Prospecting the West Swedish Mesolithic

After an Introduction reviewing former research on the subject of the title the author sets up five Basic Models: Morphology, Chronology, Chorology, Ecology and Physical Anthropology (The morphological basic model is composed of three main Artifact Spectra; the chronological model is built up from both purely geological and C14 data; the chorology shows us differently located settlements; the ecological concentrates on sea‐level problems and vegetational and faunal data; as for physical anthropology, the material in this region is scanty).

The Basic Models are then summarized in a concluding scheme.

These Basic Models can be correlated with four Analytical Aspects: Material, Religious, Social and Economic (By the material aspect is meant above all, the function of the artifact. As to the religious aspect the material says almost nothing. The social aspect is concerned with group dimensions, ages and sexes. The economic aspect deals with the yearly faunal cycle from a nutritional viewpoint.) At the end all these building stones are put together in a ‘Proposed Model’. The ‘output’ of this model is three settlement groups which we shall continue to call the Hensbacka, the Sandarna, and the Lihult Cultures in order not to break completely continuity with earlier research.