Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:32:29.917Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hunting High and Low: Postglacial Colonization Strategies in Central Norway between 9500 and 8000 cal BC

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Heidi M. Breivik  and
Martin Callanan
Heidi M. Breivik*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, NTNU University Museum, Trondheim, Norway
Martin Callanan*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, NTNU University Museum, Trondheim, Norway
*
[email: [email protected]]
[email: [email protected]]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article, we examine aspects of the Postglacial colonization processes that took place in central Norway during the Early Mesolithic (c. 9500–8000 cal bc). The distribution of sites from this period shows that the colonizers approached and exploited two very different landscapes and resource situations—from archipelagic to alpine. Based on twelve artefact assemblages from central Norway we investigate how colonizing populations met the challenge posed by varying ecozones. Did they organize their settlements and technologies in similar ways or did they modify sites and activities in relation to the different locations? The aspects studied are site organization, artefact composition, projectiles, and lithic raw material use. It appears that the sites are of a similar size and structure across ecozones. Apart from some variations in tool composition, there is no evidence in the lithic material for any technical adaptation towards specific ecozones. We conclude that using a standard, generalized lithic technology, combined with high mobility and small group size, enabled the colonizing groups to overcome the risks and difficulties associated with settling and seeking out resources in new and unknown landscapes.

Cet article considère certains aspects du processus de colonisation postglaciaire qui eut lieu en Norvège centrale au début du Mésolithique, entre environ 9500 et 8000 cal BC. La distribution géographique des sites indique que les nouveaux arrivants ont colonisé et exploité une contrée avec des ressources et des paysages et très différents, allant d'un archipel côtier à un environnement alpin. L'analyse de douze ensembles d'objets lithiques provenant du centre de la Norvège nous permet d'examiner comment ces groupes colonisateurs ont fait face à des éco-zones fort variées. Ont-ils aménagé leurs habitats et utilisés leurs connaissances techniques de la même façon ou ont-ils adaptés leurs activités suivant le terrain qu'ils occupaientL’étude de l'organisation des sites, de la composition des ensembles, des techniques de production de projectiles et des matières premières lithiques nous permet d'apporter quelques réponses à ces questions. Les sites étaient apparemment de la même taille et contenaient des structures semblables quoique soient les éco-zones. A part quelques exceptions dans la composition de l'outillage, le matériel lithique ne semble pas différer suivant les zones écologiques. Nous en concluons que l'utilisation d'un outillage lithique générique et standard appartenant à de petits groupes hautement mobiles a permis à ces populations de surmonter les difficultés et les risques associés au nouveau milieu qu'ils ont occupé et exploité. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

