Problems relating to the early Mesolithic settlement of Southern Norway

The former status of the Mesolithic research in Southern Norway is presented with an addition of the latest investigation results from the highlands and the west coast.

It is concluded that the earliest N⊘stvet elements in West Norway cannot be later than 5 600–6 100 BC, that the earliest Fosna elements cannot be later than from the Preboreal Period, and that there were settlement possibilities in South and West Norway in the Aller⊘d Period, possibly also in the B⊘iling Period.

There ate typological, as well as environmental data suggesting an earlier settlement in South and West Norway than in East Norway. A migration on the ice across the North Sea, from the former North Sea Continent to the southernmost part of Norway is proposed as the earliest migration path to Southern Norway.

The ‘tanged point traditions’ of the Northwest European plains survived in Norway, especially in the highland areas, for several thousand years after they disappeared from the Continent.

Differences in the tool kits between the highland sites and the lowland sites are partly explained by activity differences. The present views on the ‘Fosna culture’ and the ‘N⊘stvet culture’ are regarded as obscure, and the need of modern investigations for a complete reconsideration of the South Norwegian Mesolithicum is stressed.