Marine Ventures - Archaeological Perspectives on Human-Sea Relations - Hein B. Bjerck
14. A Submerged Mesolithic Grave Site Reveals Remains of the First Norwegian Seal Hunters
Marine Ventures - Archaeological Perspectives on Human-Sea Relations - Hein B. Bjerck
Birgitte Skar
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Kerstin Lidén
Stockholm University
Gunilla Eriksson
Stockholm University
Berit Sellevold
Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research
Description
Submerged Mesolithic settlement sites and graves have shown to provide repositories of well-preserved organic remains particularly in the Baltic Sea region. Although marine Stone Age archaeology In Norway is in its infancy it has already led to discoveries that shed new light on Middle Mesolithic livelihood and death, so far unknown from the terrestrial archaeological record. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) analyzed from individuals from submerged burials on the Hummervikholmen site in southern Norway reveal that the deceased had lived off a diet consisting of more than 80% marine protein from the highest trophic level. The find circumstances of the three to five individuals, found west of Kristiansand, confirm the existence of a Middle Mesolithic burial tradition and indicate that this hunter-gatherer population in southern Norway possessed boat technology. The finds highlight a period during the Middle Mesolithic of Norway where cultural change so far has only been indicated in the lithic technology.