Period: Late Bronze Age (c. 1000-500 BC)

Project title: En experimentell produktion av lövknivar i Kristianstadsflinta

Researcher: Anders Högberg, Malmö, Sweden

E-mail: anders.hogberg(at)malmomuseer.malmo.se

Year: 2005

Abstract:

In the course of the Bronze Age there was a progressive movement away from producing tools of flint and towards making them in bronze instead. Often flint work from the Bronze Age seems fairly coarse and almost sloppy in its execution. An exception to this is seen in the large sickles for harvesting cereals, which give a clear indication that they were made with a particular purpose in mind.

Previous years' experiments at Lejre Experimental Centre in which the production of sickles was investigated has resulted in the discovery of an extensive amount of waste from the production of sickles in an area north of Kristianstad in Skåne - the first discovery of a production site for sickles in Sweden. On investigation it became clear that the sickles at this site were made of Kristianstad flint which is considered by many to be "impossible and unmanageable" to work with.

The aim of this experiment was to create a experimental basis for analyses of production sites of sickles of Kristianstad flint. In the experiment sickles of Kristianstad flint were reconstructed, enabling a comparison with earlier reconstruction made of ordinary flint.

The experiment showed that Kristianstad flint reacts similarly to ordinary flint - yet also shows some differences. The experiment formed a good basis for further analyses of archaeological findings of production sites.

The experiment is a part of a larger project in which the role of flint in Late Bronze Age is investigated.

Reference number: HAF 04/05