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An offprint from

Mesolithic HorizonsPapers presented at the Seventh International Conference

on the Mesolithic in Europe, Belfast 2005

Edited bySinéad McCartan, Rick Schulting, Graeme Warren and Peter Woodman

© OXBOW BOOKS 2009ISBN 978-1-84217-311-4

Contents

VOLUME IList of Contributors ixPreface (Peter Woodman) xvii

Plenaries (i) Mapping the European Mesolithic (S. K. Kozłowski) xx

(ii) The Mesolithic in Europe – some retrospective perspectives (Lars Larsson) xxvii

(iii) The way forward (T. Douglas Price) xxxiii

(iv) Ireland’s place in the European Mesolithic: why it’s ok to be different (Peter C. Woodman) xxxvi

(v) The Mesolithic and the 21st century (Marek Zvelebil) xlvii

New lands1 Introduction (Peter C. Woodman) 12 Climate change, demography and social relations: an alternative view of the Late Palaeolithic 3 pioneer colonization of southern Scandinavia (Felix Riede)3 Late Palaeolithic reindeer hunters – from a coastal perspective (Bengt Nordqvist) 114 Colonizing seascapes: comparative perspectives on the development of maritime relations in 16 the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in north-west Europe (Hein Bjartmann Bjerck)5 Entering new shores. Colonization processes in early archipelagos in eastern central Sweden 24 (Roger Wikell and Mattias Pettersson)6 TheflintcollectionfromtheRistolasiteinLahtiandtheculturalcontactsoftheearliest 31 Postglacial settlement of southern Finland (Hannu Takala)7 The Sujala site in Utsjoki: Post-Swiderian in northern Lapland? 38 (Jarmo Kankaanpää and Tuija Rankama)8 Hunter-gatherers of the Istrian peninsula: the value of lithic raw material analysis to study 45 small-scale colonization processes (Paolo Pellegatti)9 Early farmers on the coast: lithic procurement strategies of colonists in the eastern Adriatic 53 (Niels H. Andreasen)10 Thecolonisationofeasternalpineterritories:theValdiNoncasestudyandthe‘Regole’field 60 camps (Trento, Italy) (Giampaolo Dalmeri, Klaus Kompatscher, Maria Hrozny Kompatscher, Anna Cusinato and Michele Bassetti)

Mobility11 Introduction (C. R. Wickham-Jones) 7112 Moving perceptions: movement, mobility and the material dimension (Thomas Kador) 7313 Top-down or bottom-up?: Americanist approaches to the study of hunter-gatherer mobility 80 (Douglas B. Bamforth)14 Are we there yet? Using GIS to investigate paths and landmarks in the Mesolithic of south-west 89 Germany (Harry Starr and Susan Harris)15 RawmaterialandsettlementstrategiesatthePleistocene/HoloceneboundaryinTrentino 96 (north-eastern Italian Alps): (Fabio Cavulli and Stefano Grimaldi)16 Evidence of mobility between the coast and the inland region in the Mesolithic of northern 102 Fennoscandia (Mikael A. Manninen)17 Walking around the Federsee: analyzing mobility and settlement through regional surface survey 109 in south-west Germany (Susan K. Harris, Harry Starr, Lynn E. Fisher and Michael Jochim)18 One pig does not a winter make. New seasonal evidence at the Early Mesolithic sites of 115 Holmegaard and Mullerup and the Late Mesolithic site of Ertebølle in Denmark (Richard Carter)19 Deciphering archaeological palimpsests: an example from a Canadian Barrenland caribou 122 hunting camp (Bryan C. Gordon)

Contents v

People in their environment20 Introduction (Rick Schulting) 13121 Coastal perspectives on the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition (Nicky Milner and Eva Laurie) 13422 Current research on prehistoric human coastal ecology: Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene 140 hunter-gatherer transitions in north-west Sicily (Marcello A. Mannino and Kenneth D. Thomas)23 The tragedy of the shoreline? Social ecology of Mesolithic coastal subsistence, with reference to the site 146 of Culverwell, Isle of Portland (southern England) (Marcello A. Mannino and Kenneth D. Thomas)24 Small game exploitation through the Mediterranean Pleistocene-Holocene transition in southern France: 152 a key resource augmenting the dietary range (Alexandre Bournery)25 AnexaminationofMesolithicshellfishgatheringactivitiesinthelowerAsónriverbasin 161 (Cantabria, España) (F. Igor Gutiérrez Zugasti)26 Stone Age settlement sites on an environmentally sensitive coastal area along the lower reaches of 167 theRiverPärnu(south-westernEstonia),asindicatorsofchangingsettlementpatterns,technologies and economies (Aivar Kriiska and Lembi Lõugas)27 Automating the extrapolation of sea-level displacement curves: implications for Mesolithic research 176 in western Norway (David N. Simpson)28 Shells, seals and ceramics: an evaluation of a midden at West Voe, Sumburgh, Shetland, 2004–5 184 (Nigel D. Melton)29 Mesolithic elk (Alces alcesL.)fromZamostje2(Russia) (Louis Chaix) 19030 Animal bone studies and the perception of animals in Mesolithic society (Anna Mansrud) 19831 Cultural small-scale variations in a hunter-gatherer society: or ‘everybody wants to be a little bit 203 different!’ An ethnoarchaeological study from Siberia (Ole Grøn, Torunn Klokkernes and Michail G. Turov)32 StableisotopicreconstructionofEarlyMesolithicdietatPupićinaCave 210 (Clea Paine, Tamsin O’Connell and Preston T. Miracle)33 Human colonisation routes and the origins of Irish mammals (Ceiridwen J. Edwards, Daniel G. Bradley) 21734 The ecology of hazel (Corylus avellana) nuts in Mesolithic Ireland (Anne M. G. McComb) 225

