Neolithic dagger blade from Denmark
€480
available
Object number
AR3508-06
| Object: |
Neolithic flint dagger blade
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| Material: |
Brown flint.
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| Period: |
1800 BC to 1500 BC. Transitional Period between Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. |
| Description: |
Danish dagger blade made of beautiful stone. The double-edged blade is pointed at the front and tapers slightly to a blunt end at the back. The flint blade for a dagger is very elaborately crafted and finely chipped.
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| Background: |
Daggers first flourished in Northern Europe in the Mesolithic period. They were still rather roughly worked and were probably mainly utilitarian objects. Daggers, by definition double-edged, are less suitable for cutting than knives and must have been used primarily as stabbing tools or weapons. By the late Neolithic period, daggers reached a high level of technical perfection and became widespread. That was around 3500 BC to 1500 BC, depending on the region. This era is also known as the dagger period in southern Scandinavia. In the culture of that time, daggers were apparently an important status symbol that partially replaced the axes that had been important in earlier cultures. Like almost all stone tools, flint daggers were occasionally replaced by copper daggers at the beginning of the Bronze Age, and later they were completely replaced by bronze daggers. A prominent Neolithic wearer of a dagger was the glacier mummy "Ötzi" from the Austria–Italy border. The dagger blade of this man of high social rank was made of flint from the Lessinian mountains. It was set in an ash wood handle and secured with animal sinew. |
| Dimensions: |
12.8cm long.
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| Condition: |
Small chips on the body, ancient broken edge on the neck. Blade finely worked. Overall good condition. Old sticker from a previous owner with "47" printed on it.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2022 on the French art market. Previously in the French private collection Lepage. Acquired between 1975 and 1989 at an art auction. The stone tool is assumed to be of Danish origin.
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| References: |
Cf. P. V. Glob, Danske Oldsager II. Yngre Stenalder, no. 500. Cf. Petersen, Flint fra Danmarks oldtid, p. 125, no. 204. Cf. A. MacGregor, Antiquities from Europe and the Near East in the Collection of the Lord McAlpine of West Green, p. 76, no. 4.196 and p. 81, no. 4.223. Blade 4.223 was interpreted by MacGregor as a spearhead. |
| Literature: |
P. V. Glob's classical book Danske Oldsager II. Yngre Stenalder gives a comprehensive overview on the Northern European New Stone Age.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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