The telltale potency of a simple milligram of charcoal found in a hearth left by Mesolithic reindeer hunters in the Norwegian mountains

Sveinung Bang-Andersen

Environmental Archaeology, 2015, vol. 20, issue 1, 82-88

Abstract: The discovery and excavation of superimposed, information-rich Pre-Boreal hunting sites around the mountain lakes of Myrvatn and Fløyrlivatn in Southwest Norway have been the subject of archaeological debate. A brief review of research is presented here. In contrast to the well-preserved sites, settlement remains of a diametrically different order occur in the strongly water-eroded zone of the lakeshores: small, surface hearths in almost every stage of preservation, from evident hearths to diffuse and irregular scatters of fire-cracked stones. The latter category seems generally underestimated as a source of evidence. However, recent finds at Myrvatn demonstrate how even blurred, heavily eroded and almost intangible hearth remains, by the support of wood anatomical analysis, radiocarbon dating and intra-site comparison, may reveal concise, invaluable information both about the history of local use and regional landscape development.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1179/1461410314Z.00000000072

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