August 4th, 2015: The Hindsgavl Dagger

[xoxoxoBruce]

This badass dagger from 2400-1800 BC, is in the National Museum of Denmark and it's magnificent.

In the Neolithic period the flintworkers achieved very high technical standards. The magnificent dagger from Hindsgavl with its blade less than 1 cm thick is the finest example of the flintworkers’ outstanding skills at the end of the Stone Age. It was found around 1876 on tihe island Fænø in the Little Belt. The dagger type is called a ‘fishtail dagger’ because of the fishtail-formed hilt. Pressure-flaked daggers mark the beginning of the end of the Stone Age, and are the reason why the period from 2400-1800 BC is called the Dagger Period.

It was not just anyone who could make a flint dagger like the Hindsgavl Dagger. It was a very specialized craft, superior to anything that had been seen before, and required a master of the art! The secret behind the sophisticated daggers was the use of the so-called ‘soft technique’. By striking the flint directly with a soft hammer of antler or hard wood, one could make a crude initial form of the flint object. Afterwards a small flaking tool could be pressed on to the surface of the dagger to remove small oblong flint flakes.

The National Museum of Denmark has a great collection of Viking stuff too.