Bedburg-Königshoven (Mesolithic antler frontlets)

The Stag masks of Bedburg - Königshoven are fed mask-like shaped velvet antler deer skull from the Middle Stone Age. They are considered one of the oldest evidence of shamanism.

Location and exploration of the Fund place

The Mesolithic finds place in Bedburg- Königshoven lay near the former village Morken, about 5 km southwest of Grevenbroich and 20 km south-east of Monchengladbach. The place is now destroyed by lignite mining. For the settlement time during the Preboreal the find spot was right on the shore of a Erftarms. The actual settlement site was no longer detected by the excavations in 1987; he had already fallen victim to the mine. Only the shallow waters off the settlement was captured by the excavations and excavated to 370 m².

The finding place in the summer of 1987 was discovered during an excursion of the Geographical Institute of the University of Dusseldorf by the discovery of Ice Age animal bones. Then archaeologists investigated the then research area Paleolithic to the Roman- Germanic Central Museum (now Monrepos Archaeological research center and museum of human behavior evolution) to the site. Here they encountered the first red deer mask struck by clear signs of human handling. This finding and the expected good preservation fund organic material were the catalyst for the ongoing until early 1988 Excavations by Dr. Martin Street ( Monrepos Archaeological research center and museum of human behavior evolution). In addition to numerous stone tools of early Mesolithic many well-preserved animal bones ( red deer, roe deer, aurochs, dog, birds, fish ) including another deer antler mask Here were discovered, This is found on the findings to the drop of the settlement on the river bank. The research by Street gave important clues to human life at the beginning of the current warm period, especially for hunting and food.

Description of the masks

Both masks are made from the skull roof of red deer with its antlers full. The antlers of the first mask was one of fourteen points, the second one Zwölfender. Both the skull roof was initially cut off from the rest of the skull. Side show the skull roofs clear round perforations of about 1-2 cm in diameter. In the Zwölfender the nasal bone is still preserved.

Comparison finds

There are few comparative findings. Additional copies are from the Early Mesolithic find sites living space High Viecheln, Star Carr, Berlin- Biesdorf and Plau. In contrast to the masks of Bedburg - Königshoven the antlers are greatly reduced in these specimens and / or thinned and the perforations in part to the posterior cranial areas ( High Viecheln, Star Carr, Plau ) or absent (Berlin- Biesdorf ).

Dating

The masks were in lake sediments ( muds ), the date according to pollen analysis in the Preboreal. The C14 dating of two pieces of wood ( CN 3998, CN 3999 ) provides an absolute date of about 9780 ± 100, and 9600 ± 100 BP for the Mesolithic settlement of the Fund place. Analyzes of the fauna, and also found the stone artifacts confirm this age assignment ..

Interpretation and Meaning

The interpretation of the masks as a hunting aid or part of the shamanistic rite is already on the first editor of the masks of Star Carr, Sir John Grahame Clark, back: " ... had the frontlets Merely been attached to stakes or structures as some form of trophy, but Which would fit admirably the hypothesis thatthey were Intended to be worn as some kind of mask or head -dress. " However, until today there is a lack of in-depth study of the deer antler masks, so that the scientific discourse does not get beyond the anthropological and ethnographic comparisons of Clark and the importance of deer antler masks will be discussed only in theoretical approaches. The fact that the masks an unusual significance is attributed, is reflected in the occupied since the Upper Paleolithic existence of cross-species and the increased importance of deer antlers as a symbol, which is exemplified in the lion man from Hohlenstein - Stadel, the Dieu cornu of Les Trois Frères, the representation of the Cernunnos to date shows on the Gundestrup cauldron, or the drawing of a shaman of the Tungus in different ways.

New studies of the deer antler masks of Bedburg - Königshoven in Monrepos Archaeological Research Center and Museum of human behavior development focus on the technology of their manufacture and use tracks and can thus new arguments for their use and interpretation of Palaeolithic art supply ..