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13.12.2020

The elk, Taderup

In the rock paintings of Northern Scandinavia, we occasionally come across depictions of boats and moose. However, scenes depicting hunting are quite rare. An intriguing example of an elk hunting scene is found in Vastrand, in the Trøndelag area of Norway, where a combination of a painted moose and a carved boat with a man carrying a spear can be observed.

One particularly fascinating historical find dates back to 8,700 years ago when an exhausted and wounded bull moose sank to the bottom of a lake at Toderup in Falster. Its skeleton was discovered in a peat bog in 1922, with a broken bone tip lying among its remains, possibly a tool used in hunting. Later, a serrated harpoon was also found in the same peat bog.

Various tools and weapons were crafted from the horns and bones of large animals during this period. Hunting was so intensive that certain species, like the elk, became extinct in Zealand around 8,500 years ago. However, the elk continued to hold a significant place in the mythology of hunters. Valuable items for trade included beads made from elk teeth and tools fashioned from elk horns.

Harpoons were widely used in elk hunting during the Maglemosian period, and they were typically made from the limb bones of elk and red deer. The design of harpoon points varied depending on the prey being targeted. In Denmark, harpoons have even been found near animal skeletons in three instances.

Toothed harpoons, with large serrations carved out of bone, were employed for hunting floating elk and red deer, as these animals often fed on aquatic plants in large bodies of water. Hunters would work near lakes and, with the assistance of dogs, drive elk into the water, where they could be targeted and struck with harpoons. Harpoons could also be attached to fishing lines, allowing hunters to control wounded animals near their boats, making it easier to deliver a fatal blow with a club or pierce vital organs with arrowheads or spears. This method of hunting was highly effective because animals in the water were vulnerable and distracted, unable to use their full strength. In fact, it was so efficient that it is now banned in many parts of Canada and the northern United States due to its perceived lack of sportsmanship.

Later discoveries of harpoon heads from the Congemose and Ertebølle periods in Zealand indicate that hunting floating wildlife persisted over time, though some animals did manage to evade their pursuers, including a wounded elk from Toderup.

The elk, Taderup

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