Ice Age Camping — Alles bleibt anders

No matter whether it is a large family, a single household or a shared flat – the social structures in which we live today are diverse and change over the course of our lives. In recent years, there has even been talk of digital nomads, who almost exclusively use digital technologies to do their work and lead a location-independent, multi-local life.

Even at the end of the last glacial period, people in Europe were mobile. In the course of a year, they camped at different sites in a region in order to obtain food and materials. In the CRC 1266, we investigate the effects of this lifestyle on their social interaction.

Pioneers at the end of the Ice Age

At the end of the last glacial period, c.12,700 years BCE, north-western Europe looked different from modern-day Europe. The North Sea coast ran between Scotland and Norway, a wide plain stretched between the island and the continent. It was possible to get to Helgoland with almost dry feet. At this time, the climate changed significantly, i.e. it became warmer and wetter in the northern hemisphere. In the lowlands of northern Europe, grasses and herbs still dominated the flora, because the soils first had to develop again.

At the northern edge of the low mountain ranges, people whose remains archaeologists call Magdalenian, changed their habits or migrated. In the bordering lowlands to the north, people appeared again for the first time after a long period of absence. Their tools, hunting weapons and methods of making them clearly resemble the Magdalenian and are referred to as the Hamburg Culture.

A work of art from around 12,250 BCE – the Poggenwisch (Ahrensburg)

Only 15 cm long and with carved decorations made of deer antlers. The Poggenwisch, which was found in the Ahrensburg tunnel valley near Hamburg, is one of the few works of art from the time of the repopulation of northern Germany at the end of the last glacial period. Its exact function remains a secret to us. However, similar decorative patterns are known from south-western Europe. A face is possibly depicted at the lower end.

A 15 cm long rod made of deer antler.
The Poggenwisch is one of the rare art objects of this time.
Artful carvings decorate the rod.
Visible at the tip: A face?

Family idyll on the Seine

Children are running around between tents, and adults are sitting around the campfire. What sounds like a holiday idyll on a campsite describes a scene on the banks of the Seine some 15,900 years ago. Here, in what is now Étiolles, people pitched their tents, built fireplaces, made tools and cut up hunted game. In the vicinity, they found huge flint nodules of excellent quality, the raw material for many of their stone tools.

They were certainly masters in making stone tools, but average products and pieces with many flaws were also found. Apparently, there were unskilled stone knappers involved, probably children and adolescents. At a well-researched fireplace, the ‘master craftsmen’ sat close to the fire, while the ‘journeymen’ sat in the second row, and the ‘apprentices’ huddled along the wall of the tent.

A family is working in a tent around one of the fireplaces in Étiolles.
The central fireplace and surrounding stone structures after the excavation.
Ideal-typical fireplace in Étiolles with reconstructed tent.

VieW intO thE Tent

Exkurs

3D puzzle for archaeologists –
what reassembled objects reveal to us
Archaeologists put fragments of artefacts together again like in a puzzle. From these finds, they can gather a variety of information about the people behind the objects. Flakes struck from flint nodules or similar stones can even be put back together in the order in which they were knapped.
Ideally, a flint nodule can be almost completely pieced back together. Then all working phases can be described: the removal of the outer layer and preparation of the nodule, the creation of a striking platform, the removal of target products and the correction of surfaces in the meantime.
Reassembled objects also show relationships between site areas or even sites. If a find from site A fits into a production sequence at site B and vice versa, this may suggest that both sites were used at the same time. The exact location of the finds that have been pieced together also shows what happened where and in which order.

At the end of the last glacial period, permanent settlements did not yet exist. People set up seasonal camps, like here in Étiolles, where two tents stood only a few metres apart, i.e. both at the same time.
In the camps, which were used for a short time, a lot of work took place outside the tents. Hunted game such as reindeer was cut up there, which was an important basis for feeding the mobile hunters and gatherers.
Everything useful was taken from the hunted animals. Hides and leather were used to make warm and protective garments, as well as canvas for tents.
Spearheads were shafted at a fireplace outside the tents. After the hunt, pitch, which served as glue, was warmed by the fire and damaged spearheads were replaced.
Children also lived in both tents. But we do not know whether they saw themselves, their parents and siblings as a family in the same way we view it today. In any case, the reassembly of stone objects shows that the inhabitants of one tent left earlier than those in the other.

A hunting camp by the river

About 12,800 years ago, a man came to the Sorge valley, near the later village of Alt Duvenstedt in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Three flint nodules were already prepared in his luggage and were now knapped to sharp blades at the campfire. This also demonstrates craftsmanship and experience, handwriting in stone. The person took three blades to a second fireplace. Perhaps there were companions here? Then the person continued to remove the outer layer of more nodules. The new blades were used to make arrowheads, one of which was also used in action, as typical damage shows. Other tools for preparing bones, antlers and fur indicate that prey was caught and processed here. After one or maybe two nights, the successful hunter set off again.

Almost completely reassembled flint nodule from Alt Duvenstedt.
This arrowhead was made in Alt Duvenstedt and used for hunting.

Excavation

The current excavation area at Étiolles shows two concentrations of flint artefacts (left and right).
Geophysicists from Kiel University are carrying out Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) measurements in Étiolles.
Electrical resistivity tomography (ERI) is also used at Étiolles to reveal structures in the ground.
This excavation scene in Alt Duvenstedt shows the remains of a flint knapping site.
In Ahrenshöft in North Frisia, a fireplace of the Hamburg Culture was excavated.

Family today

Society in miniature

Family is a topic that affects everyone. It exists since birth, allows children to learn social behaviour and contributes to the formation of their identity. In the course of life, each individual takes on different roles within the family. The relationships in a family are not always harmonious, but also have potential for conflict. If there is no family, this often puts a strain on life. In short: family is society in miniature.

At the same time, society also shapes our ideas of family. In Europe, the nuclear family of the western industrialised society replaced the extended family of the agrarian society. In societies with nomadic lifestyles, nuclear families can be found on their own or in larger groups, depending on the season. The social role of the family can also be taken on by persons to whom there is no biological relationship. Patchwork and rainbow families have become more common in recent decades and illustrate the diversity of the family.

Mara-Julia Weber is an archaeologist and in charge of the Stone Ages at the Archaeological Museum Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig. Her research focuses on the people who lived in north-western Europe at the end of the Ice Age. She is particularly fascinated by the reconstruction of these people's habitats, their social interaction and everyday life, based on a small number of remains and interdisciplinary investigations.

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