Inquiry into Mesolithic hafting-technology – An exceptional miniature “T-shaped” axe from Friesack, Brandenburg
Résumé
The paper presents novel insights on „T-shaped“ axes made from red deer antler, with a particular
emphasis on a miniature from the Late Mesolithic phase of the Friesack site (Germany). Used as an
efficient tooling, it presents same morpho-technical patterns as the Ertebølle-related „T-shaped“ axes
recently found in the eastern part of Pomerania. All these axes display a similar shaft-hole that suggests
use of a common hafting-system, regardless the cultural Mesolithic context, then. Compared to
Neolithic less-refine but resembling products, these Mesolithic implements are in this way particularly
recognizable, although in both contexts all „T-shaped“ axes were used similarly, as heavy-duty tools.
Thus, the know how implied in manufacturing the implement as a whole appears as a mean to identify
distinct types of „T-shaped“ axes and, so, distinctive cultural origin of the axes in regional assemblages.
The technology displayed by the miniature from Friesack is examined here, to continue establishing
the industrial conceptions and dynamics involved in postglacial technologies.