Duvensee paddle

The Duvensee paddle is the preserved part of a Mesolithic spade paddle, which was found during archaeological excavations of a Mesolithic dwelling area at Duvensee near Klinkrade Schleswig-Holstein, Germany in 1926. After a paddle from Star Carr in England, the Duvensee paddle is the second oldest known paddle and is considered among the earliest evidence for the use of water transport in the Mesolithic. The find is in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg, Hamburg.
The former bog Duvenseer Moor was located west of the village Duvensee in a young drift landscape. The area, of 3.5 kilometres from north to south and 1.2 kilometres from east to west, originally was an open, shallow lake which gradually developed to a marsh. From the late 18th century, the marsh was drained by ditches to make usable for agriculture. The peat of the bog was cut for fuel. By the early 19th century only a small body of open water remained, which was eventually completely drained. In 1923 the geologist Karl Gripp discovered by chance a Mesolithic settlement site while mapping the Duvenseer Moor. In the following years, the site was archaeologically investigated. Archaeologists Gustav Schwantes , 1946 Hermann Schwabedissen and finally Klaus Bokelmann excavated the bog and documented many dwelling places. Besides numerous stone artifacts, the excavations provided only very few wooden tools, including the paddle found by Schwantes in 1926, located in a former bank zone near a residential area. The Duvensee paddle, found at 53.699171°N 10.54739°E / 53.699171; 10.54739, is one of the most outstanding finds from the Duvenseer Moor.

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