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Signals of sedentism : Faunal exploitation as evidence of a delayed-return economy at Norje Sunnansund, an Early Mesolithic site in south-eastern Sweden

Boethius, Adam LU orcid (2017) In Quaternary Science Reviews 162. p.145-168
Abstract
Delayed-return foraging strategies connected with a sedentary lifestyle are known from Late Mesolithic Scandinavian settlements. However, recent evidence from the archaeological site of Norje Sunnansund, in south-eastern Sweden, indicates the presence of sedentism from the Early Mesolithic. By analyzing the faunal assemblage from Norje Sunnansund, patterns of delayed-return strategies were examined for five categories of faunal exploitation/interaction: seal hunting, fishing, ungulate hunting, opportunistic hunting and rodent intrusions. The evidence suggests selective hunting strategies, large catches of fish and all year round seasonality indicators as well as evidence of commensal behavior in non-typical commensal species. The data were... (More)
Delayed-return foraging strategies connected with a sedentary lifestyle are known from Late Mesolithic Scandinavian settlements. However, recent evidence from the archaeological site of Norje Sunnansund, in south-eastern Sweden, indicates the presence of sedentism from the Early Mesolithic. By analyzing the faunal assemblage from Norje Sunnansund, patterns of delayed-return strategies were examined for five categories of faunal exploitation/interaction: seal hunting, fishing, ungulate hunting, opportunistic hunting and rodent intrusions. The evidence suggests selective hunting strategies, large catches of fish and all year round seasonality indicators as well as evidence of commensal behavior in non-typical commensal species. The data were related to ethnographic accounts and sedentary foraging societies' modes of subsistence. The evidence suggests an expanding, sedentary, aquatically dependent Early
Mesolithic foraging lifestyle in southern Scandinavia, which, it is argued, came to dominate the mode of subsistence, implying larger settlements and a larger prevalent population. This process may have been going on for millennia prior to the rise of the Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture, implying much larger Late Mesolithic populations than previously realized, perhaps comparable with the native cultures of the north-west coast of America. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Sedentism, Delayed-return, Mesolithic, Foraging, Selective hun, Commensalism, Subsistence strategies, Holocene, Scandinavia, Zooarchaeology
in
Quaternary Science Reviews
volume
162
pages
145 - 168
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85014728181
ISSN
0277-3791
DOI
10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.02.024
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bfc0afdc-6b09-4d4b-9a33-46c043ee55f3
date added to LUP
2018-02-06 13:26:49
date last changed
2022-04-17 18:41:29
@article{bfc0afdc-6b09-4d4b-9a33-46c043ee55f3,
  abstract     = {{Delayed-return foraging strategies connected with a sedentary lifestyle are known from Late Mesolithic Scandinavian settlements. However, recent evidence from the archaeological site of Norje Sunnansund, in south-eastern Sweden, indicates the presence of sedentism from the Early Mesolithic. By analyzing the faunal assemblage from Norje Sunnansund, patterns of delayed-return strategies were examined for five categories of faunal exploitation/interaction: seal hunting, fishing, ungulate hunting, opportunistic hunting and rodent intrusions. The evidence suggests selective hunting strategies, large catches of fish and all year round seasonality indicators as well as evidence of commensal behavior in non-typical commensal species. The data were related to ethnographic accounts and sedentary foraging societies' modes of subsistence. The evidence suggests an expanding, sedentary, aquatically dependent Early<br/>Mesolithic foraging lifestyle in southern Scandinavia, which, it is argued, came to dominate the mode of subsistence, implying larger settlements and a larger prevalent population. This process may have been going on for millennia prior to the rise of the Late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture, implying much larger Late Mesolithic populations than previously realized, perhaps comparable with the native cultures of the north-west coast of America.}},
  author       = {{Boethius, Adam}},
  issn         = {{0277-3791}},
  keywords     = {{Sedentism; Delayed-return; Mesolithic; Foraging; Selective hun; Commensalism; Subsistence strategies; Holocene; Scandinavia; Zooarchaeology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{145--168}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Quaternary Science Reviews}},
  title        = {{Signals of sedentism : Faunal exploitation as evidence of a delayed-return economy at Norje Sunnansund, an Early Mesolithic site in south-eastern Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.02.024}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.02.024}},
  volume       = {{162}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}