Working at the Sharp End: From Bone and Antler to Early Mesolithic Life in Northern Europe

Abstract

As an academic whose research area, while undoubtedly Mesolithic, includes few early sites and little preserved bone and antler, this handsome volume introduces me, tantalisingly, to a whole world of wonders that does exist in other places. In common with many thematic volumes today, the collection of papers originated in a workshop, in this case, held in 2016 to discuss the re-evaluation of the Early Holocene site at Hohen Viecheln (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany). Special interest lay in the remarkable assemblages of worked bone and antler from the site, with particular reference to barbed points, and there was also an intention to embed the research into ‘the international research landscape’ (Acknowledgements, 14), through the inclusion of related studies from the UK to the Urals. The title sets a further goal: to move from raw materials and artefacts towards an interpretation of lifeways. Careful design takes the volume from the particular to the general. Details of the site at Hohen Viecheln set the scene (Groß, Lübke, Meadows and Jantzen) and include summaries of stratigraphy and dating which help to provide an overview of the archaeological context. Information on the bone and antler artefacts incorporates a comprehensive catalogue and fourteen photographic plates supplement numerous line drawings. Consideration of decorative motifs is presented in addition to detail regarding manufacturing techniques. There is a useful description of the issues when dating old (conserved) material (Meadows, Boudin, Groß, Jantzen, Lübke and Wild) and an analysis of the bone and antler artefacts with reference to the wider Maglemosian world (David). Site-specific material continues with an evaluation of the antler headdresses (Wild) and the suggestion that instead of forming part of socially restricted shamanic costumes these pieces are more likely to have been in wider use, perhaps in conjunction with ritual dancing – an interpretation once proposed by Clark for the frontlets from Star Carr (Clark 1954, p. 174), though now often eschewed in favour of shamanic use (Little et al. 2016). Finally, there is a nice personal touch (Brinch Petersen) in the exploration of the possibility that two decorated bone mattocks from the site may be the product of a visitor from Zealand due to specific details of the decoration which are paralleled at sites such as Sværdborg I. While this is an avowedly speculative interpretation it is a useful reminder that our archaeologies are nothing if they do not address the human scale. From here we move to the wider context of Hohen Viecheln and its osseous assemblages. A general overview of the industries of northeast Germany (Gramsch) poses some important questions relating to the relative significance of animal bone as a resource and its preservation today. The implications of peat bogs as a reservoir of material are raised alongside the fact that, in