Rensdyrjægerne fra Jels - de første mennesker i Danmark

The first people in Denmark arrived over 13,400 years ago. They lived for a short time in the area around Jels and left visible traces. They were the first gastro tourists - they came here for food. They actually followed on the heels of the food. 

This is where they could have arrived. Right here, where you round the tip of the forest on the Ancient Road's hiking route and get a wide view of the meadow - down to Jels Midtsø. It wasn't called that at the time. There were no place names, no people, no settlements. Here it was empty, tundra and quiet. And cold. Because it was while the Ice Age was about to end. The ice sheet was retreating, leaving behind a barren, damp, plantless landscape, which over the years developed into a tundra landscape that we know from the northern parts of the Nordic countries today and even later into a landscape with scattered birch trees.

We are approximately 14,000 years back in time. The "those" who arrived actually came from quite far south. They migrated from an area north of Hamburg, which is why we call them the Hamburg culture today. They came to get meat, skins and antlers from the reindeer. That is why we also call them the first gastro tourists in Denmark. They were here for a short time - maybe just a summer or two. They had larger settlements nearby, where they processed flint into tools and handled meat and skins for later use, while the hunting ground was here close to the lake. 

The first people may have come to the same place as you are standing now - and may have looked out over the lakes, seen the hill on the other side. Seen a narrow place that formed a natural narrowing in the landscape. Seen that the design of the landscape could support their hunting technique. They made a hunting settlement on the hill, and when the large herds of reindeer had to pass the tunnel valley on their migration for food, the herd moved slower and became more elongated, thus making it easier to plough down the individual animals. Arrowheads have been found in the area - and in reindeer bones - but we do not know if bows and arrows, throwing spears or something else were used.   

When we know so precisely where the first tourists (some believe that they were the first people in Denmark) came from, it is because lots of flint tools have been found at the settlements, among other things they used a so-called zinc, which is a small tool with a curved tip at one end. It was probably the Hamburg culture's multitool and was used to process reindeer skins. 

As a factual quirk, the first archaeological finds with the Hamburg culture were made by a local amateur archaeologist back in 1968 on the south side of Jels Oversø. It started with a piece of flint that had a curved tip at one end and that was surprising. The settlement areas were investigated more closely by professional archaeologists in 1981-1984, and large amounts of flint have been found around Jels Lake. 

Distance to Hærvejen: 
Hiking route: 0 m
Cycling route: 1.8 km - from Jels town along Koldingvej. 

(AND for those of you who are crazy about history, yes we know that there were no black cows back then (one of the pictures) and we also know that the Jels Lakes looked different back then, and we know that the settlements were some distance away, where this story is located. But along the Ancient Road you can experience ALL of Denmark's history, and we think that the story of the first modern people in Scandinavia belongs in ALL of Denmark's history).