Abstract
Substantial pyrotechnological structures and large quantities of charcoal are rarely found on Early Holocene sites in coastal Norway. Nevertheless, information on the use of fire and fuel types is available and presented in this article, a survey of sites dating from 10,000 to 8000 uncalbp.Possible fuel types and preferences are discussed and it is argued that most fires would have been small and short-lived, making extensive use of low vegetation. This suggests that food must have been largely consumed raw, fermented, or dried. The distinction between the use of shrubs and trees must have had implications for the perception of their properties, which appear to have persisted even after the emergence of more forested landscapes.
Highlights
The frequent absence of charcoal from Early Holocene sites is a well-known and frustrating obstacle to dating pioneer settlements along the Norwegian coast
Does the lack of charcoal and distinctive hearths perhaps indicate specific pyrotechnological practices, notably some that differ from later practices? And could this indicate different kinds of interaction with fuel sources and food preparation, and suggest different perceptions of vegetation and other resources?
Which practices are evident in the archaeological record? What fuel sources were available; what were their properties; and what were the prehistoric preferences? These findings will be discussed in relation to practices connected to heating, light, cooking, and other purposes
Summary
The frequent absence of charcoal from Early Holocene sites is a well-known and frustrating obstacle to dating pioneer settlements along the Norwegian coast. Numerous concentrations of firecracked stones with or without charcoal have been found on Early Holocene sites in southern Norway and interpreted as the remains of hearths. Birch woodland was present earlier further south (Birks, 2015), and the formation of semi-open woodland in the coastal zone of south-western Norway is suggested already at the transition to the Holocene at 11,700 cal BP (BangAndersen, 2012: 111), allowing more extensive woodland to develop during the Early Mesolithic, possibly even pine and oak (Bang-Andersen, 2006: 12). The evidence for extensive use of shrubs in the Early Holocene along the Norwegian coast suggest that many fires were small and short-term affairs This corresponds well to the often small patches of burning with few stones encountered in the north; the frequent use of willow, hazel, and aspen in other regions indicates that such fires were common elsewhere. There are no stone or ceramic lamps from Early Holocene Norway, and only in a few cases are flat stone slabs recorded (e.g. at Kvernbergmyra)
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