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Figure 1: Excvations of the Ertebolle shell midden around 1890. (Image courtsey of the National Museum of Denmark.)
The Southern Scandinavian Mesolithic spans from the beginning of the Holocene (c. 11,600 cal BP) to approximately 6,000 cal BP. The archaeological record has been divided into three major cultural complexes: the Maglemose, Kongemose, and Ertebølle cultures, corresponding broadly to the Early, Middle, and Late Mesolithic periods. The region benefits from a long excavation history and exceptionally well preserved coastal and wetland archaeological sites.
Interpretations of the Mesolithic archaeological record are strongly influenced by postglacial landscape change and shoreline displacement. In many regions, Early Holocene coastal sites contemporaneous shorelines now lie well below present sea level therefore the earliest archaeological record is biased towards inland localities, many of which are characterised by evidence for large-game hunting and are often interpreted as seasonally occupied sites. In contrast, the comparatively few excavated coastal sites indicate a substantial reliance on aquatic resources from an early date (Fig. 1).
Key questions
Key questions
What underlying population dynamics drive changes in hunting territories, dietary patterns, and social networks?
Do we see changes in food procurement and consumption patterns over key periods of demographic change?
In what ways do specific subsistence strategies influence sedentism, and what is the relationship with population densities?
How does increased territoriality impact foraging societies?
What methods can be used to identify and measure constraints on mobility?
To what extent do global homologies exist, and what are their specific consequences for social complexity, wealth inequality, resource ownership, and broader social dynamics?
Figure 2: Norje Sunnansund, a coastal Maglemose culture site (ca 9600-8600 cal BP) in southeastern Sweden. A) showing the year-round seasonal indicators; B) showing the fishbones from one m2 (a total of 647 m2 were excavated). C) showing the evidence of a fish fermentation pit used for creating a fish storage to provide food during the winter and early spring. From Boethius (2016, 2017 & 2018).
Evidence for the earliest phases of colonisation remains comparatively sparse and consists primarily of lithic assemblages. Consequently, subsistence strategies are often inferred indirectly from site locations and environmental contexts, while population sizes remain difficult to estimate. Not until the Boreal chronozone, around 10,000 cal BP, do zooarchaeological and human skeletal remains become sufficiently abundant to permit more detailed investigations of diet, mobility, and population history. From approximately 9,500 cal BP onwards, evidence for year-round occupation, food storage, and delayed-return economies becomes increasingly visible (Fig. 2).
As the coastline stabilises from around 9,000 cal BP there is increasing evidence for coastal exploitation including shell middens, fish traps and other fishing related artefacts. Traditional models have often characterised the Maglemose culture as relatively mobile, the Kongemose culture as increasingly semi-sedentary, and the Ertebølle culture as strongly oriented towards marine resource exploitation. However, recent research points to a more complex and variable pattern, with evidence for sedentary Maglemose settlements, substantial Kongemose villages (Fig. 3), and extensive Ertebølle occupation of coastal landscapes accompanied by formal cemeteries (Fig. 4). These developments suggest that the demographic foundations of Mesolithic societies were neither static nor uniform. Understanding the timing, scale, and regional variability of population fluctuations is therefore essential for identifying the drivers, constraints, and consequences of demographic change among Scandinavian hunter-fisher-gatherers throughout the Holocene..
Figure 3: The site plan of the Middle Mesolithic “village” Ljungaviken, dated to around 8000 cal BP. The site is located in southeastern Sweden, and shows only the excavated part of the site, where 50 houses have been found. The limited excavated area and similar surrounding prerequisites suggest that only a limited number of the once present houses have so far been located. From Boethius, 2024, where the image was published with permission from Mathilda Kjällquist.
Figure 4: The Skateholm I cemetery. The burial grounds were located on a hill and were, at the time of use, visible from the sea, where the non-overlapping graves suggest they were demarcated above ground. Based on Larsson 1993.
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