Maglemosian culture
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2008) |
The Stone Age |
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↑ before Homo (Pliocene) |
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↓ Chalcolithic |
Maglemosian (ca 7500 BC–6000 BC) is the name given to a culture of the early Epipaleolithic period in Northern Europe. In Scandinavia, the culture is succeeded by the Kongemose culture.
The actual name came from an archeological site in Denmark, named Maglemose at Mullerup on western Zealand, where the first settlement was found in 1900. During the following century a long series of similar settlements were excavated from England to Poland and from Skåne in Sweden to northern France.
The Maglemosian people lived in forest and wetland environments using fishing and hunting tools made from wood, bone, and flint microliths. It appears that they had domesticated the dog[citation needed]. Some may have lived settled lives but most were nomadic[citation needed].
Huts made of bark have been preserved, and the tools were made of flintstone, bone, and horn. A characteristic of the culture are the sharply edged microliths of flintstone which were used for spear heads and arrow heads. A notable feature is the Leister or Fish Spear.
Sea levels in northern Europe did not reach current levels until almost 6,000 B.C. by which time they had inundated some territories inhabited by Maglemosian people.
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