Fortelling om Mågårdøksen

Le résumé fourni par la source

This article presents a rare find, an elk antler shaft hole axe with incised decoration. The axe comes from Mågård, Romedal in Stange municipality, previously Hedmark county, and is radiocarbon dated to 7735$-$7586 calBC, Middle Mesolithic or Boreal Chronozone. The dating of this axe is particularly interesting in a Norwegian context because of the similarity with the decorated shaft-hole hatchet made from whalebone (`Hidrahakken') found in Flekkefjord, Vest-Agder. The aim of the article is to present the Mågård axe and its cultural-historical background within the southern and southeastern Norwegian Mesolithic. It will present the different social/cultural groups and varying ecological zones of the period; provide an overview of other known axes/hatchets made of antler; and consider the cultural importance of elk in the Mesolithic reflected through rock carvings on the coast and inland. Together these lines of enquiry will be used to shed light on cultural relations in a wider southern Scandinavian and northern European context within the Maglemose culture and consider the potential the significance of decoration on the axe. The article raises the idea that the incised decorations on the axe can be seen as a reflection of cultural influence and the spread of ideas in areas where the elk was the economic backbone to society and central to the belief systems. The article also presents a summary of the nine large organic objects, including the Mågård axe, from Oldsaksamlingen's collection, with 14C-dating and animal osteological analysis.

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