Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival (Volume 1) - Per Persson
13. Seascapes of Stability and Change: The Archaeological and Ecological Potential of Early Mesolithic Seascapes, with Examples from Haväng in the South-Eastern Baltic, Sweden
Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival (Volume 1) - Per Persson
Bjorn Nilsson
University of Lund
Arne Sjöström
University of Lund
Per Persson [+]
University of Oslo
Description
The sea level low stand period during the Early Mesolithic in SE Baltic (c. 9,500-6,500 BC) has resulted in vast inundated areas. Some of the sites have yielded extensive remains of lagoonal and riverine sediments, as well as areas with trees preserved in situ. Investigations at one of the sites - Haväng in eastern Scania - have resulted in archaeological findings from the entire period. The preservation of organic materials are very good, and gives new insights in material culture and fishing technologies. Extensive surveying and hydro-acoustic mapping gives possibilities to draw some conclusion of the possible timing of the introduction of stationary fishing and how this relates to cultural and natural changes. The paper proposes that riverine stationary fisheries in the southern Baltic were introduced during the Boreal period (7000 BC or earlier). The Maglemose fisheries are proposed as indirect evidence of early seascape territorialisation, which must be understood in a cultural and ecological context.