In diesem Artikel werden verschiedene Aspekte der nacheiszeitlichen Besiedlungsprozesse, die im frühen Mesolithikum (ca. 9500–8000 cal BC) in Zentralnorwegen stattfanden, untersucht. Die Verbreitung der Fundstellen zeigt, dass die Besiedler auf eine Landschaft mit zwei sehr verschiedenen Geländen—von Inselgruppen bis Hochgebirge—und Rohstoffquellen stießen. Die Auswertung der Befunde von zwölf Fundstellen in Zentralnorwegen ist Anlass zu einer Untersuchung der Art und Weise, wie diese Einwanderer mit den verschiedenen ökologischen Zonen zurechtkamen. Waren ihre Siedlungen und technische Fähigkeiten immer die gleichen oder gab es Anpassungen je nach Bereich? Die Untersuchung der Siedlungsstruktur, der Zusammensetzung der Befunde, der technischen Eigenschaften der Projektile und der Rohstoffe zeigt, dass die Fundstellen hinsichtlich ihrer Flächen und Strukturen in den verschiedenen ökologischen Bereichen ähnlich sind. Abgesehen von einigen Schwankungen in der Zusammensetzung der Geräte, wurden keine Unterschiede oder technische Anpassungen im lithischen Befund in den verschiedenen Ökozonen beobachtet. Wir sind der Ansicht, dass eine standardisierte und allgemein brauchbare Steintechnologie, zusammen mit einer hohen Mobilität und kleiner Gruppengröße, es ermöglichte, die Risiken und Schwierigkeiten einer Besiedlung in einer unbekannten Landschaft zu überwinden. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

NorwayEarly Mesolithiccoastal and mountain environmentsgeneralized adaptationNorvègedébuts du Mésolithiquemilieu côtier et montagnardadaptation généraliséeNorwegenfrühes MesolithikumKüsten- und Berglandschaftverallgemeinerte Anpassung
Type
Article
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , 2016 , pp. 571 - 595
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 the European Association of Archaeologists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, B.G. & Borns, H.W. 1997. The Ice Age World. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.Google Scholar
Ballin, T.B. 1996. Klassifikasjonssystem for stenartefakter. Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Varia 36. Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo.Google Scholar
Bang-Andersen, S. 1996. Coast/Inland Relations in the Mesolithic of Southern Norway. World Archaeology, 27 (3): 427–43.Google Scholar
Bang-Andersen, S. 2003a. Encircling the Living Space of Early Postglacial Reindeer Hunters in the Interior of Southern Norway. In: Larsson, L., Kindgren, H., Knutsson, K., Loeffler, D. and Åkerlund, A., eds. Mesolithic on the Move. Papers Presented at the Sixth International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 193–204.Google Scholar
Bang-Andersen, S. 2003b. Southwest Norway at the Pleistocene/Holocene Transition: Landscape Development, Colonization, Site Types, Settlement Patterns. Norwegian Archaeological Review, 36 (1): 5–25.Google Scholar
Bang-Andersen, S. 2012. Colonizing Contrasting Landscapes. The Pioneer Coast Settlement and Inland Utilization in Southern Norway 10,000–9,500 Years Before Present. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 31 (2): 103–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bang-Andersen, S. 2013. Prehistoric Reindeer Hunting in South-West Norway with Emphasis on the Period 1000 BC to AD 1000: Overview, Retrospect and Perspectives. In: Grimm, O. and Schmölcke, U., eds. Hunting in Northern Europe until 1500 AD: Old Traditions and Regional Developments, Continental Sources and Continental Influences. Neumünster: Wachholtz, pp. 41–55.Google Scholar
Bergsvik, K.A. 1995. Bosetningsmønstre på kysten av Nordhordland i steinalder. En geografisk analyse. Arkeologiske skrifter, Arkeologisk institutt, Bergen Museum, 8: 111–30.Google Scholar
Bettinger, R.L. 1991. Hunter–Gatherers. Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Binford, L.R. 1980. Willow Smoke and Dogs’ Tails: Hunter–Gatherer Settlement Systems and Archaeological Site Formation. American Antiquity, 45 (1): 4–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjerck, H.B. 1983. Kronologisk og geografisk fordeling av mesolitiske element i Vest- og Midt-Norge. Unpublished Mag. art. dissertation, University of Bergen.Google Scholar
Bjerck, H.B. 1995. The North Sea Continent and the Pioneer Settlement of Norway. In: Fischer, A., ed. Man and Sea in the Mesolithic. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 131–43.Google Scholar
Bjerck, H.B. 2008. Norwegian Mesolithic Trends: A Review. In: Bailey, G. and Spikins, P., eds. Mesolithic Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 60–106.Google Scholar
