Station: [33] Mesolithic Hunting Site

The Mesolithic period begins as the Ice Ages come to an end. Forests develop, large mammals die out, and our current, familiar Central European fauna and flora emerge. Humans adapt to the selection of game available and have to do more fishing. Sources of plant food also provide new options.

Archaeologists recognise Mesolithic finds by the relatively small size of the stone tools, which were always inserted into wooden handles or served as arrow tips. There are Mesolithic sites within the cities of Nuremberg and Fürth. Overall, Middle Franconia has more than a hundred such sites.

Our display figure represents a Mesolithic hunter. DNA research has shown that Mesolithic people had a fairly dark skin tone and dark blue eyes. Hair colour varied from brown to ash blond. Our figure’s clothing is made of leather; woven clothing was still unknown. However, individual woven items made of vegetable materials have survived. They were used for transport purposes or as underlays.

Even in those days, people appreciated decoration, as we can see from the jacket. The pattern is based on a find from a Baltic Sea bay in Denmark. The weapon is what’s known as a "Holmegaard" bow, also from Denmark. It’s made of elm, while the arrows started life as pine branches.

He’s wearing a set of antlers on his head, possibly to serve as camouflage when he’s out hunting. More than thirty of these "antler masks" have been discovered in Germany, though their precise use remains a mystery.

The overnight shelter would have been set up at short notice, using branches and long grass. This is where the hunter would have brought his kills, hares and trout, along with some hazelnuts he’d gathered. The trout were smoked and the hazelnuts roasted in their shells on the spot.

Another typical feature of the Mesolithic period is the cooking pits filled with water. To heat the water, stones were placed in the fire and then tipped into the pit once they were hot.