Danish Mesolithic Period Antler Tine Billet

Ertebølle Culture, c. 5400–3950 BC, Denmark

A fascinating Mesolithic percussion tool, this pointed antler tine billet is a beautifully preserved artifact, recovered from the peat bogs of Denmark. Made from red deer antler, this compact and charming tool was likely used for precise flint knapping—ideal for flaking and shaping medium to small blades, points, and arrowheads.

Crafted and used by the Ertebølle culture, this object offers a direct link to a vibrant Mesolithic society that thrived along the Limfjord in Northern Jutland. Active between c. 5400 and 3950 BC, the Ertebølle people lived in close harmony with their environment, subsisting through fishing, hunting, and gathering, and settling near beaches, islands, and riverbanks.

The Ertebølle are perhaps best remembered for their kitchen middens—huge shell heaps, mostly oyster, which speak to the rich coastal resources they harvested. Skilled watermen, they paddled dugout canoes across fjords and inlets, and developed an advanced tool industry. Alongside flint axes, burins, and scrapers, tools like this antler billet highlight their resourceful use of organic materials including bone, wood, and antler.

Antler billets were key to producing the finely worked stone tools that defined Ertebølle craftsmanship. With their natural resilience and slightly elastic structure, antler tines provided the ideal material for indirect percussion, allowing controlled strikes to shape delicate flint forms.

Thanks to the cold, anaerobic environment of peat bogs, organic tools like this billet were remarkably well-preserved. Most were lost into lakes or wetland deposits, only to be unearthed centuries later during peat cutting in the early 20th century.

This tool not only exemplifies the technical sophistication of Mesolithic toolmakers—it also serves as a quiet witness to daily life, survival, and innovation in prehistoric Scandinavia.

Excellent condition. Visible cutting and grinding marks. Age-related wear, fractures and chip. Natural damage patterns. Remnants of peat bog. Brownish grey patina. Size approx. 16,4cm x 2,5cm x 2,0cm.

Provenance: Danish private collection.

References and further reading:

Europe's First Farmers – T. Douglas Price, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Cambridge University Press, 2000 (http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/62031/ sample/9780521662031ws.pdf)

Inland Ertebølle Culture: the importance of aquatic resources and the freshwater reservoir effect in radiocarbon dates from pottery food crusts, Bente Philippsen & John Meadows, Internet Archaeology (doi:10.11141/ia.37.9)

Prehistoric period (until 1050 AD)/ The Mesolithic period, Nationalmuseet i København (https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-mesolithic-period/)

First insights into the identification of bone and antler tools used in the indirect percussion and pressure techniques during the early postglacial, Éva David & Mikkel Sorensen, Quaternary International 423, 2016. (DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.135)

How Bone Technology points to Cultural Lineages in Prehistory? New Insights from Danish Late-and Post-Glacial Weapons’ Heads, Éva David, Lasse Sørensen, Peter Petersen, Open Access Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2022. (https://hal.science/hal-03598512/document)