Bjerck, H.B., Åstveit, L.I., Gundersen, J., Meling, T., Jørgensen, G. & Normann, S. eds. 2008. NTNU Vitenskapsmuseets arkeologiske undersøkelser Ormen Lange Nyhamna. Trondheim: Tapir Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bjerck, H.B. & Callanan, M. 2005. Brannhaugen. Unpublished report. NTNU University Museum, Trondheim.Google Scholar
Bleed, P. 1986. The Optimal Design of Hunting Weapons: Maintainability or Reliability. American Antiquity, 51 (4): 737–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brede, A. 2012. Arkeologisk undersøkelse i forbindelse med utbyggingsplaner for Hestvikholmane industriområde, Averøy kommune, Møre og Romsdal, 2012.Google Scholar
Lokalitet 1 og 2. Unpublished report, NTNU University Museum, Trondheim.Google Scholar
Breivik, H.M. 2014. Palaeo-Oceanographic Development and Human Adaptive Strategies in the Pleistocene–Holocene Transition: A Study from the Norwegian Coast. The Holocene, 24 (11): 1478–90.Google Scholar
Breivik, H.M. & Bjerck, H.B. in press. Early Mesolithic Central Norway: A Review of Research History, Settlements and Tool Tradition. In: Blankholm, H.P., ed. The Early Settlement of Northern Europe – Economy, Settlement and Society. Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar
Breivik, H.M., Bjerck, H.B., Zangrando, A.F. J. & Piana, E.L. in press. On the Applicability of Environmental and Ethnographic Reference Frames: An Example from the High-Latitude Seascapes of Norway and Tierra del Fuego. In: Bjerck, H.B., Breivik, H.M., Fretheim, S., Piana, E., Skar, B., Tivoli, A. and Zangrando, A.F.J., eds. Marine Ventures: Archaeological Perspectives on Human-Sea Relations. Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates. Radiocarbon, 51 (1): 337–60.Google Scholar
Callanan, M. 2006. Reinsvatnet. Unpublished excavation report, NTNU University Museum. Trondheim.Google Scholar
Callanan, M. 2007. On the Edge: A Survey of Early Mesolithic Tools from Central Norway. Unpublished MA dissertation, University of Trondheim.Google Scholar
Callanan, M. 2008. Steinalderpionerene i Storlidalen. Bøgda vår. Årbok for Oppdal historielag: 5–15.Google Scholar
Chatters, J.C. 1987. Hunter–Gatherer Adaptations and Assemblage Structure. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 6: 336–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fretheim, S.E., Bjerck, H.B., Breivik, H.M. & Zangrando, A.F.J. in press. Tent, Hut or House? A Discussion on Early Mesolithic Dwellings Emanating from the Site Mohalsen 2012–II, Vega, Northern Norway. In: Blankholm, H.P., ed. The Early Settlement of Northern Europe – Economy, Settlement and Society. Sheffield: Equinox.Google Scholar
Fuglestvedt, I. 2005. Pionerbosetningens feno-menologi. Sørvest-Norge og Nord-Europa 10 200/10 000–9500 BP. Stavanger: Arkeologisk museum i Stavanger.Google Scholar
Fuglestvedt, I. 2007. The Ahrensburgian Galta 3 Site in SW Norway. Dating, Technology and Cultural Affinity. Acta Archaeologica, 78 (2): 87–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuglestvedt, I. 2009. Phenomenology and the Pioneer Settlement on the Western Scandinavian Peninsula. Göteborg: Bricoleur Press.Google Scholar
Fuglestvedt, I. 2012. The Palaeolithic Condition on the Scandinavian Peninsula: The Last Frontier of a ‘Palaeolithic way’ in Europe. Norwegian Archaeological Review, 45 (1): 1–29.Google Scholar
Grøndahl, F.A., Hufthammer, A.K., Dahl, S. O. & Rosvold, J. 2010. A Preboreal Elk (Alces alces L., 1758) Antler from South-Eastern Norway. Fauna norvegica, 30:9–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hufthammer, A.K. 2001. The Weichselian (c. 115,000–10,000 B.P.) Vertebrate Fauna of Norway. Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana, 40 (2): 201–08.Google Scholar
Hufthammer, A.K. 2006. The Vertebrate Fauna of Eastern Norway – From the Ice Age to the Middle Ages. Kulturhistorisk Museum Skrifter, 4:191–202.Google Scholar
