Microwear analysis aiding excavation prioritization at the submerged Mesolithic settlement of Orehoved, Denmark

Abstract Microwear analysis of lithic debris offers an aid to field archaeologists in need of focusing excavation activity at the parts of Stone Age sites that are least disturbed by post-depositional processes. In this progress report we describe the ridge-wear approach and report on its application to the submerged Mesolithic settlement of Orehoved, Denmark. Test-pitting had provided worked flints from two distinctive layers within an area of ca. 2.8 ha, located 4–7 m below present sea level. Through analysis of wear on dorsal ridges on flint flakes we demonstrate that the assemblages of artefacts from both strata spanned the whole range from minimally-rounded to extremely-rounded. Spatial and statistical analyses indicate that both layers contain redeposited artefacts . Major parts of higher ground areas were therefore considered so disturbed by sea-level rise that further excavation should be avoided here . Follow-up excavation in a more low lying area located a third and stratigraphically deeper layer with numerous artefacts in stone, bone, and plant material in situ .