People and Places35 Introduction (Sinéad B. McCartan) 23536 Settlement patterns, landscape and society in western Norway during the Late Mesolithic 237 (Sigrid Mannsåker Gundersen)37 Mesolithic inland settlement in southern Norway (Per Persson) 24338 The settlement patterns of the Maglemose culture on Bornholm, Denmark. Some preliminary results 248 and hypotheses (Claudio Casati and Lasse Sørensen)39 People and places in the Latvian Mesolithic: a case study from the Zvejnieki archaeological complex 255 (Ilga Zagorska)40 DąbrowaBiskupia71:aspecializedcampfromtheMaglemoseculture 261 (Lucyna Domańska and Marcin Wąs)41 Early Holocene landscape dynamics and forager land use diversity: the example of Hoge Vaart-A27 269 (Almere, The Netherlands) (Hans Peeters)42 Mesolithic territories and land-use systems in north-western Belgium 277 (Joris Sergant, Philippe Crombé and Yves Perdaen)43 Mesolithic settlement and land use in the Campine region (Belgium) 282 (Marc De Bie and Marijn Van Gils)44 Upland colonization: patterns of settling and habitation in northern Istria, Croatia (Darko Komšo) 28845 People and their land at the southern margins of the central Po Plain in the Early Mesolithic 296 (Federica Fontana, Maria Giovanna Cremona, Erika Ferrari, Federico Guarisco and Davide Mengoli)46 A view from the edges: the Mesolithic settlement of the interior areas of the Iberian Peninsula 303 reconsidered (Pablo Arias, Enrique Cerrillo-Cuenca, Esteban Álvarez-Fernández, Eloy Gómez-Pellón and Antonio González Cordero)47 RecentdevelopmentsinEarlyHolocenehunter-gatherersubsistenceandsettlement:aviewfrom south-western Iberia (Maria João Valente and António Faustino Carvalho) 31248 Mesolithic people in an open Mediterranean wetland 318 (Andrea L. Balbo , Darko Komšo and Preston T. Miracle)49 Occupation in a submerged Mesolithic landscape (Garry Momber, Julie Satchell and Jan Gillespie) 324

Contentsvi

Regional identities50 Introduction (Graeme Warren) 33351 Flint procurement in the French Alps during the Mesolithic: deciphering economic and cultural 336 territories (Céline Bressy)52 The power of place and regional identity in the British south-western Mesolithic (Clive Jonathon Bond) 34553 Worm’s Head and Caldey Island (south Wales, UK) and the question of Mesolithic territories 354 (Rick Schulting)54 Show me how you make your hunting equipment and I will tell you where you come from: technical 362 traditions,anefficientmeansofcharacterizingculturalidentities (Eva David)55 Being-in-the-(Mesolithic) world: place, substance and person in the Mesolithic of western Scotland 368 (Hannah L. Cobb)56 Man-landscape relations in Varanger, Finnmark, northern Norway (Maria Westrum Solem) 37357 Feast in the forest: creating a common cultural identity in the interior of the Scandinavian Peninsula 378 in the Late Mesolithic (Silje Elisabeth Fretheim)58 Ynys Enlli: shifting horizons 385 (Mark Edmonds, Robert Johnston, Emily La Trobe-Bateman, John Roberts and Graeme Warren)59 Inthemiddle,notinbetween:Svärdbärareninitsregionalcontext (Jenny Holm) 39260 ‘Foreign in origin and local in pattern’: Mesolithic pottery around the Baltic Sea (Fredrik Hallgren) 397

