Denmark. A Mesolithic village beneath the waves

Mesolithic artefacts from a lost settlement are coming to light after 6 millennia after currents scoured sand from the seabed just of the coast of Denmark in Horsens Fjord.

Science Nordic reports on a chance return to a stretch of coast where Peter Alstrup, now an archaeology PhD student at Aarhus Universit, had spent his childhood.

Alstrup dived on the site (which had been known since the 70s) and noticed how the overlying sediments had been lost and there lying on the seabed he  discovered beautifully carved pieces of wood.

Antler headed axe with handle still attached. (Photo: Claus Skriver)

He reported this immediately to the local museum, where they soon realised that a unique and perfectly preserved Mesolithic site was now exposed.  Archaeologists were soon assembled for  urgent excavations.

Finds include a bow, paddles and even antler axes with their handles and have been dated to the Ertebølle culture which is a late Mesolithic hunter-gatherer-fisher culture in Denmark (c.6000-3500 BCE).

They are characterised by its distinctive stone tools, massive shell middens at coastal sites, cemeteries with grave goods, and the adoption of pottery, polished stone axes and agricultural methods from neighbouring farmers.
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ScienceNordic (February 14, 2012) via Past Horizons