Duvensee paddle
The paddle of Duvensee ( Helms- Museum Inventory number MfV1926.112: 182 ) is the surviving part of a Mesolithic paddle, which was found in 1926 during excavations in Duvenseer Moor at Klinkrade in Schleswig-Holstein Duchy of Lauenburg. The find is after the paddle of Star Carr, the second oldest paddle worldwide and is considered one of the earliest evidence for the use of watercraft in the Mesolithic period. The Fund is shown in the permanent archaeological exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Hamburg- Harburg.
- 2.1 dating
Discovery
The former Duvenseer Moor is located directly west of the town Duvensee in a young moraine landscape and had a stretch of 3.5 km from north to south and 1.2 km in west-east direction. Originally it was a shallow open sea which gradually vermoorte and finally largely silted. Since the late 18th century, the marsh was drained by drainage ditches to make it usable for agriculture. The peat of the bog was mined as fuel. Until the 19th century there was a small lake left behind was finally completely drained together with the environment. When mapping work in Duvenseer Moor geologist Karl Gripp 1923 discovered a Mesolithic settlement site at random. In the years following the discovery space has been extensively studied archaeologically. In the years 1924-1927 Gustav Schwantes led, in 1946 Hermann Schwabedissen and finally from 1966 to 1967 Klaus Bokelmann archaeological excavations in the moor by, besides, numerous settlements have been documented. The excavations provided in addition to numerous stone artifacts, very few wood appliances, including the 1926 paddle found in Schwantes excavation campaign, which was located in a former bank area in the field of residential location 2. The paddle of Duvensee is one of the most outstanding finds from the Duvenseer Moor. Location: 53 ° 41 ' 57 "N, 10 ° 32' 51" O53.69917110.54739Koordinaten: 53 ° 41 ' 57 "N, 10 ° 32' 51" E
Further finds
The teaching in the nearby Schiphorst elementary school teacher Ernst Bornhöft found before 1925 two more paddles which he incorporated first into the prehistoric collection of his school. Both paddle, however, went to the Museum in 1925. The paddle has a large-leaved oak the dimensions 790 × 182 × 35 mm and weight of 613 g and your is still held by the museum. In 2008 it was by means of 14C dating to 1121 ± 22 Before Present (around 829 AD ± 22 years) dated to the time of transition from early to high Middle Ages. The second paddle is now lost, there exist only a few written records and a photo of the Fund. That probably also made of pine wood paddle to have worn an incised decoration on the shaft, which is not apparent, however, from the pictures. When the paddle Fund correlations were salvaged from Bornhöft without further consideration.
Findings
The paddle was broken but several times in finding exceptionally well preserved except for a few flaws, due to the permanently moist environment in the sediment of the former lake shore zone. The paddle is missing only the end of the handle and the blade is a corner broken off in steps. This paddle now has a length of 520 mm, a width of 100 mm and a thickness of 35 mm. Long rectangular sheet of wide rounded corners having a length of about 260 mm and is asymmetric about the shaft. The weight of the paddle is now 331 g The paddle was carved from the trunk of a pine tree, with three Astansätze were finished and smoothed on the shaft. After recovery, the paddle was preserved with a non precisely documented waxy substance. A new treatment of the Fund piece with the then newly developed plastic Celodal, a urea -formaldehyde resin was discarded in 1940 for conservation reasons.
Dating
The first dating was carried out on the basis of typological found Steinartekfakte as jack residues, microliths and arrowheads and pollen analysis in the Mesolithic. A study conducted in the 1980s, radiocarbon dating of several hazelnut shells and wood residues into the residence revealed a mean dating around 7390 ± 80 BC carried out in 2008 radiocarbon dating of two samples from the Duvenseer paddle by means of accelerator mass spectrometry (14C -AMS) was calibrated age of 8477 ± 49 BP and 8261 ± 38 BP to 6527 ± 49 data so years before BC or 6311 BC ± 38 years before this case is striking the significantly different 14C age of the samples from the settlement findings.
Interpretation and Meaning
The excavation results allowed a reassessment of Mesolithic culture in Northern Germany. For discovered in Duvensee cultural group Schwantes eventually coined the name Duvensee group, a cultural group that extends over Schleswig -Holstein, Mecklenburg and parts of Brandenburg. After the excavation Schwantes the paddle of Duvensee as the oldest paddle has been published worldwide and at the same time as the eldest, even if only indirect evidence for the use of boats in the Mesolithic and viewed over a wide area. This view has been tempered by the discovery of the older paddle Stare Carr something. The Fund experienced not only in international antique scientific circles a lot of interest, so the museum was asked by a material- genuine copy of the paddle for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. In the 1990s, the community Duvensee thought to take the paddle in his newly arising local coat of arms, but this was rejected after consultation with heraldists. To mark the circle won the competition 's Most Beautiful Village In 2005, the municipality had a replica of the paddle of Duvensee cast in bronze, which was erected in front of the town hall.