Dwellings61 Introduction (João Zilhão) 40762 Ishomewheretheheartis?ReflectionsaroundEarlyMesolithicsites,exemplifiedwithresultsfrom 409 an excavation on coastal south-western Norway (Astrid J. Nyland)63 Different ways of building, different ways of living: Mesolithic house structures in western Norway 414 (Leif Inge Åstveit)64 Islandsettlementsandmaritimehunter-fishers:spatialandtemporaltransformationsover11,000years 422 at Melkøya, northern Norway (Morten Ramstad)65 Twohousesand186,000artefacts.SpatialorganizationattheLateMesolithicsiteofStrandvägen, 430 Sweden (Tom Carlsson)66 Ålyst: a settlement complex with hut structures from the Early Mesolithic on Bornholm, Denmark 436 (Claudio Casati and Lasse Sørensen)67 Virtual hypothesis: the Maglemosian huts at Ålyst, Bornholm. Preliminary thoughts on the morphology 443 of dwellings on a Maglemosian site (Nicolai Garhøj Larsen)68 Findconcentrationsanddwellingstructures.TheinterpretationofFinalPalaeolithicfindscatters 450 (Frank Gelhausen, Jan F. Kegler and Stefan Wenzel)69 AlongtheshoresoftheAncylusLake.TrädgårdstorpandothercoastalMesolithicsettlementsites 458 during the Late Ancylus period in western Östergötland (Fredrik Molin)70 DwellingsandgravesfromtheLateMesolithicsiteofNivå10,easternDenmark (Ole Lass Jensen) 46571 Dreams and Landscapes: Mesolithic archaeology under water (Ole Grøn) 47372 Thembones:middensitesasadefiningcharacteristicoftheScottishMesolithic (C. R. Wickham-Jones) 47873 South-western regional identities: Birdcombe, Totty Pot and Hawkcombe Head (Paula J. Gardiner) 485

VOLUME II

Transitions74 Introduction (Rick Schulting) 49775 From Magdalenian to Early Neolithic: hunter-gatherers in transition in north-eastern Iberia 500 (Pilar García-Argüelles, Jordi Nadal and Josep M. Fullola)76 The end of the Mesolithic in western France: from taphonomy to the understanding of prehistoric 507 territories (Grégory Marchand)77 New perspectives on the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition in northern Italy (Thomas Perrin) 51478 Seasonal resource scheduling in the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Scotland (Rachel L. Parks) 52179 Thepaleoecologicalandpaleodietarysignificanceofediblelandsnails(Helix sp.) across the 527 Pleistocene-Holocene transition on the eastern Adriatic coast (Mia Rizner, Nikola Vukosavljević and Preston Miracle)80 Hunter-gatherer adaptations during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in Portugal: data and 533 explanatory models (Ana Cristina Araújo)

Contents vii

81 Lollikhuse, a site from the transitional phase between the Mesolithic and Neolithic in Denmark 541 (Søren A. Sørensen)82 Dąbkirevisited:newevidenceonthequestionofearliestcattleuseinPomerania 548 (J. Kabaciński, D. Heinrich and T. Terberger)83 Huntersandfishersinachangingworld.InvestigationsonsubmergedStoneAgesitesofftheBaltic 556 coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany (Harald Lübke)84 The neolithisation of the Belgian lowlands: new evidence from the Scheldt Valley 564 (Philippe Crombé, Joris Sergant and Yves Perdaen)85 Interaction, exchange and imitation. Some short and preliminary notes on the distribution of Breitkeile 570 in Belgium and the Netherlands and its implications for the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic (Leo B. M. Verhart)86 Confronting important animals (Trond Lødøen) 57687 The phase of transformation in western Norway (Thomas Bruen Olsen) 58388 Transition to farming in western Norway seen as a rapid replacement of landscapes (Asle Bruen Olsen) 589

Ritual in context89 Introduction (Ericka Engelstad) 59990 Caught in the middle: functional and ideological aspects of Mesolithic shores in Norway 602 (Knut Andreas Bergsvik)91 Between the rock and the sea: site location and ritual practise in the Mesolithic in eastern central 610 Sweden (Christina Lindgren)92 Whatgoeswhere?IntrasitestudiesofdepositionsofMaglemosianartandflintpicksofthe 614 Maglemose and Kongemose cultures (Peter Andreas Toft)93 Soul-trips to the underworld? Interpretations of a decorated slate pickaxe from western Sweden 621 (Robert Hernek)94 Prehistory as a continuum in the discussion of continuity and change in Britain, 16,000 to 6000 cal BP 627 (Stella M. Blockley)95 New radiocarbon dates from the Stone Age graves at Dragsholm, Denmark 632 (T. Douglas Price, Erik Brinch Petersen and Michael P. Richards)96 From single graves to cemeteries: an initial look at chronology in Mesolithic burial practice 639 (Christopher Meiklejohn, Erik Brinch Petersen and Jeff Babb)97 Burials in the cave: new evidence on mortuary practices during the Mesolithic of Cantabrian Spain 650 (Pablo Arias, Angel Armendariz, Rodrigo de Balbín, Miguel A. Fano, Juan Fernández-Tresguerres, Manuel R. González Morales, María José Iriarte, Roberto Ontañón, Javier Alcolea, Esteban Álvarez- Fernández, Francisco Etxeberria, María Dolores Garralda, Mary Jackes and Álvaro Arrizabalaga)98 Coping with cadavers: ritual practices in Mesolithic cemeteries (Liv Nilsson Stutz) 65799 Symbols around the body: tooth ornaments from the graves at the Zvejnieki cemeteries, northern Latvia 664 (Lars Larsson)

