only a single subfossil bat bone was known from Denmark, it could not be referred to a particular species, nor to a particular period. However, the Ertebølle layers in the Krabbesholm shell midden yielded one bat mandible which can be identified as Daubenton’s bat. Today, this is one of the commonest bat species in Denmark – now we have proof that it was also present during the Ertebølle period.
Mandible from Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii).
Top: a recent mandible for comparison. Bottom: the mandible from Krabbesholm
NEW FISH SPECIES FROM THE DANISH PREHISTORY! Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus)
The analysis of the bone assemblage from Krabbesholm revealed a species entirely new to the Danish subfossil fauna. The identified fish bones included 118 bones of anchovy – a species never before documented in Danish archaeological bone assemblages. Nowadays, the anchovy is distributed along the southern Atlantic coast of Europe, in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea. During summer, the anchovy migrate in schools along the coast. The anchovy has regularly been caught in the Kattegat and the Danish Belts, but never in large numbers. The presence of so many anchovy bones in the Krabbesholm shell midden indicates a warmer climate at that time.
A sediment sample from Krabbesholm
An example of a sediment sample from Krabbesholm as it appeared before the sorting of fish bones started. One can see several small fish bones among pebbles and bivalve and snail shells. It turned out that a new species was hiding in this sample. Each scale unit equals 1 cm.
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Vertebrae of anchovy caught by the stone age (Ertebølle culture) people at Krabbesholm. Two connected vertebrae from a Recent anchovy are shown for comparison. Scale 1 cm.
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A Recent anchovy caught in the Mediterranean
Anchovy differs from herring by its slender body, its pronounced overbite and its large mouth which reaches far behind the eye.
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Three-spined stickleback is one of those fish species of which the largest number of bones has been found at Krabbesholm. Finding such tiny bones requires a most meticulous excavation technique, including the use of fine-mesh sieves. Thanks to this technique we now know that sticklebacks played an important role on Danish stone age settlements.
Bones of three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
A pelvic bone and two spines are seen above
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Østenkær (no. 2 on the map)
The Østenkær settlement was situated at the then extreme northern tip of Vendsysel, at the mouth of a river. The analysed material has been dated to the youngest part of the Ertebølle period. This is the first analysis of an Ertebølle assemblage from Vendsyssel with bones of mammals, birds and fish.
A bone sample from Østenkær before it was analysed. Scale 10 cm.
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The mammals from Østenkær include red deer, roe deer, wild boar, aurochs, wild horse, wild cat, pine marten, wolf and various species of seals and whales. Noteworthy birds are red-throated diver, black-throated diver, gannet and capercaille and in particular Dalmatian pelican. The fish include pike, whitefish, cod and ling, among others.
Fragment of left fore leg (lower leg) of a wild horse from Østenkær. Left: bone (radius + ulna) from a Recent horse for comparison. Right: the fragment from Østenkær: middle part of the fused radius + ulna from. Horse bones are rare on Danish Ertebølle settlements and are regarded as deriving from wild horse. The find from Østenkær proves that even the wild horse reached northernmost Denmark. Scale 10 cm.
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Seal bones constitute a significant part of the Østenkær material. The picture shows a tibia from ringed seal (left), a humerus from harp seal (middle), a maxilla from grey seal (top right), and the ear region of the skull from grey seal (bottom right). Scale 10 cm
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The bird bones from Østenkær include several fragments deriving from Dalmatian pelican (iPelecanus crispus). Today, the breeding range of this specie sis limited to south-eastern Europe and southern Russia. The presence of pelican bones in northern Vendsyssel – the absolutely northernmost find in Denmark – indicates a warmer climate than today. About 27 fragments from Dalmatian pelican ar known from more south-eastern sites in Denmark, all dating from the Atlantic period. They probably derive from migrating birds.
Wing bone fragment from Dalmatian pelican from Østenkær. Left: two fragments of right humerus, right: fragment of ulna. Entire bones from a recent specimen is shown for comparison. Scale: 10 cm.
Yderhede (no. 3 on the map)
The settlement Yderhede is situated in northernmost Denmark and has been dated to oldest Ertebølle culture. The settlement was sited at a lagoon and separated from the open sea by a barrier island. Bones from fish birds and mammals have been found in refuse from the settlement.- The fish bones in particular are very well preserved. Most are from flatfishes, but there is a spectacular element of sharks: porbeagle, topeshark and smoothhound, a result of the proximity of deep water. The birds are represented by swans, ducks, gulls and guillemot or razorbill. The mammal bone sample is dominated by wild boar, roe deer and red deer, but there are also bones from fur animals like fox, pine marten, otter and wild cat, as well as grey seal.
Fish bone from Yderhede. To the left are three vertebrae from spurdog (Squalus acanthias). Even the ribbons made from cartilage are preserved. The small bone in the middle, urohyale, is from flounder (Platichthys flesus). In addition one bone from the pectoral fin (cleithrum) and two bones from the anal fin (os anale) from flounder or plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) are shown. Scale: 5 cm.
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Egsminde (no. 4 on the map)
The bones are from a kitchen midden situated at the fossil Bjørnsholm Fjord which opened into the Limfjord. Unfortunately the bones from this site are generally poorly preserved. The species list is modest, but there are bones from fish as well as mammals. Herring, cyprinids, eel and perch are the most frequent fish species. The mammal bones include only dog, wild boar, roe deer and red deer, and one tooth from domestic cattle. It is hoped that C14 dating will reveal the time when this animal was present on the site.
Upper molar from domestic cattle (Bos taurus) found in layers from the Ertebølle culture. Scale: 5 cm.
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Lystrup Enge (no. 5 on the map)
The Lystrup Enge settlement was placed at the inner part of a shallow inlet opening into the Århus bay on the east coast of Jutland. A very large bone sample has been excavated and dated to early Ertebølle culture. Fish bones are particularly plentiful because all excavated sediment has been sieved. A total of at least 27 species of mammals, 21 species of fish, 14 species of birds, one amphibian and two reptile species has been documented – quite an impressive species list. Most mammals bones are from red deer, but there are also many bones from wild boar, aurochs, roe deer and elk. A speciality of this site are the many bones from killer whale which represent at least seven or eight individuals. There are bones from other whale species as well, e.g., white-beaked dolphin and bottlenosed dolphin. There are also bones from a number of fur animals including squirrel, fox, pine marten, badger, outer, wild cat and lynx. More than 9000 fish bones have been identified, of which gadids (cod, whiting, saithe) constitute 75%. There is an interesting component of sharks: porbeagle, smoothhound, topeshark and spurdog. Most of the bird species represented are characteristic of shallow-water coastal areas, such as diver, grebe, cormorant, swans and ducks. A single bone from woodcock deserves particular mention. Reptiles are represented by common grass snake and aesculapian snake (identified by L. Ljungar in 1995).
Teeth from at least three individuals of killer whale from Lystrup Enge. Upper row: teeth with open roots. Middle row: Teeth with closed roots and without crown wear. Lower row: Teeth with closed roots and crown wear. Scale 5 cm.
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