The empirical basis for research on farming settlements in northern Norway 1200 BC – 0

Abstract

Palynological investigations show that farming became a considerable part of the subsistence economy amongst coastal settlements in northern Norway around 1200-1100 BC. Through a relatively small number of stray finds of Nordic Bronze Age character it is clear that these settlements have had connections to the South. Until recently these findings have not been backed up by settlement data. Two large-scale CRM-excavations have however changed this picture, and it is now clear that farming settlements with longhouses and fields have been present at least in parts of the region during the late Bronze Age and the Pre-Roman Iron Age. To assess the extent of these settlements additional data are however sorely needed. This presentation will provide a reinterpretation of other site-types and sources of data that may shed new light on these early farming settlements. The main focus will be on find localities for stray finds of Nordic Bronze Age character, drift sand localities with finds of asbestos tempered ceramics, as well as small-scale CRM-registrations where cooking-pits, postholes and relict fields have been uncovered.