Understanding the social context100 Introduction (Nyree Finlay) 673101 Dogs and people, an arising relationship: Canis familiaris amongst hunter-gatherer societies in the 675 Iberian Peninsula (Cristina García-Moncó)102 Wood and wild animals: towards an understanding of a Mesolithic world (Steven Price) 683103 Transforming bodies: mortuary practices in Mesolithic Britain (Chantal Conneller) 690104 Fishysettlementpatternsandtheirsocialsignificance:acasestudyfromthenorthernMidlandsof 698 Ireland (Aimée Little)105 A Mesolithic social landscape in south-west Britain: the Somerset Levels and Mendip Hills 706 (Clive Jonathon Bond)106 Sounds like sociality: new research on lithic contexts in Mesolithic Caithness 717 (Steve Mills and Amelia Pannett)107 Theidentificationofchildren’sflintknappingproductsinMesolithicScandinavia 722 (Farina Sternke and Mikkel Sørensen)108 An experimental analysis of perforated shells from the site of Šebrn Abri (Istria), Croatia 730 (Samuel Benghiat, Darko Komšo and Preston T. Miracle)109 From sharing to giving: handling the inequality of things at the end of the Mesolithic (Roger Edenmo) 736

Contentsviii

Understanding Mesolithic technology110 Introduction (Sheila Coulson) 743111 The illustration of Mesolithic artefacts and its contribution to the understanding of Mesolithic 745 technology (Alan Saville)112 From the mountain to the sea: an ethnographic perspective for the Early Mesolithic settlement dynamics 754 in north-eastern Italy (Stefano Grimaldi and Elisabetta Flor)113 Early Mesolithic hunting strategies in the north-eastern Italian Alps: an experimental analysis 760 (Stefano Grimaldi)114 Tools and colour in Mesolithic Scotland (Karen Hardy, Steven Birch and Robert S. Shiel) 766115 ForagersinthealpineRhinevalley.InterpretingtwoMesolithicrocksheltersnearKoblach 772 in Vorarlberg, Austria (Sonja Laus)116 Macrolithic industries of the Portuguese Mesolithic: a human adaptive response 779 (Ana Cristina Araújo, Francisco Almeida and M. João Valente)117 ‘Rulers’ofsouthernSweden:technologicalaspectsofarediscoveredtool(Arne Sjöström and Björn Nilsson) 788118 One problem – many solutions: strategies of lithic raw material procurement in Mesolithic Europe 795 (Laurent-Jacques Costa and Farina Sternke)119 Variability of lithic resource exploitation systems in northern Italy during the early Holocene: the 802 case-studies of Mondeval de Sora (Belluno) and I.N.F.S. (Bologna) (Federica Fontana and Antonio Guerreschi)

Flint alternatives120 Introduction (Kjel S. Å. Knutsson) 811121 Quartz analyses of the Kaaraneskoski site, Lapland (Tuija Rankama) 813122 Ways to interpret quartz (Karl-Fredrik Lindberg) 820123 Percussion events by the shore: a comparative approach to the manufacture and use of quartz in 827 Uppland, Sweden (†Per Falkenström)124 Flint knappers or quartz knappers? The procurement of different types of quartz in south-east Mesolithic 833 Norway (Lotte Eigeland)125 RecentstonetooluseandmaterialcultureoftheWola,PapuaNewGuinea (Karen Hardy) 838126 Petrography and mechanics of the Armorican Massif rocks: the impact on Late Mesolithic industries 845 in western France (Rodrigue Tsobgou Ahoupe)127 Production and use of Mesolithic groundstone axes and adzes in Zealand, Denmark: description, 853 production, distribution and status (Susanne Ritz Nicolaisen)128 Theelusiveflint:rawmaterialsandlithictechnologyintheMesolithicofeasternAsturias,Spain 860 (Pablo Arias, Patricia Fernández, Celia Marcos and Irene Rodríguez) Current research129 ThetransitiontotheHoloceneintheBajoAsónBasin(Cantabria,Spain):anarchaeozoologicalpoint 869 of view (Ana Belén Marín Arroyo)130 Mesolithic human remains from Poza l’Egua and Colomba caves (Asturias, Spain) 871 (Labib Drak and María Dolores Garralda)131 An assessment of our knowledge, the main problems of research, and current investigations with 873 regard to the Mesolithic of Cantabrian Spain (9th–6th millennium cal BC) (Miguel Ángel Fano)132 Hermitage, Ireland: life and death on the western edge of Europe (Tracy Collins) 876133 The Early prehistory in the west of Ireland: investigations into the social archaeology of the 880 Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland (Killian Driscoll)134 Lake-platforms at Lough Kinale – memory, reach and place: a Discovery Programme Project 882 in the Irish midlands (Christina Fredengren)135 ReconstructingMesolithicpalaeodietusingdentalmicrowearanalysis (T. Rowan McLaughlin) 887136 TheexcavationofLateMesolithicfishtrapremainsfromtheLiffeyestuary,Dublin,Ireland 889 (Melanie McQuade and Lorna O’Donnell)137 LakesidedevelopmentsinCountyMeath,Ireland:aLateMesolithicfishingplatformandpossible 895 mooring at Clowanstown 1 (Matt Mossop)138 The development and historiography of pollen studies in the Mesolithic of the Scottish islands 900 (Kevin J. Edwards)139 Molluscan studies of the Danish Mesolithic-Neolithic shell-midden Krabbesholm II: new information 907 concerning the marine and terrestrial environment (Nina Helt Nielsen)

