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Ertebølle culture

The Ertebølle culture (ca 5200 BC-4000 BC) is the name of a South Scandinavian hunter-gatherer and fisher culture dating to the very end of the Mesolithic period. It is named after the type site, a small village on Limfjorden in Denmark. In the north, it bordered on the Scandinavian Nøstvet and Lihult cultures.

The Ertebølle culture evolved out of the Kongemose culture and it is divided into an early phase ca 5200 BC-ca 4500 BC, and a later phase ca 4500 BC-4000 BC. By 4000 BC, it evolved into the Funnelbeaker culture.

Economy
Ertebølle peoples lived primarily on seafood and their midden sites are found in coastal parts of Scandinavia. Later, they became pottery users, mostly due to influence from Neolithic farmers further south although their manufacturing styles were noticeably different. The late phase is very important for the study of the transition from a hunter-gatherer culture into a farming culture in Northern Europe.


flake axeThe many settlements on the coast and in the hinterland vary between large all-year-round settlements and smaller seasonal settlements.

The fishing was varied and highly developed: they caught eel, used fish traps, and hunted seals and porpoises from dugouts. On land, they hunted primarily red deer and wild boar.

Tools and art
Paddles from Tybrind Vig show traces of highly developed and artistic woodcarving. The flintstone industry evolved a high and unified standard with small and flake axes, long lithic flakes (knifes) and arrow heads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erteb%C3%B8lle_culture