17 - SCANDINAVIAN NEOLITIHIC FLINT DAGGER

SCANDINAVIAN NEOLITIHIC FLINT DAGGER TYPE III. SOUTHERN SCANDINAVIA, C. 2100 - 1900 B.C. knapped caramel and brown flint, with central “stitching”, an elongated leaf shaped blade and thin handle, with the remnants of an early 20th or 19th century label on the base of the blade 23cm long Provenance: Private collection, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, formed 1940s - 1960s, thence by descent For similar, please see; The Salisbury Centre, Norwich, United Kingdom, accession number RLS 55. This fine blade is an example of the remarkable heights achieved by flint workers in late Neolithic Scandinavia. It dates to c. 2400 – 1800 B.C., aptly named the “Dagger Period”, an era where much of the rest of Europe had already adopted metallurgy. The common consensus is now that these daggers were a symbol of status. Used to demonstrate prestige or given as gifts. Microwear analysis on these items reveals that they were unlikely to have been used for practical purposes. Rather, the wear was found to be consistent with frequent removal from a protective sheath. Though fashioned from flint, daggers such as these were inspired by contemporaneous European metal counterparts. During this period, Scandinavia lacked a sustainable supply of copper ore to support a metallurgical industry, so communities were traditionally thought to have lacked the ability, rather than the will, to produce copper daggers. However, recent studies have found that the delicate finishing could only have been completed with the aid of a metal-tipped tool. Furthermore, during the centuries around 2000 B.C., maritime routes and established exchange networks were becoming increasingly important, allowing materials, finished objects and ideas to travel considerable distances. Amber, in particular, was a highly desirable commodity, with northern Europe providing an important source of this material. Its movement southwards demonstrates that Scandinavia was by no means isolated from developments elsewhere on the continent. As such, it appears that the continued use of flint as a medium was made through choice as opposed to necessity. Indeed, even as bronze became very popular, the production of these beautiful flint daggers continued well into the Bronze Age. The remarkable consistency and refinement of these objects suggest a highly specialised industry, where techniques and knowledge were passed between generations of flint workers. By the time this dagger was produced, flint working was not simply a utilitarian industry, but an established cultural tradition, capable of producing objects of considerable beauty. As such, daggers such as the present example are widely considered to represent the very pinnacle of a European flint working industry that dated back tens of thousands of years.