Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration - Lene Melheim

Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration - Lene Melheim

10. Exploring New Territories, Expanding Frontiers: Bowmen and Prospectors on the Scandinavia Peninsula in the Third Millennium BC

Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration - Lene Melheim

Lene Melheim [+-]
University of Gothenburg
Lene Melheim is an archaeologist and Section Manager at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. Her background is at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo, where she undertook research and teaching 2001−2012. Melheim held a postdoctoral position at the University of Gothenburg 2012−2015. Her research covers a number of topics in Bronze Age archaeology, in particular systems of distribution, mobility, craft and technology, metal production, metal trade and cosmology. Address for correspondence: Department of Archaeology, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Norway. Email [email protected]
Christopher Prescott [+-]
University of Oslo
Christopher Prescott is Professor of Archaeology and Head-of-Research at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, Norway, and Docent at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He has published extensively on the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age of Norway, and otherwise been involved in research concerning Neolithic to Early Iron Age prehistory in Scandinavia and Italy, history of archaeology, and theoretical and political issues. He has also worked on issues concerning illicit trade in antiquities and questions concerning how to train archaeologists and conduct outreach in a population becoming increasingly heterogeneous due to migration. Address for correspondence: Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1008, Blindern 0315, Oslo, Norway. Email: [email protected]

Description

The argument in this article has two premises: First, migration and other forms of human movement have been the norm throughout human history. Second, western Scandinavia is rife with readily exploitable copper ores, and there might have been attempts at utilizing these in the 3rd millennium BC. Building on the concept of travelling metallurgists as an element in the expansion of the Bell Beaker phenomenon in combination with anthropological perspectives on prospecting, the article explores how prospecting for metal would have been adapted to the landscapes of western Scandinavia. Generally, although prospecting seldom leads to successful metal production, and is difficult to study archaeologically, it will often have a significant transformative impact – on both the external and indigenous actors and societies. Two archaeological sites in western Norway are expressly discussed, Slettabø in Rogaland and Skrivarhelleren in Sogn. The latter is particularly relevant as a historical case of prospecting and mining from the 1700s AD and offers insights into movement in a fjord and upland landscape.

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Citation

Melheim, Lene ; Prescott, Christopher . 10. Exploring New Territories, Expanding Frontiers: Bowmen and Prospectors on the Scandinavia Peninsula in the Third Millennium BC. Comparative Perspectives on Colonisation, Maritime Interaction and Cultural Integration. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 189-217 Dec 2016. ISBN 9781781790489. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=24608. Date accessed: 20 Apr 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.24608. Dec 2016

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