This monograph explores the biography of an enigmatic type of material culture: the perforated wedges from the Early Neolithic (c. 5000-4000 cal. BC) in northwestern Europe. These themes are explored in a multi-facetted approach which compares the finds from three regions: the so-called source societies in Germany where the wedges were produced and two areas in which these items are found as a result of exchange. It concerns southern Scandinavia (the Erteble culture) and the Netherlands (the Swifterbant culture).

Daan Raemaekers is professor in the archaeology of prehistoric and protohistoric northwestern Europe at the University of Groningen. His research interests are Neolithic material culture and society and the archaeological heritage managements of the Stone Age.