Tybrind Vig is a Late Mesolithic (Ertebølle) period settlement on the west coast of the Danish island of Fynen. The site currently lies submerged some 250 meters out from the current coastline of the island.
Tybrind Vig was located on the coast during the Late Mesolithic, and the rise in sea levels since that time has left it in about 3 meters of sea water. Although the village site has eroded away, the water-logged condition of the midden area has led to excellent preservation, and, as a result, Tybrind Vig has an extraordinary collection of Mesolithic bone and wooden tools.
Tools from Tybrind Vig include three dugout canoes made of lime wood, the largest of which is 9.5 meters long. Interestingly, two of the canoes have clay fire pits in the stern, indicating long term use and leading some scholars to suggest Tybrind Vig is evidence of deep sea fishing. However, others, including Pickard and Bonsall, believe these canoes would have been unstable in high waters, and suggest they were used primarily on inland lakes and streams, or in crossing to and from the mainland.
Also preserved at Tybrind Vig were bone fish hooks, the remains of a fish weir made of wooden poles, fishing nets made of plant fibers and wooden net floats, bone points from leisters and fish spears, and about 15 paddles made of ash wood, with heart-shaped blades and shafts of over 1 meter in length.
Tybrind Vig was discovered in 1975, and excavated under the direction of Søren H. Andersen between 1978 and 1988.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to the Mesolithic, the Guide to European Prehistory, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Cunliffe B. 2008. Europe between the Oceans, 9000 BC-AD 1000. Yale University Press
Carter RJ. 2001. Dental indicators of seasonal human presence at the Danish Boreal sites of Holmegaard I, IV and V and Mullerup and the Atlantic sites of Tybrind Vig and Ringkloster. The Holocene 11(3):359-365.
Pickard C, and Bonsall C. 2004. Deep-Sea Fishing in the European Mesolithic: Fact or Fantasy? European Journal of Archaeology 7(3):273-290.
