Danish Bronze Age antler axes – depositions in time and space

Abstract

AbstractAntler axes are normally associated with the Mesolithic, but they also turn up again later, in the Bronze Age, where they are typically found as single depositions in streams, rivers, bogs and other wetland areas. This article provides a comprehensive account of Denmark’s Bronze Age antler axes together with a series of new 14C dates, which show that this axe type was a consistent presence in both the Early and Late Bronze Age. It concludes with landscape-related case studies examining depositional practices in different parts of Denmark. Attention is focussed here on a comparison of the depositions of antler axes, 14C dates and the landscape – also in relation to the general country-wide distribution pattern. The analyses show that long periods often elapsed between the individual depositions of antler axes within the same areas and that these artefacts are generally strongly associated with watercourses and wetland areas related to watercourses and river valleys, both in the Early and Late Bronze Age. This picture is consistent with that for the rest of Europe, where antler axes are typically associated with running water.