A specialized Early Maglemosian site at Lundby Mose (Zealand, Denmark): a contribution to the understanding of Maglemosian patterns of animal resource exploitation

Abstract

Several well-delimited animal bone deposits were excavated in Lundby Mose, an early Maglemosian site (9600–6500 cal BC) located in South Zealand, Denmark. The hunting strategies, the butchering activities and the discarding processes involved in their formation were assessed by the means of a detailed archaeozoological analysis of the material. Each deposit was exclusively composed of elk (Alces alces) bones originating from one to three adult individuals, whose carcasses had been butchered directly on-site following standardized chaînes opératoires in order to supply the community with meat, bone marrow, hides and raw material for tool manufacture. This exploitation relies on the specific management of these resources between an immediate and a postponed consumption, as our study shows part of these were consumed on-site whereas others were likely to have been transported to a connected settlement site. Such patterns are well known from other Early Maglemosian sites (Skottemarke and Favrbo) and indicate that strong common cultural factors were involved in the exploitation of large ungulates from the very beginning of the Maglemose culture. The comparison with later classical Maglemosian data, despite the chronological gap, suggests that some of these features could apply to the whole length of the Maglemosian period and allows us to discuss mobility patterns.