Abstract Since publication of results of the seminal excavations of Grahame Clark at the Star Carr Mesolithic site it has been usual to refer to a specific type of modified red deer skull as an ‘antler frontlet’. These have been discussed as head gear perhaps used in the context of ritual activities. Further specimens broadly similar to those described by Clark were subsequently recovered from possibly contemporary localities in mainland north-central Europe and have been interpreted in the same way. Nevertheless, until the present day the focus of attention on this class of artefacts has been of an interpretative or even speculative nature and there has been no synthetic study of them in their entirety. This paper describes a research project designed to correct this state of affairs.

Quartär, 2022

So-called ‘antler headdresses’ - red deer (Cervus elaphus) skulls with antlers specifically modified by humans - were identified early as a typical phenomenon of Early Mesolithic sites in the North European Lowlands. In addition to clearly processed pieces with artificial perforations, longitudinally split antlers and heavy processing of their surfaces, there are also pieces that have only one type of these modifications and others in which human processing is hardly demonstrable. Although comprehensive studies of these ‘headdresses’ have not until now been carried out, the various artefacts are often discussed functionally and interpreted prematurely. In recent years, the discovery of new finds at several sites has again intensified discussion of the typology, function and meaning of these artefacts. To provide a solid base for future discourses, we here present a synthetic study of the available material. A comparative analysis of the morphometric, zooarchaeological and technological features of individual specimens shows that certain characteristics often appear in combination. We propose to reserve the term deer antler ‘headdress’ to a subcat- egory of specimens which we suggest might indeed have best functioned as headgear. Since several of the deer skull artefacts do not show all the human modifications included in our definition, we adopt a polythetic classification of the term ‘headdress’. Under this definition we identify a total of seven ‘headdresses’ among those frontlets which could be examined, and note further probable specimens among published material unseen by us. In contrast to the conclusions of some other studies, new direct radiometric dates for the antler headdresses from Berlin-Biesdorf and Hohen Viecheln, together with recent chronological data for Star Carr and Bedburg-Königshoven suggest to us that ‘antler headdresses’ represent a phenomenon specific for the earliest Mesolithic of the North European Lowlands. Moreover, the presence of at least two or more of these artefacts at the better investigated sites suggests an important role for them in the rarely discernible social rituals of earliest Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, potentially as an aid to consolidating group/territorial identity.

2020

2009

At Clos de Poujol, dated from 8,300 to 7,200 cal. BC, thousands of small burnt fragments of Cervid antler were identified in the faunal material recovered from the sorting of the sieving. Only a very small number of items had initially been identified as part of a bone and antler industry and the proportion of Red Deer bone remains is very low in the faunal assemblages. How to interpret this situation? On the one hand, antlers -considered as a Cervid skeletal part -are relevant to any zooarchaeological study. On the other hand, they are of interest to the specialist of osseous industry as an exploited material (item or waste). As indirect evidence, these remains can help to understand the nature of archaeological deposits and the status of the site. A study of the osseous material integrating the economic, technological and contextual aspects provides clues on the ways to articulate the technological and economic systems. Our analysis documents a strategy of Red Deer exploitation characterized by two distinct procurement patterns: hunting of young females or stags in cast antler stage, on the one hand, and collecting of shed antlers, on the other hand. Such procurements, if embedded, could have taken place at the end of winter or during the spring. As it was not possible to reconstruct the whole chaîne opératoire (stricto sensu), assumptions were made, based on an assessment of the minimal number of antlers, the underrepresentation of antler tips and the composition of antler and bone industry, in order to figure out if shed antlers were brought to the site complete or not, how they were transformed (manufacturing and combustion process), and eventually if some parts were taken away.

Wild et al. 2022, Palaeolithic bone and antler artefacts from Lateglacial and Early Holocene Denmark: technology and dating, 2022

The Danish Palaeolithic began during the Lateglacial (approximately 12,350 calBC) and lasted for about four thousand years. Only a handful of sites and organic stray finds have been precisely dated. And it is primarily on these that a preliminary chronological framework has been built. Similarly, numerous hypotheses on palaeohistory, typology, and settlement patterns have been proposed. However, due to the preservation of sediments that allow the preservation of organic materials and their exploitation during the past 170 years, abundant reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and elk (Alces alces) remains have been uncovered. Many of these are worked and at least some of which can be assigned to the Palaeolithic. These remains have, so far, been only partly studied. Here, we present a study of the complete corpus. The Lateglacial faunal collections in 33 Danish museums were assessed, and 50 reindeer and elk objects are described in detail because they are worked or were mentioned in the literature as being worked. The Palaeolithic artefacts were AMS 14 C-dated and analysed together with existing datasets. The results of the study create a more robust framework for hypotheses building. A reliance on reindeer for tool production throughout the Danish Palaeolithic is confirmed, as is the twofold occupation of Denmark during the Hamburgian. Furthermore, the new results indicate a reduction of human occupation or even possible absence of humans during the first half of the Younger Dryas, followed by an intensive re-occupation of eastern Denmark during the Preboreal. Furthermore, the analysis of the worked bone and antler materials provides new insights into the manufacturing processes. The repeated occurrence of transversely segmented reindeer antler, documenting a continuous evolution of this technique from the Late Upper Palaeolithic to the Final Palaeolithic, speaks against a clear separation of the different cultural entities.

