From foraging to specialized workshop and mining activities during 10,000 years of sea-level changes: A case study from Bømlo, Western Norway

Abstract

Due to road construction, the University Museum of Bergen conducted a rescue excavation in Vika, Bømlo County, some 5 km from the large greenstone quarry Hespriholmen on the Norwegian west coast. The site revealed two distinct occupation phases. In the Early Mesolithic (10,500–11,000 cal BP), Vika was a small hunting station, while in the Late Mesolithic (8000–7000 cal BP), Vika served as a specialized workshop site for the production of adze preforms out of blanks shipped from the Hespriholmen quarry. Because of the mid-Holocene transgression, most of the archaeological record was covered by a beach ridge at the Vika site. The build up of the ridge is described by conducting a series of radiocarbon datings and by analyzing the distribution of reworked and non-reworked lithics throughout the different strata of the beach sediments. The paper emphasizes the potential for obtaining significant results despite the absence of in-situ archaeological remains and their exposure to redeposition. The Vika site provided valuable insights into the displacements of shorelines, characteristics of beach ridges, and the influence of the dynamic Holocene environment on Mesolithic sites along the coast.