FROM SEMI-CURATED TO EXPEDIENT? DIFFICULTIES IN IDENTIFYING THE TRANSITION FROM AHRENSBURGIAN
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-03-28

In northern Germany, the last Final Palaeolithic tradition is the Ahrensburgian and the Early Mesolithic of the region is generally associated with the Maglemosian technocomplex. The relation of the Ahrensburgian to the Early Mesolithic tradition in this re-gion remains unclear as they display several similarities on a broad-scale such as the use of lithic blade techniques, microliths, and  organic  harpoons  but  differences  in  the  details.  Hence,  although  these  technocomplexes  are  rather  different,  it  is  chal-lenging to detect the exact turning point from one to the other. For instance, we can date single lines of evidence but brought together we need to raise the question: When has enough changed to make a change? One reason why this differentiation re-mains difficult may be that we often identify these technocomplexes in their most distinct versions, whereas the majority of our material is less distinctive and/ or originates from potential palimpsests.We  assemble  the  different  lines  of  palaeoenvironmental  and  archaeological  evidence  to  show  the  relatively  large  margin  and  compare inventories from this transformation period using a quantitative as well as a qualitative approach to the northern Ger-man archaeological record. Based on this approach, we exemplify a broader behavioural change from a more curated to a more expedient behaviour that may be one of the reasons for our difficulties to untangle these interrelated traditions.


Author(s):  Grimm,  Sonja  -  Groß,  Daniel  -  Eriksen,  Berit  (ZBSA  -  Centre  for  Baltic  and  Scandinavian  Archaeology;  CRC  1266  “Scales of Transformation”) - Hinrichs, Moiken (CAU Kiel, Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology; CRC 1266 “Scales of Transformation”) - Krüger, Sascha - Winkler, Katja - Weber, Mara-Julia (ZBSA - Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology; CRC 1266 “Scales of Transformation”)