In: D. Groß/H. Lübke/J. Meadows/D. Jantzen (eds.), From Bone and Antler to Early Mesolithic Life in Northern Europe. Untersuchungen und Materialien zur Steinzeit in Schleswig-Holstein und im Ostseeraum 10, 2019

Five possible antler headdresses have been reported from Hohen Viecheln over the last 60 years. This paper will address and discuss these objects in the light of new findings and discoveries. In the end, one of the five artefacts can, while another one may be assigned to the group of headdresses. Besides the long-known bifacially worked headdress HV1 this paper presents a finding that remained undiscussed over the last decades (HV5). Both show clear affinities to finds from other sites via typology and techniques involved in their manufacturing. Finally, HV1 as predating all other directly dated finished objects at Hohen Viecheln sheds light on the pioneering phase of occupation at the site in the Late Preboreal chronozone. Downloaded via https://www.wachholtz-verlag.de/Wissenschaft/Open-Access/ (on Sunday, 21st July 2019)

Untersuchungen und Materialien zur Steinzeit in Schleswig-Holstein und im Ostseeraum

This volume of the series 'Untersuchungen und Materialien zur Steinzeit in Schleswig-Holstein und im Ostseeraum' represents the proceedings of a workshop held at the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA) in Schleswig in March 2016. It is a part of the editors' project 'Neubewertung von Chronologie und Stratigraphie des frühholozänen Fundplatzes Hohen Viecheln (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der diagnostischen Knochenartefakte' , funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under the project number 271652103. While the project was dealing with the re-evaluation of the site Hohen Viecheln 1 for chronological and stratigraphical aspects, this volume does not only cover its final publication but comprises additional modern studies about the site by different scholars. These are furthermore embedded into the international research landscape by adjacent studies covering an area from modern day Britain in the west to the Urals in the east. All contributions are representing the authors' point of view and respective terminologies. Therefore differences in the vocabulary may appear to the careful reader. While a homogenisation of terms and data recording is relevant for comparative studies, it was beyond the scope and means of this project. As a consequence, terminologies may differ between the contributions, as exemplified by the terms 'uniserial' and 'uni-lateral' bone points: both are characterised by barbs or notches on one lateral side. At the British site Star Carr those have ever since been named uni-serial, whereas unilateral is a more common term in other parts of Europe. We, as editors, would like to thank all contributors for being part of this volume and their interesting and high-quality articles; also we are grateful for the voluntary support of all anonymous peerreviewers and their help in improving the articles. Furthermore, we thank the German Research Foundation (DFG) for funding our research and the workshop as well as the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology represented by its director, Claus von Carnap-Bornheim, and the head-of-research, Berit Valentin Eriksen, for support of the project and its presentation in the current form. A tremendous help in the course of making this book was Gundula Lidke who was responsible for text editing, proofreading, and correspondence with the authors and publishers. Thank you very much! Further editorial support was provided by Jana Elisa Freigang, Jorna Titel, Matthias Bolte, Isabel Sonnenschein and Jürgen Schüller. The latter is also responsible for the cover drawing. Much help and support was provided by Peter Teichert-Köster with respect to handling the finds and accessing them in the depot of the Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; Landesarchäologie in Schwerin. Close collaboration with Mathieu Boudin of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels, improved our radiocarbon measurements and the analysis of the consolidant. We thank all people, mentioned and unmentioned here, who were involved in this book and the different research projects, who helped by further pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the cultural remains and chronologies of the past.

British Archaeological Reports International Series 1622. p 79-92, 2007

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports , 2022

The transition from the late Pleniglacial to the Lateglacial in Central Europe brought about fundamental transformations of hunter-gatherer ways of life. Linked to profound climatic and environmental changes, the Late Upper Palaeolithic represented by the Magdalenian comes to an end, and the Final Palaeolithic represented by the Federmesser-Gruppen starts. This cultural shift between 13 and 12 ka cal. BC is particularly evident in lithic hunting armature, with frontally-hafted points gaining in importance to the detriment of laterally hafted backed bladelets. The changes in osseous projectile weaponry are still poorly understood. A double-bevelled projectile point made of red deer or elk bone from Bärenkeller cave site in Central Germany was radiocarbon-dated to the second half of GI-1e and is thus contemporary with the early Final Palaeolithic attested in the region. Together with already known, condiderably younger specimens from Northern Germany and Central Poland, this finding shows that the concept of double-bevelled osseous points survived the end of the Magdalenian and coexisted with lithic points and osseous barbed points during the Lateglacial. The rapid faunal exchange in the Central European low mountain range, however, required a much earlier shift from reindeer antler as the primary resource to other large cervids than in the lowlands to the north.