Stone Age Settlements in the Nivå Valley & Limhamn and other Axesaf Jørgen Faxholm

In the 1970s, Faxholm was the happy owner of a property at Aatoften. One of the largest Kongemose and Ertebølle settlements in the Nivå fossil inlet area. The inevitably regular find of arrowheads, axes and blades in the garden soil as well as in the area around his house, rekindled the deep interest in archaeology and the Stone Age that he has nurtured since he was a young boy.

For almost 100 years, the complex of Mesolithic settlements in the area had remained almost untouched by archaeologists. This was despite indications of potentially rich finds following Neergaard’s excavation of the famous Nivågård kitchen midden in 1912. This all changed with the excavation of a large settlement in Aatoften in the 1990s. Later an even more exciting site close to the Nivågård site, internationally renowned as “Nivå 10”, was excavated. This site contained 12 well preserved Late Kongemose/Early Ertebølle graves as well as remains of habitation. By then, Faxholm had long moved abroad but luckily preserved all his notes and finds. Therefore, and with time on his hand, he decided to document everything in Stone Age Settlements in the Nivå Valley.

The first volume is based on the surface finds from 11 settlements in the fossil Nivå inlet area. In addition to the discussion of certain flint types, some arrowheads of a Paleolithic character indicate that Nivå has been on the reindeer migration route north. Faxholm also discovered that the Limhamn axes in the area appeared to have a clear local character. This led to his ambition of cataloguing the Limham axes found in Denmark and hence the second volume of this book! Other important topics in this volume concern the application of Ertebølle flake axes and the enigmatic mini flake axes.

It has long been debated whether Limhamn axes were imported or produced locally. The great analysis of the axes, presented in the book, raises well-argued questions and theories of great benefit to all who are interested in the transition between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic. Based on a statistical analysis of the Danish material, the author presents discussions on local production in relation to imports based on type, availability of raw materials and technology. 

Furthermore, the author has found indications in the material on hafting as well as use, which is important as no examples of hafted Limhamn axes have yet been found. Many scholars claim that voyages across the high seas have taken place at this time, but no one dares approach the question of how. This is another topic the author addresses. Finally, round-butted axes are included in a comparative analysis.

The book contains more than 370 photos of Limhamn- and other axes and almost 100 artefact drawings illustrating the Nivå material.