The Rönneholm Arrow

A Find of a Wooden Arrow-tip with Microliths in the Bog Rönneholms Mosse, Central Scania, Southern Sweden

Authors

  • Lars Larsson Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University
  • Arne Sjöström Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University
  • Carl Heron Department of Scientific Research, The British Museum

Abstract

In Rönneholms Mosse, central Scania, southernmost Sweden, new excavations were initiated in the mid 1990s due to extraction of peat. Several bog sites and more than one hundred small campsites have been disclosed in layers of gyttja and peat.

One of the rarer finds is a wooden arrow made of hazel wood, with four microliths glued to the tip and a loose fifth microlith that probably also was attached. It is dated to the late Maglemose Culture. The arrow is one of the few examples in the world showing how narrow microliths were attached. A number of finds of archery in general and arrows specifically, mainly from Northern Europe, are also presented. A pure birchbark tar adhesive was used to haft the arrow.

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Published

2017-12-19

Issue

Vol. 22 (2016)

Section

Articles