Two axes made from deer antlers have turned up near Löddeköpinge in southern Sweden. Archaeologists found them this spring while studying an ancient settlement in Skåne.
Both axes lay in pits dating to the Bronze Age, between about 1700 and 500 BCE. One has suffered heavy erosion, but the other is in much better shape. A hole runs through the antler, and the cutting edge shows signs of shaping and grinding.
Similar axes have turned up across Denmark, but few are known from Sweden. The new finds add to the small number found in the country.
Deer antler axes have a long history in Scandinavia. They were common during the Mesolithic, when people lived mainly by hunting and gathering, from about 10,000 to 4000 BCE. Their use then fell sharply during the Neolithic, when farming spread between about 4000 and 1700 BCE.
The axes appeared again during the Bronze Age, though their shape had changed. They disappeared once more during the Iron Age.
What did people use them for? Tests at Lejre, an experimental archaeology center in Denmark, offer some answers. Researchers made new axes from deer antlers and tested them on wood. The tools worked well for cutting down trees, chopping dry wood, and splitting logs for fires.
Their use might also have had a ritual side. Many Danish examples bear carved designs, and their findspots add to the questions about their purpose.
Of 155 deer antler axes found in Denmark, 59 have decorations. Some feature circles with dots, while others bear wheel crosses and spiral patterns linked to Bronze Age art.
Archaeologists have also found many of these axes in wetlands and peat bogs. People might have placed them there on purpose, rather than losing them during daily work.
The two axes near Löddeköpinge offer more evidence of how people worked with deer antlers during the Bronze Age. Their shape, wear, and findspots will help researchers study how these tools fit into daily life and ritual acts.