Geopark: Møllegabet
On the seabed off Ærøskøbing lies Møllegabet - a more than 6,000-year-old settlement from the Mesolithic Age.
The marine archaeological site is located at a depth of 2 - 4.5 meters and dates back to the earliest Ertebølle culture, which is the term for the coastal hunter culture in southern Scandinavia around 7,500 - 5,900 years ago.
At the settlement, very well-preserved remains of a round-topped hut have been found. A few meters from the hut, the remains of a younger man have also been found, buried in a dugout canoe. In the 6300-year-old kitchen midden at the settlement, the world's first systematic excavation of a Stone Age settlement under water was carried out in 1976.
The deep part of the midden has been protected from wind and weather. A rapid rise in sea level has covered the site with water so that it has not been destroyed by waves. The debris in the Møllegabet hut is therefore incredibly well preserved and can tell us about the activities of the Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Stones from dogwood and hawthorn berries, shells of hazelnuts and acorns, bones of fish, birds and mammals show what they ate.
The location of two fireplaces and two small concentrations of arrowheads in the hut show where two men and two women had their permanent places in the dwelling. Other remains on the site suggest that there were multiple huts on the site.