Jones, G.T., Gayson, D.K. & Beck, C. 1983. Artifact Class Richness and Sample Size in Archaeological Surface Assemblages. In: Dunnell, R. C. and Grayson, D.K., eds. Lulu Linear Punctated: Essays in Honor of George Irving Quimby. Ann Arbor (MI): Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan Anthropological Papers, pp. 55–73.Google Scholar
Kutschera, M. 1999. Vestnorsk tidligmesolitikum i et nordvesteuropeisk perspektiv. In: Fuglestvedt, I., Gansum, T. and Opedal, A., eds. Et hus med mange rom. Vennebok til Bjørn Myhre på 60-årsdagen. AmS-Rapport, Bind A. Stavanger: Arkeologisk museum, Universitetet i Stavanger, pp. 43–52.Google Scholar
Larsson, L. & Sjöström, A. 2011. Early Mesolithic Flint-Tipped Arrows from Sweden. Antiquity 85 (330) (December 2011) [accessed 10 November 2015], Project Gallery. Available at: http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/larsson330/.Google Scholar
Mangerud, J., Gyllencreutz, R., Lohne, Ø. & Svendsen, J.I. 2011. Glacial History of Norway. In: Ehlers, J., Gibbard, P.L. and Hughes, P. D., eds. Quaternary Glaciations – Extent and Chronology: A Closer Look (Developments in Quaternary Science, 15), Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 279–98.Google Scholar
Nærøy, A.J. 1998. Stone Age Living Spaces in Western Norway. Unpublished Dr. Art. dissertation, University of Bergen.Google Scholar
Nærøy, A.J. 2000. Stone Age Living Spaces in Western Norway. British Archaeological Reports International Series 857. Oxford: John & Erica Hedges.Google Scholar
Nygaard, S.E. 1987. Socio- Economic Developments along the Southwestern Coast of Norway between 10,000 and 4,000 BC. In: Rowley-Conwy, P., Zvelebil, M. and Blankholm, H.P., eds. Mesolithic Northwest Europe: Recent Trends. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, pp. 147–54.Google Scholar
Nyland, A.J. 2012. Lokaliseringsanalyse av tidligmesolittiske pionerboplasser. In: Glørstad, H. and Kvalø, F., eds. HAVVIND – Paleogeografi og arkeologi. Oslo: Norsk Maritimt Museum & Kulturhistorisk Museum.Google Scholar
Olsen, A.B. 1992. Kotedalen – en boplass gjennom 5000 år. Bind I. Fangstbosetning og tidlig jordbruk i Vestnorsk steinalder: Nye funn og nye perspektiver. Bergen: Universitetet i Bergen.Google Scholar
Pettersen, K. 1999. The Mesolithic in Southern Trøndelag. In: Boaz, J., ed. The Mesolithic of Central Scandinavia. Oslo: Universitets Oldsaksamlings Skrifter Ny Rekke 22, pp. 153–66.Google Scholar
Sjøvold, T. 1970. Arkeologisk registrering ved Grytten kraftanlegg. Rauma kommune. Unpublished report. NTNU University Museum, Trondheim.Google Scholar
Strøm, I.O. & Breivik, H.M. 2008. Arkeologiske undersøkelser. Reguleringsplan Kvernberget lufthavn. Lokalitet 20. Aktivitetsområde fra eldre steinalder. Unpublished report. NTNU University Museum, Trondheim.Google Scholar
Svendsen, F. 2007. Lokaliteter og landskap i tidlig mesolittisk tid. En geografisk analyse fra Nordvest-Norge. Unpublished MA dissertation, University of Trondheim.Google Scholar
Tørhaug, V. & Åstveit, L.I. 2000. Steinalderboplassene ved Store Fløyrlivatn. Frá haug ok heiðni, 2000 (1): 35–39.Google Scholar
Wammer, E.U. 2006. Arkeologiske undersøkelser av lokalitet 3 i forbindelse med utvidelse av Hestvikholmane industriområde på Averøya, sommeren 2006. Unpublished report. NTNU University Museum, Trondheim.Google Scholar
Waraas, T.A. 2001. Vestlandet i tidleg Preboreal tid. Fosna, Ahrensburg eller vestnorsk tidligmesolitikum? Unpublished cand. phil. dissertation, University of Bergen.Google Scholar
Wygal, B.T. & Heidenreich, S. 2014. Deglaciation and Human Colonization of Northern Europe. Journal of World Prehistory, 27:111–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Åstveit, L.I. 2009. Different Ways of Building, Different Ways of Living: Mesolithic House Structures in Western Norway. In: Woodman, P. and McCartain, S., eds. Mesolithic Horizons 1. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 414–21.Google Scholar