Consolidated Bibliography 908Index 998

Understanding Mesolithic technology

117. �Rulers� of southern Sweden: technological aspects of a rediscovered tool

Arne Sjöström and Björn Nilsson

In the early 20th century the archaeologist Knut Kjellmark discovered a new artefact. It is best described as a ß int blade segment with blunted lateral edges. Due to its shape, Kjellmark named the tool �ruler�, and he believed that it was used for retouching ß ints. The rulers were found in stray-Þ nd assemblages in Småland, southern Sweden. The discovery was hardly noticed by contemporary archaeologists and the tool has been neglected for half a century. Undisturbed Þ nds of Mesolithic rulers have been made over recent years. Thus Kjellmark�s Þ nd material was examined and re-interpreted. New Þ nds were also made in museum collections. Through a technological/contextual perspective � combined with micro-wear studies, experimental archaeology and reÞ tting � the authors propose that rulers played a signiÞ cant role in bone and antler craft during the Middle Mesolithic. From a theoretical standpoint, the paper examines the importance of continuous re-evaluation and re-categorization of �well-known� prehistoric technologies.

Keywords: use-wear analysis, Mesolithic, ß int technology, southern Sweden, slotted bone point, Cambrian ß int.

IntroductionThe early 20th century was a relatively ß ourishing period for Swedish Mesolithic archaeology. One of the most skilled Þ eld archaeologists was Knut Kjellmark (1866�1944), and during the 1920�30s he worked as a school inspector in the province of Småland in southern Sweden (Figure 117.1), recruiting primary-school children to help map and survey their own neighbourhoods for Stone Age sites (Bagge 1944, 239). At the annual inspections, he collected the Þ nds of the children, to great effect. Kjellmark mapped several new sites, especially along the Mörrum River, and its lake system, and these were summarized in an article, in 1944, some months after his death (Kjellmark 1944).

The surveys revealed a large quantity of ß int artefacts, among which Kjellmark discerned some �new� tool types. Many of them were given odd names, none of them in common use today. Even though his typology and ideas were not fully accepted, he had a detailed knowledge of ß int tools. One of his peculiar tools was the �linjal� (Swedish for �ruler�), a blade segment with blunted edges and resembling an old-fashioned school ruler with rounded edges. At Þ rst Kjellmark (1924, 96 f.) thought that the rulers were used for retouching microliths and that the edges were deliberately polished, but he later abandoned this theory (Bagge and Kjellmark 1940, 90).

During excavations of the Mesolithic sites at the Ageröd-Rönneholm Bog in Scania in the late 1940s,

Carl-Axel Althin found several rulers. In his summary of Stone Age Scania he refrained from using the term �linjal� opting, rather, for �blades with edges polished by use� (Althin 1954, 96 ff.). Since that time rulers have attracted very little attention, but recently new examples have been found at excavations of Middle Mesolithic sites in the area of Lake Ringsjön, close to the Ageröd Bog (Sjöström 1997; Sjöström 2004). These Þ nds coincided with yet another excavation research project in Småland (Nilsson 2003), and a renewed interest in rulers has arisen. This led us to re-examine the old Þ nds made by Kjellmark and Althin, as well as previously unknown examples of rulers in museum collections: not all of the old rulers inventoried were actually located. In addition, a skilled amateur archaeologist, Leif Arvidsson, made contact with us. During his extensive surveys in the area around Lake Hornborgasjön (Västergötland), he had discovered the largest assemblage of rulers known so far.

So far, more than 300 rulers have been found, distributed over 69 sites. A low magniÞ cation microscope was used to examine use wear. To understand the prehistoric application of rulers, we manufactured experimental examples and tested them, primarily, in connection with bone handicraft.

Our examinations show that rulers were blades delib-erately polished at the edges. The items were used like burins to produce slots in bone tools, for example slotted

�Rulers� of southern Sweden: technological aspects of a rediscovered tool 789

Figure 117.1. Maps of Scandinavia and Þ nd areas in southern Sweden. A: Västergötland; B: Småland; C: Scania, and sites with rulers in the Lake Ringsjö area. The white area north-west of Lake Ringsjön, on the enlarged map, shows the extent of the lake in the early Postglacial period. Elevation on enlarged map: 5m.

bone-points. The polished blade was sharpened and re-sharpened by breaking off several segments of the worn out distal part (cf. the principle of a modern segmented box-cutting knife).

Distribution and datingAll rulers, with the exception of one example from Scania, were found in the interior of southern Sweden. In total, we have examined 297 rulers found in the provinces of Scania, Småland and Västergötland (Figure 117.1).

The northernmost region where rulers have been found is in the province of Västergötland. The 171 rulers from this area are all surface Þ nds. They were collected by Leif Arvidsson at 50 chronologically mixed sites, along the shorelines of lakes Hornborgasjön, Östen, Vristulven, and Lången, and also by the River Tidan. The rulers occur mostly at sites with Mesolithic artefacts. No more precise dating can be made.

