The
Bromme culture is a late
Upper PaleolithicThe Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia...
culture dated to the
Allerød OscillationThe Allerød period was a warm and moist global interstadial that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. The Allerød oscillation raised temperatures , before they declined again in the succeeding Younger Dryas period, which was followed by the present interglacial period.In some regions,...
, ca 9700 BC-9000 BC (
uncalibrated), a warmer spell between the Elder Dryas and the
Younger DryasThe Younger Dryas stadial, named after the alpine/tundra wildflower Dryas octopetala, and also referred to as the Big Freeze, was a geologically brief cold climate period following the Bølling/Allerød interstadial at the end of the Pleistocene between approximately 12,800 to 11,500 years ago, and...
, the last cold periods of the late
Weichsel GlaciationThe last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age, occurring in the Pleistocene epoch. It began about 110,000 years ago and ended about 9,600 - 9,700 BC. During this period there were several changes between glacier advance and retreat. The maximum extent of...
.
At this time, the
reindeerThe reindeer , also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the Arctic and Subarctic.- Distribution and habitat :...
was the most important prey, but the Bromme people also hunted
mooseThe moose or common elk , , is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration....
,
wolverineThe wolverine , also referred to as a glutton and occasionally as a carcajou, skunk bear, quickhatch, or gulon, is the largest land-dwelling species of the Mustelidae family in the genus Gulo . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
and
beaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, Castor canadensis and Castor fiber . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
. The landscape was consequently a combination of
taigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
and
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
.
The culture is named after a settlement at
BrommeBromme was a racing car constructor who competed in the FIA World Championship from 1951 to 1954.-World Championship Indy 500 results:...
on western Zealand, and it is known from several settlements in
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
and
Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the two historical duchies of Schleswig and Holstein...
.
The
Bromme culture is a late
Upper PaleolithicThe Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia...
culture dated to the
Allerød OscillationThe Allerød period was a warm and moist global interstadial that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. The Allerød oscillation raised temperatures , before they declined again in the succeeding Younger Dryas period, which was followed by the present interglacial period.In some regions,...
, ca 9700 BC-9000 BC (
uncalibrated), a warmer spell between the Elder Dryas and the
Younger DryasThe Younger Dryas stadial, named after the alpine/tundra wildflower Dryas octopetala, and also referred to as the Big Freeze, was a geologically brief cold climate period following the Bølling/Allerød interstadial at the end of the Pleistocene between approximately 12,800 to 11,500 years ago, and...
, the last cold periods of the late
Weichsel GlaciationThe last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age, occurring in the Pleistocene epoch. It began about 110,000 years ago and ended about 9,600 - 9,700 BC. During this period there were several changes between glacier advance and retreat. The maximum extent of...
.
At this time, the
reindeerThe reindeer , also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the Arctic and Subarctic.- Distribution and habitat :...
was the most important prey, but the Bromme people also hunted
mooseThe moose or common elk , , is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration....
,
wolverineThe wolverine , also referred to as a glutton and occasionally as a carcajou, skunk bear, quickhatch, or gulon, is the largest land-dwelling species of the Mustelidae family in the genus Gulo . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
and
beaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, Castor canadensis and Castor fiber . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
. The landscape was consequently a combination of
taigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
and
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
.
The culture is named after a settlement at
BrommeBromme was a racing car constructor who competed in the FIA World Championship from 1951 to 1954.-World Championship Indy 500 results:...
on western Zealand, and it is known from several settlements in
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
and
Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the two historical duchies of Schleswig and Holstein...
. In
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
, it is known from the country's earliest known settlement at Segebro, near
MalmöMalmö is the third most populous city in Sweden, situated in its southernmost province of Scania.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County. The administrative entity for most of the city is Malmö Municipality which has 290 007 inhabitants in eight different...
.
It is charactherized by sturdy
lithic flakeIn archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure," and may also be referred to as a chip or spall, or collectively as debitage. The objective piece, or the rock being reduced by the removal of flakes, is known as a core. Once the proper...
s that were used for all tools, primarily
awlAwl is a long pointed spike. It may be a:*Scratch awl, a tool with a long pointed spike used for marking wood.*Stitching awl, a tool used by leatherworkers, such as cobblers , to pierce holes in leather*Bradawl, a tool for making holes in wood...
s (
sticklar), scrapers and
skaftunge arrow heads. No stone axes have been found.
The Bromme culture and the
Ahrensburg cultureThe Ahrensburg culture was a late Upper Paleolithic culture during the Younger Dryas, the last spell of cold at the end of the Weichsel glaciation. The culture is named after village of Ahrensburg, northeast of Hamburg in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein where wooded arrow shafts and clubs...
are so similar that they it has been proposed that the two cultures should be combined as one and the same under the label
Lyngby cultureThe Lyngby culture is a proposed name for the combination of the highly similar Ahrensburg and Bromme cultures as one and the same....
, with the Bromme culture being recognized as an older northern branch of the same culture as the Ahrensburg culture.