A Unique Shafthole Axe from Recent Excavations in the Järavallen Beach Ridge

Abstract

Due to the construction of the bridge across the Sound, new excavarions were conducted in the Järavallen beach ridge in the vicinity of Malmö. The excavation fields lie directly beside old ones at the Elinelund find location. A stratigraphy with a black occupation layer overlying a sand layer was documented. The sand layer contained only Ertebölle artefacts, whereas the black layer yielded both Ertebölle and Funnel Beaker finds. The preservation of the finds and the relative frequencies of the different artefact types throughout the layer show that the appearance of Ertebölle and Funnel Beaker elements together is not due to a later admixture, but mirrors a real situation. In this layer a shafthole axe was found. This axe was locally made and has no parallels. It shows typological traits of both the imported shoe-last axes of the Late Mesolithic and the flat hammer axes of the Early Neolithic. It is thus possible to argue for the co-existence of Ertebölle and Funnel Beaker types without referring to stratigraphical observations alone.