Elk antler mattock-heads from southern and northern Sweden, and the importance of elk in social contexts

Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis

Abstract

The ecological conditions show synchronous differences between southern and northern Sweden, due to the delayed immigration of flora and fauna in such a long, narrow country. One of the first forest animals to immigrate was the elk. It was also among the first to disappear from southern Sweden. Mattock-heads made from elk antlers have been found in both southern and northern Sweden. In the south, they date to Preboreal times. In Jämtland, in the interior of Norrland, where the character of the bedrock has resulted in low pH values in the surface sediments, four elk antler tools have been found, three of which are mattock-heads. These turn out to span the period from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic, as with the mattock-heads found in Norway. The difference in age between the finds from the south and the north is conspicuous, as is the age variation among those found in Jämtland. The article considers the importance of the elk as a ritual creature and the role of the mattock-heads, which served not only as functional tools but also as actors in people’s imagination.