In Småland the Þ nd circumstances are very similar to those for Västergötland. 36 rulers were found at 11 mixed sites along the lake system of Mörrum River − from Hönshyltefjorden in the south, to lake Helgasjön in the north. Kjellmark also found one ruler during his excavations at the Draftinge site, located approximately 150km north-west of Hönshyltefjorden. This site is situated between Lake Bolmen and the River Nissan catchment area (Kjellmark 1924, 29). Although rulers in Småland are found at mixed Stone Age sites, a Mesolithic dating seems most probable.

In Scania 92 rulers have been found at 10 sites in the Lake Ringsjö area (Figure 117.1). The north-western shallow part of the lake reformed to a peat bog during the Mesolithic. Today the area consists of the Ageröd and Rönneholm bogs. During the Middle Mesolithic the shallow lake was very attractive for settlement, and is rich in Þ nds from this period. In the late 1940s, Althin (1954) excavated several Mesolithic sites in the area. In total 29

Arne Sjöström and Björn Nilsson790

rulers were found at seven sites by the ancient shoreline. At the excavated sites of Henninge Bro and Rönneholm I rulers were found in mixed Mesolithic layers. At Ageröd I layers with rulers generally date to the Late Maglemose period, primarily with Þ nds of narrow scalene triangle microliths of Sværdborg type and narrow trapezes. Early forms of broad trapeze microliths also help date the sites at Ageröd I to the earliest Kongemose period. Radiocarbon analyses at Ageröd I: B, I: D and I: HC, conÞ rm the dating to the Late Maglemose (Larsson 1978). In the vicinity of the Ageröd sites, at Bollamöllan, eight more rulers were found in the early 20th century by an amateur archaeologist, Carl Stadler.

More than half of the Scanian rulers were found during excavations at the Ringsjöholm site between 1994 and 1997 (Sjöström 1997). The site is located on a 250m long, 10�20m broad, sandy spit by the ancient western shore of Lake Ringsjön. Thick cultural layers cover the narrow peninsular and vast refuse layers have been deposited along the two sides. In total 56 rulers were found on the peninsula surface, of which no more than 41 were found in connection with a hut ß oor layer. Of these, 25 rulers could be reÞ tted to major parts of Þ ve blades; one unbroken ruler blade was also found at the site (Figure 117.2). According to the microliths and 13 radiocarbon datings, ranging from 7910±110 BP (7100�6500 cal BC; LuA-4260) to 7150±90 BP (6220�5840 cal BC; Lu-4023), the main occupation phase at Ringsjöholm can be dated to the Maglemose-Kongemose transition. The hut ß oor layer itself has not been radiocarbon dated, but one radiocarbon date from a hut posthole, gave the age 7750±120 BP (7050�6400 cal BC; LuA-4259). The microliths in the lowermost part of the hut ß oor layer − where most of the rulers were found − are dominated by scalene triangles of Sværdborg type and narrow trapezes. Only a few broad microliths of early trapeze type were found in the layer, indicating that the

rulers from the hut could be dated to the very latest part of the Maglemose period. (All calibrated dates have been obtained using OxCal v. 3.10 (Bronk Ramsey 2005) and Reimer et al. 2004 for the calibration curve.)

One ruler Þ nd was made during excavation of the Mesolithic site complex in the Rönneholm Bog in 1997�1998 (Sjöström 2004). The sites, which can generally be dated to the Middle Mesolithic, were situated in the middle of the reforming lake, south of the Ageröd site complex. The ruler was found at Rönneholm 8, a 12 × 6m ß int concentration, with a central hearth, interpreted as a habitation area. The four radiocarbon datings − ranging from 7075±100 BP (6210�5730 cal BC; LuA-4917) to 6690±100 BP (5790�5470 cal BC; LuA-4916) − and Þ nds of rhombic microliths of the Villingebæk type all date the main occupation to the Middle Kongemose period. However there are indications of Late Maglemose occupation at the site, indicated by a few fragmented narrow microliths.

Description, production and applicationThe 297 rulers examined consist of 73 proximal parts (shorter and longer segments with bulb and butt), 206 medial, and 12 distal blade segments. Six rulers cannot be entirely metrically analysed due to damage. The rulers are primarily made of south Scandinavian ß int, but in Västergötland they also used Cambrian ß int (65.5%). Both blades and micro blades (blades < 10mm in width) of this ß int type were utilized for ruler production (Figure 117.3). A higher quality of Cambrian ß int was preferred for narrow micro blades. In Västergötland only 8.5% of the micro blade rulers are made of south Scandinavian ß int, compared to 50% of the blades. Micro blade rulers have not been found in Småland and Scania.

The fact that distal parts are limited, compared to proximal parts, is not only due to the possibility that the blade tips were broken off before the polishing process started, but also that they can be hard to distinguish among the Þ nd material. When looking for rulers we have mainly focused on rectangular blade segments: short distal parts

Figure 117.2. One unbroken ruler blade and Þ ve reÞ tted rulers from Ringsjöholm (scale 1:1).

Figure 117.3. Ruler segments from the Östen 2, Västergötland (scale 1:1).

