What points can tell. Artefact biographies of barbed bone and antler points from Mesolithic Doggerland

Bone and antler points, found on Dutch beaches, give a new insight in life on
Mesolithic Doggerland. Doggerland is the North sea basin, stretching from the
Netherlands to Great Britain, Norway and Denmark, once part of Europe’s
mainland. After the last glaciation it was dry land inhabited by hunter-gatherers,
until around the beginning of the Mesolithic (10,000 cal. BC), sea levels began
to rise. This lasted until around 6050 cal. BC, when Doggerland was completely
drowned. Due to the submersion, Doggerland holds the most complete
archaeological record of human presence in Mesolithic north-western Europe.
This archaeological record is however disturbed by sand extraction for beach
reinforcements, which use sand from areas off the coast of South-Holland.
Therefore remains from Doggerland, such as flint, osseous artefacts and even
human remains, are found on Dutch beaches. Artefact biographies provide new
insights on Doggerland’s inhabitants. Most artefacts are made of bone or antler,
with (barbed) points being the largest part of the assemblage. Many of these bone
and antler points were studied by the authors to construct their artefact biography:
from raw material to discard or deposition. Material selection was studied using
ZooMS, showing that there may be a preference for the use of red deer as raw
material. Furthermore, ZooMS analysis identified two points made of human
bone, highlighting the possible symbolic and cultural meaning of these objects.
The production process of grinding the points on stone (and scraping with flint),
cutting barbs with flint and hafting them using a combination of fibres and birch
tar was inferred through techno-functional analysis. A high degree of wear on
the points and reworked barbs on some, suggests that they were (heavily) curated
weapon tips. Most were probably used as arrowheads, based on their small size.
This suggests hunting with bow and arrow was an important subsistence strategy in
Mesolithic Doggerland. Eventually, the points were deposited, either left behind or
lost. Nowadays, they are found again, starting their second use-life.