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DANISH DAGGERS
DaGGER PERIOD
NORTHERN EUROPE
2,400 B.C. TO 1,500 B.C.
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TYPE V DANISH DAGGER
DAGGER PERIOD
NORTHERN EUROPE
FLOYD RITTER COLLECTION

   This heavily patinated dagger is a type V style dagger. The base of the handle is flared and there is "stitching" on the edges only. Type V daggers have flared handles and they do not have "stitching" on either face or side of the handle, only on the edges. There is also no evidence of grinding on the blade of this dagger. This example measures 9 3/8 inches (23.7cm) long.

   Stone daggers were copies of metal daggers made of bronze. The later development of the "stitching" or zigzag pressure flaking on the handles is thought to have been an attempt to duplicate the design of the stitched leather coverings which were often wrapped around the handles of bronze daggers.


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TYPE V DANISH DAGGER
DAGGER PERIOD
NORTHERN EUROPE
FLOYD RITTER COLLECTION

   This dagger was very skillfully made by using pressure  flaking. The blade doesn't seems to show any signs of previous grinding prior to the very uniformly done diagonal pressure flake removals, but grinding may have been used during the manufacturing process of making this dagger. The handle is nicely flared on the end and it has very well done "stitching" or zigzag flaking on both of the edges. This dagger measures 7 15/16 inches (19.9cm) long.

   Type IV daggers represent the rarest group of daggers found in Denmark. They make up only about 6% to 7% of the total number. Type V daggers represent only about 10%.


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HANDLE EDGE OF A TYPE V DANISH DAGGER
DAGGER PERIOD
NORTHERN EUROPE
FLOYD RITTER COLLECTION

   This picture shows a close-up area of the edge of the handle on the dagger pictured above. The zigzag style of flaking on this dagger was very skillfully done. Pressure flaking with the use of a copper tool is the technique used to make this style that looks like stitched cloth.

   Ever since authors began writing about Danish daggers they have given them great press. Sir John Lubbock wrote in 1872 "The daggers are often marvels of skill in flint-chipping" and MacCurdy writes in 1933 that "the Scandinavian flint dagger is the veritable chef d' oeuvre of Neolithic art". In 1952 Glob writes "flint technique reaches its highest level than ever before, with the masterpiece of the flint-worker's skill, the flint dagger" and Bordaz writing, in 1958, calls them "the ultimate skill in the art of stone flaking". Actually, those ancient craftsmen are in some ways still speaking through these old daggers. I believe they succeeded in leaving behind a great monument to their perseverance. In the end, metal finally won out but what a great legacy in stone they left behind, don't you think.

"REFERENCES"

1872, Sir John Lubbock, "Pre-Historic Times, Ancient Remains and the Manners & Customs of Modern Savages"
1952, "Danish Antiquities, II Late Stone Age", by P.V. Glob, pp. 122-123.
1970, "Tools of the Old Stone Age," by Jacques Bordaz, p. 109
1983, "The Search For humanity's Roots", by Herbert C. Kraft and Gabriel DeCicco, pp. 58-59
1996, "The Oxford Companion To Archaeology, Beakers" by Brian M. Fagan, pp. 88-90.
1998, "Chips, Vol. 10, #2, Thor's Toothpick, A Type IV-B Danish Dagger", by D.C, Waldorf, pp. 12-18.
2001, "Chips, Vol. 13, #2, Type V-A Dagger", by D.C. Waldorf, pp.10-17.
Personal communications with Dave Waldorf.

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