�Rulers� of southern Sweden: technological aspects of a rediscovered tool 791

have been more or less neglected. Additionally, they were not always polished along the whole length of the edge.

The blades selected for ruler production were sym-metrical and had straight longitudinal proÞ les (curvature) and even edges. The maximal width of the examined rulers is 21.3mm, the mean 12.1mm, and the minimum width 5.5mm. When both edges of the blades have been polished, the original blade width is decreased by c. 0.5�1.0mm.

Before the polishing process began the blade tip was often broken off. This is not only indicated by the small number of polished distal segments, but also by the fact that some medial segments have polished corners on one of the transversal breaks. This is evident on the longest reÞ tted ruler from Ringsjöholm, where the segment has this type of polish on the outermost break (Figure 117.2). The blade tip was probably broken off, because of its curved proÞ le, thus facilitating polishing on grooved stones.

Grooved polishing stones occur in the same contexts as rulers; two polishing stones with grooves have been found from the Ageröd sites. A characteristic example is a large (42 × 23 × 6cm) sandstone from Ageröd I: D. It has a ß at polished surface and 20 shallow grooves concentrated on the edge of the stone (Figure 117.4). The most distinctive grooves are c. 0.5�1.0mm deep and some have proÞ les with a leaning V-shape, most likely made with a ß int blade. Larsson (1978, 129) suggested that the grooves on this polishing stone were caused by polishing pointed bone tools. Our experiments with bone tools show that this is not probable. By Lake Östen (Västergötland), amateur archaeologist Leif Arvidsson also found a small polishing stone with grooves (Figure 117.5). It has ß at polished surfaces on three sides and 11 grooves, of which the longest is 90mm, 2mm deep, and V-shaped in proÞ le. At the Ringsjöholm site three small polishing stones with grooves have been found: two were located in connection with the hut ß oor layer.

Some rulers have retouch on their edges, which appar-ently were made prior to the polishing. It is possible that these blades had some other function before they were transformed into rulers, e.g. knives. They could also have

been deliberately retouched before polishing, in order to facilitate and speed up the polishing process. If the edges were not completely straight, and having a wavy shape, it was necessary to remove the convex parts so that the whole edge came in contact with the stone and was thus evenly polished. The best way to carry out the retouching is to alternately press and drag the blade against an even stone surface, in order to remove the brittle convex parts of the edge: a ruler with an uneven and partially polished edge is less effective.

Our experiments show that it is possible to see if rulers were polished in grooves or not. If polished on a plane surface the edge proÞ le becomes ß at or faceted, and thus the polishing striations on the edge are not completely parallel to the length axis of the blade (Figures 117.6 and 117.7). If

Figure 117.4. Grooved polishing stone, found at Ageröd I:D.

Figure 117.5. Grooved polishing stone, found at Östen 1, Västergötland.

Figure 117.6. ProÞ les of transversal breaks on rulers from Ringsjöholm. The straight edge was polished on a ß at surface and the rounded edge in a groove. The left ruler is the same as in Figure 7 (scale 16:1).

Arne Sjöström and Björn Nilsson792

polished in a groove, the striations run completely parallel to the length axis and the edge proÞ le becomes rounded (Figure 117.6); the edge becomes smoother in a groove. Furthermore striations can occasionally be noticed on the dorsal and ventral side of the blade, a result of contact with the sides of the groove during polish (Figure 117.8). The width of this striated area shows that the grooves could be as deep as 4mm. Because of the length of the blade, and the degree of polish wanted, the process can take between 5 to 15 minutes, if both edges are treated. Polishing on a ß at surface is faster and more effective, since the pressure is concentrated on the sheer edge and the blade can be moved in different angles; the striations on one ruler show that it was held perpendicular to the direction of movement when polished.

In some cases it is difÞ cult to distinguish the polishing method used on rulers made of Cambrian ß int, primarily due to the quality of the raw material. The majority of the ß int rulers were polished in grooves, but the two methods could have been combined. Cortex is visible on the lateral edges of eight rulers. Of these, only three have polished edges on the cortex side. As well as the examples with cortex, a further seven rulers were polished on only one edge. They all originate from Västergötland and are made of Cambrian ß int. A characteristic of these unpolished edges is that they have a very blunt edge angle, and impossible to use for slot production. Only one ruler with a blunt edge angle had been polished.

When the blade polishing was complete the distal part was removed, if not already done so in advance. The ruler, with its fresh transversal break, its corners and polished edges, was a perfect tool for making slots in bone, similar

to a blade burin. It was probably held directly in the hand, since the precision and handling is better without a shaft. Uncontrolled force increases the risk of breaking or damaging the corners. Our experiments show that the ruler was pulled or pushed in the slot at an optimal angle of c. 35 degrees between the longitudinal axis of the ruler and the worked object (Figures 117.9 and 117.10).

Many rulers have use wear and damage on the corners of the transversal break, indicating the direction of force when used (Figure 117.8). If the edge at the transversal break was worn it could easily be temporarily sharpened by pressing the corner against bone or stone. In most cases this technique results in slightly jagged, occasionally burin-like, corners. Following this the ruler can be used again.

