Ancient flint axe unearthed in Denmark

Archaeologists from Museum Lolland-Falster have found a remarkably well-preserved axe with an intact shaft during their digs in connection with the construction of the Femern Belt Fixed Link.

The well-preserved shafted axe has ritual significance due to its vertical positioning, 
archaeologists contend [Credit: Museum Lolland-Falster]

The narrow-necked flint axe is evaluated to be about 5,500 years old and was found in what used to be the seabed during the Stone Age.

”To find such a well-preserved shafted axe is incredible,” Soren Anker Sorensen, an archaeologist with Museum Lolland-Falster, said in a press release.

"Thanks to the unique preservation conditions, we have found a lot of organic material during the digs. We had also found several special items such as an oar, two bows and 14 axe shafts, but when we found an entire shafted axe 30cm below the sea floor, we knew we had made a unique find.”

A ritual hot-bed

Axes were an important tool in the Stone Age for wood-work purposes. They played a significant role in the introduction of agriculture at a time when most of the land was covered by forest, which needed to be cleared.

The archaeologists maintain that the dig area just east of Rodbyhavn must have had a ritual significance because the axe and other found items were purposely placed into the earth standing up vertically.

The archaeologists haven't finished their digs in the area and the museum hopes that additional items will turn up that will give them more insight into the ritual aspect of the Stone Age era. Earlier this month, the dig yielded 5,000 year-old footprints.

Author: Christian Wenande | Source: The Copenhagen Post [November 24, 2014]