Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival (Volume 1) - Per Persson

Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival (Volume 1) - Per Persson

11. The Pioneer Settlements of Gotland: A behavioural ecology approach

Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival (Volume 1) - Per Persson

Jan Apel [+-]
University of Lund
Jan Apel is Associate Professor of Archaeology at the Deparment of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University (Sweden). His research covers stone tool technology and human evolution, stone age archaeology of Scandinavia and social complexity in prehistory. He has lead or supervised several large-scale excavations in Sweden and is currently involved in the research project "The Pioneer Settlements of Gotland".
Jan Storå [+-]
University of Stockholm
Jan Storå is professor of Osteoarchaeology at Stockholm University. His research topics have focused on man-animal relations in the Stone Age, the exploitation of seals in the Baltic area, and most recently the pioneer settlements on Gotland. He is currently one of the PI:s of the large archaeogenetic research projects "The Atlas of Ancient Human Genomes in Sweden" and "1000 Ancient Genomes".

Description

The earliest traces of human settlements on Gotland date to around 7200 BC. When the first pioneers reached Gotland they had to adjust to an unfamiliar environment and could rely on traditional knowledge only to a limited degree. The common terrestrial prey of the Boreal hunters around the Ancylus Lake during the early Mesolithic (roe and red deer, aurochs, wild boar and elk) were not present on the island, and the pioneers adopted seal hunting. To better understand this adaption and its subsequent changes we apply a behavioural ecological approach that generates predictions about subsistence strategies in the form of cost-benefit outcomes. These outcomes are compared with the patterns observed in the archaeological record. It is argued that this approach may be used to benchmark cultural variation. We consider not only the external impact of the environment on the human population on Gotland, but also discuss the degree to which cultural and economic practices of the pioneers reciprocally affected their environment.

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Citation

Apel, Jan; Storå, Jan. 11. The Pioneer Settlements of Gotland: A behavioural ecology approach. Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival (Volume 1). Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 277-309 Feb 2018. ISBN 9781781795156. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=30913. Date accessed: 28 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.30913. Feb 2018

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