Stone Age dwellings, sites and environment in coastal northern Norway: surveys and documentation of house-pit sites

Abstract

The northernmost parts of Europe has a large number of sites with Stone Age house-pits, the majority of which date from c. 5000 BC onwards. Remarkably, the remains of these dwellings are many places still visible on the surface. In northern Norway, such dwellings concentrate in the coastal areas, with a more limited number found on inland sites. In order to use these in analyses of settlement duration, distribution and organization a more uniform and coherent documentation of both individual structures and site characteristics must be ensured. In an ongoing research project on Stone Age Demographics, we have developed and tested different levels of settlement site documentation, scaling from single structures over site topography to reconstruction of past environments. Through substantial surveying in our study region in coastal western Finnmark, northern Norway, we have collected extensive and uniform documentation of dwellings, sites and environment. This systematic documentation allows us to not just discuss dwellings within one specific site, but to consider also regional and supra-regional patterns and variability. This is required if we are to consider both spatial variation and temporal developments in the use and role of pit-houses.