When both edges and the corners at the transversal break were totally worn out the ruler was sharpened by breaking off a segment of the distal part: a principle similar to that of a modern segmented box-cutting knife. This is easily done by holding the distal tip of the ruler blade in a Þ rm grip, pressing with a bone against the edge on a ß at stone

Figure 117.7. Polishing striations on a ß at edge. The same ruler as in Figure 117.6, left (scale 16:1).

Figure 117.8. Corner damage on two rulers from Ringsjöholm. View from the dorsal and ventral side. Note the striations on the one to the left: the result of polishing in a groove (scale 15:1).

Figure 117.9. Production of a slotted bone point using the proximal part of a ruler. The arrow shows the direction of movement. The Þ ngers are not shown in a working position.

Figure 117.10. Production of a slotted bone point. Notice the V-shaped slot proÞ le.

�Rulers� of southern Sweden: technological aspects of a rediscovered tool 793

with one hand, and then snapping it off by using a Þ rm and powerful motion with the other. The limited width of the rulers can partly be explained by this breaking method. If they were wider, and thus often thicker, controlled breaking would have been much more difÞ cult as it would have required too much force. Interestingly, the choice of narrow, easily breakable blades is obvious; wider blades with the same edge angles as rulers have been found at the sites. The broken off segment was discarded, or the new, opposite break used. If the ruler segment was large enough, it could be held between two Þ ngers and used in the same way as the ruler blade (Figure 117.11). At Þ rst glance the segments seem too small to handle in this way, but they work perfectly as they do not require so much force. Damages and use wear on both the transversal breaks on several medial segments show that they were used in this way. The mean length of the medial segments is only 11.4mm, and they are more or less quadrilateral in shape.

The proximal parts are often longer, with a mean length of 17.6mm. This is probably not only because they were used as handles − and thus as end products themselves − but also because shorter ruler blades are more difÞ cult to break in a controlled way, as the lever action is reduced. The mean length of the proximal parts at the Ringsjö area sites is twice that found at Småland and Västergötland: this has most likely to do with differences in technical tradition, where ß int material was more economically used.

Interpretation and conclusionsThe ruler is a sophisticated type of burin, whereby edge polishing was a controlled method of making the burin �edge�. Compared to the common burin manufacture method, using a blow with a stone, the specialized polishing and breaking technique was more efÞ cient and economical: one ruler blade can easily produce 28 burin edges, as every corner can be used (Figure 117.2).

The most probable use hypothesis is that they were tools for the production of slotted bone points and daggers. Accordingly, several of the slotted bone tools found at the

Ringsjö sites have slots with a V-shaped cross section. It is also possible, of course, to make slots using an unpolished ß int blade, and a transversal breaking method could also have been employed; nevertheless, unpolished blades are not that effective, as the sharp corners easily break, and sometimes even stick in the slot, making further work difÞ cult.

Excavations in the Ringsjö area show that rulers can be dated to Late Maglemose and Early Kongemose period: it is most likely that rulers in Småland and Västergötland are contemporaneous. In this sense rulers, as well as polishing stones, can be used as diagnostic artefacts for the Middle Mesolithic. Furthermore, rulers indirectly indicate the manufacture and use of slotted bone tools. This is of great importance for the archaeology of Småland, where, for example, bone and antler artefacts are most rarely discovered.

The spatial distribution of rulers is also interesting, with the inland focus quite evident. The reasons why rulers, hitherto, are only found at inland sites are manifold. First, we lack coverage of further Þ nd material examination: there are probably more rulers in museums and collections. They are fairly hard to distinguish until you learn to �see� them; this applies equally to those used to deal with ß int professionally. It comes as no surprise that many of the rulers are found (and noticed as something extraordinary) by amateur archaeologists. It is well accepted that we � professional archaeologists � always know what to look for, thus limiting our scope. Second, it is most probable that the technique of making rulers was limited, or concentrated in areas where ß int supplies were restricted. In addition to this economic factor, rulers should be regarded as a �regionalization� of material culture. It is most probable that the �ruler period� was quite limited, perhaps to only a few hundred years: those using the technique surely had tight bonds. Interestingly, ruler distribution does not coincide with the archaeological geography. They are spread over at least three areas, which, in archaeological terms, are often described as quite distinct.

The story of �ruler research� is both interesting and educating. It tells that, on the one hand, archaeology knows little about prehistory, yet it does have the ability to get close to past activities. It tells that, no matter how well known a site is, very basic archaeological data can still be revealing. Most of the rulers known were found by one amateur archaeologist from Västergötland, and a group of school children from Småland in the 1920s. And in such ways can external interests develop archaeology. Ultimately it all is a question of Þ nding new material patterns: sometimes the best method is simply to change perspective and see through the eyes of others.

AcknowledgementsWe wish to thank Leif Arvidsson, Skövde, for providing us with valuable information and placing the Västergötland rulers at our disposal, and also Deborah Olausson for her valuable comments on this article.

Figure 117.11. Utilization of a medial segment. The Þ ngers are not shown in a working position.

Arne Sjöström and Björn Nilsson794

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