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The first large scale regional provenance analysis of greenstone and diabase adzes in western Norway was undertaken forty years ago. The study identified two social territories, which have been central in Norwegian archaeology ever since. Concerns have later been raised regarding the validity of the results due to the dominance of descriptive macroscopic methods, mostly based on visual examinations, used to identify the different rock types. To evaluate the older study, we have undertaken portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (pXRF) analyses of greenstone adzes distributed in Rogaland County, southwestern Norway. However, there are also challenges pertaining to this type of surfaceconfined analytical technique, such as effects of patination, surface depositions, surface geometry and spectral interferences. Methodological rigorousness and proper documentation are thus vital in order to produce valid data suited for inter- and intra-group comparative lithic provenance studies. Acknowledging the concerns raised, we describe our procedure, including the process of selecting suitable parameters and measures taken regarding the computation and replicability of the measurement results. Our preliminary results suggest that pXRF is indeed a capable non-destructive method for studying the provenance of greenstone adzes. It may also prompt further research into the exploitation of rock, place and identity in the Mesolithic.

In a new project starting in January 2021, the social impact of a large Storegga tsunami affecting both sides of the North Sea in the Middle Mesolithic will be discussed. Geologists have demonstrated the tsunami’s range and impact, and in archaeological literature the event is often referred to as a disaster. In Scotland, the wave is seen as augmenting the impact of the 8.2 climatic cold event. However, is there a paradox here? Hunter-gatherer-fishers are in archaeology and anthropology often interpreted and portrayed as highly adaptable, spontaneous, flexible and well equipped for reorientation, exploitation of a variety of niches in order to survive. Nevertheless, both the tsunami as well as the climatic cold event have in archaeological literature been assumed disastrous for the coastal communities. Both views appear to rest on the presumption that the existing Mesolithic coastal societies were primarily vulnerable, that the communities lacked strategies that would enable them to reorganize and rebound facing dramatic events. Should we regard the coastal population of the Mesolithic as vulnerable, or were they instead resilient, or both? – and is there a way to find out?

Eleven open-air Stone Age sites, and one rock shelter with multiphase occupation layers, were excavated between 2004 and 2007. These sites are scattered within a limited area on the northern end of the Fosen peninsula, in Karmøy municipality, Northern Rogaland. The distance between the southernmost and northernmost site is about two kilometres. Sites from all phases of the Mesolithic, as well as the Early Neolithic (10 000 to 4700 BP), are present, although six of them date to the Late Mesolithic (7500- 5200 BP). The investigated area is located in a sheltered, coastal landscape. In the Mesolithic, several east-west oriented streams near the sites provided sea contact between the Karmsund strait and the Boknafjord basin. The Fosen peninsula was, thus, strategically located on an east-west oriented travel route. In addition to communication routes, the streams may have represented nutritious marine environments of special interest to the Mesolithic population. The settlement areas were uncovered by mechanical top-soil stripping in order to explore as much as possible of the past settlements. Many of the sites were situated in sloping and rocky areas, and most of them were of limited size. They were considered well-preserved contexts, as they were expected to have been undisturbed by modern activities. Still, many were more disturbed by natural processes, more than first expected, making analyses of the intra-site activity patterns difficult. The locations, sizes and tool inventories of the sites indicate differences in function and social organisation. Some of these variations may reflect chronological differences. Of special interest is the process towards settlement stability in Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic, documented on several other coastal sites in Western Norway. The sites from the latest phase of the Mesolithic in northern Rogaland do show tendencies towards longer, or repeated, occupations. None of the sites are indicating sedentary or semi-sedentary lifestyles, as documented in areas further north. This is also the case for sites from the Early Neolithic in this area. This indicates regional variations in settlement patterns, and probably also lifestyles, in different coastal areas in the southern and western parts of Norway in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic. Due to the limited number of excavated sites from the Middle Mesolithic in Southern Norway, the two sites from this period have been of special interest in the investigation. Botten 1, in particular, has provided interesting archaeological material from the earliest part of the Middle Mesolithic (MMA), a period previously unexplored in the archaeological record in Rogaland. The results from the project on the Fosen peninsula are seen in light of the results from projects in other parts of coastal western Norway. The Late Mesolithic of Northern Rogaland shows a number of similarities with that of Southern Hordaland and Southern Rogaland. On the other hand, comparing the material with that of areas further north (Nordhordland) and south (Lista) one sees greater differences in tool inventory and in raw material use. Further studies of the excavated material from the Fosen peninsula, seen in a wider perspective, will be useful in order to get a better understanding of regionality and contact networks in the south Western part of Norway in the Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic. This project is based on both archaeological- and palaeobotanical investigations. Paleobotanical samples have been collected from bogs and lake sediments. Additional samples have been taken inside dwellings and cultural layers in order to obtain information about paleoecology and ancient plant use. The paleobotanical investigations have focused on local shore displacement processes, and the aim has been to develop a more detailed shore displacement curve, particularly focusing on the Preboreal regression minimum and the Tapes transgression maximum. The results indicate a double -peaked Tapes transgression that has several implications for the shore bounded Stone Age sites in the area. The palaeobotanical investigations have also focused on the early human impact on vegetation. Sampling from Rabbavatn indicates that the deforestation process starts in the Middle or Late Neolithic (app. 4000 BP) in the Eastern end of the investigated area, a process connected to the establishment of a more pastoral oriented society. A permanent heathland is established in the same area in the Pre-Roman Iron Age (app. 2100 BP).