Carved Reindeer Antler Uncovered in Poland

News October 4, 2017

(Osipowicz et al. 2017)
SHARE:
Poland reindeer antler
(Osipowicz et al. 2017)

GOŁĘBIEWO, POLAND—A carved piece of antler, unearthed in central Poland, may have originated in South Lapland some 10,000 years ago, according to a report in The International Business Times. Known as a bâton percé, the nearly 12-inch-long antler was carved with ten triangles filled with parallel lines along one side of a central groove. DNA analysis identified the object as a reindeer antler, while isotope analysis suggests the reindeer lived in either North Karelia or South Lapland. A team of researchers led by Grzegorz Osipowicz of Nicolaus Copernicus University suggests the antler could represent previously unknown contact between the hunter gatherers of the European Plains and southern Scandinavia. For more on archaeology of Scandinavia, go to “Letter From Norway: The Big Melt.”

  • Features September/October 2017

    Painted Worlds

    Searching for the meaning of self-expression in the land of the Moche

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Lisa Trever)
  • Letter from California September/October 2017

    The Ancient Ecology of Fire

    Lessons emerge from the ways in which North American hunter-gatherers managed the landscape around them

    Read Article
    (Justin Sullivan / Gettyimages)
  • Artifacts September/October 2017

    Gilded Copper Color Disc

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Illinois State Military Museum)
  • Digs & Discoveries September/October 2017

    White Horse of the Sun

    Read Article
    (Skyscan Photolibrary / Alamy)