Was the Late Glacial human occupation of northernmost Europe facilitated by whales? New data and perspectives on lithic technology and the paleoecology of the Vendsyssel area, Northern Jutland, Denmark

Abstract

The archaeology of the Vendsyssel area in Northern Jutland suggests that early human foragers reached the northernmost tip of continental Europe during the middle part of the Late Glacial Period. This occupation presents a paleoecological conundrum, however, as Vendsyssel was likely characterized by low terrestrial productivity and mammalian biodiversity. Why did human foragers disperse so far north, and what sustained them there? We here report an updated inventory of Late Glacial lithic surface material recovered from the Hollendskær region in north-western Jutland. Based on our discussion of the lithic assemblages, we recontextualize human settlement in the European far north vis-à-vis highly productive marine ecosystems in the circum-Kattegat. We suggest that beached whales may have been a previously overlooked ecological attractor as persistent terrestrial biases impede our understanding of the role of land–sea interfaces in facilitating the earliest northward human expansions.