The archaeologists said the sticks seemed to have been used as a sort of fence to lead the fish into a creel or they were part of the actual creel. The remains of seven basket traps were found in a submerged ancient river valley off Sweden's southern coast at a depth of 5-12m. Many examples of similar traps had been found in other parts of the world. Only one of the baskets has been carbon-dated and is estimated to be around 9,000 years old.

The 8th Millennium BC is believed to be the period when Stone Age man developed agriculture and built what were to become the world's first cities.